Amory hid a grin at the way Yavanna's small arms clung to him. Her teeth still chattered behind her blue lips. A kiss would likely warm her right up. He thought and almost stopped walking while he stared at them.
"Amory?" She asked.
"Hm?" He grunted and she somehow managed to break the spell she'd wound around him.
"Put me down, I can walk by myself." He regarded her carefully. Her voice was quiet, as though she was frightened to be heard.
"You've got nothing to cover your feet." He said, leaving no room for argument before he began to move down the halls again.
The corners of his lips raised at the sound of her despondent sigh. But she didn't say anything else. They arrived at his room and he called for a servant. Within moments, Tobias entered and bowed low.
Yavanna straightened in his arms.
"Yes, your majesty." He bowed.
"Have a warm bath be prepared for her majesty."
Tobias left to fulfill his orders and he went and sat on the bed. Yavanna attempted to escape as soon as he did, but he wanted to hold onto her a little longer. Her pale neck was directly in his view and his mind flashed back to what he'd done to that neck only minutes ago.
His fangs began to ache for her, along with his cock. She was his wife, he could just spin her and place her on the bed and tell her that he wanted her.
But she broke into his mind with her voice, clearly oblivious of what was occurring within him. "You're going to rescue them, aren't you?"
"Rescue who?" He asked as he pulled a tendril of wet hair from her smooth neck. She shivered and he looked up with a dark gaze. But she refused to meet his eyes.
"Your people. The ones Niran kidnapped." She said, glancing at him from the side of her eyes.
He brushed away another tendril of hair, unable to keep his hands away from her. He watched with a hidden smile as her ears tinted a bright red.
"They will be rescued." He answered distractedly, his focus was mainly on her face and expressions that she was trying to hide. "Clark and I will be leaving soon to rescue them."
"By yourselves?" She asked, her skin beginning to change to a rosy hue under his scrutiny.
"What's wrong with that?" He asked, his fingers subconsciously massaging her hip. She stiffened and her eyes darted to his.
"Th-there are children there." She answered and his own skin became hot at the traces of huskiness in her voice. "And I don't—will you be frightening?" Her eyes met his and he stared into them as though it had been years since he'd gotten their attention. The warm brown irises were thin from how dilated her pupils were, and he could see her fighting to close her eyes.
He smiled, "Am I frightening?"
His lips twitched, tempted to spread into a grin, when he heard her shaky exhale. "No."
"Then why are you trembling?"
"I'm not." She denied. Her lips were no longer blue, but he could feel her shaking beneath his palm as it crept up her bare thigh. When he reached the top of the soft thigh she made a strangled sound in her throat and her hands flew to his hand. "I…stop."
It was the pleading in her voice that broke him out of the lust-filled haze and he stood quickly. She stumbled off of him and walked across the room. Amory swallowed a gulp of air, trying to cool his body down. But there was no point.
He wanted to go further. He wanted so desperately to see her reactions, to learn what she wanted. But she was scared.
"Why does it scare you?" He asked roughly. He focused on her and saw that she was hunched over, her arms wrapped around herself. He growled in frustration. "Yavanna!"
"It—I don't know." She cried and his heart twisted.
"Yavanna…we're husband and wife. This is expected."
"What is? The-the touching an-an-and the—"
"Yes. And Yavanna, I want to touch you." He didn't know how else to put it. He wanted to run his hands over every inch of her body. He wanted to see her body. He felt starved.
A knock came at the door and she turned around and he saw her face. Tears stained her cheeks and the uncertainty in her eyes felt like it was ripping his heart from his chest.
He forced himself to look away from her. "Enter."
Tobias opened the door and four servants walked in and to the bathroom, all carrying pails of steaming water. Amory glanced over to see that Yavanna was hiding her face with her hair.
He sighed in aggravation and stormed out of the room. Tobias opened his mouth and he shot him a look that he knew would shut him up. His aide shut his mouth and Amory left.
He needed a distraction. Walking to Clark's room he barged in and found his brother reading a book by the window.
"Get up."
"And where are we going?" He asked without raising his eyes, a bitter tone in his voice.
"You're acting like Velio."
"Well, he's not here."
"And that justifies it? There isn't room for discussion on this matter."
He scoffed and set down his book, "So you're just going to make us live with the curse? Going to make your children live with it?"
"We've done just fine." The truth was…he couldn't do it. In the end, he knew it would hurt Yavanna in some way. And he couldn't do that to her. He wouldn't.
"You callous bastard." Clark breathed, "You're going to abandon your destiny, abandon your descendants all because—"
"What's wrong with you? Before you said that I cared too little for her, and now I care too much?"
Clark scoffed and redirected his gaze to the window. When he didn't respond, Amory left. He couldn't rescue his people by himself, but he could scout out the area. Gazing longingly down the hall that led to his room, he breathed a deep, strained breath and vanished.