Born of Blood and Ash

The Healer stood before us. “Your Majesty.” Placing a palm over his chest, Kye bowed. “Thank you for your aid.”

I thought I said something appropriate and didn’t just stand there, staring at him with a slack jaw. At least, I hoped I did. Kye glanced at Ash and then nodded, stepping aside.

Ash led me toward the hall, and as I looked over my shoulder when we reached the doors, I saw Kye draping a sheet over the guard.

Once in the narrow hall, Ash folded an arm around my shoulders. Wisps of shadowy eather spun out, coiling around our legs. He said nothing as we shadowstepped back to our bedchamber.

I looked up at him and remembered the anger I’d seen in his features in the courtyard. I didn’t think all of it was directed at Kolis. A good ten percent was likely due to me getting involved in the sekya attack while relatively weaponless.

And, honestly, I deserved to be taken to task for that. It had been foolish of me to rush out without a weapon.

“I know what you’re about to say,” I began.

“I doubt you do,” he said, his voice rumbling as tendrils of night coiled around his legs.

My spine stiffened. “I’m pretty sure I—” I squeaked.

Ash moved faster than I could track. His cool hand clasped my cheek, and he tilted my head back. The scent of leather mingled with citrus and iron.

Within a heartbeat, his mouth was on mine, our lips melding.

The kiss was so untamed and relentless in its passion it left my senses spi

Our teeth gnashed. His fangs grazed my lip, drawing an illicit shiver from somewhere deep inside me. Lifting me onto the tips of my toes and pulling me against his chest, his lips parted mine. I grasped the nape of his neck, kissing him back just as fiercely.

Ash’s palm slid down, trailing over the side of my throat and then my shoulder. He backed me up and drew my tongue into his mouth, sending waves of pleasure cascading through me.

Surprise rippled as my lower back abruptly came into contact with the hard edge of a table. Ash’s chest left mine, and I felt his fingers there, quickly undoing the robe’s buttons. A heartbeat later, the sides gapped, and he grabbed hold of my hands, lowering them.

“Ash,” I gasped.

He shoved the sleeves of the robe down, letting the garment fall to the floor. “Hmm?”

Cool air danced over the bare skin of my arms. “What are you doing?”

His mouth moved over mine once more as his hands went to my waist and then my hips. “What does it look like?”

“It looks like you’re undressing me.” I tipped my head back. The sight of him sent my already racing heart to fluttering.

Ash appeared mortal, but he also didn’t.

Shadows churned under his skin like storm clouds. Tendrils of eather still seeped from his body. His irises were now visible, but streaks of eather pierced the silver.

He looked stu

The deep rumble coming from his chest heated my blood. “I don’t.”

“I know.” His hand coasted up my side.

“I’m just surprised,” I said, sucking in a shallow breath as his hand drifted higher. The thin, silk nightgown was no barrier against the coolness of his touch. A wave of shivers followed in the wake of his movements. “I didn’t think undressing was what you had in mind.”

“Undressing you is always what I have in mind.” Cupping my breast, he gri

My lips felt swollen as they parted. “I figured you were going to lecture me about being outside.”

He drew his thumb over the peak of my breast, the hollows of his cheeks becoming sharper as my nipple beaded. “I told you that you had no idea what I was going to say.”

“I sensed—” I gave a little jerk as his other hand folded around my right breast. “You were angry when you first returned.”

“Was I?” he asked, watching himself draw the same response as he had seconds earlier.

A heaviness settled in my chest. It wasn’t the all-too-familiar warning of anxiety but a thick, languid sensation that also bloomed between my thighs. “Yes.”

“Perhaps…” he murmured, lowering himself to his knees.

My heart thudded as my hands fell to the table on either side of my hips. The sight of Ash on his knees before me never failed to stun me into silence.

He stretched a little, his head now level with my chest. “I was wrong earlier.”

“About—?” I swallowed, and my entire body bowed as his mouth closed over my breast. The combination of the silk and his cool mouth was downright sinful. “About what?”

His head lifted, and he pressed a kiss to the swell of flesh above the lace. “About your senses developing faster than I expected.”

It took a moment for the meaning of what he said to pierce the fog of desire. “What?”

“There is no way you sensed anger from me.”

Before I could respond, his mouth moved to my right breast. He sucked deeply as his thumb and forefinger closed around the still-tingling nipple, drawing a sharp burst of dual pleasure from me. My hips twitched when he did something rather wicked with his fingers.

The shadows beneath his flesh thickened and spread. “Anger was the very last thing I was feeling.”

Gripping the table, my chin fell forward as I struggled to focus on what we were talking about. “I never said I sensed anger from you.”

He chuckled, nipping at my skin through the silk. “Yes, you did.”

“I misspoke, then.” I was breathing fast as Ash rose with fluid grace, his stare fixing on mine. The heat in his eyes scorched my skin. “You looked angry.”

Tsking under his breath, he shook his head and stepped into me. His chest brushed my already sensitized breasts. “That is not how I appeared when I looked at you.”

I had to crane my neck back to hold his stare. He towered over me. Anyone else crowding my space like this would’ve drawn out my temper, but he caused an entirely different reaction. My body throbbed with arousal as my gaze soaked in the brutal lines of his features. It was almost the same expression I’d seen in the courtyard. “You sure about that? You look the same now.”

“I was angry when I saw what had happened to our people. You are correct in that sense, but that’s not what I felt when I looked at you. Nor is it what I feel when I look at you now.” His fingers curled under the thin straps of my nightgown. His head dipped as he tugged the lacy straps down, baring my breasts to the featherlight touch of his chest. When he spoke, his lips brushed mine. “Want to wager a guess at what I’m feeling?”

I didn’t even attempt to do so as his fingers left the straps at my wrists and grazed the sides of my breasts. Nor did I try to put a stop to what he was doing. There were important things to be discussed: the sekya. Kolis. Those wounded and lost. But it was almost as if his touch, the sound of his voice, and his words had woven a sensual spell.

“When I saw you, I wasn’t thinking about you being out in the courtyard, fighting alongside our people,” he said against my mouth. “I asked you not to come to the Abyss, and while I would have preferred that you stayed out of trouble—”

I opened my mouth.

Ash took that exact moment to kiss me, silencing my protests regarding staying out of trouble. “I do not expect you to stand by and do nothing while those you care about are under attack.” His lips brushed mine. “The moment I learned that the sekya had attacked the palace, I knew my Queen would be out there, holding her own. That is what I expect from you.”

Good gods. That was possibly the hottest thing anyone had ever said to me.

“Always,” he added, dragging strands of my hair over my breasts. “What I didn’t expect was what I would see when I saw you.”

The way he said that caught my scattered attention. “What…what do you mean?”

“You were shining. Gold. Silver. You were ethereal.” His palms coasted across my waist. “It was as if the moon and the sun had finally come together. I saw you, only you, and you were the most beautiful being I’d ever seen.”

My eyes drifted shut. I leaned into the table as he urged the nightgown farther down.

“And all I could think about was how badly I wanted to be inside you,” he said, and I felt his lips curve upward at the breathy sound that left me. “How I needed to be inside you.”

I shuddered as desire twisted sharply deep inside my core.

His hands settled on my hips. “That was what I was thinking about in the courtyard. And as fucked up as this is, it was also what I was thinking about when I found you with the injured. You were luminous then, too. It’s also what I’m thinking about now.”

Without warning, he spun me around and slid one hand to my stomach. My eyes flew open as he pressed his hips against my rear. I could feel him, thick and hard. The sudden change of position had a startling effect, stirring that hidden part of me that loved it when Ash took control. It brought forth a rush of wet heat and a little seed of trepidation. The unwanted anxiety was like a noxious weed, threatening to take root, but the feel of him—of Ash and no one else—against my back kept me grounded. His hold on me was firm yet comforting as his thumb moved over my skin, just below my navel. The caress was soothing, and after a few moments, the fires that burned with a dark, welcoming heat beat back the apprehension.

When Ash dominated, I didn’t know why it aroused me to a fever pitch. Or maybe I did know why I liked it like this and wasn’t yet willing to face it. But I knew why I allowed him to take my hands and place them on the table. I knew why I didn’t put up a fight when he bent me forward, forcing me onto the tips of my toes. I understood how I didn’t panic when his large hand smoothed down the center of my back, pushing me onto the cool, glossy surface of the table.

I could give up control and let go.

Ash could take me.

And I could allow it.

Because he understood. I trusted him, and I knew I was always safe with him.

“Just do me a favor next time and take the dagger with you,” he said, working his forearm between the table and my cheek.

“I…I can do that.”

“Good.” Ash leaned into me. His lips were cool against my jaw. “Liessa?”

“Yes?” I breathed, staring at the open doors of the balcony beyond the pitcher and empty glasses on the table.

He lifted my gown, ru

Oh, gods.