Aria scooted away, clinging to her shredded shirt as she tried uselessly to cover herself up. Braith raced past her, barely a blur as the loud clang of metal echoed through the cave. The man had succeeded in retreating into the storage room and slamming the door shut. “Are you ok?” Ashby demanded as he fell beside her.
She wasn’t frightened of Ashby, but when he reached for her, she shied away from him. “I wouldn’t,” Xavier cautioned.
Ashby looked torn and horrified as his eyes skimmed over her. “Fine,” she managed to breathe as she clung to her shirt. “I’m fine, really.”
Aria’s attention was distracted from Ashby as a loud wrenching sound filled the cave. Xavier stepped forward as Braith ripped the gate from the walls of the cave. The gate was solid steel, without bars to prevent rodents from entering the storage room. The only hole in it had been a slit near the top to allow some air to flow through the room. Aria didn’t know how Braith had managed to wrench the heavy door free. The door flew down the tunnel, causing Xavier to dart out of the way as it bounced swiftly off the rock walls, nearly taking him out in the process.
Xavier’s mouth dropped, his gaze darted wildly to the door now lying at the opening of the tunnel. Aria knew it weighed a good five hundred pounds and it had taken seven men to get it in place. Xavier stared at Aria for a moment before turning to Ashby.
“I told you he could take the king,” Ashby murmured so faintly that Aria wasn’t even certain she’d heard him right.
Xavier’s gaze came slowly back to her as she tried to lurch to her feet. Inhuman squeals echoed from the storage room as Braith disappeared inside. “Wait no!” she cried, falling back against the tunnel wall as a wave of dizziness rocked her.
Ashby grasped her shoulders to steady her but she shrugged him off as silence suddenly enshrouded the tunnel. Horror pooled in Aria, her hand fell against the wall helping to keep her up as Braith emerged from the storage room. She knew the sudden silence had not been because he was injured, but relief still filled her.
The man was dead. She didn’t have to ask, she knew Braith would not leave him alive. She thought she should be more upset, she wasn’t. What had been in that room had no longer been a man, there had been no saving him.
Braith was before her suddenly. She did not shrink from him, did not shy away from his frantic, yet tender touch. “Are you ok?” he demanded, his voice hoarse and raw.
“Yes.”
His hands moved steadily lower, stopping at the tattered remains of her shirt. “Get out of here!” he snarled at Ashby and Xavier.
They stood for a brief moment before slipping out of the tunnel. His hands trembled as he tugged the pieces from her hand and pulled them slowly apart. He was stiff before her, barely moving as he gazed upon her. While in the palace she had been forced to wear some of the silliest and most uncomfortable undergarments she had ever seen in her life. Once free of the palace she had resumed her habit of wearing an undershirt, sometimes a slip.
The slip she wore now had also been torn, but unlike the ruined shirt it was still intact enough to cover her br**sts. It was nearly see through, even in the dim light of the tunnel, and especially to the acute vision of a vampire but she wasn’t embarrassed. Her breath froze, her heart hammered as he remained still as stone before her.
“You’re bleeding.”
The words were grated through his teeth. And then, before she knew what was happening, he lowered his head to the scratch marks on her chest. His warm mouth made her heart lurch and his tongue against her skin caused her entire body to simmer with pleasure. Her fingers curled into his hair, holding him close as he licked the cuts on her chest.
He pulled slowly away, embracing her as he kissed her neck, her ear, and finally her lips. The brush of his lips against hers made her forget the hideous assault of the pitiful man. The touch of his lips made everything that was so arduous and wrong in their lives, worth it.
“They’ll heal faster now,” he whispered against her mouth.
“What will?” she inquired, still dazed and adrift in the feelings he aroused in her.
His fingers were subtle, a mere butterfly caress against her raw flesh. “Your wounds.”
Aria shuddered at the reminder. Braith could make her forget almost anything but now that she wasn’t overwhelmed by his touch, the events of the past five minutes crashed back over her. His fingers wrapped around the back of her head as he pulled her to him. “Are you sure that you’re ok?” he asked worriedly. She nodded, unable to form words as her fingers dug into his back.
“I’m fine Braith, I swear; a little shaken, but fine.”
He rocked her soothingly, his cheek resting against her head as he swayed her back and forth. “Braith.” A low growl of displeasure escaped Braith as Ashby appeared at the end of the tunnel. Ashby was undeterred by it though. “They’re here Braith.”
A regretful sound escaped him. “Ok.”
“I brought a shirt.” Ashby didn’t come into the tunnel though; instead he threw it to Braith before turning away.
Braith grasped hold of her ruined shirt, his fingers quivered as he slid it from her shoulders. He tossed it aside and helped her shrug on the new one. Braith slid the buttons into place; his hands hesitated upon the last one as he lifted his head to hers.
“You’re beautiful.”
It wasn’t true, but he made her feel every inch as beautiful as he thought she was. She managed a wan smile as her fingers encircled his. “I love you.”
It was his time to smile now, it lit his face like a beacon and made her heart melt. It was magnificent, his smile, breathtaking even. “I love you too.”