45. Chapter Forty-Five

Chapter Forty-Five

Kade

K ade woke with Evelyn in his arms and her scent wrapped around him. He shifted their entangled bodies, so he lay flat on his back, and Evelyn stirred a little, sighing into his chest as he pulled her closer and weaved his fingers through her hair. It fell from his fingers like delicate spun silk.

They’d only been asleep for a few hours. The fire had gone out aside from the specks of embers dotting the scorched timber. Early morning cast the room in a grayish purple, painting Evelyn’s naked body in a lovely light, drawing the pink undertones of her skin and the blue in her dark hair. As if his staring had tickled her, she roused from sleep, blinking up at him.

Hello, she said, rather lucid but through their mental bond.

Her greeting was crisper, sharper than ever before. And not because of the little distance between them, but because of their stronger, fully mated bond. Wolf and flame now threaded Kade’s being, his soul newly woven. He and Evelyn were finally one, and nothing had ever felt so right in his existence. So pure, bright, and fierce.

Hello to you, too. He tucked loose strands behind her ear. Their earlier activities had left her hair tousled and wild, and Kade’s insides warmed at the sight. He liked seeing Evelyn a little messy, a little unraveled because of their intimate time together. It made him smile and took his breath away all at once.

“I can… feel you,” she whispered, a sense of wonder glimmering in her eyes.

Kade nodded. “Is that to be expected for fateds?”

Evelyn nibbled her bottom lip. “I think so. I know ones souls ties to the other, and I can most certainly feel your wolf. It’s so…”

“Beastly?” he asked.

Evelyn laughed, leaning into his chest. When she peered back up at him, she rested her chin on him, silvery gaze drinking him up. “That’s precisely it.”

“Your magic is warm,” he whispered. “Like a summer’s evening.”

Evelyn hummed. She trailed her fingers across his abdomen. “We should probably bathe.”

Kade’s injuries had healed since their attack on the castle, but dirt and blood remained, along with the numerous floured handprints. The same covered Evelyn— his handprints—as well as muck and scrapes. At the sight, Kade’s hold on her waist tightened, but Evelyn wiggled free, rising to her full height. Her skin glowed like the surface of the moon, her eyes the blue of a clear sky at witching hour.

“Please don’t worry,” she whispered. “My injuries are healed.”

Kade disagreed. Bruises remained on her legs and day-old yellow ones on her wrists—she shouldn’t have bruises with her witch’s magic, so why did she?

Evelyn held out a hand, stalling the unsavory questions on his tongue.

Kade could never deny Evelyn, especially not when she stood beautiful and bare for him, breasts peaked, and his scent left on her sex. He took her hand, and together they found the washing room. The cottage, thank the gods, had working plumbing like Lou’s bakery. The two showered in silence, washing, touching, and kissing the other every so often as dirt and crimson swirled down the drain.

Kade had half a mind to turn Evelyn around, arch her ass out and take her from behind. The image was tempting, especially when he thought of their last time in a shower, Evelyn on her knees, looking up at him. He grabbed Evelyn’s waist, tugging her to him.

Rose and honey soap created plumes of perfumed steam, droplets gathering on her lashes like tiny jewels reflecting the silver in her eyes. He smirked, letting his heat and desire into every inch of his stare. Evelyn smiled, giddy and pleased, until—

Her stomach growled. Both of them stilled, and it rumbled again, louder than the running showerhead.

“How dare my body betray me,” she said.

Kade laughed. “When was the last time you ate, love?”

Evelyn said nothing, pulling out of his hold and exiting the shower. She passed him a towel and began to dry off with her own. The shower had done her wonders, but it didn’t undo the tiny bit of weight she’d lost. Kade had been so eager, so hungry for her hours ago, he had almost forgotten she’d been in the dungeons.

“Evelyn,” he said.

She brushed her hair out and wrapped the towel to stay in place, again ignoring his question.

“Do you think they left food downstairs?” she asked.

Kade sighed. It was clear she didn’t want to talk about it. Stars above , her evasion of what she endured these last few weeks made him want to talk about it more. The need to demand answers bubbled up in him, but Kade bit back the words. He repeated his mantra, one foot in front of the other . Find food. Rest a little more. Yet, something else stilled his words. Kade couldn’t put his finger on what, though.

Downstairs, they found fresh clothes on the kitchen table. Yennifer had left Evelyn a few pairs of trousers and tunics, their heights similar, but Kade didn’t miss how she grabbed an extra one of his tunics. It swallowed her lean frame, hitting right at her maddening, muscular thighs. She didn’t appear inclined to dress in anything else, and Kade’s chest swelled with male pride .

She opened a neatly folded box, gasping at the sight of the contents inside.

“ Fucking flames , these look divine,” Evelyn said.

Kade laughed, peering into the box. Pastries, eggy custards, and a few breads bursting with the last of autumn veg waited for them.

“Lou happens to be a talented baker.” He pointed to the slice of eggy pie. “That is called a quiche.”

“It smells like cheese and heaven,” Evelyn murmured.

“It tastes better than it smells, if you can believe that.”

Evelyn nibbled her lip. “This Lou, she’s a friend?”

Kade shrugged. “I’ve only known her for a few days, but she’s been more than helpful in our efforts to get you back. She housed my team and me, and her bakery connects to the underground tunnels, like the one you used to travel here. She is, though, Tovi’s friend.”

Evelyn stiffened at her friend’s name and closed the box.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” he asked.

Evelyn gave him a smile, but not a real one. “Debating if I should have a coffee now or if I’ll take a post-pastry nap after eating these.”

She rummaged in the cupboards, and when she secured a jar of the beans she needed, her decision had been made as she prepared the items to make two cups. Unlike in the shower, Kade didn’t hold back.

“You’ll need to talk with her eventually,” he said.

“Oh, she and I already spoke.” She turned to look at him. “Tovi and I said plenty in the caverns under Drystan Castle. Not sure there’s much else to say now.”

A kettle whistled under Evelyn’s touch as her magic heated its copper exterior. Some metal contraption sat on the counter, and Evelyn got to work grinding the beans. She was busying herself—Kade recognized the tactic. He’d done it so often in the past, distracting himself from unfavorable topics and focusing on something else. This didn’t feel like a subject they could ignore. Tovi was now their ally, even he’d dare say, a part of his team. They needed her to get home and against anything else they faced in the coming weeks.

“She has done nothing but try to free you, Ev,” he said. “Ever since we left Callum—”

“Why are you on her side?” Evelyn said, freezing in place. She shot him a look, and Kade softened from the hurt flashing in her eyes.

“I am most certainly not on her side.”

“Then be angrier,” she muttered as she poured hot water over freshly ground beans.

Kade joined her at the counter, holding the mug in place. “I was angry. Moons , I almost killed her because of my anger, but she cares about you. I don’t think she’ll ever forgive herself for what she did.”

“She lied to me for years, Kade. Years. I thought she was my best friend, and she played me. How can I be sure that everything that happened wasn’t as much of a lie as what she is?”

“Perhaps what she is was the only lie and everything else was the truth. I say that as a man who was in a similar position once.”

Evelyn blinked a few times, shoulders drooping. “I’m not ready to talk to her. But I assume she’ll be a part of getting out of Drystan?”

Kade nodded. “She’s trying to gain the Drengr pack as her ally against her brother.”

“To become queen?”

“Yes.”

Evelyn tsked. “Alright, she’ll be a regular presence. Splendid. I know how to be cordial, but she’s not my friend anymore. For the sake of everyone else, I’ll be on my best behavior.”

Kade had heard that tone from her before. It rang with an absoluteness, nothing he’d say would sway her. When she handed him his coffee, his attention caught the yellow bruises at her wrists again.

“How did you get those? ”

Evelyn followed his line of sight and sighed. “Kade—”

“I need to know.”

His tone was desperate and shaky, like a starving man barely able to contain his hunger.

For the name of who he needed to kill.

Evelyn leaned against the counter, clasping her mug with both hands. Her silvery eyes drank him in, leaving his skin tingling, his wolf howling.

“They were bracelets forced on me by Riven. They bound my magic, but they underestimated the level of darkness within them and”—she swallowed—“it was too much. That’s why they gave me the bloodstone, altered it to block my magic, but in a way I wasn’t so severely bound.”

“You’re holding back the full truth.” His grip on his mug threatened to shatter the clay.

Evelyn palmed his cheek, making him look at her. “When the sun fully rises, Kade, I promise to tell you about my time in the castle, but for the few hours we have left, I want to savor us, this . Being together again. Nothing else matters to me right now. Please.”

The plea in Evelyn’s tone made Kade pause. He softened under her touch, exhaling away his pent-up muscles and rigid posture. She was right—moving forward, being in the present and not letting the past outshine their time together was more important.

The two headed upstairs and, with the blankets and cot, created a makeshift breakfast picnic. They ate in contented silence, sipped their coffees, and enjoyed being together again as the gray inside the room turned brighter and lighter.

Bellies full, Lou’s boxes empty, and caffeine thrumming through their veins, Evelyn and Kade had grown closer, lying on their sides and staring at each other on the cot. Evelyn brushed his hair back and combed his beard as he trailed the tips of his own fingers down her thigh, reaching higher and higher with each brush .

“I missed you,” she whispered. “Every minute of every day, there wasn’t a time I wasn’t wishing to be with you again.”

He swallowed, words thick. “I missed you, too, Ev, and this. Being together, in the same room, breathing the same air.”

She shifted, goose bumps forming on her skin as his hand drew circles on her hip bone.

“I’m still hungry.” Her words tickled his lips.

He chuckled. “I’m sure Lou left more food downstairs.”

She ran her thumb over the scar on his eyebrow. “Not for food, Kade.” She said those words out loud, but the next were in his mind, I’m hungry for you .

Static bristled with each touch, their strengthened bond pulling and tugging them closer, eliciting the same hunger deep in Kade he wasn’t certain he’d ever satiate.

“I want to know what you thought about,” Kade said, voice guttural.

“When?” she asked, but knowing heated her stare.

“When you touched yourself, tell me what you were thinking.”

Evelyn shifted, lying on her stomach, never breaking their stare. You, taking me from behind as I screamed your name into a pillow.

Evelyn sent images into his mind, not words. She sent him what she wanted, what she craved. He felt her hunger, her need for him like he felt his own.

Wild. Unapologetic. Eager.

Kade growled, shifting to his knees in an instant. Evelyn screeched as he lifted her hips and knocked his knees against hers, widening them. He pushed up her tunic, revealing her glistening, wet sex. She arched her back, creating the most delicious curve and raising her ass perfectly in the air. Kade shuddered, threatening to come undone at the sight like some teenage boy.

He ran a hand through her folds, eliciting a whimper. She’d straightened her arms ahead, hands gripping the edge of the cot. So needy, so wanton.

“Like this?” he’d said.

“Yes,” she breathed. “You gave it to me hard and rough.”

“Fuck,” Kade growled.

He’d chosen trousers but thank the gods he’d not tied the laces. He fisted his hard and ready length, setting it free against the fabric. He ran it through the slick of Evelyn’s need and spread her legs even farther. Evelyn was so responsive, sighing into the position and pushing her hips back. His tip edged her entrance, but he stayed still, teasing her with promise.

“Kade.”

His slap against her ass echoed in the tiny cottage, and as Evelyn cried out, he entered her in one, strong thrust, straight to the hilt, drawing out an even louder, pleasure-filled cry from her. He set one hand on her back, the other gripping her hip. Kade rocked into her, one, two, three times as he adjusted to Evelyn’s tightness. He chased the sensation of her sex squeezing his length. The feel of her and her breathless cries built a mounting need for release in him. He gave her what she imagined, a pace so different from hours ago, his beast sitting at the surface.

Rough. Deliberate. Hard.

And Evelyn took everything he gave, screaming his name over and over into the cot, like she’d imagined, until they were both riddled and undone, climaxes wrecking them senseless and spent.