Eros

At Last, You Die - 89

Alora made her way down the tunnel at the bottom of the Archtree. Stairs were carved in the living wood, descending to a single door. She opened it, and warm, moist air rushed over her.

The dim light of old Leafgems lit the vapors threading the air in faint green, revealing a cavern of pale, smooth wood. The walls broadened to seal around a rock of the mountain, and water pooled between the tree and the stone. She saw Kaido through its steams, back leaned and arms slung across the pool's wooden ledge.

She looked aside, and the towel-girl bounced from her chair, startled out her dreamy staring.

"Leave us." Alora said and in elven, and the girl made it out the room in quick, nervous steps. She sat down in her chair, stripped off her boots and new, white-furred robes. Ones befitting the Archferal.

Kaido peered over his shoulder as she approached, eyes trailing up her naked body before they met her gaze. A little smile bent the corner of his mouth.

As she got closer, she saw his tattoo through the fog. Before it curved along his shoulder, now it stretched with jagged ends, reaching over his shoulders and under the hair on his nape. The spiral pattern changed, the lines turned broken and chaotic. Green twisted from the silvery clawmarks where they met the tattoo, cracking in thin streaks through the black.

Her conclusions went back to the old elf that dubbed his fingers in the cuts, but she held her tongue still. If Kaido needed anything, it was some peace of mind. As short as it'll last.

Alora stepped into the water beside him. Their heat almost scalded her skin, but thawed through the hardness of the muscles she overexerted in yesterday's war. She found a seat on an underwater bench on Kaido's side, and leaned back to the ledge, sinking in the hot pool down to the neck.

His dark green eyes met hers. "I heard the new Archferal is a beauty like no one had seen before."

"If you like them scarred." Alora grinned, half bitter. The burn still itched deep under her skin, never letting her forget it was there.

"I do." He said, his gaze steady on hers, piercing. Alora didn't shy from it, shuffling closer to him. She caressed up his bicep, her fingers tracing the clawmarks along the muscle.

"So do I."

His arm curled around her back. She put her hands to his broad chest, eyes glued to his wet lips. He pulled her close, his kiss stealing the breath from her breast.

Alora slid her leg over his, straddling his thigh and pressing tight against him. Her lips slipped and sealed with his tongue eager, fingers running through his hair.

He broke the kiss, distancing himself to catch her gaze.

"You are softening me."

She blinked at him. "Softening you?"

"You had bad news written all over your face when you walked over. You are trying to soften the blow."

She smirked at him, voice a husky whisper as she leaned to brush his ear with her lips.

"Maybe I just want you inside me."

Kaido squeezed her buttock in his palm, making her gasp. "You're good, but I can handle it. Let me hear."

Her arms loosened around his neck, her eyes lowering.

"You are banished."

"Damn," Kaido said, a grin to his lips. "I hoped you'd keep me as a concubine."

"I have to take care of the children and mothers of the Eastern Tribes' warriors left at home, rescue the prisoners of the Western, and deal with all the Northen that despise a Silverthorn taking the Skytalon's ancient place as the Archferal. How could I do all that with you in my bed day and night?"