Nights of Fire & Ash

Chapter 14

I had been kissed before, but I had never been kissed like that. It was like being swept off my feet and flying to the moon. Sparks shot from every inch of my body that he touched. His warm hands traveled from my neck and my back to down on my hips. They slowly traveled all over my skin leaving fireworks in their wake.
His lips were soft, but hard as they pushed mine open, moving with them. I pushed myself as far as I could against him, savoring every moment of this perfect kiss.  By the time we pulled apart, my lungs ached from the lack of oxygen, but I didn't care. I could've kissed him until I fainted.
"I, uh, wow." I stuttered like an absolute imbecile. He smirked at me and my inability to form words.
"I hope 'Wow' is understating that moment." Blood rushed to his cheeks. My fingers brushed up against his warm face. He felt like a real person in that moment. Not some mysterious, mighty being.
"It is. I'm just not smart enough to come up with the words." I quickly looked away from him. My 10 years of half assed schooling would never amount to the centuries of reading and learning that I know he had been gifted with.
"I think that you are smart, Raeva. Don't sell yourself short. Anyways, I don't think that someone who wasn't smart would be able to make it through the Enchanted Woods by themselves without anything more than a dagger and their wits." He brushed my hair back from my face. I thought about that night for a second. Racing through the brush. Tripping over what seemed to be moving tree roots.
"Being smart and being stupid enough to run into woods without guidance are two different things. Actually, I would tell you that I was in fact not smart for that." I stepped away from him and walked towards the edge of the balcony. Thinking about that night made my stomach clench and my throat clogged up.
"Listen to me, you are brave. You are strong." Makiel stepped behind me and hovered a hand close to my back. I shifted away from him. What was wrong with me? Why wouldn't I accept his compliments or his praise? I didn't really want to accept anyone who was trying to get into my life recently. Even if he was immortal, what happens when he gets into a fight or is attacked by another court or kingdom? Immortal still doesn't mean invincible. "Some day, you will look back and remember how strong you have been in these times. You chose to go on. You chose to get up and keep going. That is how you prove to everyone that you are brave."
I turned around and stared at him. I pushed my lips together and nodded.
"I think that I am ready to go back to the castle." I said quietly. Makiel nodded his head.
~~~
Why in the world did I say that? The night was damn near perfect before I did that.
The kiss was nothing like kissing the other females that I had before. It was even better than the other females that I had taken to bed. None of them had made my head spin the way that she did. Her scent was like roses and the night after a fresh rain poured.
"I am not sure how you keep fucking this up, dude." Zathrian commented as the girls made their way up to their chambers, and we walked to the study for a quick drink.
"Who said that there was something wrong?" I growled at him as I drowned the bourbon and poured myself another.
"Oh, come on. I could see how awkward it was on the way home. You were both getting so used to each other, and then all of a sudden, the ride home made me want to hang myself. Good thing Heldius went home with his actor, or else, he would have made it even worse." I could hear him now. Sneering and poking fun at both Raeva and I.
"Well, fine, I get it. Trust me, though. I am not sure how I fuck it up either. We had this spectacular kiss, and then I opened my big mouth. Said something about the night that Tatiana and Raeva were supposedly ambushed. She just all of sudden shut me out." Zathrian's eyes cut to mine.
"You are going to let her keep pretending that you don't know what is going on? Do you think that maybe what is fucking up your relationship is the fact that you have all this guilt from all the things that you and her have both done?" I glowered at my drink and drained it.
"Never mind. I get it. I fucked up. I only did what I was ordered to do." I snapped and slammed down my glass. On my way out of the study, Zathrian said over his shoulder,
"You don't get to hold on to this idea that she is oblivious. You did something, and lying doesn't protect you or her, even lying by omission." And I slammed the door hard enough to shake the castle.