A Court of Truths and Revival

Stoking

SEREN

Smoother than winnowing, Seren hardly noticed when the shadows deposited Azriel and her back in her bedroom within the suite she was sharing with Nesta. For all Seren was paying attention, the eldest Archeron sister could have been lounging in the bed and Seren wouldn't have stopped devouring Azriel's lips.

"Seren," he breathed as his forehead rested against hers while they caught their breaths. "Eris—"

"I don't care about Eris," Seren snapped as she jolted back. Of course, Azriel had concerns, but threats from Eris were to be expected. She'd earned them, but she didn't want to argue with Azriel over it right then and there.

Seren grabbed at the bottom of Azriel's protective leather layer, hoping he'd leave the topic alone, but he caught her wrists. "You aren't going to marry Eris Vanserra," Azriel said with a rare, low growl that reverberated through her core."And you don't need to feel rushed into doing anything. There won't be a wedding night for you to endure, regardless of Eris's taunts."

Seren twisted her wrists until she'd maneuvered his hands into hers, using a technique he'd taught her. His flinch was almost imperceptible. Almost. She'd thought her desire for him was plain and clear, but still, he thought she was somehow being manipulated into wanting him. Still, he hated the scars that she found to be fascinating, cruel as their origins were.

"What's between us isn't about Eris or any other suitor." Seren wasn't sure how she could convince someone so stubbornly self-loathing. "You can't really think yourself a simple means to defy my bargain."

But he did. She could see it in the slight droop of his wings and felt it in the shudder that went through him. Seren knew very little of his early childhood other than the horrors Rhys had glossed over, but his inability to believe himself as someone that she or anyone could truly want had to have been deeply rooted in those years of neglect and torture. It angered her enough that she reverted to their old, unfinished argument. "This isn't an attempt to defile myself so that I'm unsuitable for Keir's plans." Practically seething, Seren's leash on her magic began to loosen. "I'm not repeating Mor's mistakes."

Azriel would not be the Cassian of her story—used and then kept at arm's length to be nothing more than a friend that spent centuries thinking himself not good enough for her. Azriel might have wished Mor had chosen him all those years ago, but she had to guess it wouldn't have ended any differently.

Azriel straightened and ran a hand through his black locks, musing his hair out of its normally perfect, wind-swept style. "I never should have said that to you back then, Seren. I was frightened of how much I wanted you and I pushed you away, thinking you were better off and young enough to get over it."

She had been young, maybe too young for any kind of intimate relationship, but it had hurt all the same. "And now?" Seren quietly asked, almost afraid to receive an answer. If he pushed her away again, she'd remain at a distance permanently. The back and forth was keeping her partially in the past as a young girl with her sights set on someone she couldn't have and she refused to fully revert that that lost version of herself.

His hazel eyes darkened considerably as he took an almost predatory step closer to her. "I want everything for you Seren. Happiness, freedom, power..." He inhaled a deep breath, but composure didn't retake his form. Instead, he moved another step closer and she stepped back, stopping when the back of her knees hit the feather mattress. "I want to peel that magnificent dress off of you, pin you to the bed, and keep you there until I've proven how much thought I've put into how I might best wring pleasured cries from you."

Seren's lips parted. She'd never been spoken to like that and it ignited a heat within her. Reflexively, the muscles in her legs tightened. "What are you waiting for then?" If he didn't touch her, she'd combust and the poor Autumn servants would be hard pressed to get her ashes out of the exquisite rug her toes curled on.