Chapter 38

38

K yrie

It hurts, but I can’t scream.

I’m trapped inside myself. I can’t move so much as a muscle. It feels like my whole body is on fire. Like I’m burning from the inside out. Like there are flames snaking their way through my veins. My head feels like it might crack open at any moment.

Inside is utter chaos, but you would never tell by looking at me. I jostle in Damon’s arms. It feels like he has been running for an age. The pain intensifies.

Make it stop!

Make it stop!

Please!

Am I dying? Is this how it feels to die?

The darkness is closing in, a black void that threatens to consume me. The pain is still there, which means I am still very much alive. It has morphed into a throbbing sensation. Not as bad as before.

I can now feel the cold on my skin. It is a blessing. It helps cool my internal fire.

Eventually, Damon puts me down on the floor, which feels like it is made from solid rock. The ground feels frozen. It’s good. I moan.

“Kyrie.” He shakes me. “Kyrie, please.” He shakes me again. “Say something.”

I moan again.

“Yes. That’s it, love. Wake up for me, please.”

I try to respond, to say something, but I can’t; my mouth won’t form the words. My eyes won’t open. At least the pain is now a dull ache. It feels like it’s inside my bones.

“Come on, my love. Come back to me, please,” Damon begs. He pulls me into his arms and cradles me there.

We must sit like that for an age.

He talks to me, telling me stories from our time together in the mines. Between stories, he begs me to come back to him…not to die. I was hit by a bolt of magic. I should be dead, and yet…here I am.

I want to tell him that I’m okay. I don’t feel like I’m dying anymore. I don’t know why I can’t speak or move. It scares me.

It’s only when the pain is completely gone that I manage a twitch. It’s my left pinky finger that moves first. Then, all at once, like a burst of energy, I come back.

I open my eyes and suck in a huge breath. I feel revitalized. I feel better than ever.

“Kyrie!” Damon growls. “Oh, my love. You scared me. Speak to me. Please say something.”

“I love you.”

He starts laughing, cradling me to his chest. It sounds like he is crying as well, and when he pulls me away from him, I see that his lashes are wet and that his eyes are glinting.

“You scared me. I thought you were dying.” His voice is choked.

“I thought I was dying too.” I smile at him. “I’m fine, though.” I move my limbs and roll my shoulders. “Better than fine; most of my aches and pains have disappeared.” My right shoulder was a little stiff before. It feels perfect.

“Don’t do that to me ever again, Kyrie. I mean it. I thought I’d lost you. What were you thinking? You were going to sacrifice yourself to save me.”

“You did the same thing. That bolt was meant for you, not me.” I laugh softly.

“I’m a fae; I could have taken it. You should have died. I would have never forgiven myself. I need you in my life. I don’t know how I walked away from you. I shouldn’t have.”

“You came back.” I reach up and touch his face.

“Of course I did. I love you, Ky. More than you will know. I’m never letting you go. I’m never leaving you again. You’re stuck with me now.”

“Good, because you’re stuck with me, too.”

He gives me the most magnificent smile. My heart aches just seeing it.

“Are you sure you feel okay?”

“Better than okay. I feel great.”

He sighs. “I’m so glad to hear it.” Then he leans down and kisses me, his lips barely brushing mine before he pulls away.

“Are we at risk of being captured?”

“No, we’re far away from the Ice Court.”

“Good.” I sit up and kiss Damon; my kiss is hot and heavy right from the start. Before long, we are standing and pulling at each other’s clothes.

Damon stands with a growl. “I have to be inside you, love.”

“Yes,” I groan. There’s something about almost dying that makes a person want to feel alive.

He turns me around and pulls down my breeches. They snag on my boots, so he leaves them hanging around my legs.

We’re desperate. My love for this male has only grown since he left me yesterday. Since he risked his life to save me.

He puts his hand around my waist and his finger on my clit. He starts to rub on it softly, using a quick vibrating movement that has my back bowing and my eyes rolling back.

I groan. “Yes…oh!” I rock against his hand.

I’m groaning and panting. It must be the adrenaline caused by the ordeal, by almost dying. I don’t know how, but I’m already wet, and my belly feels tight.

He pulls back. I think it’s to unfasten his pants. I try to open my legs wider, but my breeches prevent it. I stick my ass in the air. I can’t wait for him to take me.

He doesn’t make me wait long. A second later, he lines up with my opening and thrusts inside in one hard movement that takes my breath. Damon grunts. He puts his hands on my hips, his fingers digging into my flesh in the best of ways.

I cry out, clutching at the rocky wall as he sinks deep.

Then he starts moving. Damon doesn’t go easy at all. I feel his urgency, his fear, and his love. I feel so much love.

I can’t open wide, and as a result, I can feel him more acutely.

I feel his every thrust, his every twitch. I can feel his cock pulsing, filling me deep within. Each movement sends jolts of pleasure through my body, building up into a crescendo that threatens to carry me away with it.

Damon’s breath is hot on my neck as he pounds into me, his heart thudding against my back. I can feel the tension in him, the need to release, to connect.

I feel the same way.

He grunts with every thrust, his hands clutching my hips. I’m crying out, the sound echoing along with the slap of our bodies joining together, as well as the wet sounds of my greedy body.

“Oh, love!” Damon growls. It sounds like he is barely holding on.

Then my channel is spasming around him. All I see is white light bursting behind my eyelids.

I shout his name into the dark tunnel. He says mine with reverence as I feel his hot seed spurting deep inside me.

He rocks into me until we are both fully sated, then he leans against me, trying to catch his breath. I use the wall as an anchor.

“I will never tire of this.” His cock is still buried inside me. “You’re my life, Ky. I’m sorry I left you,” he says as he gently pulls out of me.

“You can stop apologizing. We both thought it was a good idea at the time. It wasn’t.” I’m panting, too. That was incredible.

We start to fix our clothes. I feel him sticky between my legs. I look around. “Where are we? You said we were far from the Ice Court.”

“We’re under the Absidium Mountains.” He makes a face.

“Is that where the tunnels cave in and the rats like eating human flesh?” My eyes go wide.

“Human or fae; they don’t discriminate.” His mouth twitches.

“This is not the time to joke.” I stare into the darkness.

“At least we are safe from the icefae; they won’t venture here. I’m sorry to say that all we have is one lantern. It might die on us before we make it out.” Damon’s expression is grave.

“I guess we’d better get going then.”

“Are you fine to travel?” He narrows his eyes.

“Yes. I told you I was fine. I meant it. I want to get out of here…please.” I hated it the first time. I hate it even more the second time. It feels…ominous down here.

“Let’s go, then.” Damon picks up the lantern, and we start walking.

“It’s going to be a long journey, Ky. We don’t have any supplies to speak of or any horses waiting for us when we emerge.”

“We have each other, which means that we will be fine.”

Damon finds my hand and holds it tightly. “You are right, love. We’ll figure it out.”

“Now you’re catching on.”

He gives me a smile that takes my breath. I have a feeling it will take my breath for years to come, the gods be willing.