Heir to a Fallen Star

Chapter 28

An hour passes in a warm blur of soft whispers, fierce holds, and the steady, grounding heat of his body. The freezing storm outside the frosted window feels a lifetime away now. You lay wrapped tightly in his arms, your head resting against the solid, rhythmic thud of his chest, finally feeling completely safe.

Kaelen’s large hand idly strokes your hair, his fingers gently untangling the golden strands. He is quiet for a long moment, just holding you as if still making sure you are truly there, before he clears his throat. The rumble vibrates pleasantly against your cheek.

"Iris," he murmurs softly, his voice laced with a lingering, quiet curiosity. "When you walked out of this room... where did you go? My heart nearly stopped when you told me to stay put."

You quiet your breathing for a second, staring at the dancing flames of the hearth.

"I went to find Maeve," you say quietly.

The hand stroking your hair freezes instantly. Kaelen’s entire chest tenses beneath you, a sudden, protective shadow falling over his face. He doesn't pull away, but you can feel the immediate spike of worry and confusion in his posture.

"Maeve?" he repeats, his gravelly voice dropping an octave, a protective edge creeping back in. He shifts slightly so he can look down into your face, his moss-green eyes searching yours. "Why? Red, after what she said to you... what happened down there?"

You let out a soft sigh, stirring slightly against his chest to look up into his rugged face. The tension in his jaw is palpable, but as you speak, the gentle warmth in your voice begins to melt it away.

"She’s not a monster, Kaelen," you murmur, your fingers trailing idly over the fabric of his shirt. "She’s a scorned woman who just needs to be loved. My heart aches for her."

Kaelen blinks, utterly disarmed. He had expected anger, maybe a confrontation, but the boundless empathy pouring from you leaves him completely speechless.

"I told her what she needed to hear—that she will be loved one day," you continue softly, staring into his intense moss-green eyes. "Sometimes that’s all someone needs to hear in order to heal. You captivated her, Kaelen. She fancied you real hard, but she knew she was never going to be more than a transaction, and that... that can break a person. Turn them into a bitter viper. But that doesn't define her, and I needed her to know that. I couldn't leave her like that."

Kaelen stares down at you, the fierce, protective anger in his expression completely dissolving into something entirely reverent. A profound, awe-struck silence fills the space between you. He looks at you as if you are a miracle he doesn't quite deserve, his heart aching with how deeply he loves you.

"Gods, Iris," he breathes, his voice thick with a sudden, overwhelming emotion. He reaches up, his large hand cupping your jaw, his thumb gently caressing your cheekbone. "You went down there after what she did... not to tear her apart, but to heal her."

He lets out a ragged breath, leaning down to press a soft, lingering kiss to your forehead, holding you as if you are the most precious thing in existence.

"You have a heart so fierce and beautiful it terrifies me," he whispers against your skin, his arms tightening around you, pulling you impossibly closer. "I was so focused on my own guilt and anger, but you... you saw right through her armour. I’ve spent my whole life around warriors, Red, but you are the bravest soul I have ever known."

“But I’m not, not really... In that moment I ran, like a scared child, into the snow, a very stupid decision on my part. That’s not brave, its cowardice and I wish by the gods I could take it back because in reality. I feel stupid.”

"Hey," Kaelen interrupts softly, his hand instantly sliding up to cup the back of your neck, his fingers gentle but firm as he forces you to look at him. He won't let you speak about yourself that way. "Look at me, Red."

His moss-green eyes are entirely devoid of judgment, filled only with a deep, aching understanding.

"You didn't run because you're a coward," he rumbles, his gravelly voice dropping into a comforting, steady register. "You ran because your world was spinning and you were suffocating. That's not cowardice—that’s survival. Your mind was trying to protect a heart that had just been handed over to someone else. Don't you dare call yourself stupid for hurting."

He leans down, pressing his forehead against yours, his warm breath fanning across your lips.

"If anyone was stupid, it was me," he whispers roughly, a flash of lingering self-reproach crossing his features. "I should have seen it coming. I should have protected you from her words before they could even touch you. You took a hit you weren't prepared for, Iris. Falling into the snow... yeah, it scared me to death. But the fact that you woke up, stood on your own two feet, and walked right down into the jaw of the wolf to bring peace? That is the definition of brave."

He pulls the heavy blanket tighter around your shoulders, anchoring you against his chest. "You don't have to take anything back. You're allowed to break, Red. Just promise me next time you feel that suffocating, you let me be the one to help you breathe. Deal?"

I nod in agreement. after a moment of long silence, I break the tension "I can see why you chose her, she is quite captivating, perhaps I should go warm her for the night in this cold inn." I say teasingly.

Kaelen freezes, his hand pausing mid-stroke in your hair. For a fraction of a second, his brain completely short-circuits, trying to process the sudden, wild whiplash of your words.

Then, he looks down at you, catching the wicked, teasing glint in your eyes.

A low, rich rumble of laughter breaks from his chest—a sound of pure, unadulterated relief that vibrates right through you. He shakes his head, a devastatingly handsome smirk spreading across his rugged face as he rolls his eyes.

"You are absolutely unbelievable, Red," he rumbles, his voice thick with fond amusement. He shifts his weight, suddenly rolling over just enough to pin you beneath his massive frame, trapping you against the soft mattress with a playful, possessive authority.

He leans down, his moss-green eyes gleaming with a dangerously dark, heated spark as his gaze drops to your lips, then tracks back up to your eyes.

"If anyone is doing any warming in this cold inn tonight, it's me," Kaelen murmurs, his gravelly voice dropping into a low, wicked purr that sends a delicious shiver straight down your spine. His large hands capture your wrists, pinning them gently above your head as he hovers over you, his chest radiating a staggering amount of heat.

"And I can assure you, sweetheart," he whispers, leaning in until his lips are a mere breath away from yours, "I have absolutely no intention of sharing you with the innkeeper. Or anyone else. Now, are you going to keep teasing me, or are you going to let me properly apologize for making you wait out in the cold?"

A rich, breathless belly laugh rips out of you, bubbling up from deep in your chest as you try to choke out the words between your giggles.

"Are you sure?" you gasp, your eyes dancing with absolute mischief as you look up at his stunned face. "I'll let you watch."

Kaelen’s jaw literally drops. The massive, terrifying warrior who can stare down a blade without blinking is entirely paralyzed by your sheer audacity. His brain completely stalls out for three full seconds, his eyes wide as he processes the wicked, scandalous tease you just threw right in his face.

Then, a dark, incredibly hot flush creeps up his neck, colouring his sharp cheekbones.

"Iris," he growls, his voice dropping into a dangerously low, rough register that is half-reproach and all heat. The playful amusement in his eyes instantly deepens into something fierce, possessive, and entirely undone by you.

His large hands slide down to grip your hips, pinning you firmly to the mattress. He leans down, his chest crushing softly against yours, his lips brushing the sensitive skin right beneath your ear, making you gasp as his warm breath fires up your veins.

"You are going to be the absolute death of me," he murmurs, his teeth grazing your earlobe in a gentle, punishing nip that makes your belly flip. He pulls back just enough to look down at you, a wicked, entirely captivated smirk playing on his lips. "If you think for one second, I am letting anyone else touch a single inch of you, you've lost your mind, Red. I'm greedy. Incredibly greedy. And right now, I think I need to remind you exactly who you belong to."

You look up at him, your eyes wide with the most innocent, wide-eyed look of complete oblivion you can manage, though the corners of your mouth twitch with the effort to keep from laughing again.

"Oh, really?" you ask, your voice a breathy, delicate purr. You tilt your head against the pillow, looking right at his dark, hooded eyes. "I think my memory might be a bit faulty... I'm really struggling to recall."

Kaelen lets out a low, dangerous sound from the back of his throat—a quiet growl of absolute surrender to your games. The sheer audacity of you playing innocent while trapped beneath him entirely unstrings his control.

"Faulty memory, huh?" he murmurs, his eyes darkening to the colour of a stormy forest.

His large hands slide slowly up from your hips, his thumbs tracing a path of pure fire over your ribs, making your breath catch. He leans down, his lips hovering a mere millimetre from yours, his scent—leather, woodsmoke, and pure, intoxicating warmth—enveloping you completely.

"Then let me help you remember, Red," he whispers roughly against your lips, his voice thick with a sudden, heavy heat. "Let me remind you of every single detail."

He doesn't give you a chance to utter another witty comeback. He brings his mouth down onto yours, burying you in a deep, possessive kiss that obliterates any lingering thoughts of teasing. His tongue tangles with yours with a fierce, intoxicating hunger, his large body pressing you down into the mattress as if he wants to sink right into your soul.

By the time he pulls back just an inch, his breathing ragged and his lips swollen, he glares down at you with a fiercely loving, breathless intensity.

"Remember yet?" he growls softly, his thumb gently brushing over your lower lip. "Or do I need to start from the beginning?"

"Can't remember..." you manage to breathe out, the words fluttering against his lips, devoid of all your previous bravado. Your eyes are heavy, dark, and utterly focused on his.

Kaelen’s chest expands with a massive, shaky breath, your surrender striking a chord deep within him. A fierce, breathless smile touches his lips before his expression shifts into something entirely consuming.

"Right then," he rumbles, a low, possessive vibration against your skin. "We're starting from the beginning. And we're not stopping until it's burned into your mind."

His mouth crashes back down onto yours, but the teasing playfulness is entirely gone, replaced by a deep, anchoring intensity. He frees your hands only to guide them up around his neck, his large fingers tangling into your golden hair, holding you steady as he drinks you in. Every press of his lips, every heavy, radiating inch of his body pressing you into the mattress is a deliberate, unyielding mark of his devotion.

He shifts, his hands sliding down to frame your face, breaking the kiss for just a fraction of a second to trail hot, open-mouthed nips down the sensitive column of your throat. A soft gasp escapes you, your fingers tightening in his hair as a delicious shiver crashes over you, completely chasing away the last remnants of the winter chill outside.

"You're mine, Iris," he swears roughly against your collarbone, his voice raw, thick with a lifetime of promises he intends to keep. "Every piece of you. Do you remember now?"

The heavy, intoxicating fog of his touch begins to clear just a fraction as a sharp, rhythmic thud echoes through the floorboards. It’s followed by the bright, unmistakable trill of a lute and a sudden, booming chorus of drunken cheering from the common room below.

You blink, coming out of your blissful daze, your hands pausing where they are tangled in the dark hair at the nape of his neck.

"Is that... music I hear?" you breathe out, your head tilting slightly toward the floorboards.