A Court of Truths and Revival

A Duel Before the Duel

SEREN

Being atop Azriel was like being atop a dark god in all his glory. It was exhilarating and utterly overwhelming to her senses, but she didn't hesitate to move her hips in accordance with his guiding, firm grasp.

So much had happened over the few last chaotic days but within the wards of her chambers, it was simply her and Azriel. His lingering injuries left the perfect opportunity for her to experiment and take charge of how they spent the minimal hours allotted for sleep following her appointment as Stewardess.

"This is not going to last long if you keep that up," Azriel warned as Seren sent a cool plume of magic out to caress the crevices of the magnificent wings splayed out beneath them. From this angle, Seren could better appreciate the sheer size of them as she fully enjoyed the length and girth of other parts of him.

Azriel's tone would have frightened the wise, but she let the dark warning skitter over her hot skin that his shadows were doing their best to cool as they curved over the panes of her chest. "Illyrian baby," she murmured as she flicked out more magic to target his other wing.

His hips bucked up harder into her as he let out a groan, sending a spike of sharp pleasure up her spine. Wanting more, Seren twisted her wrist out in front of her with the intent to push more concentrated magic to his wings, but a long, snake-like shadow coiled around her wrist and forced her arm behind her back. Simultaneously, Azriel reached up to get a better hold on her hips so she didn't fall forward on his chest.

"Is this what you want, Seren?" The stuttering rhythm of her hips failed when he took over and began pounding up into her.

His pace was almost punishing but it was exactly what she wanted. Under any other circumstances, the sounds she made would have been a source of embarrassment, but with Azriel, it simply sounded raw and unhinged, just like the person she was slowly starting to become.

When he hit a deeper angle and she let out a sharp cry, he held on tighter to ensure he hit it again and again. Her pleasure turned white hot and consumed her entire body as she trembled and clenched around him. Azriel continued moving until she was fully spent and he finally spilled himself in her with a husky groan.

The shadow pinning her arm behind her relented its hold and twisted around her waist as she eased down in the crook of Azriel's arm. She was careful to avoid the areas of his wings that were still bandaged as she curled into his side. "That was..."

"Exactly what you needed," Azriel finished when words failed her.

She snuck a subtle glance at his face and marled at the satisfied softness she suspected few had ever seen. "And what about—"

"I will never not need you, Seren," he interjected. Already, that openness on his face was hardening and the light hazel of his iris was darkening.

Her thoughts stuck on the word never and the way it fell over her like a warm blanket. It was proof they were more than just fleeting yearning. He could almost be considered a constant in her life and gods she needed something as solid as Azriel. She was coming to find that there was almost nothing as intoxicating as being wanted by an Illyrian as infamous and seemingly unattainable as Azriel.

Things in the Hewn City were slowly unraveling. Seren felt as if she were her mother wielding a pair of seamstress scissors as she cut every loose, unwinding thread, but there was always another to be found.

Lukius thought himself justified in his blatant murder of two priestesses and more than a few people she didn't want rising against her thought the same. After letting Azriel loose on him, he vowed to seek unity between the fracturing beliefs that were becoming more obvious by the day. Seren didn't think there needed to be one religion forced upon the entirety of the Court of Nightmares, but it was a precarious balance to let both sects continue. Since the altercation that left his blood coating the floor of a dungeon, he'd been lying low and staying out of Seren's sight, which was a welcome reprieve from the male she didn't think she could get away with killing at this point due to his growing support. In the dungeon, she'd actually gone as far as summoning the power needed to mist him and the problems he was bound to create away, but something had seized her nerves and she let the opportunity pass, for reasons she couldn't begin to explain.