Chapter Twenty-five

‘Ihated being apart from you,' Wilder murmured into Thea's hair as he led her back to their tent.

‘Me too.' She looped an arm around his waist and held him close as they walked.

‘Will you promise me something?' he asked.

Thea raised a brow. ‘Depends what it is.'

‘Wise woman,' he chuckled.

‘Promise you what?'

‘Promise me never again. Whatever we do from here on out, we do together.'

‘I don't think Kipp's battle plans —'

‘Not on the battlefield. In life,' he said. ‘Where you go, I go, from now on.'

Thea smiled, and Wilder didn't think he'd ever seen anything so beautiful. Her face was illuminated by the moon, fresh snowflakes flushing her cheeks pink.

She drew him to a halt and rose up on her tip-toes, brushing his lips with hers. ‘I like the sound of that.'

‘Promise me.'

‘I promise, Wilder,' she said.

‘Good.' And then he kissed her.

In the dark of their tent, he scorched her lips with his own, his tongue exploring her luscious mouth, her answering strokes fraying his ability to think beyond the primal desire to claim her, mind, body and soul.

His cock was already aching for her, desperate for her touch, but he wanted to savour this, savour her. He peeled away her clothes, layer by layer, tracing over her smooth skin and sinful curves, worshipping her body. Her breasts heaved under his stare, her nipples hard. He had to see more, had to see all of her. He stripped her bare, and when she was completely naked before him, he let out a groan.

‘Look at you, Thea…' he rasped in reverence. She was a goddess. ‘Just look at you…'

‘We didn't come here to look,' she replied, and she reached for his hand, placing it between her legs.

Wilder groaned again at the wetness he found there, his hard cock twitching against his pants. ‘Is this what I do to you, Princess?'

‘Yes. Always.'

Wilder jerked Thea closer and slid his fingers through the slick heat, rubbing her clit and swallowing her moan with a rough kiss. Gods, she felt incredible. Not for the first time, he was hit with the surreal realisation that she was his, that this privilege belonged to him and him alone.

Thea's cheeks flushed as she rode his hand, breaking away to palm his heavy erection through his pants. ‘I need you,' she said. ‘Now.'

‘I'm yours,' he told her.

Shoving his pants down his thick thighs, Thea freed his cock and dragged the broad head through her arousal, a gasp escaping her.

They didn't make it to the cot on the far side of the tent. Wilder pulled her to the floor right there, kicking his pants off his ankles and bracing himself over her, covering her body with his. He felt more animal than man, the possessive urge to mark her, to claim her as his own rising to the surface as the uncertainty of tomorrow threatened to break the spell they'd cast over one another.

Thea's impatient hand came between them to his base, guiding him to her entrance with a sharp intake of breath. ‘Wilder,' she demanded.

With a single shift of his hips, he sheathed himself inside her, her head tipping back as he slid in deep. Her muscles clenched around him and his vision blurred. He gritted his teeth, trying to claw back some semblance of control, the intensity almost too much.

‘Yes…' Thea's fingernails dug into his back, her legs wrapping around him to pull him closer, deeper.

‘You're my everything,' he told her, relishing the glorious, torturous slide of their bodies together. She was made for him. Having her in his arms was beyond perfect. It felt right in every sense.

Wilder fucked her slowly, intimately, rocking into her and drawing out their pleasure until he had to clap his hand over her mouth to muffle her cries of ecstasy. With each rolling thrust of his hips, his cock found that sensitive spot deep inside her and he worked it hard, so that she was a panting mess.

‘That's it, Thea…'

When she tightened around him, he slid his hand between their sweaty bodies and strummed her clit in rhythmic strokes. Thea bucked beneath him.

‘Wilder, fuck – I'm there, come with me,' she gasped as her orgasm crested.

He followed her into oblivion, spilling his release inside her with a stifled moan.

And then he held her, all through the night.

Wilder left Thea sleeping in their tent to run dawn drills with his unit. There was plenty of grumbling, but they did as they were told, staring at his bruised and bloodied knuckles.

Let them see, he thought with satisfaction. Let them see what I'd unleash on them all for her.

Midmorning, Thea came to find him. ‘Esyllt's here,' she told him, already starting towards the command tent.

Thezmarr's weapons master was indeed within, though that was where the good news ended.

‘Myself and my unit of shieldbearers discovered a unit of Artos' men far closer than we anticipated,' Esyllt said. ‘They'll be here by tomorrow morning.'

‘You think they're here to batter our frontline before the main attack?' Kipp asked. ‘That those soldiers are disposable to Artos?'

Esyllt nodded. ‘I'd say so, yes.'

‘Then I have another suggestion. We keep the storm wielders off the field —'

‘What?' both Thea and Anya snapped, taking similar stances as they braced themselves against the table.

Wilder almost pitied Kipp. But he threw up his hands in surrender. ‘Not off the battlefield, as such. Slice as many fucking wraiths in half as you like. But we keep your magic off the field, for now. We can be certain that Artos won't play all his cards at once, and we should keep something up our sleeve, too…'

‘We can still fight?' Thea asked, eyes narrowed.

‘Furies save me, yes. Just no lightning and thunder, except for Wren.'

The youngest Embervale stepped forward, brows knitted together. ‘Why me?'

‘I'll need you to flood that spit of land I mentioned last night,' Kipp told her. ‘Out of the three of you, from what I've seen, you've got the most control.'

‘Hey!' Thea protested.

Kipp scoffed. ‘Please. Half the time your magic is as much a temper tantrum as it is a power.'

Wilder bit a knuckle to keep from laughing at that.

‘Should we talk numbers?' Esyllt said, drawing them back to the maps and charts. ‘I'm afraid there's no good news there either. I brought as many willing shieldbearers from Thezmarr as I could, but…'

Wilder's heart sank. ‘We're still outnumbered.'

The weapons master nodded. ‘Outnumbered and very unlikely to be able to match the dynamics his forces will oppose us with.'

Talemir came to stand at Wilder's side, his expression grave. ‘What have you been training for?' he asked.

‘To hold the lines,' Wilder replied. ‘Our only choice is to hold our own, and break theirs. Continue to break them. And once we decimate their frontlines, we smash them open from within.'

There had been no reports of wraiths or reapers in the opposing forces, and Wilder was not alone in his concern over that fact. Thea could hardly stand still, flitting about the war camp like lightning that didn't know where to strike. Convinced that Artos was hiding the wraith forces, Talemir himself flew out to spy on the enemy's march from overhead. He returned to them shaking his head. He too reported that there wasn't a leathery creature in sight.

Hours later, as fresh snow fell around Wilder, settling in his hair and on his shoulders, he looked out onto the misty moors. By this time tomorrow, they'll be stained red and black with blood.

He knew the odds they were facing – forces with divided loyalty, the quality of soldiers varying from one person to the next. Orders meant nothing if one link in the chain faltered. They had Warswords and shadow-touched and storm wielders, but… none of them had fought together as a single unit. And their lower ranks were made up of opposed men. None were trained like Thezmarrians. None were capable of complicated fighting on the field.

Against an army of cursed men, monsters and evil tyrants, how could they win? Artos had been preparing for this for decades. His army had been specifically created for this purpose. The King of Harenth had chosen the playing field… Who knew how long he'd been lurking in the shadows, readying for this moment?

Wilder remained there until Thea found him, coming to stand at his side and survey tomorrow's battleground with him.

She drew a long, steadying breath, her gaze unflinching as she stared out onto the moors. ‘We smash them open from within,' she said.