Where Ashes and Oaths Collide

Chapter 35: Seductive Whispers

“What if I want you to kiss me?” Amelia asked challengingly back in Luz’s tent. Luz’s breath hitched at her bold question, the challenge in her green eyes lighting a fire within him that had been dormant for too long. The crimson glow in his eyes intensified as he closed the remaining distance between them in two swift strides. “Be careful what you wish for,” he warned huskily, kneeling on the cot so they were eye-level despite his taller stature. His hands landed on either side of her hips, caging her against the furs without actually touching her yet. The black veins along his neck pulsed visibly as his self-control strained against six years of loneliness and forbidden desires. “Because if I start kissing you know, I will not stop until morning– and we both know that is a terrible idea before a major battle.”

Luz’s face hovered inches from hers, their breaths mingling in the tense space between them. “Is it?” Amelia asked pretending to be innocent. She put the bread down on the cot beside her and cupped both Luz’s cheeks, framing his face with her soft hands. His breath caught as her warm hands cupped his face, the contrast between the gentle touch and his cold skin sending a jolt through him. The innocent expression on her face only made it more tempting to give in. “Amelia,” he warned, but his voice lacked any real authority. “You do not understand what you are doing. The thing I have become–” he broke off as her thumb stroked along his jawline, tracing the edge of the black veins creeping up his neck.

The darkness within him responded instantly to her touch, the crimson in his eyes glowing brighter. “Stop that,” he muttered weakly, though he made no move to pull away. His own hands came up to rest on her wrists, not pushing her away but holding on as if afraid she might disappear. “You should be running from me,” he said quietly, his forehead resting against hers. “We already discussed this,” Amelia said slightly irritated. “I am not going anywhere.” She shifted closed to Luz. “I resisted kissing you all day,” she said with a soft pleading voice. “Should I not get a reward for that?” he let out a low, shaky laugh at her logic, the sound vibrating against her palms.

The irritation in her voice was familiar– it was the same tone she had used when her tried to argue against her when she was helping rebuild the mill six years ago. “Reward?” he repeated, his thumb brushing over the back of her hand. “Since when have you become so demanding?” His resolve crumbled completely under the combination of her persistent refusal to abandon him and the sheer familiarity of arguing with her. The cold commander mask slipped entirely away, revealing the man beneath who had missed this banter more than he would ever admit. “Fine,” he conceded with a sigh that was more resignation that annoyance. “But if I get us both killed tomorrow because I am distracted thinking about this–” he did not finish the threat.

Instead, Luz closed the final inch between them and captured Amelia’s mouth with his own. She kissed him back eagerly. When their lips parted, they were both breathless. “I can’t help it,” she defended softly. “After last night– I just want you to touch me like that again.” Her hands slid down to the hemp of his shirt. His breath came out in a shaky exhale, the raw honesty in her voice unravelling the last of his military disciple. Her hands tugging at his shirt sent a wave of heat through him that had nothing do with the darkness inside him. “Gods, Amelia,” he muttered against her neck, his lips finding the sensitive skin there. “You have no idea how long I have dreamed of hearing you say that.” His own hands moved from her wrists to her waist, pulling her flush against his chest so she could feel the solid warmth of him beneath the coarse fabric.

“You make it impossible to be the monster everyone thinks I am,” he confessed roughly, his crimson eyes burning with a mix of desire and something deeper– a longing for the man she still saw when she looked at him. “Good,” Amelia said confidently. “Because I just want you to be Luz. The man I love and want more than anything. “She pulled his shirt up slightly. His breath hitched at her words, the confident declaration of love hitting him with the forces of a physical blow. The name– Luz– felt foreign of his lips now, a ghost from a life he had burned to askes. “Luz is dead,” he said hoarsely, his hands tightening on her waist as she tugged his skirt higher. “That man you loved rode into battle six years ago and never came back.”

Yet even as he spoke the words, his body betrayed him. His lips found hers against, harder this time, desperate and demanding. The kiss was no longer gently but hungry, fuelled by years of loneliness and the impossible hope she represented. His fingers worked at the ties of her midnight tunic with practiced urgency despite the tremor running through them. “This is a mistake,” he murmured against her mouth, his voice cracking with emotion. “You should hate me for what I have become.” Once he was finished with the ties of her midnight tunic, she lifted his shirt up and over his head. “I don’t,” she muttered. “You will always be Luz to me.” The sight of her bare skin in the flickering light originating from the brazier made something inside him snap completely.

The last vestige of his military discipline crumbled as he finally let faced of the name he had been trying to escape for years. “Damn you,” he breathed, his voice thick with emotion. “How do you do this? How do you look at me like that and still see the man I was?” his hands moved from her waist to her shoulders, pushing the midnight fabric of her tunic down her arms until it pooled around her elbows. “You have no idea what you are doing to me,” Luz said roughly, leaning down to press open-mouthed kisses along her collarbone. Amelia moaned and her head fell back in pleasure; her hands moved to his shoulders to hold onto him.