“You are not without flaw. Neither was Eythos. That did not make him unworthy. Nor does it make you unworthy.”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah, but was Eythos’s monster a cold, murderous part of him?”

“His monster was his ego. A trait shared with his brother and luckily not passed down to his son.” Hair draped over the draken’s shoulder as he cocked his head. “Eythos was not perfect. Ash may not have seen that side of his father. He was a different man by then, but he had an ego on him only rivaled by his joy in giving life. And doing that, creating and restoring life, fed that ego. It took him many lifetimes to tamp down the need to entice that monster.” Nektas’s exhale carried a faint rumble. “Unfortunately, the damage was already done by the time he mastered it.”

Because when Eythos refused Kolis after granting so many requests, it kicked off all, well, all of this.

“But that wasn’t his only monster,” Nektas added. “Nor was it the one that killed him.”

“His love for his brother?”

“His false belief that there is good in all living things, no matter how many times they show that all that is left inside them is rot. I don’t think you will have that same problem, will you?” he said, the ridges thickening across the skin of his shoulders. “So, perhaps your monster will be your savior.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Even though I knew Nektas would never lie about Ash’s well-being, I couldn’t rest until I saw it with my own eyes. I sat beside him as he slept, waiting for the spell to lift. The hours stretched on for what felt like an eternity, but eventually, the sky beyond the balcony doors lightened, blushing with soft hues of pink and lavender. The light of dawn seeped in, slipping over the stone floor. Gradually, the golden beams kissed the foot of the bed.

It happened so fast.

A blast of energy rolled off Ash, sending me scooting toward the edge of the bed as it blew my hair back from my face. The temperature in the chamber dropped. His eyes flew open, his irises pure, crackling silver. Thick, swirling shadows appeared beneath his thinning flesh as he sat upright. Eather rose inside me as his lips peeled back over his fangs. A primitive, feral growl emanated from his throat.

“Ash.” I scrambled onto my knees, reaching for him.

Our gazes locked as shadows raced across his chest. The look in his stare was wild, nearly feral. I wasn’t even sure he saw me.

I clasped his cool cheeks, shivering. The snarling growl raised the hairs on the nape of my neck, making my heart race. Tendrils of dark eather snapped at the air around us.

“It’s okay,” I told him. He went completely still. “I’m right here.”

A stuttered heartbeat passed, and then his mouth was on mine. The kiss was brutal, a clash of teeth and tongues. I could taste the panic and fury, feel the raw desperation in each agonized sweep of his tongue as his hands fisted my hair. He kissed me as if he sought to prove to himself that I was, indeed, with him. That I was okay.

I didn’t know the exact moment the urgency became one of physical need or when the terror and anger turned to lust, but I felt him lose his grip on restraint and sensed the moment he changed. I felt it.

His flesh hardened and cooled even more. Energy rippled from him, buzzing over my skin and stroking my essence. A jolt ran through me as I fell back on my rear, the hem of his shirt gathering at my hips. Through strands of tangled hair, I saw that his skin had thinned even more. The shadows on his cheeks and chest deepened, joined.

My heart thudded as I stared at him, recognizing the hard line of his jaw, his wide, expressive mouth, and the cut of his high cheekbones. But like when I’d awakened from stasis, he was shadow and smoke turned to stone, his flesh the color of midnight streaked with churning moonlight.

Air caught in my lungs as wispy tendrils of mist lifted behind him, spreading out from his upper shoulders and thickening, forming shadowy wings made of pure energy.

Tiny bumps erupted over my skin as our eyes locked. There was nothing human about the way he looked, how his chest barely moved, or his piercing stare as shadow-laced eather slipped to the bed.

I felt no fear, even as the essence strained against my skin. I looked up at a Primal of Death: beautiful, terrifying, and mine.

Remembering the warning he’d given me the last time he’d lost his restraint, I shivered with anticipation and red-hot desire. My blood heated, becoming a fire that filled my veins. My nipples beaded beneath the shirt. A throbbing heaviness slid down to center itself between my thighs.

Ash’s nostrils flared, and when I inhaled sharply, I caught the heightened citrusy scent of arousal.

There was no need for words. My breath was already coming out in short, shallow bursts as I leaned back and spread my thighs, offering myself to him. I shivered as the cool air kissed my heated, damp flesh.

Only a pinprick of his pupils was visible as his gaze lowered to what I offered. His stare was so heavy and intense that my breath caught once more, and my hips twitched.

Ash lifted his head, and a heartbeat passed before he struck with predatory grace. His weight pressed me to my back, and I caught a glimpse of his wings sweeping down and brushing the bed. A cry of pleasure tore from my lips as his cool length pressed into me. I stiffened, unaccustomed to his larger, Primal form as he filled and stretched me. The brief sting of pain faded as he seated himself deep inside me, causing my back to arch as I took him. Gods, he felt like he was everywhere. His presence inside me was almost overwhelming, nearly too much as I panted.

I slowly became aware of his stillness. His chest moved then, rising and falling rapidly against mine as he trembled.

Opening my eyes, I looked up at him. He tipped his chin down and stretched his neck from side to side. “Ash?” I whispered.

“I’m…” The hand by my head fisted, then his eather-filled wings flickered before collapsing in a shower of glittering sparks. “I just need a moment.” He shuddered, causing my toes to curl at the sensation. “I…I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t.”

Eather pulsed from his eyes before he slammed them shut. “You don’t know that.”

I did.

I was always safe with him.

I watched him battle himself, and that hidden, darkly sinful part of me didn’t want him in control.

“Ash.” I slipped my hands over the smooth, cold planes of his cheeks as I lifted my hips. He groaned, and I thought of the wicked words he’d said when he last lost control. A wave of wanton desire flooded me. “Will you fuck my pussy?”

“Fucking gods,” he snarled, his hips jerking.

Then, he did.

And…gods. Ash fucked hard and fast, the force as savage as how his mouth moved over mine. I wrapped my legs around his hips, rising to meet him as my fingers tangled in the silky strands of his hair. We were frenzied as he drove into me, over and over, until I could no longer keep up with the wild rhythm. The sounds I made would surely turn my cheeks crimson later, but I couldn’t stop myself as I trembled beneath him. He moved faster, harder, working an arm beneath my head. Either his fangs or mine nicked my lip, and he growled, drawing the little drop of blood into his mouth as he thrust into me all the way. With no space between us, he ground his hips. There was no steady build-up to release. I felt his cock begin to spasm, and that pushed me to the edge and right over it. A storm of pleasure, almost violent in nature, swept through me, kicking my head back against his arm as I cried out his name.

I didn’t know how much time passed as we remained joined, our hearts slowing. But when Ash spoke, I knew he had complete control of himself.

“Sera?” he rasped.