Ruins of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #3) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,182

it raised more questions than it answered.

“She purred, and the entire room came?” Killian asked. “That’s not going to help me hate her any.”

“Try,” I hissed, staring down into turquoise eyes that smiled up at me as golden flecks danced within them once more. “Aria?”

“Yeah?” She rocked her hips as if she were waiting for more.

“Just checking that Ember wasn’t here,” I lied, staring into her eyes.

“Are you telling me you don’t know the difference?” Aria scoffed, pulling the sheet around her as she lifted, nipping my lip. “Don’t answer that. I need a bath; a very hot one.”

“Have a bathhouse prepared for the queen. I’ll be joining her,” I called out to the attendants waiting in the hall, watching the fire burn in her eyes, unable to look away as Lennox studied her.

“She’s not like us, Knox. She’s―so much more.”

Chapter Forty-Six

Aria

The bathing room was a large in-ground pool that spread the entire length of the room. The water, heated by coal, also filled the room with steam that eased my aches, of which I had many. Knox sat alone in the corner of the pool. His arms were spread wide in a relaxed pose as he watched me wash my body with a cloth covered in rose-scented soap.

“You know, if you remove all of my scent, I’m going to need to replace it, Little Monster,” Knox chuckled, lifting his head to give me a sexy, heated stare that caused my core to clench.

“I don’t think there’s enough soap in all the Nine Realms to wash you off of me, Knox,” I snorted, moving towards him as I placed the soap aside and reached for his.

“Who are you?” he whispered as I reached him.

“I am the calm to your chaos. Who are you?”

“I am the storm to your shelter that keeps me warm,” he answered, yanking my body against his, smiling as he brushed his lips against my throat.

“How does that even work? I didn’t want to say it, but I couldn’t stop the words, as if compelled. I didn’t even know what I was going to say until it was said,” I admitted, blushing.

Knox’s hands drifted down my sides, gripping my hips and pulling me against him. Slowly, he kissed my throat again, dragging his mouth along my collarbone to kiss my shoulder.

“No one knows exactly how it happens. There’s a legend that states when a man and a woman are meant to be together, everything would fall into place, including their words to one another,” he chuckled as if finding what he’d said amusing.

“Everything would just fall into place?”

“It’s a legend, Aria. One that mothers used to tell their sons and daughters.” Knox leaned his head back against the marbled edge of the pool, relaxing.

“So, it’s a fairytale?” I whispered, lowering my lips to his neck as my fangs slid through my gums.

The moment my lips brushed against his throat, he trembled. His hand lifted, holding my mouth against the pulse that beat rapidly. His cock rubbed against my belly, and I placed a soft kiss against his pulse, licking the flesh to numb it as every instinct I had told me to claim him. Knox hissed as my tongue traced his skin, learning the curve of his neck. My hands leisurely slid around his shoulders, pushing my fingers through his hair, baring his steady pulse to my mouth. I opened my lips, sucking against his vein as he purred loudly. I began to sink my teeth into his throat when feet sounded, forcing me to pull back and swallow as he rattled, watching me.

“Don’t stop, Aria,” he whispered, barely loud enough to be heard, but we were no longer alone. Others stood at the door, waiting to assist us from the bathing room.

I leaned over, kissing his throat before I left his lap, starting toward the stairs that led out of the pool. Knox grabbed my neck, pulling me back in a fluid motion that brought my lips against his, and he lifted me, kissing me soundly like I was the oxygen that fed his lungs.

He still trembled, causing me to smile as I took what he gave. He pushed into my sex, and I cried his name against his mouth. I purred softly as he set my body on the edge of the pool, driving into it with dark desire rushing through both of us. The only sound within the bathing room was flesh meeting flesh, and the combination of our noises as he drove his