Sky and Storm ( Warriors of Vis #1)(43)
Cloud nodded, relief washing over her face. She then relaxed into the pillows, and passed out in a heartbeat.
“I am so sorry she had to go through that,” Sky whispered, turning to face Storm.
Storm rolled his eyes and kissed Sky’s lips. “I am the one who is sorry. I should have taken you with me. None of this would have happened.”
Sky shook his head and cupped Storm’s face. “I am glad you didn’t. We might see it now as having gone through hell. But can you imagine? What it would have been like to live with that snake among us?”
Storm sighed and pulled his husband closer. Sky was right, they were all relatively unscathed, if one overlooked the emotional bruises. The devil looming in the shadows of Vis was gone. All that was left? Her minions.
CHAPTER XVIII
The Hearth Rebuilt
A FEW WEEKS AFTER being saved, Sky was still feeling the aftereffects of his abduction. Every night he woke up in a cold sweat, screaming and fighting faceless assailants trying to rape him. Every night, Storm was there to comfort him. Kiss him, hold him, lull him back to sleep. Storm had been safely attached to Sky ever since they’d returned, more so after discovering the former queen’s betrayal. Now, with the king ruling only in name, Storm was the one forced to make all decisions. Cloud had helped as much as she could, Sky too, but the most they could do was babysit Vis’s king and make sure he put his sigil on everything Storm needed.
Wherever Sky went, Storm’s elite were following. Sky didn’t need them, he could defend himself, but Storm insisted. “Just one more day, love, for me. Please? I need you to be seen as untouchable. Prevent more traitors from trying to harm you.” Sky caved. If that brought Storm’s peace of mind, why not? It never was for too long. Storm would find a way of keeping Sky close, as if no one else, not even the Dragon’s best warriors, were fit to protect Sky.
Despite Storm’s genuine care, Sky missed his husband. Even when they were in bed, so close to each other, Sky could feel Storm’s heartbeat, echoing in his own chest, Sky sensed this hard to describe space between them. On a spiritual level, they were closer than ever. The distance was physical. And it all came from Storm’s refusal to make love to Sky. Every time things progress beyond chaste kisses, Storm would pull back. He wouldn’t even let Sky pull him on top.
Sky wasn’t oblivious. He knew this stemmed from Storm’s fear of triggering any bad memories from Sky’s captivity. Had it been anyone else, Sky would have probably been sent back to that cold, dirty tent. But this was Storm, Sky’s everything, the person that made him feel safest.
“Are you all right, love?” Storm asked from the seat next to Sky. Startled, Sky looked around the breakfast table. Cloud was looking at him, an eyebrow raised, and the beginning of a smirk twisting her mouth. At the head of the table, the king was staring into his plate. He hadn’t talked much since his wife had been executed by Sera.
“Stop hovering, brother.” Cloud clicked her tongue and turned her attention to her plate. “He won’t disappear from right in front of you.”
“I’m fine,” Sky said, stabbing a piece of sausage harder than he’d meant.
“You’d tell me if anything was wrong, wouldn’t you?” Storm took Sky’s hand in his, the knife caught between them.
Sky sighed and nodded. Storm was right to ask. Sky hadn’t said anything about the situation. Hadn’t made one single comment about needing Storm the way he needed him before this happened.
“We’ll talk after we finish our meal. I promise.” He winked at Storm and shoved the piece of sausage into his mouth, chewing and smiling.
Storm relaxed, beaming at his husband. “It’s a date.”
While Storm rushed through his meal, in his normal fashion, Sky picked at his food. He wanted them to get back to how they were, but he was anxious about bringing his concerns to Storm. They’d both been through a lot, from the day they’d met, while they’d been apart, and especially since they’d married. Sky didn’t want to seem ungrateful, or too concerned with superficial aspects of their relationship. Either way, he couldn’t deny his feelings, nor could he deny Storm his honesty.
“Done, love?” Storm asked, pulling Sky out of his reverie.
“Oh, sure.” Sky smiled, taking in Storm’s half-bored, half-impatient face. When he was like that, Storm looked younger, almost as he was when they were teenagers.
Sky pushed himself up and took Storm’s hand, giving it a little pull. “Come on, then. This conversation is a waste if you are not there to have it with me.”
Storm chuckled and followed behind Sky as he led them both to their chambers. At night, the king still slept in the adjacent room to theirs, and sometimes Cloud would come to their bedroom in the middle of the night, more so after a particularly bad dream. She hadn’t been dealing well with her mother’s death, even if she knew there was no other punishment for the former queen. During the day, though, they tried their best to avoid Sky and Storm. The king, because seeing them reminded him of his loss and his own weakness; Cloud because she didn’t want to impose more than she needed to.
The stillness of the room relaxed Sky. He treasured these moments, when it was just Storm and himself, no one else to breach their intimacy.
Storm wrapped his arms around Sky, hugging him from behind, and resting his chin on Sky’s shoulder. “What’s weighing on your mind, Sky? Is there anything wrong?”