Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Get your shit together, he instructed himself. She didn’t need his anger right now. He closed his eyes and cleared his mind. What she needed was everything he’d denied himself after dealing with Kolis’s punishments and that Primal bitch Veses’ demands. Sera needed comfort and stability. Support. The tremor ceased. His chest loosened.
He checked his deadly anger. Lightly touching her face, his jaw hardened as she trembled in her sleep, a charge of energy passed through her to him, stroking the Primal essence.
Ash kissed her brow, easing the tension there. “Sera,” he called, letting a little of his power seep into his voice. There was a chance it wouldn’t work—compulsion couldn’t be used against other Primals by anyone but the Primal of Life—but she’d just Ascended and wasn’t anywhere near full power. He hoped it worked and then hated that he had that hope. Didn’t like doing it at all. But he loathed her fear more. “Wake up, liessa.”
CHAPTER ONE
Ash’s voice coaxed me from sleep. Feeling my pounding heartbeats slow, I forced a dry, almost painful swallow. My throat felt like I’d been screaming for days—years, even. But I hadn’t screamed since the City of the Gods. Not since Dalos.
Cool lips brushed my cheek, and I immediately rolled toward the comfort of a long, hard body. An arm lifted, giving me the space to nestle against his chest.
All the tension left me as I relaxed into him. That was his effect on me. I calmed. Every part of me.
Letting my hand rest against his side, I pressed my lips to the hollow of his throat. “I didn’t mean to doze off.”
Ash’s lips brushed the top of my head. “It’s okay, liessa.”
Something beautiful.
Something powerful.
Every damn time he spoke that word, it washed over me like a gentle caress, filling my heart with an acute sense of belonging, of being wanted and cherished—two things I’d spent my whole life desperately wanting to feel.
“You were dreaming,” he said quietly.
My stomach clenched. Had I shouted something? Was that why my throat felt scratchy? “I…I was?”
There was a pause. “You don’t remember?”
“No,” I lied, my skin prickling. “Was I, like, doing something weird?”
His lips coasted over my forehead once more. “No, liessa. You were just restless.”
Oh, thank the gods.
I snuggled into him, trying to turn him into my personal cooling blanket. “How long was I asleep?”
“Not long at all.” Ash folded his arm over my waist. “Less than thirty minutes.”
Nuzzling the crook of his neck, I smiled. “Why do I have a feeling you’re lying?”
“Because I am.”
A raspy laugh left me, and his arm flexed, briefly tightening around me. “So, you were just trying to make me feel better about falling asleep after being in stasis for days?”
“The kind of sleep you experienced isn’t necessarily restful,” he explained with a level of patience I wasn’t even remotely capable of. “Not when the body is going through such drastic changes.” He paused. “And I haven’t really allowed you to rest upon waking either.”
Memories—some sweet and others downright scandalous—of the hours after I’d awakened from stasis rose and caused my toes to curl. “I’m not at all complaining about my lack of rest.”
A darkly sensual chuckle teased the top of my head. “I didn’t think you were.” A hint of unadulterated male smugness had crept into his tone. “But the Ascension does take its toll. You need your rest.”
“I don’t feel like I need to be resting,” I denied, speaking directly against the chest I was still plastered to.
“You should.” He worked a knee between mine, managing to get even closer. “We have time. We have as much time as you need.”
Time? What a funny concept. Sure, we had it, but how much? Not nearly enough. And we’d already spent quite a bit of it in bed, kissing, tasting, fucking, and making love while ignoring the realm beyond the bed.
Ignoring what awaited us.
And while I wanted nothing more than to remain in this place where nothing could touch us, unease bubbled beneath my skin. We had so much to deal with, and neither of us was prepared for most of it.
Starting with what I had become.
Ash’s head turned slightly, and he pressed his lips against my bare shoulder, his fingers tangling in the curls there. “Have I told you how beautiful your hair is?” he asked.
My stomach suddenly twisted sharply.
That wasn’t the first time he’d said that. Ash was as fascinated by my hair as I was by his smiles. He loved the pale shade. But I felt stagnant, heavy air. Breathe in. Smelled the suffocating scent of stale lilacs. And no matter how badly I didn’t want to, I saw the true Primal of Death before me, his uneven smile fading. He looked at—no, he scrutinized—the color of my hair. I heard Kolis’s voice—
“He hated my hair,” I blurted, my heart thudding like a hammer against my ribs. I squeezed my eyes shut tighter, seeing bursts of white light.