Page 153 of Golden Queen
Only Io's own harsh groan brought me out of my stupor. He brought his mouth to mine, biting down on my lip as he pressed his hips against me for one final thrust, spilling himself inside me again with a roar of release.
He lowered himself to his elbows, dropping a kiss on my shoulder.
And then he raised himself up to look at me as the shadows around us dissipated just where they were, wafting away into nothing to reveal the room around us again. The shadows in his eyes slowly streamed away as though retreating back into him. The blue in his eyes seemed suddenly brighter.
The daylight outside the windows had turned to night. Somehow, hours had passed while we were lost in that swirling madness.
Io gently pulled himself out of me and fell limply to the bed beside me—as though he was just as melted inside as I was. I felt his arms slide around me, turning me so that he could pull my back to his warm, solid chest.
"You are amazing, Sera," he said.
"Well, thank you," I said sleepily. "But how so?"
He huffed a laugh. "For one, you’re lying here, covered in my blood, and not the least disgusted."
"Why would I be? Your blood tastes wonderful."
He made an incredulous sound. "I have never tasted anything like your blood. It's like it's made of starlight."
I snorted. "What does starlight taste like?"
"Like infinity," he said, chuckling.
I laughed. "Well, that clears it up."
He smoothed the hair back from my cheek. "But most of all, because you have never been afraid of me—not once. Even in the dark, when you were scared, you reached out to me instead of running away."
My heart broke a little at the emotion I heard in his voice. "Why would I ever fear you?"
"Everyone eventually does—at one point or another when they encounter the shadows. But you don’t even flinch."
I turned in his arms, and told him earnestly, "Why would I flinch away from the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen?"
His half smile took my fucking breath away. "Thank you, Sera."
He kissed me tenderly and then settled his head on the pillow beside mine. And then the Lord of Darkwatch, who I knew had struggled with insomnia his entire life, was asleep within a single minute.
I watched him for a long, long time. Trying to memorize the exact line of his nose and curve of his mouth—the way his thick fringe of black lashes lay against his dusky cheek.
My eyelids eventually began to grow heavy, and I knew sleep was coming, so I reached out and pulled the blanket over us both, being sure to tuck it around his shoulders up to the line of his chin where black stubble was now prominent.
And then, for what I knew would surely be the very last time, since outside the window was a clear, star-filled sky, I curled up against my love and let the sound of his heartbeat follow me into a dreamless sleep.
Twenty-Eight
Iwoke to a scream.
I opened my eyes to find Io already awake and tensed beside me. And then another scream tore through the night, and he was up and out of the bed, already dressing before I had blinked away the sleep from my eyes.
A knock sounded on the door as Io began pulling on his boots. When he opened it, Aben and Britaxia were there, already dressed and armed.
Britaxia gave me a single dark look as I sat up in the bed and said, "Something is happening."
"I heard the scream," Io said. "I'll be right there."
I caught Aben's half grin in my direction, followed by a long look at Io’s face, where a dark line of dried blood ran down his chin and neck. Aben shot me another look, brows raised as he disappeared behind the closing door.
I climbed from the bed and began looking for my clothes.
