Page 90 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
‘They do,’ Ash replied, swallowing. ‘But theirs have curtains.’ A faint frown tugged at his brow. ‘It’s h-hard for me to see through them pro-properly.’
Mal considered that in silence, her grip never loosening.Then she nodded, as if filing the knowledge away for later use. Without releasing him, she tugged him forward.
‘Let us take a walk together, husband.’
Ash obeyed without question. Gently, he freed his arm only to lace his fingers through hers instead, claiming her hand as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Mal glanced at him and smiled. It was a soft and unguarded smile, and at the sight of it his heart stumbled in his chest, quickening as though it had briefly forgotten how to beat.
‘You shouldn’t be alone with him,’ she said suddenly.
They halted as wyvern roars rolled across the sky. Both glanced towards the horizon, where dark shapes cut through the air above the sea, vast wings beating against the wind. For a moment, the world felt suspended between breath and heartbeat.
‘He might try to kill you,’ Mal continued quietly, her hand resting over her stomach. ‘He might not be able to end the curse that binds us all. But you would die and be reborn.’
Ash turned to her, his voice barely more than a whisper.
‘You’d be free of m-me. At least in this li-lifetime.’
Her eyes flew wide. She released his hand at once and stepped back, as though struck.
‘Is that what you think I want?’ The words came sharp, almost spitting. ‘To be rid of you?’
He swallowed. ‘It would be easier, would it n-not?’
Mal stared at him, something fierce and aching flashing through her purple eyes.
‘I may be cursed to love you, Ash Acheron,’ she said, her voice trembling with restrained fury, ‘but that does not mean I haven’t fallen for you on my own terms.’
Ash could only look at her. Truly look. At the woman who had overturned his world the moment she had descended upon drakonian soil astride her wyvern, fire and destiny woven into hervery bones. From that first instant, he had known his life would never again belong solely to him.
He stepped forward and cupped her face, his hands warm against her cool skin, grounding himself in the reality of her.
‘I will love you un-until my last breath on this earth,’ he said softly. ‘And beyond it. In the afterlife as well.’
The wind carried the echo of wyvern cries overhead, but for Ash, the world narrowed to just her.
Mal; his wife and his curse.
He pressed his mouth to hers, coaxing her lips apart until his tongue brushed against hers. Their bodies answered one another instantly, moving in quiet synchrony, as if they had always known this rhythm, this closeness. It felt effortless. Inevitable. And somewhere deep within him, Ash knew why.
Thanatos.
The truth they shared, the secret threaded through their very existence, pulsed between them like a second heartbeat.
Ash had always been selfish. He did not deny it. Even if this love had been shaped by Death himself, he would keep it. He would claim it. He would not let Mal go. Not completely. No matter what bargains he had to strike, no matter what sacrifices were demanded to keep their daughter safe, he would search for a future where the three of them could exist together. Somehow.
When their lips finally parted, his breath lingered against hers.
‘He won’t hurt me,’ Ash said softly.
Mal searched his face. ‘How can you be so sure?’
Because we are one,the truth whispered inside him.
But he did not give it voice.
‘Because he lo-loves you too much,’ Ash replied instead, his words careful, weighted. ‘He would ne-never do anything to hurt you. Not on purpose.’
Before she could question him further, before doubt could take root, he kissed her again—deeper this time, more insistent. He poured everything into it, hoping the warmth of his touch might drown out thoughts of Thanatos, of secrets, of destinies entwined and half-spoken.
