Blood of the Infinity War (Afterlife saga Book 8)

by Stephanie Hudson

  “That I can be sure of, for no doubt you have many tricks up your sleeve, even when pleasingly, they are not concealed by the annoyance of fabric,” he said lifting my naked arm up and pretending to find something there. I giggled and from his expression he liked the sound.

  “I am sorry however, that I frightened you that day, for it was unavoidable, I am afraid,” he said, surprising me with the sound of obvious guilt on his part.

  “I confess, I was scared of you but then you started to be nice to me and well, putting down your blade helped,” I teased nudging him with this last part.

  “Nice?” he questioned nudging me back as if the idea of him being called ‘Nice’ was utterly foreign to him.

  “Kind,” I said changing my word.

  “By the Gods woman you have no idea what restraint it took not to simply throw you over my shoulder, release my wings and fly off with you to the highest point of my kingdom…but alas, even Kings have their part to play.” I blushed wondering how different the events would have turned out if this scenario had happened.

  “I remember silently seething at Ranka’s interference.” Now this confession shocked me.

  “But why?! She saved me from…” he never let me finish.

  “From what, from me having you taken to my chambers so that I might question you myself…alone?” The word ‘alone’ was said with enough sexual promise that even the Pope would have known what he meant.

  “Oh.”

  “Yes, ‘oh’ indeed. But of course, after Ranka stepped forward I knew I had little choice in my decision,” he told me frowning as if remembering it and finding no pleasure in reliving the past.

  “So, the harem it was then,” I muttered making him raise an eyebrow my way before he gripped my chin in a firm grasp and said sternly,

  “Yes, one you tried to escape from.” Oh dear, that was definitely not a happy moment for him.

  “Well, could you blame me? I mean do you really think that because you have a hall full of the most beautiful women in the world, that they will act like innocent, happy little virgins waiting to be plucked by their King and sit there behaving like Mother Teresa?” I said getting way, way, way too carried away with myself…yet again. Draven grabbed my wrists as they were being flung up and down in my rant. He looked to be fighting a grin and said,

  “Happy little virgins? Upon my word young soul of mine, you seem almost jealous,” he said seemingly more pleased with this idea than he should.

  “And would you not be, if I had a room full of handsome suiters all ready to…” He suddenly growled and stopped me by covering my mouth with his hand, giving me a warning,

  “I would not finish that sentence if I were you, little one.” Well yes, okay so when he acted this way I couldn’t say it didn’t light that little smug spark in me. He gave me a pointed look as if he waited for something and it only disappeared when I nodded, to which he then removed his hand from my mouth.

  “I think I made my point,” I said and he the look he gave me was almost laughable. It was as though he begrudgingly agreed but hated the fact that I was right.

  “And I think I will make my point when I say that a hall full of beauties holds no appeal to me when there is only one beauty that I wish to gaze upon for the rest of my days, as for the last thing…” He paused as he seemed to want a moment to enjoy the sight of my blush, by pushing my hair back with both hands and caressing my cheek with his thumb. Then he said,

  “I know not of this Mother of which you speak.” I laughed once knowing that he had no idea who Mother Teresa was and wouldn’t for quite some time yet, so I told him,

  “Think of the kindest person you know and triple it.” This made him laugh for some unknown reason.

  “Then that would be a holy spirit indeed for the kindest person I know is you and I find it hard to believe that someone could possess kindness greater than that,” he said making me bite my lip at how lovely a compliment that was. I did want to point out that he hadn’t known me long enough but my face must have given me away again. Which was secretly beginning to worry me on how quickly he was learning to read me.

  “You don’t believe I think this way? Do you not think I have been presented with enough proof…for I know you do not, as I can sense it in those expressive eyes of yours” He informed and then began to shift me around further so that I was straddling him. Thankfully he still had his pants on otherwise, I think that homing missile it felt he had stuffed in his pants would have made impact with its target without much thought needed.

  “A young beauty, that even though scorned and threatened by one of her own sex, still refused to give her up and cast blame, even if it’s just to escape my wrath. But a girl who was only willing to inflict pain on such a vile creature when she felt that another was threatened by the blade she carried.”

  “Well, she was trying to kill you this time and I couldn’t allow that,” I added making him smile before nodding respectfully and then saying,

  “Ah, but I haven’t finished my list, for there is also a beauty who enlisted the help of a servant to aid in her escape but then worried about the implications that such an action could cause her. And not forgetting the deadly actions which you put yourself in when you stood between me and that of a demonic god ready to kill me…No, I think you will find my Love, that it would be difficult indeed to find a purer soul than yours, that you can believe in.” Okay so now I was blushing scarlet and I looked down at his chest and said quietly,

  “But of course, I did…I would do anything for the man I love.” As soon as the words were out I felt his hand snap out and hold my neck once more in his grasp. Then he slowly shifted his hold to position his thumb under my chin to be able to apply enough pressure to get me to look up at him.

  “Say it again,” he demanded, moving his hand back round putting his palm against the front of my throat. When I didn’t say it quickly enough, his arm bent at the elbow, pulling me closer to his face with his firm hold. Then his Demon spoke to me,

  “I want to feel the words coming from you.” I quivered in his hold and that other side of him smiled, as it enjoyed what it could do to me. I swallowed hard, making his dark eyes bleed into purple fire.

  “I…I love you,” I told him softly and I could feel the small vibrations in his palm, as if it was connecting to him somehow. He closed his eyes and rasped out,

  “Again.” It was as if he needed this, so I gave him this part of me.

  “I love you, Arsaces, King of my Heart,” I told him, saying his name for only the third time and the first time was said when I thought he was going to kill me, so I wasn’t sure that counted.

  Either way, the significance of what I had said didn’t go unnoticed but more like…consumed. He seemed to devour my very words and he momentarily tightened his hold on me before his control shattered. I knew this when he growled low in his throat in a predatory manner and for a second I thought I had gone too far, too quickly. His eyes snapped open and the blaze I saw there I thought would swallow me whole. In fact, it was what made me try and put space between us, suddenly fearful of what he would do next.

  “Do not fear me, I will control it but do not run from me…do you understand?” I decided to take his threat serious enough that my whole body froze. I nodded and decided that he was right. Running from the demonic beast held back on a single thread of control was just begging him to pull hard enough and break it. So instead I decided to try something different, I decided to try and tame it.

  I bit my lip and knew it wasn’t a great start when he began growling at me, so I let it go and shifted a bit closer to him, slowly at first. He looked shocked by my slow-moving actions and it was enough for him to cease his growling displeasure. Even his hand that still shackled my throat eased its pressure and I decided to reach out with my hand, raising it to his face. It felt a lot like stroking a wild snarling beast, in hopes that one wrong move wouldn’t end up with a limb being torn from your body.

  As I reached out, I
also moved even closer to him, so that he had no choice but to let go of my neck. He released a rumbling sound, almost as if his Demon was speaking directly to me. As if telling me it liked my touch and I calmed him with it as I pushed his wet hair back from his face.

  Draven remained so still, I didn’t know if this was for my benefit or just the utter shock of my actions. So, I took it as a good sign either way and shifted even closer, feeling the evidence of his arousal as I did. This was something I loved about Draven. No matter what happened between us, he was never ashamed to show this side of himself to me. No trying to hide the power I had over him or the effects at having me close by did. Thinking back on how many times I had looked down and seen his lust there for myself in the form of one big, heavy and hard manhood standing to attention. And even given almost 2000 years between them it didn’t matter for now was no different.

  But right now, this wasn’t about sex or trying to get him to break that iron will of his. It was the opposite. I wanted to be the one who controlled this side of him. I wanted to be able to not only calm his temper, but also his supernatural side…both of them.

  So, with one last try, I wrapped both my arms around him and snuggled into him, resting my head at his shoulder. Then I placed my lips to his neck, where I kissed, licked and sucked at his flesh, playfully nipping at him. Soon the growls turned into groans of pleasure and he wrapped his arms around me to keep me to him in an unbreakable hold.

  “If your actions are such in order to render me under your control, then I must confess, you easily accomplish such a task when placing your trust in my Demon in such a manner as this,” he informed me once he had regained control…or should I say, I had regained control for him. I raised my head to look up at him and said,

  “I am glad to hear it, My Lord.”

  “No.” I frowned at him, trying to retrace my steps and find where I had gone wrong, when he quickly told me.

  “I am, first and foremost, a man who owns your heart, not a king who demands it. You will therefore call me by my name, you will call me Arsaces,” he told me and I raised my hand to his cheek and ran my thumb across his lips, smiling when this seemed to tickle him. Something that I found fascinating considering I had found no ticklish spots on Draven from my own time. I would have to remember this.

  “And does this mean you will also call me by my own name,Arsaces?” I asked thinking I knew the answer, that was of course, until he gave me the last one I was ever expecting and it started with a question…and an awkward one at that.

  “That depends, has this name of yours ever been spoken to you by another lover?” This question wasn’t said in a happy, ‘I think I know the answer, aren’t I smug’, kind of way. Oh no, it was said in a ‘watch very carefully what you say next’ type of way.

  “I don’t think that is something I wish to speak of and I certainly know it is not something that you would wish to hear,” I told him being as honest as I could. Because the truth of the matter was that Draven was in fact the very first ‘lover’ to speak my name in such a way.

  Even my first real boyfriend used to call me Kaz. But what could I tell him, because either answer I gave, each in their own right, would have been a lie. But even the vague answer I had given him wasn’t enough to keep the anger from his face. Or from his possessive actions. He quickly took hold of each side of my face and pulled me closer to him, so that the threat he issued was said intimately over my lips.

  “If you ever see him again, I will kill him….do you understand me, my Nāzanin?” The way he growled my given name and the way he said ‘My’ was nothing short of a branding. We both knew who he was referring too and there was only one of us who knew the truth. I had to wonder what he would say right now if I told him that he was in fact, the other man.

  “I can ease your mind with a simple truth,” I told him granting me a questioning look. Then he released my face on one side and let his hand slip down to my neck once more so that he could feel my pulse and detect my lie. Then he nodded for me to proceed. So, I quickly put him out of his misery, as I knew he didn’t have the patience for such things and I told him,

  “I can promise you, that the man whose name you already know, will never be seen again in this lifetime.” I told him, knowing that the words he heard were not the ones spoken. Because it was the only way I could speak the truth, a truth he could easily read. This was when he finally relaxed because his assumption was exactly what I had made it sound like…My Draven, the one he heard me speak of…he thought was dead. For what else was there for him to think?

  “I am glad to hear it, Nāzanin,” he said, making sure I didn’t miss the way he said my given name, one that meant more to him than the name I had been given at my birth. Because it meant it was his name. It belonged to him as did I. And more importantly to him, he would then be the only one to ever speak it as he entered me.

  It would sound barbaric and irrational to most but for me, for someone who knew how Draven’s mind worked, then I also knew how difficult it was going to be for him in discovering these new emotions. And jealously was going to be the hardest one of all for an Alpha like Draven.

  “Now turn around and lean back so I may continue to tend to you,” he told me now that he was relaxed once again and the storm that was Draven battling his Demon had passed. I had won…for now.

  “Tend to me? I think you already did that My L… Arsaces,” I said in a cheeky tone as I lifted my hand to my neck where he had bitten me and very kindly granted me a very powerful orgasm. He seemed to enjoy my teasing and grinned at me mischievously. Of course, I had been about to call him ‘my Lord’, but one look from him told me not to forget what he had asked of me. I think this was his way of showing me how important I was to him and I couldn’t say I had an issue with that.

  “And I will never forget it my sweet girl. Now do as you’re told, I wish to care for you and hold you close before…” he paused as he turned me around and settled me back against him with his manhood still standing to attention in a way you couldn’t ignore.

  “Before?” I asked looking back at him over my shoulder and when he answered me, I couldn’t help but shiver, even as his hands caressed softly down my arms. Because I knew my time of honesty was nearly at an end and I knew this when his last word spoken was whispered in my ear as a promise…

  “Before it is time for you to tell me…Everything.”

  Chapter 5

  The Funny Side of Serious

  After he dropped this ‘Oh shit’ moment on me I remained silent as he continued to ‘tend’ to me, as he called it. This consisted of him washing every inch of my body with a tender care that blew me away. It was the actions of a warrior king who seemed to be the polar opposite to the very image of the man. Of course, I knew Draven’s tender side more than anyone else in the world, but the man at my back was a very different Draven. So, it was only natural that his actions surprised me.

  Like when he started washing my hair, being so gentle as though he was handling a priceless gift from the Gods, and I guess in a way, he considered this to be very much the way of things, seeing as I was his Electus. So, this reflected on the soft gentle treatment he bestowed on me. Like the way he would soap up his large hands before embedding his fingers into my hair and massaging my scalp. I couldn’t help the shameful moans that kept slipping out.

  “Does my touch feel good, heart of mine?” he asked and I could only find myself nodding in his hold. After he was finished and his exploring had been more than a little thorough, he shifted me off him so that we could get out of the bath, but this was when I decided to be brave.

  I placed a hand on his arm, restraining him before he could leave the pool. He looked down at my hold and then back up at me as if surprised once more. I mean jeez…did no one touch him without having his permission or something?! Well thinking about it, I guess restraining him or holding him back was something that would be utterly foreign to not only any King but one having such great power. Ok, so thinking about
it like that, then yeah, no wonder he was looking at me in utter shock.

  I quickly removed my hand as if his look had burned me and this was when his eyes got soft, telling me I had done no wrong.

  “You look at me as though I wound you with my gaze, when this should not be the case. Only you and no other is always permitted to touch me, as is your right to do so…do you understand?” I rolled my bottom lip to stop from biting it and nodded quickly.

  “Now enlighten me to what you were going to tell me, sweet one,” he told me and all of a sudden, I felt a little shy in doing so.

  “I…well…I just wanted to…you know…” Oh jeez, find words Keira, for God’s sake! His lips quirked as if he wanted to laugh before he said,

  “I am afraid I don’t and am at a loss. However, I do find myself looking forward to knowing, greatly.” I seriously had to stop myself from groaning aloud when he said this. I mean was there anything this man said that didn’t have my stomach in sexual knots!?

  “I just wanted to…to return the favour and…well…that,” I said not so articulately and instead nodding to the cloth he had been using to clean me with. He turned his gaze to the discarded piece of fabric and then back to me with wide eyes,

  “You wish to wash me?” he asked astonished and I felt my face grow hot. Maybe this wasn’t something that was done in his time, or was like some great offense. So, I quickly started to make my excuses and back track.

  “Umm…well, no.”

  “No?” he repeated and I just ended up feeling like an idiot. Could I have been any more confusing right now? So, in true Keira fashion I let my mouth start to run away with me, leaving him even more astounded than before.

  “Yes, oh I don’t know, either answer that doesn’t offend you. I didn’t know if it was like an insult or something, so I panicked because you seemed so shocked and I just wanted to touch you…no! No, no, not touch you, I didn’t mean…well, yes there would be touching, mainly from my side, but I didn’t mean that in a sexual way, just like to wash you as you…” Finally, I stopped when unexpectedly, he threw his head back and started laughing and I mean really laughing, like the type you find hard to control. His whole body shook from it and I found myself frozen by the sight. He was stunning.