Night Fae (Dark Fae Kings #3) - Meg Xuemei X. Page 0,84
in a bed than in water,” said Elijah.
I was about to snap at him and tell him to go to hell if he thought I’d let him claim me, and that I didn’t care about his ancient Sváva practice of claiming a female on the battlefield. But then his pure male scent of sandalwood and clean wind wrapped around me like a sweet dream, like the home I should have had but never did.
He put me on the ground, took a soft towel from the rack, and started to pat my body dry. I was surprised by his tenderness; I didn’t believe any Sváva was capable of such a thing.
So, I didn’t fight him off. I enjoyed having him take care of me like this—this gentleness and compassion was a luxury in the Underworld, probably in every corner of the universe.
Ever since he’d brought me here, I’d found that I also had a feminine side. I felt like a woman for the first time.
I looked around. My filthy, tattered clothes were gone. Either Elijah or Saphyira had come in and thrown them away while I was asleep in the tub.
I stared at my reflection in the mirror.
Without dirt, mud, and stripes coating my face, I was looking at a completely different girl. My silver hair cascaded down my elegant shoulders. My skin was pure golden. My dark green eyes sparkled with life and dreams, hot yet full of defiance, and my pink, full lips parted with surprise.
I’d never known I looked like this, or that I could look like this.
I was shinier and lovelier than a Sváva. I didn’t have their cold beauty, but mine was better, fierier. Fire burned inside of me, screaming to be unleashed, making me full of life.
“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, Calamity,” Elijah whispered, meeting my gaze in the mirror and tossing the towel to the ground. “Even when you were in the arena, covered in dirt and blood, you were still the most beautiful, fiercest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
It was the first time someone had ever called me beautiful. And there was no lie in it.
His gray-blue eyes roamed my body, harsh male lust burning in their depths.
My breath hitched, my heart lurching at his lethal beauty, and my own lust ignited like a wildfire in my bloodstream. I wanted this archangel.
I dipped my gaze from his eyes, lips, wings, and perfect torso to his powerful legs. A bulge at the front distorted his denim pants.
I swallowed.
Thoughts escaped me.
I forgot what lay ahead tomorrow—blade, blood, or death.
My past was dust, and I had no future. All I had was this moment.
So, I’d take and claim the last pleasure in the world. I’d strip this gorgeous male bare, ride him to glory for the first and last time, and then I’d kill some demons tomorrow before they cut me down.
I’d have to find an angelblade after my sinful indulgence, after I fucked this archangel.
His lust-laced, hooded eyes dipped to my left breast—to be precise, they fell on a spot on top of my breast.
Had I forgotten to clean the spot?
But I’d scrubbed myself all over, more than ten times!
His fingers landed on the spot, sending a tingling buzz over my skin. He traced a circle around the spot. In its wake, I felt a slight burn, as if there was a phantom mark in that place. As I looked down, a symbol of five white petals appeared on my left breast; inside, a blue flame formed and glowed.
My breath caught, panic searing my throat.
Had my magic finally manifested at the worst time? Xavier had drilled the warning into my head that I should never let a Sváva archangel know that I possessed magic. And if I did, I would court a disaster worse than my own death.
I’d felt the stir of my magic in the arena, but that had been a different situation. I’d wished to use my power to burn the demons so I would have a chance at escaping with Max, Ash, and Killian.
“The mark of the Queen of the Night,” Elijah murmured in awe. He used an ancient angelic tongue, yet I understood it. I didn’t know how. It was like I almost had a genetic memory, like it was my heritage.
Maybe I didn’t feel like myself right now. I felt like another person with this archangel. It was as if someone else was wearing my skin, yet it felt right.