Jolting up with the fear that something more had happened to Thorne in the daytime, as her paranoia was wont to make her feel, she started to get up out of bed — until a very heavy hand pressed upon her chest to stop her.
“It’s safe, Soldier, relax,” came the rumbling timbre of the man himself, sitting at her side with a flask at his side. “At ease.”
The woman laid back down with a heavy sigh and laughed, the anxiety giving way to relief, her adrenaline calming. She wouldn’t admit it, but she’d had a nightmare. He wouldn’t admit it, but he’d seen her thrashing. He’d held her down at points for her safety.
“You have night terrors. Why?” Thorne asked, firmly yet in a tone that was gentle. He would have an answer for this; who had traumatized her so severely? She’d begged for forgiveness and screamed in horrible pain, all after such a heavenly night together…her peace was damaged and he’d have the head of whoever did this. “You’re safe to talk about it here, love. I want to protect you.”
Feeling the cool wetness of tears on her cheeks as her laughter gave way to sobs, Sephiria reached for him. She was exhausted; this was the first time she’d known peace, safety, any of it. Her entire life had been surviving…but she knew he could protect her. They’d fought together in war, after all. “I have lived a full life, but the fullness was of running from the Church. Not only them, but him as well.”
“Him?” The man questioned as he brought her into his arms, pulling her from the bed into his lap. “Do you mean Quinchaveous?”
The nod she gave confirmed it, and Thorne bit the inside of his cheek to keep from growling in anger. He’d seen what that monster had put her through, what he’d done to her. Her shivering shoulders and the warmth blossoming on his shirt from her crying made his blood boil. He’d witnessed the attack on the balustrade of Hale Manor…he’d heard her screaming from miles away. It had been torture, and he would assure her safety from now on. Avreal would have wanted it. With last night, he had finally put to bed the years of grief they’d both shared over their dear friend, and her memory would live on through them. In her passing breath, she’d given them her blessing, but she knew Sephiria hadn’t arrived in time to hear it…so she was unaware.
He held her in silence for a moment longer, drying her eyes after a few minutes with his thumb. “I need you to listen to me well, young maiden.”
“Young?” She interjected with a soft laugh and an amused look in her eyes. “Thorne, you flatter me, but you know better than that.”
“Younger than me, little lamb,” Thorne retorted back, raising an eyebrow with a smirk. “Interrupt again, and I’ll remind you. I need your attention for a moment, sweetness. Do me this favor?”
Sephiria was surprised; he was usually somewhat submissive to Avreal before, but with her, he had a completely different energy. She adored it, and decided arguing was likely a poor choice. She wanted to hear what he had to say, as he so rarely spoke. Although, the words exchanged between them between last night and today were more than he’d ever spoken to her before, though his wife had kept watch on him like a hawk…
Thorne saw her nod and smiled, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Good girl. I remembered something important as we spoke last night. It’s about Avreal, and her last wish.” Giving her pause to register for a moment, he searched her eyes for signs of distress. After seeing none, he continued. “She gave me a blessing…to be with you, if you would have me. It was her wish that I am happy after her death…and I had to take time to mourn her. I should never have left you alone to deal with this, and for that slight, I am deeply sorry.”
Her heart hammered as she heard him, having difficulty believing and accepting what she’d just been told for a moment…but it made sense. She thought his wife hated her, but it seemed her respect for Sephiria had outweighed her jealousy. So, it was not unwarranted, she thought to herself as she fully realized how much he’d wanted her in his life as more than just his guard. It all made sense. Sephiria was silent a moment longer before turning her gaze up into his, an overwhelming release of tension causing her body to loosen in his grasp. “I have loved you for a long time…and now, I’m able to have you. I will always honor her in our lives. We will finish the rule she started.” With that, she gently kissed his forehead back — an acceptance of his offer.
Thorne’s heart was no longer heavy with grief — and neither was hers. He brought her chin up to face him and kissed her passionately, cupping the back of her head carefully as he stood. He carried her to his chamber, smiling softly as he felt her nestle further against him. “My room is a bit warmer than this one,” Thorne explained, “I’d prefer you in comfort, and I know you aren’t too familiar with that concept.” They approached the door and she decided to help by turning the door handle, which he appreciated since both of his hands were occupied with her ass and her back. She was still so shy, the poor girl, and he could see it by the fact that she was red as a beet with his hand where it was.
As they walked through the door, he gripped gently on her left cheek and purred in her ear. “Such a helpful woman. Perhaps it’s high time I help you for once,” He mused, and she looked up at him with surprise in her eyes. To comfort her, he spoke again. “Remember that you may always say no. Your word stops my touch. Alright?”
A nod. Good, but not enough. The graying Scottish vampire nibbled at her neck to encourage her, which got the response it was meant to. “Y-Yes…sir…“ She had murmured out through a sigh of a moan, and Thorne knew she wanted this as much as he did right now. They both hadn’t forgotten how close they’d come to his cock sheathing inside of her, filling her with his seed and hopefully his child. Sephiria’s nightmares had robbed her of dreaming of it, but she now saw the image of her pinned to the bed burned into her brain like a photograph. It was incredibly vivid as though a memory, but it was not — yet.
Thorne set her down and allowed her to stand; he wanted her to choose where he’d take her. To his surprise, however, Sephiria knelt before him. It gave him an idea, and he remembered the box that Avreal had given him…with that in it.
“Stay,” He ordered, and after her assent was vocalized he stepped into the corner of the room where her dresser had been. The vampire opened the first drawer, and as he withdrew the box from it and headed toward her, Sephiria couldn’t help but stare. His body was glistening in the fire’s light, a slight sheen of sweat from carrying her coating every inch of his muscular figure. He was an absolute Adonis; broad upper torso, strong legs, a rock-hard core and an absolute monster caged behind his breeches — that he’d not taken off since last night.
He smelled aroused. She could see the strain in his pants and she held back a whimper of desire; she knew her heat, a monthly cycle that ran similar to a woman’s time of the month, was coming and she couldn’t deny it. Did he know it too? Is that why he is so hands-on? Sephiria’s mind raced with possibilities as she knew the man was crafty, but what she didn’t know is that he was barely hanging onto his control of himself.