His arms wrapped around her and moved her further on top of him. He was hard again, and she sank down on him, already sore, but it only added its own pleasure.
“Then I guess we need to enjoy this while we can,” he whispered.
“I guess we do,” she murmured, riding him.
Mave stood at a massive ornate door the next morning, four males behind her and High Priestess Invia before her.
“Once you go through this door, you either reach the top of the mountain, or you die,” she said softly. “Cut your palm and touch it.”
Mave pulled out the dagger she had used the night before and looked back at the males.
Mat stood tall, looking as prepared as he would ever be for this. He stood suspiciously close to Emerian as though he was planning on pouncing the male if it was needed. Zayden and Bryn were there, stoic and silent.
“If I don’t come back, promise me one thing,” she whispered. “I know you’ll hate it, but do it for me. Get Senri out of Anden. Before it all goes to hell, get Senri, Willem, and Gentrin to leave. They have a baby on the way. I won’t accept my little sibling dying over my failure.”
“You’re not going to ask us to leave, too?” Zayden raised an eyebrow.
“No, you three will do what you think is right,” she said, smiling. They would go and fight the Elvasi as long as they could.
And they would die.
I have to do this.
I have to make it back from this.
Failure is no longer an option…for any of us.
She cut her palm, then walked to the door and smeared her blood on it, demanding it let her through to continue on this journey.
It creaked and opened slowly, revealing the snowy landscape that waited for her.
She stepped out alone, and the door closed with a boom.
It’s just me and you now, Kristanya.
40
Rainev
They rode for nearly three more weeks after leaving Mave at the crossroads. Rain spent the entire journey worried for Alchan and watching—watching and waiting for his time to strike. He saw how Lily lost her tongue whenever she spoke to Alchan and blushed a light pink when he looked at her.
How his husband was so oblivious was beyond Rain, but Alchan was either pretending he didn’t see or was truly a fool. This pretty, curvy female was so entranced by Alchan’s dominance, she sometimes forgot she was working on something. Rain thought it was the cutest thing he had ever seen. He felt damn guilty for thinking she could ever be a threat to his relationship with Alchan. She was unobtrusive, kind, and gentle.
Rain also saw how she looked at him. There was the beginning of genuine love there, and while Rain could never offer her everything romantically, he was fine fulfilling the needs in her life he could. He could support her and try to make her happy—everyone deserved their own slice of happiness. He could speak up for her—his submissiveness was mostly by choice, personal preference. He wasn’t trapped like she was. So, when Rain saw her looking at him with innocent love in her eyes, he smiled and hoped she saw the love he could give back to her.
“Here we are,” Alchan said back to them. Lily yawned and pushed away the blankets Rain had laid over her. Rain smirked as she glared at him. He liked taking care of her, even when she got a little indignant. He stood first, extending a hand, so she could stand as well.
He was born outside of Anden, so the last couple of years were his first time seeing Anden. The Capital was the crowning jewel—a massive city and castle carved into a mountain, sprawled out in the giant, fertile valley with a beautiful, mirror-like lake in the center.
“It’s…Are we going to live here one day?” he asked.
“Oh, yes,” Alchan answered, happiness and sadness in his voice. Rain reached out and touched his husband’s back. “I grew up in an estate on the far end of the valley, but I spent time in the palace with my grandmother and aunts. I moved in when Luykas arrived from the Empire. He moved in with me. Our grandmother gave us adjoining rooms, so we could get to each other if anything happened. It also gave us privacy. Two dominant males and all that.”
“That sounds wonderful,” Rain said, leaning over to kiss the back of Alchan’s head. “Are we going to go