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-&-

Chapter 43

       I went to his chambers first, only to find the room still destroyed and vacant. It was as if no one bothered to enter in the few weeks I had been avoiding the place. I bit my lip as my gaze washed over the debris and rubble. The gold-power was far stronger than I could have ever imagined.

       I knew he was in the wing somewhere, I could feel that much. I quietly walked back into the hall, closing the heavy wooden door behind me. I would clean the room later. My fingertips ran softly across the stone wall of the hall as I walked slowly towards the back staircase, the one I refused to use since Aeyron first led me up them.

       The door to my room was closed, that feeling in my chest pulling me towards it. He was still staying there. I knocked gently against the hard wood, but he did not answer. I frowned and leaned back to look out the large window running along the ceiling. The sky was dark, no moon or star in sight. My conversation with Terif had gone on longer than I thought.

       I eased the door open just enough to cast a quick glance around. The room was nearly pitch black, no light entering from the windows, no candles lit to hold off the darkness. The only part I could see was revealed by the light filtering in from the hall.

       I opened the door a little further, flooding the room with as much light as possible. That pull in my chest was dragging me towards the large bed centered at the other end of the room. I debated leaving the door opened.

       I knew the room like the back of my hand and didn't need the light, but there was just something about not being able to see at all with him there that pulled at my stomach. It wasn't an altogether uncomfortable feeling.

       I closed the door slowly behind me. My breath leaving my lips in an icy chill. The room was cold, the fireplace left abandoned on the opposite side of the room. I walked slowly towards the bed, completely aware of the large presence laying on its other side.

       I stopped on the right, hands ringing together nervously. I could just barely make out his figure in the darkness of the room, the shape of him unmoving although his deep, heavy, breathing soothed the ache in my chest.

       I wore a thick, wool, dark green dress built for the winter weather of the north, not for sleeping. I was expecting for us to talk that night, not to find him in a dead sleep. I could have gone back to the room I was currently occupying, slip into my night dress and go to sleep—alone.

       But I hadn't seen him in a fortnight, and he was so close. I let out a soft sigh and kicked the silk slippers from my feet. I doubted he would be mad if I slept beside him, and I was tired of the restless nights spent suffering from his absence.

       I carefully eased under the thick covers, trying to move as little as possible. I did not want to wake him. I immediately wanted to huff once I pulled the covers to my chin and rested my head against the cool pillow.

       It was hot. The thick fabric of the dress, multitude of covers, and the very large, very warm, male body sleeping a few feet away from me caused heat to radiate throughout the entire bed.

      I pushed the blankets down to my waist and breathed in the cool air. I could never sleep in the heat, but he was beside me for the first time in weeks and I refused to leave. I let out a deep breath and closed my eyes. Despite the heat caging around me, I felt calm for the first time in eons. I only needed him.

-&-

       A cold unwelcomed chill rolling across my bare arms drew me from the deep sleep I had eventually fallen into. I shivered, my eyes squeezing shut at the unwanted cold, before a heavy warmth pressed against my skin and forced the chill away.

       My mind tried to ease back to its deep slumber, until a small movement behind me gained attention. I made a sleepy sound in the back of my throat, a yawn pulling at my lips as I tried to let out an un-lady-like stretch. That heavy warmth from before curled tighter around me, squishing my entire body against it.

       My eyes still closed, my lips went to pull into a small frown as I tried to stretch again. The warmth only tightened and pulled me back against the stony surface of its owner. My eyes blinked open.

       Early morning light drifted in through the large windows across the spacious room, though it offered little comfort against the harsh bite of cold the unlit fireplace refused to ward off. My eyes flickered down to that heavy weight wrapped tightly around my entire upper body. Two very bare, very large, arms were caging me against an even bigger chest, one that let out a soft growl.

       "Go back to sleep." Adie's tired voice husked into my ear, his arms pulling me tighter against him as he tucked me into his chest, his chin resting against the top of my hair.

       I was all too aware of his solid chest pressed into my back, of the very warm, very bare skin wrapped around my own—even his legs were tangled with mine. Then my eyes snapped wide opened, my breath tearing from my lungs in a hard gasp. I was only in my shift! The very thin fabric, thin strapped, and very short shift one wears beneath day dresses. I knew I did not fall asleep in only this!

       His dark chuckle sounded in my ear, as if he knew exactly where my thoughts were heading. "You broke out in sweat multiple times through the night, and had a hard time breathing. I did not want you suffering from excessive heat." He murmured against my hair, his voice still gruff with sleep and his arms unyielding.

       "You should have woken me if you were that worried. I would have gone to put my night dress on." I grumbled as he rubbed his cheek against my hair.

       "And disrupt your sleep? I think not." He grumbled this time, his hand bringing the covers further around us. "But then you kept shivering and I feared you would catch cold." His arms tightened around me in emphasis.

       I rolled my eyes. "You could have lit the fireplace."

       "I preferred this option far more."

       Me too, but I refused to admit that out loud. Though it didn't matter if I did or not, he knew I loved the embrace as much as he. "You still do not have an excuse to undress me-"

       He let out a tired sigh but did not loosen his hold. "I have every excuse, every right. You were burning up in that dress, I worried for your health. And anyways," He grumbled and started to ease slightly away from me. "I'm not some youngling trying to get under your skirts. You are mine as I am yours. You have no reason to feel embarrassed."

       He was pulling away from me, his warmth disappearing from my back, his legs untwining from mine. I latched onto his large arms as they started to pull away also. He paused, his body dwarfing my own.

       "I..." I started softly, unsure of what exactly to say. I just needed him to come back and hold me like that again. It was an embrace I never wanted to leave. "I am not embarrassed-"

       "Try again." He interrupted, though his body was slowly pressing back against mine. "You are embarrassed, why?" His voice held no sneer, or condescension, but gentle encouragement. I licked my lips and let my fingers run softly across the hard forearm wrapping back around me.

       "I just... I... It's not proper."

       He laughed then, the dark, rich sound rolling from his chest and filling the spacious room. It made heat flame my cheeks. He demands why I am embarrassed then laugh when I tell him. Why do I even bother?

       "Emrie, my heart," He paused to laugh again, his amusement slowly dying down as those arms tucked me back into his chest. "There was a time when neither of us wore a single thing to bed, and here you worry over your shift." His passing chuckle did nothing to hide the heat surging up the back of my neck and into my cheeks.

       I stayed absolutely silent, resisting the urge to bury my face in the pillow and never resurface as his chuckles finally died away. He let out a deep breath. "You will remember everything in time, just as I. The stone helps." His arm left my waist so his large hand could grasp the thrumming red ruby.

        "Keep it close to my heart?" I teased softly as he brushed his thumb across its smooth surface before letting go. It pressed back against my chest, unable to hide behind the thin shift.

       He pressed a soft, barely-there kiss to my shoulder. "Yes, always."

       We soon fell into a comfortable silence, both our breathing's even as he once again tucked my head beneath his chin and tangled our legs. Being this close to him, wrapped in his body as I was, did funny things to my head.

       I could feel his ever touch, smell that dark wintry spice that seemed to rise straight from his skin—his veins. My eyes shut in pure bliss as I relished in his hold. This was what I needed. Him, an eternity of his embrace.

       "Have you had all the time you needed?" He asked softly what felt like hours later. The room still held a brisk chill, but the light from the windows grew as the sun rose higher in the sky. My eyes blinked open, my fingers slowly tracing the hard muscle of his arms.

       "Yes." Too much, though I kept that part to myself.

       "And?" He urged softly, his lips dropping back to my nearly bare shoulder. "Do you love me again?"

       I rolled my eyes and did not bother trying to stop the scoff from passing my lips. "I never stopped loving you, you giant buffoon. I was mad and felt betrayed."

       "You hated me. I saw it in your eyes." I could hear the remorse in his voice, the need for my forgiveness—my acceptance. I leaned further back into him, his arms tightened in response.

       "I could never hate you. No matter how ridiculously upset and angry you can make me. I will always love you—Adie."

        The nickname had the desired effect. He made a very pleased, very inhuman sound deep in his chest that rose to the back of his throat and buried his face into the crook of my neck. "My Emrie." He seemed to murmur against my skin, his arms still cradling me tightly.

       I hesitated a moment, just a moment, before I let my hand reach up and rub against his dark hair. The deep, dark, rumble that came from his chest at the action could have only been described as a purr. I felt my lips pulled into an amused smile. I never knew a wolf to purr.

       The thought that grew from that one struck me hard, but not in a necessarily bad way. "You can change into more than a wolf, can't you?" I asked softly as that gentle purring sound continued.

       "I am the God of the Moon. I can turn into any creature within my domain, but I prefer the wolf. Always the most loyal." He grumbled against my neck, his arms re-positioned his hold on me.

       The sudden image of a large black owl slammed into my mind. And owl perched on top of Axion's palace walls, its wide red eyes watching my every move as I walked the ancient halls.

       "You were not all that happy when you found out that was me." His voice eased into the memory, gentling pushing it away. "You demanded if I had nothing better to do, then accused me of invading your privacy. I did not mean to, I was simply infatuated with you."

       "You're in my head right now." I pointed out as his mind quite literally rubbed against mine.

       "Sorry." He murmured sheepishly before burying his face back into my neck. "I just wanted to know what you were remembering."

       "Invading my privacy."

        He chuckled and did not deny it.

       A moment of silence passed, just a brief one, before I started to pull away from him. He immediately tightened his hold on me, his chest vibrating with the growl rising to his throat. "I just want to turn around, North." I tried to keep the amusement from my voice, though I'm sure he heard. His arms loosened barley a fraction.

       He made turning around a lot harder than it should have been. He refused to move more than he did, his legs would not detangle from mine, and their weight was near impossible to move. I huffed in exasperation before he finally let me go enough to flip around.

       Humor lit those blue eyes like lightening, and that smirk was sitting proudly on his lips—as if he found my struggling amusing. "You are impossible." I grumbled as his arms held me immobile again and he forced my leg to drape over his.

       "And you are adorable."

       I 'hmphed' and glared down at his stony chest even though that embarrassment was back once again. I let my palms rest gently against his bare skin, my fingers splayed out over the muscles of his upper torso. He leaned into me, the smirk disappearing as his lips rubbed against my forehead.

       "What do we do now, Adranus?" I asked softly as his arms rested against my waist, his warm breath fanning my skin. He knew what I meant without having to explain it. He usually always did.

       "Now," He started softly, his lips passing from my forehead, to my still-heated cheek. "Now we live the life we always should have. I willingly fell, they will not let me back. The Heavens are not an option for us, but I will give you everything here." His hand was suddenly under my chin, angling my head towards his as his lips hovered barely a hairsbreadth away.

       "You will be my queen, we will rule this kingdom as we should have from the beginning. Together."

       "Forever?" I whispered softly as his lips just barely brushed over mine.

       "Forever, an eternity together. We are eternal." The words were spoken as a promise, an unyielding oath he sealed with a breathtaking kiss, one I had been dying for since he revealed he was Adranus.

       Yes. We were eternal. And together we would never forget.

                          The end.

-&-

So, I have decided to end the book off here. I honestly feel like that was the best way to end the book. I know there is still some mystery revolving around the story, but I think leaving some aspects unanswered is a good thing... for now! This leaves me the option to write a second book if I choose, or leave off with a happy ending. If I do write a second book it won't be until I have finished rewriting His Flower.

I hope you all enjoyed the story! Thank you for sticking with me the whole way!