Page 21 of Claimed By Stone
"While I still can't remember anything, I can’t help but want to be a part of all of this."
Her gaze turned back to mine with a small smile turning the corner of her mouth as she let her legs kick slightly and leaned back on the table.
"I'm sorry, that's probably silly. There are bigger problems to solve."
"No, my darling," I said as I rested my hand on her knee. "Solving this problem is the only thing that matters to me."
And while my cock was firm as stone in my trousers with want for this creature before me, I pushed those needs aside. I needed to help her, to solve this, so she could be mine forever.
"Should we work more on the translation? I fear tomorrow I will be busy with Frema's return before the night of the Yule Feast."
“A Yule Feast?” she said with a wistful sigh. “That sounds like fun. I wish I could go.”
The look on her face tore at my heart. I wanted her there with me. I wanted to dance with her around the fire. I wanted her to get giggly after drinking too much ale. I wanted her soft touch and captivating smile as we ate all the sweet treats we could. And after the feast, I wanted to share the longest night of the year buried between her thighs.
“I wish you could go too,” I said as I cupped her face, letting my thumb graze her soft cheek. And I did more than anything, but with so many unknowns, I didn’t think it wise.
"You’re right,” she said with a resigned frown. “Let's get back to it," she said as she stood from the table and sat in the chair next to me.
Part of me hated it. I wanted to take her somewhere and let her have the fun she was craving. But to do that, I needed to be able to say who she was. We needed answers first, and for some reason, I felt like we were running out of time.
Chapter 11
Unknown
Waking wasn’t gentle tonight.
There was no slow float upward, no drowsy warmth of stone giving way to skin. I surged into awareness with a sharp inhale, like breaching through the surface of cold water. My heart was already racing.
I sat up, fully formed. Solid. Breathing.
I was real—and Iknewit.
And that terrified me.
The war room was empty, save for the flickering torches and the ancient tome Thavros and I had been poring over for nights now. I pulled it closer, hands already moving before I had the chance to think. I needed to find something. A reason. An answer. Anything that could explain why my body thrummed with nerves and magic and something dangerously close tohope.
The crystal on the table hummed faintly, pulsing in rhythm with my breath.
I didn’t know why, but I was certain. If I didn’t figure this out tonight, everything would change.
Where was he? I didn’t know whether I longed for him because he was all I knew or because he was all I wanted. I just know I felt his absence in my bones. I needed his steady presence here, calming me.
I sat down at the table, flipping through some of the dusty pages we’d been reading. Transmutation magic was rare. In the research we’d made so far, it was only wielded by Gods and Fae. And while we knew I was a Godling, we hadn’t been able to pin down anything else.
I took a slow breath to try to calm myself. I needed Thavros here. Something was different tonight. I was sure of that.
I didn't know where this certainty came from. Nothing had changed. I still had no clue how I'd come to be here, why I was trapped in stone, or even my name. I just knew that it was all going to change.
I sat and tried to focus on the page, but I couldn't. There was something in my body that would not be still. Where was Thavros?
. I knew he was planning the Yule feast. The feast would happen tomorrow night. And I would be stuck here. Alone. Yet I tried to remind myself that I know he had other things he needed to be doing. And I knew that he had not been taking care of himself. Orcs require sleep, no matter what he says.
Even knowing that, I still yearned for him. I needed him in this moment more than I had any right to. I craved his rough but gentle hands. His eyes that saw everything. His mind craved knowledge. His mouth that… well, maybe I shouldn’t think too hard on what his mouth could do.
As I stood to pace, the door below me opened. I moved to go to him. Only then did I hear a second voice. A more feminine voice.
What was he doing with another woman?
