In Shadows We Rise

Chapter 63

Reia

"I'm not sure I came to sleep," I whisper softly, not breaking eye contact. Slowly, his goofy smile drops and he searches my expression. "I'm not trying to pressure you into something. I just thought that if this is my last night alive, I'd like to spend it with you. And," I try to look away but gentle fingers hold my face in place. "I don't want him to have been the last one." The man whose arms I'm in keeps looking at me for a few more beats before he slowly brings his lips down to mine. It's barely a kiss. Just a skim of our lips. Still, it's enough to warm my whole body and make goosebumps appear all over my skin. Atticus' hand moves from my back toward my arm to bring my hand to his face. It's so gentle, so torturingly sweet it makes my heart pound.

I tilt my head to connect our lips once more. When he sighs into my mouth, I lick over his bottom lip. He reacts instantly and soon our sweet kiss has evolved into a heated clash of our tongues. His hands move down the sides of my body and over my ass but before he can lift me on top of him, I turn us so his legs are between mine and he's hovering above me.

I pull him closer to me and he takes the hint, slowly grinding his hips against mine. I can feel how hard he is against my belly and it elicits a moan from me.

The two of us start stripping clumsily, conflicted between getting our clothes off as quickly as we can and not wanting to break the kiss. When there are no barriers between us, Atticus moves one of his hands down between our bodies until it's exactly where I need it. Running a finger up and down my slit, he groans into my mouth.

"Fuck, Rei. You're so wet for me," he whispers right as he pushes one finger inside of me. I buck my hips and it's my turn to moan into his mouth. As he takes turns circling my clit and fucking me with his fingers, I kiss a trail toward one of his ears.

"Only you, Atticus. Only you can make me feel this way," I whisper, causing him to curse under his breath before he crashes his lips back on mine.

I reach for his dick, finding him already rock-hard. "Do you have a condom?" I ask quickly. Without a word, his body leaves mine only to be back before I can even complain. I hear him rip open a package and help him roll it on. Then I take his face into both of my hands so he meets my eyes.

"I trust you, A. I really do," I tell him. His eyes soften, revealing something other than lust and desire. I know what it is. I know what he feels because I feel the same thing.

Instead of saying anything, he leans down and presses a kiss to my lips that communicates much more than words ever could. Then he's at my entrance and slowly pushes inside of me. I dig my nails into his shoulder and wrap my legs around his waist to pull him closer.

I don't know how Atticus can make me feel so good while every other man just seems to creep me out or hurt me but I won't dwell on it while he's fucking me.

Quickly, our pace turns from gentle and slow to deep, harsh thrusts that make it hard for me to contain my moans and not wake the whole camp. When A moves his hand back to my clit, I bite down on his shoulder to stay quiet. He curses softly and I swear every sound he makes just sends more warmth to my core.

"Atticus, I'm going to," I break off, biting down hard on my bottom lip as he hits my g-spot.

"I know. I'm right there with you," he whispers in my ear. My back arches off the ground as A keeps pounding into me, only stilling inside of me after both of us come down from our highs.

With one more kiss, he pulls out of me. It's not long before he's lying down and pulling me into his arms.

"This is not your last night. I promise," he whispers against my hair. I sigh in contentment and listen to his heartbeat slowly calming. Just when I know he's asleep I silently whisper what I didn't say earlier. "I love you." Then I fall asleep myself.

-

"Rise and shine, lovebirds," a familiar voice says. My eyes shoot open and I nearly jump out of my skin when I see Xander standing above A and me.

"Holy shit, dude. Get the hell out of here!" Atticus exclaims while making sure I'm fully covered by the sleeping bag. His eyes are barely open and I smile that I was the first thing on his mind. Don't judge me, okay? Just zip it.

"Okay, okay. Just wanted to let you know that it's almost dawn so you guys need to be dressed and ready to fight quickly." After that, Xander leaves with a sly smile on his face.

I leave the tent shortly after to get ready on my own and meet up with the rebels shortly after. Soldiers all around us are talking but the mood is a lot glummer this morning.

Finally, the general finds us to say it's time to leave. We're going to be on the frontlines while the soldiers will be back up. If possible, this fight will be between us and the governors. My feeling tells me things will get a lot messier than that.

We walk in formation and stop only when we reach the agreed place. I look over the red desert and pause at the collection of red stones in the far. Exactly where our fight against Ianira took place. The sun is already rising behind the nearest hill but before I can formulate my worry that they won't show up, Xander speaks up. "They're coming." That's all he says. Less than a minute later I can make out their troop in the distance. They have more guards than we do soldiers but less than we expected. We'll be fine, I repeat to myself.

Atticus starts marching and it takes just a beat for the rest of us to follow. I'm glad we're meeting our enemies halfway because my anxiety would kill me before they had even arrived.

When we're about 800 feet away from them, both of our parties stop.

"Guards, you don't have to do this. The governors are tyrants, they don't deserve you dying for them! They've been destroying the nation for too long. Help us fix it!" Xander yells. I can't make out many faces but I see a few of the enemies shifting. Then, a shrill battle cry tears through the air and the governors and their guards start running towards us. I hear Sorin curse before we fall into step as well.

Just that we don't seem to move quick enough because in the blink of an eye, the enemies are just a few feet away from us.

"It's governor Sila!" Calista yells over the pounding feet around us. My gaze zeroes in on the old bastard.

"It's time we finally met," he yells smugly. He stops running and so do we but the soldiers and guards around us start hacking at each other. They do seem to stay away from us though.

I need to think. I would have been able to eliminate a big part of our enemies before they had the chance to kill our allies if this stupid governor hadn't meddled with time. Now, they're amongst us and it'd be too risky to unleash too much darkness in any general direction. At least that allows me to focus on the governor.

My mind comes to a halt. Where's governor Zoy? She should be here as well since Sila is clearly out to fight us. Just as the thought clicks together, slender hands wrap around both of my shoulder and I'm thrown over someone's back.

"Lovely to meet you, portatrice di morte," the third governor hisses as her shoe presses on my throat. I gasp for air and look around in search for my friends only to find myself in unfamiliar place. The governor must know exactly what I'm wondering because one corner of her lips quirks into an amuse smile.

"Justice is everywhere and nowhere," she says. I'd roll my eyes would they not feel like they were about to plop out of my head.

I gather darkness in my hand but before I can attack Zoy with it, she steps on my wrist with a nauseating crunch. She smiles, thinking she did something smart when she just made me a lot angrier. I use my other hand to conjure up darkness. I let a fine line wrap itself around the foot blocking my airway and let it sear through her skin as much as I can before she jumps away from me. She's bleeding and must be in great pain but she meets my eyes with a malicious look and a sinister smile.

"I'll kill you for what you did and I'll drag it out for this," she tells me slowly and I believe every word of it.