A Kingdom of Venom and Vows (Stars and Shadows #3)(32)

She moved out of my path, and I continued down the hall to our room.

I pushed my door open before stepping inside, and I didn’t stop until we reached the washroom. I used my magic to quickly start filling the tub with steaming water before I carefully sat Adara to her feet, and she looked around as if she had been homesick for this place all along.

It was a look that made my chest ache and my fist clench at my side. I felt desperate to return to the fae kingdom and burn it to the ground. I didn’t care who was innocent, that kingdom had taken her from me, and I wanted to ruin every part of it.

I reached around the back of her with trembling hands, and I quickly undid the laces of her bodice. The weight of the gown made it fall from her frame almost instantly, and she reached for my hand before stepping out of the fabric.

I dropped to my knees before her, slowly pulling her undergarments down her legs, and I paused as I noted the long unhealed scar on her thigh.

Adara quickly dropped her hand to the wound as if she could hide it from me, but I pushed it away. My brother had done this to her. My own blood was responsible for causing her this harm, and I would kill him for it.

I dragged the undergarment over the scar, careful not to hurt her before I leaned forward and pressed my lips against the angry red line.

“I’m okay.” She repeated the words she had said to me earlier, but she wasn’t okay. She had been harmed.

And I would hate myself for the rest of my life for allowing it to happen.

“You are not okay.” I kissed the scar again as I pulled the undergarment to her feet and helped her step out. “I’m so sorry, princess.”

I kissed the wound again, and I felt her tense under my lips. She stood before me wearing nothing but the jewels on her wrist, and I reached forward to remove them.

Adara pulled her wrist away from my touch, and her gaze shuddered as she gently shook her head.

My jaw clenched tight, my teeth feeling as if they might snap, and I reached out for her wrist again and pulled it toward me. This time she let me, but her wrist trembled in my hand.

There was so much fear in her, fear that hadn’t been there before, and my heart hammered in my chest as I imagined what they’d done to cause that fear.

My magic thrummed inside of me with the thirst to destroy anyone who had created it.

I unclasped the three bracelets one by one, and my anger only intensified as the still bloody cut on her wrist was revealed beneath. She stared down at the wound, and I could see how badly it affected her.

I ran my fingers over the cut, careful not to hurt her, and I let my magic flow through me and into her. Her spine straightened as soon as she felt my magic touch her skin, but as the black of my power bled into her skin, she sagged in relief.

I didn’t stop pushing it against her until both the wounds on her body healed and both scars were replaced with a mark of my own. If I had known they were there last night, I would have healed them then. It wouldn’t take away what he had done, but I never wanted her to look down at her body and hate what she saw.

When she looked at these scars, I didn’t want her to think of him. I wanted her to think of me and how my love for her was something I had waited a lifetime for.

I would have waited a hundred lifetimes to get to her.

I pressed my hands against her hips, running my fingers over her smooth skin, and she grasped my shoulders with her still trembling hands.

“You are so beautiful.” I looked up at her, and her cheeks flushed as she stared down at me. “Every part of you is perfect.”

I leaned forward and pressed my lips to her bare stomach. My body was on fire, and I wanted nothing more than to bend her over this tub and bury myself deep inside her. But that wasn’t what she needed from me right now.

And I would give her anything she needed.

Every part of me belonged to her, to use as she demanded.

“Let’s get you in the bath.” I rose from my knees and dipped to pick her up in my arms. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders as I slid my hand beneath her knees and cradled her against my chest.

I slowly eased her into the water, and she moaned as the hot water surrounded her. I laid her head back against the back of the tub before I stood to grab a towel.

But she stopped me with her hand on mine before I could manage a single step.

“Get in with me. Please.”

There was no denying her. I had never been able to.

I quickly threw off my clothing, and she leaned forward in the tub, leaving room for me behind her. I climbed in and groaned as soon as she leaned back and pressed her back to my chest.

The feel of her body against mine was overwhelming. I ran my fingers up and down her arms because I couldn’t get over the feel of her. She was here. She was mine, and she was here, and my breath caught in my throat at how badly I missed her.

It had been suffocating me, starving me of life, and with her here before me I could finally breathe.

I pressed my nose into her hair and took a long, deep breath.

We were both silent, just happy to live in the feel of one another, and her fingers trailed up and down my thighs as if she was trying to commit my body to memory.

I reached up and gently pulled the small clips from her hair that were still holding it in place, and her dark hair tumbled down her back and against my chest. I pressed my fingers into her scalp, massaging and touching every inch of her I could.

“That feels good,” she moaned and leaned harder against me.