The Heirs of Death

36. Wildfire

WILDFIRE

I was still radiating. Had done so for more than a day now, light seeping from under my skin.

I wasn't a glowing sun like when the darkness shrouded us, but the light hadn't dimmed. It had turned liquid beneath the surface of my skin, glowing and simmering. It intensified whenever Leon's skin caressed mine.

And as I lay in bed, relishing the feel of Leon's warm body against mine and the softness of the silk wrapping us, I admired this light. Admired it as it throbbed brighter as I ran my fingers through his hair, over his still sleeping face. Admired as gold and silver shimmered beneath my touch, threads of glimmering lights spreading through his veins, taking over his very blood.

I smiled.

We'd both been a pair of glowing bodies as the bond anchored itself in our souls, forging us anew. For a day-and then some more-we found no strength to let go of each other. No willpower. As though allowing a bit of distance between us would break this beautiful thing tying us, as though it would erase the vows we took, the oath and the union we'd sworn. My lover and my husband and my mate.

I smiled harder, the hand caressing his jaws going lower until it rested on his chest, over his beating heart. Over my home. He stirred, one arm falling around my shoulder as he did so, pulling me even closer. My head fell on his shoulder, feeling how his body vibrated as he rumbled, as he spoke, as he breathed. "I think I can get used to mornings like this.''

I didn't believe I could smile brighter than that-but he wrapped me tighter, head tucked beneath his chin, one arm holding me, the other running up and down my middle back. I was alive. More than I'd ever been. Alive in a way I never knew-never thought possible. Alive in a way that made my life before him a pitiful death.

The kiss I planted there on his shoulder as a response left a trail of glimmering gold. My fingers had been idle and lazy as they brushed over his heart, creating a light where his very life throbbed.

We laid for long in silence, finding no need for words. The caresses, the brushing kisses, the mere fact that we were here, tangled and serene-it was more than enough. It was bliss, it was heaven. It was way more than that.

I didn't need to look to know that the edges of the shadows were still snaked around the corners of this room, so stark against its light. Forged from ice and gold and running lights, a room more breathtaking than any I'd seen. A room with no ceiling past a sky that could bring the room I had at the Blossom village to shame. The sun hadn't peaked once here, in this temple in a world between the pockets of the universe, even when I felt it rise and fall. Only a dark sky filled to the brim with stars.

Leon had said he'd pluck them all, one by one, that he would lay them at my feet if I ever willed to, when we'd first laid in this bed, under this sky. I told him I would lay the world at his feet, told him I would burn for him. He kissed me again then, owning me mind and body and soul.