Page 24 of Ruling in Flames (Reborn 5)
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ATLAS
Inconceivable and uncharacteristicrage had clouded everything in my mind until this moment—until I stood in the doorway of Maya’s current room and met her beautiful gold eyes. Eyes that had the power to break me, to shatter my heart in one explosive effort, in one singular word. Eyes that were filled with concern for me, guilt for the situation we were in emotionally, and so much intense vulnerability that it nearly brought me to my knees.
My chest felt tight as anger stirred within, and I watched Marco leave the room, his dragon reined in but only barely. I knew he didn’t want to leave me alone with her, and I could hardly blame him—I’d been a fucking wreck since Maya had died, and it only got worst when she had tumbled out of the sky towards the ground. In the chaos of Ry dying, I’d barely been able to get to her to catch her before she hit the ground. She’d been naked and covered in ash, her small, delicate form no longer lit in flames or covered in the beautiful scaled pattern that had adorned her skin. No, she had looked like my angel, and I’d panicked, everything that had happened to her hitting me unexpectedly as fury surged through me.
Fury that we'd been put in this situation.
Fury that she’d died.
Fury that she’d been forced to kill Ry.
So much anger, and it was so unlike me that I could tell it was making her cautious. She noticed it the minute we were in the room together, so I’d thrown up a wall in our bond, not wanting her to suffer because I couldn’t get my shit together. Because I couldn’t seem to work through my feelings on what had fucking happened.
I couldn’t help but feel responsible for not keeping her safe, and the self-loathing that reared up was intense and almost overwhelming.
The part that bothered me the most? I knew Maya felt bad about our reactions to losing her. As if it was somehow her fault that we’d gone nuclear the minute she’d died. Sure, she may have inspired the reaction, but that was impossible to avoid. She was our mate, and she had fuckingdied.
I knew Maya. I knew my angel so damn well, so I tried to temper my reaction, not wanting her to feel any worse—not wanting her to feel guilt over my emotional distress. That wasn’t fair to put on her.
As the door clicked shut with Marco’s departure, Maya’s gaze found mine as she shifted nervously. The oversized guest room we’d placed her in was filled with gold accents, all of them dull in comparison to the luminescent glow that surrounded my mate.
Something had changed within her when she’d been reborn. Something had been released, and it had altered Maya physically.
Her mother had attempted to clean her up a bit while she was unconscious, removing the ash from her face, but she was still covered in it, dulling the shine of her golden skin. I wanted to wash it off of her and remove any remembrance of the past few days. I wanted to touch and kiss every piece of her, running my fingers over her skin.
Skin that appeared to be embedded with golden flecks. Her hair, which was richly colored and dark, hanging down to her hips, now had golden streaks throughout it, much like her large gold eyes. It was absolutely beautiful, and I desperately wanted to examine every inch of her, wanting to see what else had changed.
I didn’t want to crowd her or rush her, though, so I crossed the room slowly, and when she suddenly broke towards me, slamming her delicate body against mine, I groaned at the sensation of heat pushing through me, my cock instantly hardening.
My arms wrapped around her in a vise grip, and that dangerous rage began to blink out, my chest relaxing just enough that I could breathe again.Holy fuck, it felt so damn good to hold her. I wasn’t positive I would ever be able to let her go, honestly. I buried my nose in her hair as she trembled, a soft sob leaving her throat. Pure contentment ran throughout the bond, telling me that this type of touch was helping her as much as it was me.
Finally, she leaned back, and I gently touched her jaw, placing a light brush of a kiss on her lips. One that she met eagerly, a soft sound coming from her throat and causing my cock to pulse. Despite everything she’d been through, I could feel how much she wanted me, and it was like a fucking high, one that would no doubt kill me.
“Atlas,” she breathed out.
“Angel,” I whispered, cupping her jaw and brushing another kiss against her lips. “I’m so damn glad you’re okay. I’m so damn glad that you’re awake and moving around.”
“I know I scared everyone—”
“Hey,” I gently smoothed my hands over her shoulders. “Don’t worry about anyone else, understand me? I want you to focus on yourself and how you’re feeling.”
“I’m feeling okay…maybe a bit off, and still pretty tired.” Maya’s eyes darkened. “I can tell you’re holding back right now—I don’t know what, but I can tell you are.”
I exhaled and smoothed a hand through her hair. “I don’t want to overwhelm you with how this affected me. Let me take care of you instead—it’ll go a long way to making me feel better, angel.”
“Okay,” she whispered after a moment of consideration, and I breathed out a sigh of relief as I easily picked her up in a bridal hold and walked towards the attached bathroom.
Setting my angel down, I turned on the water in the large tub in the center of the room, steaming water streaming into the porcelain basin. There were stairs surrounding it on all sides, similar to a luxury hot tub, and I added soap, filling the room with the scent of lavender. When I turned back to Maya, she was easing off the oversized shirt she’d been put in before pushing down her panties.
I soaked in the sight of her naked body as she walked towards me expectantly, her eyes filled with trust as I helped her up the stairs. A soft moan of relief came from her lips, and my dragon lit up, fucking thrilled that we were bringing her pleasure even if it wasn’t the type that would relieve me.
“I’m going to send for food and something to drink,” I said, smoothing my hands over her hair. “I’ll be right back.”
Her fingers caught my hand as she asked earnestly, “Will you join me? I want to be able to touch you.”
I inhaled sharply and nodded, unable to talk without telling her just how much I would love for her to fucking touch me. So I held my tongue and left the room, finding Marco on the other side of the bedroom door, leaning against the wall.
