All Chapters of The Bride Wore Blood: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

The heat of the day had long since vanished from the bedroom. Rosa had lit a fire a little after midnight to clear the suffocating air that refused to move. But the flames in the grate had long since settled into a sulking glow, casting long shadows across the chamber walls. The silence of the early hours was absolute, heavy with the sort of dread that only flourishes when the rest of the world is asleep. I sit by the window, tracing an outline of a carving. A pair of sparrows about to take flight. Across the room, Maggie’s head had lolled back against the velvet upholstery of the chaise, her breathing deep and rhythmic. Rosa, however, remained vigilant. She sat on a low stool by my feet, her eyes reflecting the dying embers.'You should sleep, my Lady,' Rosa whispered, the sound cutting through the stillness like a dull blade. 'The sun will be up before Rune returns.''She will come back tonight,' I replied, my voice sounding thin to my own ears. 'She has to. Conspiracy doesn’t sle

Koal and I sped away from the campsite that had sprung up, just within the city limits. Kilak was pacing behind my ribs, his frustration a low, primal snarl that echoed my own. I was so close now to being reunited with Lana that we were both running out of patience. I pushed the horse harder, the rhythmic thud of hooves on the stone road a countdown to her. I had spent days negotiating with the Boren packs, trying to secure the influx of magic our land so desperately needed to stop the withering. But my mind had never truly left Soln. It had stayed in our suite, caught in the memory of Lana’s hand on my chest and the way she looked at me with eyes that saw far too much.As the spires of the Palace finally pierced the horizon, I felt her presence through my soul. A primal, intoxicating frequency that told me she was near. The 'gilded cage' I’d once threatened to keep her in felt more like a sanctuary now, the only place I could breathe. I didn't care about the court or the whispers of

The silence of the early hours was absolute, heavy with the scent of woodsmoke and the lingering, sweet musk of Thade’s skin. I woke before the sun, my eyelids fluttering open to a room draped in the bruised purple shadows of a pre-dawn sky. The fire in the grate had long since settled into a sulking glow, the dying embers casting a faint, orange warmth across the heavy beams that frame our bed. Beside me, Thade was solid and steady. Someone I had come to rely on, despite my own fears. The rhythmic rise and fall of his chest was a steady anchor against the fear that had pulled silently at me for weeks. For the first time in what felt like an eternity I felt a peace. Safe in the warmth of his embrace. I shifted slightly, the silk sheets whispering against my skin, and felt the secret I had been carrying finally lose its edges. I had told him. I had kept our secret until Thade could be the first to know. But I’d been afraid of the outcome. What if he’d just imagined another deception.

His fingers curl around my hips, pulling me to my knees. Lips trace a path down my back that sees me squirm as it tickles. I shout out, dropping down from my arms to bury my face into the fresh linen of the pillow, smothering the sound of my cry. I feel the heavy heat of his erection as he brushes alongside my inner thigh, then teases me rubbing back and forth against my needy core. I bite the pillow, hands positioned above my head, though I’m tempted to disobey again and see what delightful punishments might follow. I squirm as he tortures with me with gentle touches, stroking the sides of my body with his tip pressed to my opening. My hands clench, gripping the fabric as I steady myself, toes curled in anticipation for what seems like eternity. His kisses line my neck, his teeth graze my skin and I moan, shivering as I murmur, incoherent in my need. ‘Please…’ it’s a frantic gasp that he pulls from my lips, ‘please Thade…’I can feel his smirk upon his lips as he runs his mouth ac

It’s hard to swallow the sense of anxiety that follows me, once dressed, down to the room where we usually have breakfast together. My heart is thumping an irregular pattern, spurred on by the uneasy feeling at the bottom of my ribs. Rosa and Maggie were excited that Thade was back and eager to report the large field of people who had followed him from Boren to compete for land at the tournament.I’d tried to listen, to make sense of their reports but I was pre-occupied. My mind fixed on seeing Thade again, as soon as possible. The dining room was quiet, save for the soft scrape of wood against stone as I pushed the door open. Thade was there, seated at the circular table, his posture rigid as if carved from the very air of the room. When he caught sight of me, he rose slowly, a flicker of something unreadable passing through his eyes, a silent acknowledgment that silenced the frantic thrum in my own chest. I took a hesitant step forward, ready to ask him everything that had been bu