Chapter 13

P ounding rain pelted Torin's bare back as he took Emara's head in one hand and the small of her back in the other and dragged her into him. His lips hit hers with a thunder louder than what was in the sky. Her chest collided with his, and the feeling of her curves softening against him was everything. His tongue opened her mouth further, deepening the kiss as her hands grabbed his neck and hair.

Pulling.

Needing him.

He had kissed her hard and wild, but how she was kissing him back was matching every part of what he had offered her.

His equal.

His superior.

His thrill.

Trailing his hand from her hair round to her throat, he reluctantly pulled back and whispered into her mouth, "I am so unworthy of you. I see that every time I look at you, especially when I see how you fight for a better world. What I have done makes me so undeserving of you."

"Torin…" She panted against his mouth, clutching at his neck.

"No, you have to hear this." He opened his eyes to find hers watching him, droplets of rain clinging to her lashes. "Don't think for one second that I never wanted this—us. I wanted all of it. I swear to Thorin, I wanted it all. I just didn't know how without putting you in danger. I wanted to give you the best chance at being an empress."

Her midnight hair was soaking, hanging heavy and straight around her shoulders. Her lips were swollen from his kiss and slightly parted, unable to speak. Her skin, drenched in raindrops, was darker, and it was evident that it had been bathed by the sun's light. But even in this storm, she finally had a glow around her again. That steely gaze was back in her eyes, that fire and magic swirling endlessly. Her grey summer dress lay against her curves, highlighting where she rounded beautifully, all places he had worshipped before and wanted to worship now.

She was the most exquisite creature he had ever laid eyes on. Their chests heaved as they looked at one another. The energy charged around them, and he could have sworn that the lightning that split the sky in half was all for her. For them. She was the storm. She was the stars. She was the moon.

And she was right. She was always right. They couldn't go down without fighting for this. How could he not fight for this?

That was very un-Blacksteel of him.

He pushed her dark, wet hair back from her face and leaned in further, his fingers splayed on her cheek. "I never thought I would find someone like you, Emara. The first time you ever scolded me for being a dick was the second I knew I was in trouble, and I was addicted to you from that moment on. I had to know every inch of you, your heart, your soul. I had to be the reason for your tremendous smile, and I had to know that the dangerous glint in your eyes was for me. Only for me." He kissed her again; he needed to feel her lips on his, it had been too long. He pulled back, leaving them both breathless. "I have darkness too, Emara. And you have been so very patient with that. I was not afraid to see your darkness. I'm still not. And I do not care what blood you have running through your veins. I am so madly in love with you and nothing can change that."

He noticed her eyes widen and change colour as shock hit her heart. As her lips parted to speak, he kissed her again, this time with a little more poise than last. Emara pulled his head to hers again, not settling for anything less than hard passion as she pressed her body against him, drinking in every inch of his mouth. She wanted more of him, and he wanted all of her.

Maybe a moment of madness slipped past them both, but they laughed against each other's mouths, and when she pulled back to look at him, he couldn't for one second more believe that this was not the path the Gods had set for him.

It was her.

She was magical.

She was rainstorms and beauty. She was fire and steel. She was chaos and harmony. She was darkness and light. She was…

She was everything.

She was his everything.

"I love you too." She smiled up at him as if she could feel what he was thinking and then she said, "Kiss me, Torin Blacksteel, and don't stop."

His grin must have been wider than the broken sea as he took in the memory of the first time he had begged her to say those little words. Words that meant more to him than she would ever know. Words that had changed the course of their path.

His hand found its way behind her ear. "I will never stop kissing you, Emara Clearwater. Not for anything. Not even for the Gods."

He picked her up like the Goddess she was, and she wrapped her body around him before his mouth was on hers again and he was striding towards a place where he could have every inch of her glorious bare skin against his.

Emara was unsure how she'd made it down the stairs or through the corridors without as much as opening her eyes or taking a breath.

Torin had just burst through a door and slammed Emara against the wall. His hard body pressed into hers, and she let out a moan of want—of need.

What he had said to her on the roof, how he had looked at her, how he had kissed her…

She would take some time alone to process it all, but right now, with her back against the cool stone and Torin Blacksteel at her neck with this wicked mouth—and tongue and teeth—she wanted to let the worries of everything slip away, leaving only them.

"You have no idea how much I have wanted this." He nibbled into her skin, and her body moved against him the way the moon commanded the ocean's tide. "What I have thought about every time I saw you."

Her mind tried to conjure up words, but nothing but pleasure and fire rode through her veins, silencing her speech entirely.

How could he do such things with one press of his mouth against her skin?

She couldn't even take in the surroundings of his room as her head fell back against the cool stone and all of his hardness pressed against the heat of her body. Still dripping wet from the rain, he licked up her neck all the way to her ear, and a primal moan earthed from his throat just as one left hers too.

"It has been too long since I heard those moans from your lips," he said as he pulled at her ear with his teeth.

"Has it?" she managed to say through wavering breaths.

"You know it has, angel. Don't you agree?" His free hand started to roam over her skin.

It made her toes curl. "I have also thought about this, I can't lie to you."

He pulled back slightly at that, a cheeky grin curling in the left corner of his mouth. "You have?"

She swallowed and nodded.

"Now you need to tell me what you thought of," he demanded in a voice so low and raspy that it sent a tingle straight to her core.

Unhooking her legs from his waist, she slid down him slowly, and it sent a shiver through his whole body. Reaching out for the button to his leathers, she said, "I thought of doing this." She undid the catch, and the opening to his leathers gaped open, revealing a little trail of dark hair.

Emara could feel the flames of dominance that burned in his muscles to take over, but surprisingly, he let her lead.

For now.

Once she had unclipped the fastening, she kneeled, taking his leathers to the ground, revealing every inch of him. She kissed up his thigh, and his head fell back as a hiss left his throat.

His eyes clenched shut. "You thought about teasing me, did you?"

"I thought about doing everything with you."

He curled a finger under her chin, and she met his gaze. "Stand up, angel, and I will tell you what I thought of." His eyes glistened with wickedness that made her heart leap.

She stood, meeting his gaze again.

"I thought about you, on my bed, with nothing but that little winter solstice present on." He looked down to take in her body and then back up to her face. "But since we don't have that intriguing garment tonight, it doesn't seem right to keep this one on." He pulled at the thin strap of the dress and tugged it off her shoulder.

Her heart squeezed in her chest as his grin widened and turned wicked. He turned her so that she faced the wall, her hands slamming into the brick with how quick he had moved her. He quickly unhooked the fastenings of her dress, and she could feel her exposed skin greeted by his lips.

Why did he have to tease her to the brink of extinction every time?

A tightening ran up her core and into her stomach. But by the Gods, did she love it.

Torin ran his hands down her back, taking the dress with it, grabbing her underwear as he went. He moved it over her ass and then her thighs, and she felt the warmth of his hands on her skin.

He leaned into her as the material of her soaking dress hit her toes, and she could feel every rock-hard muscle press against her spine. She gasped a little, her fingernails scratching into the cool stone as the hardness of his shaft pressed against her opening.

"The last time we went exploring, I was very careful with you," he announced as he swept her hair over her shoulder so that it was hanging down past her face, covering her nipple.

She was exposed to him, her hands still on the wall, and he must feel how ready she was for him.

Oh Gods, she was ready.

"Mmm," she hummed back as a dangerous pleasure rode through her, his cock almost entering her as he ground against her ass, his strong thighs moving her to where he wanted.

"I don't think I can be as careful this time, angel. Not when I see you like this."

"Then don't be," she rasped.

He grabbed her, moving her from the position she was in and spinning her to face him.

A thrill ran through every single part of who she was. Even her darkness beckoned to him for a taste.

Pulling her against his chest and forcing her to wrap her legs around him, Emara didn't have time to breathe before his mouth landed on hers again, hot and searing. He moved gracefully towards the bed, and before she could find time to kiss him back, he had her on her back.

Torin was over her then, moving her hair from her face as he placed himself between her legs and let one lazy thrust roll his hips. "Tell me you are mine."

"You know I am."

He moved back, placing a finger on the bundle of nerves between her thighs. Already, she was about to cave under his touch. "Tell me."

"I am yours."

"Say it again when I am inside you." He slid one finger inside her and then two, wasting no time. Sparkling orbs formed in her vision as he stretched her.

Through staggered breaths and a moan, she managed to say, "I am yours."

"You are so ready for me." He withdrew his fingers and placed all of his hardness against her centre. He moved his hips, circling and rubbing, driving her wild.

Always teasing.

"You are going to tell me you are mine when my cock is inside you, and I am going to hear only my name from your lips when you release. Do you understand, angel?"

"Yes," she pleaded, not knowing if she had whispered it, shouted it, or even sang it.

He pushed himself into her, and she took a breath, finding his neck and broad shoulders to grab onto. Every solid, thick, long inch of him filled her, and a gasp left her mouth. Both delight and an unusual stretching mixed together beautifully, causing a moan to slip past her lips.

He moved slowly enough at first as she got used to him, but as his mouth landed on hers, the pace of his thrusts picked up.

Emara couldn't think of anything else as he moved inside her. Nothing else mattered. Only this. Them.

"Say it."

"Torin, I am yours."

"And I am yours," he said as the love between them became wild and untamed.

He grabbed the back of her head, pulling her hair back, and a moan escaped her throat as he pounded inside her. Her eyes closed as he slammed his mouth to her neck and sucked. In that moment, Emara could have sworn she saw a whole other galaxy above her as the pleasure morphed into something more, something unexplainable.

She could have cursed, could have prayed, could have roared, as the pleasure of Torin Blacksteel's strokes hit her core endlessly. She lifted her hips to roll into his movements, and a groan from his throat made it clear that he liked it. Loved it. The way he bit into his lip also suggested that he was fighting the pleasure of release.

His fingers untangled from her hair for a sweet moment and made their way across her skin to her peaked flesh. He took one of her nipples into his mouth, still not missing a stride. Her head fell back against the pillows as she continued to meet his thrusts, each one building to something momentous.

As she dragged her nails across his skin, he hissed, but that only seemed to encourage his wicked tongue to flick her nipple quicker.

They were on the verge of ecstasy. It was dark and it was raw and it was invigorating.

He lifted her other leg, wrapping it around his back, lifting her ass from the mattress as he rolled his hips against her.

A swirling, coiling tension rose from her body, and Emara felt it from her neck all the way to her toes. She had felt this sensation before, but she could feel the power in this climax. So much more power. So much more pleasure.

As Torin slammed into her again, her release broke, fluttering all the way through every morsel of her being, pushing her senses out of her body and her heart out of her chest. She cried out his name again, and as she did, a tingling spread over her spine. Arching her back, she called out something intangible and her muscles went weak. Emara heard a change in Torin's breathing, his movements altering as he chased his release, finding the pleasure of hers all too much.

A moan ripped from his throat and his body ceased, every Gods-carved muscle tightening and then releasing. He only just stopped himself from collapsing on top of her. They both took a deep breath before their gazes met once again.

He leaned down, placing his strong nose to hers, and kissed her lips, making her heart flutter in a different way. Her stomach rolled and flipped.

How could he be so strong and wild in one moment and so careful and gentle in the next?

For a few moments, they both lay together as he curled up beside her, their hands and legs intertwining.

"I promise, Emara"—his voice came out broken and low—"I will protect you and your heart until this world dissolves into nothing and we are not anything more than lost stars in the universe. I can't lose you again. Not for any man or any oath."

At that, she rolled onto her belly and pulled up the covers so that her body was covered a little. "And I will stand by your side until the sun falls from the sky."

His eyebrows pulled down as he found a strand of her hair to play with. "Not even after that?" he jested.

Emara rolled her eyes. "Okay, even after that."

The back of Torin's hand brushed all the untamed hair from her face, and she took a moment to just look at him in all his beautiful glory. His angled jaw, his striking eyes, his full lips, swollen from how hard he had kissed her. His body relaxed on his bed like he was meant to be in this moment with her. Like this was where the Gods wanted them to be.

And then a thought occurred to her.

She sat up abruptly, taking the covers with her. "Oh my Gods, I am in your room."

He rolled onto his side, still stark naked, and said, "And is that a problem?"

Emara laughed as she took in her surroundings for the first time. She blinked a few times before swallowing.

She had never been in Torin Blacksteel's bedroom before.

His bed was massive, twice the size of the one she had in Mossgrave, and absolutely bigger than her one down the corridor. Surrounding them on the bed were four posters of dark oak, and light charcoal fabric hung in ties at each corner. His sheets were crisp and as white as snow, decorated with furs at the bottom. Plenty of pillows lay scattered around, and she let out a giggle at how messy they were from what they had just done.

His walls were white, but the art that hung there was complete with forest landscapes and midnight skies full of stars. Weaponry dotted all over the room too, of course, like some sort of mini training room. Axes and swords hung on the walls, and by the door that they had broken through in passion hung a tiny archery set, like the one a baby Torin would have first practised with.

She had no idea why her heart reacted the way it did when she thought of a small hunter, dressed in training gear, with a little mane of inky hair and baby-blue eyes. The menacing scowl, she imagined, would still be the same.

She banished the thought and the emotions it conjured up and cast her eyes around the rest of the room. He had a dark oak wardrobe placed next to the large window like her own, and she assumed it was stacked to the brim of nothing but black garments and hunting attire. A light grey oil lamp sat on top of the same black-oak drawers as the bed, and one sat at either side of them. A few royal-blue rugs lined the floors, and she noted a bathing chamber off to the right that seemed to be carved in white marble.

His room was nothing like the Tower outside of this room, cold and meaningless.

Torin's room was cosy and, surprisingly, rather stylish.

"Should I be worried that you haven't said anything as your eyes have investigated my entire bed chambers?" He laughed slightly as he still twirled the strand of her hair in between his fingers.

"You shouldn't be worried." She turned back to him and smiled. "It's just I have never been here before. I think…it's not what I expected."

"Not many people have," he said back coolly. "I don't let people in here. It's mine."

And that surprised her too.

"No friends? "

It was then that he rolled his eyes and let go of her hair, his back finding the mattress once more. "No friends. Just you." He pulled on her elbow gently, and she fell back onto the soft mattress to feel his warmth again. "It's only ever going to be you that's allowed in here. In my own little part of this Tower I am supposed to call home."

"I could get used to that," she said, holding back her smile as she blinked at him. "I like it."

"Just smile." He grinned as he looked at her. "I know you want to. I bet you had all sorts of little sordid fantasies about what my room would look like."

She wanted to laugh so hard because it was true. But she couldn't, not yet. She couldn't let him know that he was right.

She hit him with a soft fist on the chest. "Shut up. I will smile when I want to smile, not when you tell me to." It was then she couldn't trap the smile that graced her lips. "And I can't tell you about the kind of fantasies that I had about this room because I don't think you would class them as fantasies."

"I bet a gold coin you thought I would have ruby-red silk sheets and a sex swing in the corner?"

She could feel her eyes bulge out from her skull. "A sex swing? Torin Blacksteel! I did not for one moment think you would have a sex swing." A flustered laugh escaped her. "I don't even think my mind could conjure up a thing."

He chuckled. "Give yourself some time," he said, his smooth voice coasting through the small distance between them as they lay together on the bed. "You haven't been to the markets on a full moon. You would be surprised to see what they sell on those nights."

She bit her lip. "Oh Gods, is it bad that I am now curious about what a sex swing would look like?"

A deep laugh rumbled from his belly, and it was the first she had seen him laugh properly in Rhiannon knows how long. "There is always the next winter solstice."

She gasped. "You wouldn't."

"Wouldn't I?" His eyebrow rose, and the glittering in his eyes sent her heart into a frenzy.

She clamped her lips shut, because the fact was she couldn't tell if he would or not. Heat coated her cheeks at the thought.

"Who needs a spear when you can have a sex swing?" He nudged her gently.

"Shut up, I like my spear." She smiled too.

A lovely, lulling silence filled the room for a few moments as she continued to look around herself.

"I was right about the red silk sheets though, wasn't I?" A sinful smirk pulled his lips apart.

"I will never confirm or deny anything." She pouted.

Without saying a word, he pulled her into his chest as a little laugh broke through his grin. "I've missed you." He let out a breath. "Even your fists. In fact, especially your fists, and I can't believe I've already been hit with a right hook."

Emara let out a giggle of her own. "You know that wasn't a right hook, Torin Blacksteel."

He hummed in agreement, and she felt it go through his chest. "The only thing missing in all of this was that sensual little leg strap holding your spear. Don't tell me you stopped wearing it?"

"Oh, I still wear it. I wore it in the pits.," she said as she placed her head to his heart.

"Let's not talk about the pits tonight."

She tried to laugh, but the intoxicating warmth of Torin Blacksteel's chest had lulled her eyes to shut. "Oh, and by the way, I have missed you more," she whispered.

"Impossible," was all she heard him say back before the constant beating of Torin's heart sent her spent body into a calming sleep.