“It does feel real,” I admitted, knowing that if it felt real, then it was some type of magic.
Knox lowered, his scorching breath touching my sex before his tongue flicked my clit, forcing a gasp of shock from my lungs. Pleasure shot through me as he continually licked between my lips, growling like a wild beast against them. The vibration alone almost sent me over the edge. Sensation moved through me like a never-ending wave of bliss.
Spreading my legs apart, he began sliding me up the wall, his mouth lavishing my cunt, mercilessly forcing more pleasure as he rose to his full height, feasting like a starved beast against my flesh. The way he lost control had my eyes rolling back in my head as my entire body shook, unable to stop the screams from tearing from my throat.
The sinful noises he made had even more arousal rushing to paint his lips. My fingers pushed the dark, blond hair from his face, which revealed a symbol in the center of it. Turning my head, I noted it matched the one on the walls.
A warm ball formed in my belly, fueled from each pleasurable stroke of Knox’s tongue. I whimpered as he allowed me to slide down the wall and right onto the rounded tip of his cock. There, he teased his thickness against my opening, purring as he held my eyes prisoner. The man was a master at edging me to the brink of insanity.
“Do I feel real now?” he asked, then forced into my body with one, powerful thrust.
I cried out, but he captured my mouth with his, swallowing down every cry I released. Every moan. He devoured them, even as one hand gripped my hip, controlling the rhythm. The man was God of pleasure, even in his damn head. It was unfair. His tongue flicked against my lips, his other hand cradling my head, as he began picking up speed, thrusting wildly into my body.
“You feel so fucking good around my cock, Little One. Does this not feel real enough for you?” he whispered. Then his tongue was sliding against mine, devouring me as he penetrated me with similar thrust with each. My pussy fluttered, clenching as the orgasm rocked through me, sending me spiraling down a bottomless abyss. It was a soul-shattering orgasm that reverberated through every part of me, stealing control of every sense as he held me in his arms, caging my body protectively.
“Knox!” I screamed, even as I felt the familiar warmth of his release painting my clenching walls.
“I could do this forever. You’re my heaven, Aria. You’ll always be my sanctuary. The one place I know is home, is here, like this with you.”
“Knox, I need you to come back with me,” I whispered.
“Shh, you’ll wake the girls and Sven. Then we won’t be able to have more fun making more.”
“I’m pregnant,” I whispered into his kiss. Leaning my head back, I stared at the mark on his forehead. “And you’re not with me. Not really. This is what you created to escape her, isn’t it? You created a heaven with your ghosts. You can’t stay here. This isn’t your life. I’m waiting for you, Knox. I love you. Come with me.”
“This isn’t something I created, Aria. This is real. I am real.”
“Yes, you are real. Our daughters died, Knox. Sven died. You didn’t. I didn’t. I’m real, and I’m pregnant with your babies. I need you more than our ghosts do.” I leaned to his mouth, kissing him hard, putting every emotion I had into it, showing him how real I was. “You’re my haven, and my haven is missing from me. I’m in hell without you. Come back to me. Come back and be a father to our babies, who aren’t inside your head. We need you to protect us, too.”
“Then stay here with me. Nothing can hurt us here.”
“That’s because it’s not real. It’s your mind protecting you from the pain. It’s understandable after what you’ve endured, but this? This isn’t the library. Because right now, I’m lying in it beside you, but you’re not with me. You’re here, hiding from the agony you know is coming. Tell me about the nightmare.”
“I don’t want to talk about the nightmare. Fuck that nightmare. I wouldn’t do that, Aria. If you’re trying to tell me I did that? Then I don’t want to come back. I don’t deserve to come back.” The pain in his tone told me he knew it was real, but he didn’t want to believe it was.
“I didn’t die, Knox. I’m right here with you. You’re staying here because you don’t want to leave.”
“Lennox is gone. I can’t feel him or sense him within me. He’s here…somewhere, but I can’t find him.”
My eyes flicked to his forehead, and I chewed my lip. Evoking my magic, I leaned closer, kissing him as I brought my hands up, forcing my magic into the mark, which sent me tumbling out of his head, slamming me back into my body.
“Rude,” I muttered.
“Were you fucking him?” Esme asked, her eyes worried but intrigued. “Because it smells like you were.”
“There are runes on our foreheads. On the walls of the chamber that he was in. He’s with ghosts. Our daughters were there. Sven was too.” I sat up, finding a room filled with men who were all focused on me. “I think he created a realm inside his mind, but it’s only the size of the library.”
“Which would mean its endless,” Brander stated, his eyes raking over my body with concern. “You should rethink your strategy. Besides, a queen doesn’t leave her people when they’re in need of leadership.”
“Nice try there, Brander. But a queen’s job is to protect her king. She protects him, but she isn’t bound by the same rules. A queen without a true king, is nothing. So, I am going to that citadel in the morning, and I’m bringing Knox her fucking head for his throne. Because he’s going to want it when he wakes up. I suggest everyone get some sleep. Greer, I need you to find me every book on ancient runes. We have to find the one Hecate used to suppress Lennox and Ember. You and Lore can help Avyanna find it while we’re kicking Hecate’s ass.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Aria
Aria
I’d dressed for battle in sleek, black, breathable leather pants and a shirt. Greer had helped me into the lightweight cuirass. It was created from shimmering silver and crimson dragon scales, each one etched with the same detail of genuine scales. The pauldrons on the shoulder, neck and beneath my armpits were the color of freshly spilled ink, each carrying the outline of a raven in flight, its mouth open as if it roared the call to arms. The matching vambrace were the same ink-coloring of the pauldrons, yet there were veins of crimson and silver threaded through them, all extending upward toward the scales. My legs were left free of armor, but blades sat in sheaths upon my thighs.
“Wow,” Esme whistled as she stood behind me.
“I look like I’m playing dress up,” I returned, slowly moving my head to see the twin braids which created a crown atop my head.
“You look like you were born to wear that,” she argued. “Listen, if shit goes south today? I need to know you’ll come back from it, Aria. I don’t want you going in there, then coming back here someone else. Doing this won’t be as easy as you think it will be. You’re going in there knowing and intending to take innocent lives. There will be a cost to your soul.”
“I’m very aware of the cost to my soul. I’ve paid it already, or did you forget that?” I asked, my forehead creasing as I leaned closer to the glass, sliding my fingers through the black paint. Bringing it up to my face, I dragged it down in the center of one eyebrow, sliding it all the way to my forehead and then down to my jawline. Once I’d finished the right eye, I dragged the remaining paint over my lips and beneath the left eye to the ear. “We’re na?ve girls to think we could escape this war without spilling innocent blood. We can try to avoid it, but not at the cost of others. We’re not gods, and only gods choose who lives and dies. We just send them to the veil, and let them sort the souls out.”