Chapter 64

Ishould have run. I knew standing before Orin as the darkness held him captive was dangerous. Death controlled him now far more than I could. But I would get on my knees and crawl to him. I would hand him that blade just as he'd handed it to me if it meant saving him. So, we were at an impasse, realizing that there was really no place neither of us weren't willing to go.

Standing frozen, I stared, waiting to see what move he would make. Shadows billowed beneath him, just as I'd seen from Death my entire life, carrying him forward on a direct line to me, stalking me like prey. And I was weak, so weak and so desperate I didn't balk when he lifted a hand, didn't flinch when his fingers curled around my throat.

I wanted him to touch me. Feel me. Draw from me. But if the darkness within him grew sentient, as madness often did, twisting the mind until it was its own, it would know when I used the power of life to heal him. So, for now, I held it back and swallowed it down as his onyx eyes drew nearer until he was no more than a breath away, lifting me.

"You…Why am I drawn to you?" he asked, his voice so strained it broke my heart.

"Do you not remember?" I rasped, reaching for his fingers, releasing the smallest tendril of power. A flash of color lit his eyes on contact, followed by a gasp. "See me, Orin. Feel me. Know that I am here, and I love you."

His grip on my throat loosened before he jerked away, smoothing his hands down his face, so much agony shining through as he tilted his head back and groaned. Seconds turned into minutes until he settled enough to come back to me, gentle fingers on my face as he swiped his thumbs across my cheeks.

"Nightmare…" He sighed. "What were you thinking coming here?"

"Would you have come for me?"

"Of course, I would have, but you don't know what he's like. You don't know what I'm becoming."

Placing my hands on his chest, I began to argue, but the screaming in the distance halted me.

He closed his eyes, placing his forehead to mine. "It will be over in a minute, love."

But then another scream followed, and one more, until a flash of darkness stole him. He tried to pull away, but I latched onto his neck, forcing the contact, forcing a little bit of magic through in a desperate moment. Hoping like hell he wouldn't be released the way my mother had. But he had never died. This wasn't his soul touching me. It was him. All of him. His shoulders relaxed, and a full breath filled his lungs.

"Can't you see I'm not safe? You have to run while you still can. Go home, Deyanira. Live. I am only his son now. Only his."

"You are not his," I growled. "You are mine. And I will stand between you and Death until he forgets you exist. Until the gods return. Until they all fall. Until this realm becomes a pinprick of a memory in a universe that transcends time. He can do whatever he wants to me, and I will not bend. I will not break. I will not leave you."

"I am dangerous!" he yelled, stepping away, eyes flashing black, teeth clenching.

I got right back in his face, shoving him, pushing him to fight with me, to be with me in whatever capacity he could. "Not to me."

"To everyone."

Another scream, another pained look on his face as he tried and failed to fight the pull to it. He turned away, taking several steps toward the sound. I grabbed him, yanking his wrist until he spun back. "Stay with me."

He took a shuddering breath, facing the castle, then back to me, waging war. "Whatever your plan is, all of your eternity is mine. Should it be torture or rivalry, I will help you conquer it. Should you wish the souls of Death's court to their knees, I will build a mountain of bones for you to stand on. I will forge a crown and place it on your head, and I will be the first to bow. And I will eviscerate anyone who does not follow suit."

The gleam in his eyes shifted through a thousand emotions until he landed on hunger. He was on me in a second, hands on my face once more, lips to mine in desperation. Tongue and teeth as I opened for him, letting him taste me, have me in whatever way he wanted. Shadows enveloped us, creeping from the ground and smothering us in darkness as I gasped, but he gripped my waist, holding me steady until they fell away, revealing a dark room lit only with candles. So many candles lined the floor in clusters, and the ivory wax dripped carelessly, circling a bed in the center of the room.

"Are you afraid?" His words were a brush against my lips and also laced with their own level of fear, as if I would deny him.

Tension coiled low in my belly, remembering what it felt like to have him inside of me. Worshiping me. "I don't fear the dark, Orin. I need it. And you need my light. We are bound because of it. Touch me. Use me. Take whatever you want from me because I am yours."

I let the magic free until my skin began to glow. He traced a finger over my palm. Then slid a hand to the buckle holding the last of my throwing knives to my chest. He let them fall to the floor before gripping the ends of my shirt and pulling it over my head, the fabric brushing my overly sensitive skin, desperate for him to taste every inch. Shadows surrounded both of us, stealing the remnants of our clothing in less than a breath.

With a flash of darkness, he moved backward, head tilting as I lost him in that moment. I watched as he became consumed, instantly changing into something feral, someone far more dangerous. I lowered my chin, a dare in my eyes as I stalked forward.

"You want me. You know you do."

"I want to watch you suffer," he said.

"Then come and get me, Husband."

He wasn't tender as he laid a palm against my chest and shoved me against the wall. Still, that contact was enough to push the power back, spinning his hatred into lust.

He pressed his hot mouth to a nipple, sucking as he dragged me toward the bed, his hold never faltering, drawing the light to counter the dark. He moved a hand down my thigh, resting it where Chaos should have been as he nipped my neck. I moaned. With a flick of his wrist and a tendril of shadow, my blade appeared in his hand. "You really should keep better care of your weapons."

"I'll try harder," I managed, as he dropped the blade to the floor.

I reached for the button on his pants, but he pulled away, clicking his tongue with a salacious grin. "Naughty Nightmare. There's no rush."

But again, as he held a distance, the darkness took over.

I spread my legs on the bed, drawing a finger down my slick center, stopping to circle my clit as I held eye contact. His jaw ticked when I gasped at my touch, arching on the bed, inviting him closer, inviting him to claim me as he once had.

"Don't you want to taste it, Husband?" I moved my fingers to my mouth, and he faltered, stumbling forward. "Come closer and I'll let you. I promise."

He glared.

I smiled, sliding my palm down my body again, plunging two fingers into my own core, toying with his anger.

He reached for me with greedy hands, flipping me over on the bed as he fell on my back and hissed into my ear. "You deserve to be punished for that."

I lifted from the bed, pressing into his hard cock and wiggling. "Then do it, Husband. And make sure it fucking hurts."

With one hand gripping my waist, holding me up from the bed, he slammed a palm across my ass. The quick, sharp sting raced over me, eliciting a moan before he smoothed his fingers over the spot.

"Again," I begged him, forcing as much contact as possible.

His eager compliance was a dream. Orin reached around, circling my clit as he growled from behind me. "This won't be gentle."

I could hardly think around the sensation of his perfect strokes, but still, I trembled with eager anticipation when he wrapped my hair around his fist and yanked me backward at the same time he slammed into me with absolutely no warning. He groaned, pausing for only a second before pulling out and thrusting once more.

I clenched around him as he violently pounded into me over and over again, unaware of the magic pulsing through every place his body touched mine. Without warning, he withdrew and flipped me onto my back, kissing me with a desperate hunger, teeth digging into my bottom lip, as golden eyes met mine.

"Hello, Husband," I purred.

Panting, he dropped his forehead to mine. "Hello, Wife."

Gripping my hips, he pulled me closer, driving himself forward once more as he gazed down into my eyes. I reached up, running my fingers through his thick, dark hair. He found a steady rhythm, driving himself forward almost brutally, setting me on fire.

"Don't stop," I moaned, arching into him, muscles seized as euphoria built between us. "Don't you dare stop."

He paused, bending to whisper into my ear. "Keep making those fucking sounds, and I won't have a choice, Nightmare."

He thrust again with a newfound fervor, driving me up and up until I clenched the sheets in my hands, racing for my climax, and cried out his name, vision gone as sheer pleasure coiled around us, exploding as one.

I couldn't sleep,not even within the comfort of Orin's arms wrapped around me, not as he traced circles into my skin, our legs tangled together beneath silk sheets. If I closed my eyes and fell asleep, everything could change; he could fade back, and I wasn't ready to let him go.

"What do we do?" I breathed, breaking the silence between us.

"Death is stronger because of the fear gripping the souls locked in his court. It's not just that he enjoys the fear. It fuels his power. Intensifies it."

I considered that for a while, lying in bed, matching my breathing to Orin's while remembering all of my time with his father. I'd always held my tongue, though he'd tried to break me. Always denied him, though he'd pushed me. It was more than that, though. It was the challenge. That cat-and-mouse game. Maybe that's why he'd chased Ro so relentlessly. Perhaps in his own twisted mind he did love her, but it was more likely that he was obsessed with her and the chase. The centuries-long game between gods, where humans of the world became the wreckage of the pursuit.

"He never came to you after you killed someone, did he?" I asked, mind wandering.

"No."

"It was the same for Icharius Fern. He sent shadows to collect the souls, but he appeared every single time for me."

"Of course he did," Orin answered, following my thoughts. "He needed to make sure he wasn't losing you to Life."

"He's been stroking his power within me since that first kill when I was a teen. Every month, sometimes several times a month, he called me. Not because he had to, but because he wanted to make sure the Life Maiden power remained dormant."

"Exactly." He slid his fingers into my hair as I twisted to look up at him. "But you've never been easy for him, and he likes your fight."

"Has he told you that?"

"No. But I know what it feels like when you fight back. I've been on the receiving end of that glare, and maybe he and I are alike because, when I see it, I want nothing more than to challenge you. I can't help it."

"It's true," Death's eerie, smooth voice said as he appeared, standing at the foot of the bed. "I do enjoy our little games."

I gasped as Orin's shadows covered me in fabric. Jerking upright, Orin began to shout in pain. I turned my bare back to Death, reaching for Orin, ready to reveal the full capacity of my power to save whatever agony Death had planned when the entire room fell to shadow and the bed beneath us vanished. The man beside me disappeared, though I could still hear him writhing in pain.