Wings of Shadow

Chapter 15

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AZRIEL

The advancing winter season brought them closer. After leaving her cottage, which they had packed up neatly, they only left behind the bare essentials for someone else to eventually use it like she had done before. Marzia had been saddened to leave, but upon their return to Velaris, she had worked tirelessly in their new house, until it was ready for them to move.

He had his clothes taken from the Riverfront house and the House of Wind, and placed in his new townhome. His wardrobe had been too big for what little he owned, but as Marzia settled, her clothes had also begun to fill the space.

Now, as she lounged half-dressed on his bed, he wished she would take those clothes and put them on.

"It's the Winter Solstice, Marz," he said, buttoning his silky black shirt. "We are expected-"

"At the House of Wind, I know," she said, rolling over on her back.

Her lacy underthings rode further up her torso, leaving almost her entire abdomen exposed. She was doing a good job at wanting to keep him there, at her side.

"Cauldron be damned, Marz."

He sat on the bed next to her, splaying his large hand over her entire stomach, failing to convince his fingers to not dip under the hem of her top.

"This could be your Solstice gift," she said, low, placing her hand over his, and bringing it further up, until he brushed her breast.

"If this is my gift, I would rather have it after the party."

"Why not now?"

"Because I would be risking going at all."

He got up, removing his hand from her body with great effort. She followed suit, chuckling in his direction, her laugh echoing in the sparse room that they shared. When she removed her lacy top, her back turned to him, he exited the room hastily before he could change his mind.

If she kept it up, he would lose his mind before the party was over and he could come back to their house. Then, when it was only him and her, he'd make sure to leave his marks on her.

For weeks now, the connection that had joined them together all those years ago, was beginning to grow taut. He felt anchored to her in a way he hadn't felt before, but he didn't know what that meant. Rhys had said that when the bond snapped into place, he would know for sure at the exact moment.

He waited for her downstairs, tapping his fingers against the armrest of the couch. When she came down the steps, dressed in a beautiful bright periwinkle-blue gown, his jaw dropped. The dress left her shoulders uncovered, but the neckline was delicately wrought with beads of mother of pearl and round sapphires, extending around the top edges of the soft tulle sleeves that reached down to her wrists. The mother of pearl beads extended down, growing sparse as they reached her waist, where a similarly wrought belt cinched around the soft and airy fabric of her gown. The skirt opened up in a big poof of blue tulle, with a slit that almost reached her thigh, extending past her ankles and pooling around her feet despite the silver heels that made her look taller than usual.

Marzia, beaming, stood at the bottom of the staircase, her hair tied up in a low updo, to keep her neck and shoulders bare and free of her loose curls. No jewelry adorned her, and her face was dusted with the faintest traces of makeup to enhance her features. Her hair also seemed to have been dusted by a shimmery glow, as if stars had placed themselves on it.

He took her hand, bowed, and kissed the back of it. "You are breathtaking," he whispered. "The Mother blessed you upon the day of your birth."

When he rose again, standing a breath of distance apart from her, he could have sworn by the Cauldron that his heart was about to burst from his chest at the sight. Even his shadows were quiet, awed.