Empress of the Gods

Atarah

Before they left the masquerade ball, she took a chocolate muffin from the dessert table, enjoying it as they walked towards the inn. They talked about things they liked as if it was the first time they were meeting. He didn’t say another word about his past when they walked in the streets of that magical city, but with those small talks, the barriers that could have been between them fell.

When they were in front of the door of her room, she didn’t want to say goodbye to him just yet and something in those ocean eyes told her neither did he.

“You could sell me to the highest bidder to gain all the gold that you could dream of and run away with the dagger. What are you still doing here with me, hunter?” she asked, staring at his eyes as she batted her lashes at him while she slightly moved her head to the side.

“Well, I have a truce with a stubborn—” he started saying as he approached her. “Fearless and gorgeous driadae.” He stared at her lips for a moment but maintaining the space between them as he put his hand on the door slightly moving it up, close to her head as his body leaned, aligning with her body.

Atarah observed the man in front of her then, she saw his lips before looking at his eyes again. William slowly tried to close the space between them as though waiting for her approval. Her heart started beating fast, feeling like it echoed in the hall when he put his other hand on her cheek, letting her feel his warm touch. Then, his thumb brushed her lower lip without taking his eyes from what he was doing. “I can’t do this, Atarah,” he whispered with a hunted voice while he rested his forehead on hers with his eyes closed still with his hand on her cheek. “It’s torture being close to you without being able to kiss those lips after knowing what they taste like and not having enough of them.” His lips were close to hers, making her inhale his warm breath with her mouth. For a moment, she closed her eyes, feeling how his lips tempted hers. The air felt hotter than before, and when nothing happened, she opened her eyes.

“Then stop torturing yourself,” she whispered back when she put a hand on his cheek, “And stop torturing me as well.”

William hesitated, as if he was afraid she would change her mind, but she didn’t. At first, his lips were gentle with hers, but when she continued kissing him, he put a hand on her nape and brought her towards him. She opened her mouth for his tongue to explore hers, tangling and moving them in a long-awaited-lovers’ dance. He groaned in her mouth as if he had been containing himself for so long. Atarah moved her hands through his silky hair, feeling so alive. She softly bit his lip, and he let out another groan in her mouth.

With her back against the door and his body covering hers, the only thing that kept them apart were their clothes.

She opened the door behind them and guided them towards the room. As they continued kissing, William closed the door with his foot without separating from her.

His hands were on her back and slowly went down from her bottom to the back of her legs, lifting her. She wrapped her legs around his waist so he could take them to bed.

Then he put her down on the foot of the bed, and she turned around so he would untie her corset, moving her hair to one shoulder. She slightly moved her head to the side, and William understood what she wanted. His lips brushed her neck, letting her feel his warm breath tickle on her skin, making the small hairs on her skin bristle.

“I can’t get enough of you,” he whispered in her ear before he gently bit her earlobe.

Her ballgown fell to the wooden floor, leaving her only with the long-sleeve-undergarment dress. She turned around and put her hands on his chest, pulling him to the bed so she could climb into his lap and cage his hips with her knees. She took off his shirt, feeling his well-trained abs while he put a hand on the back of her thighs, lifting his hand on her bare skin inside the only piece of clothing she had, making her yearn for more of his touch. He moved his hands, teasing her for a moment before he took off her undergarments.

She put a hand on his chest, trying to feel his heart beating, wanting to know if it was going as fast as hers. Then she pushed him down to the bed, covering their faces with her hair like a curtain.

“I would do anything for you,” he whispered the words on her lips before he brought her mouth to his, picking up where they left it.

William gently moved her to the side to roll on her body so he could be on top of her. His hands were on her hair, and his delicious weight on her didn’t bother her. His pupils grew in his irises when he looked at her as if she were his prey.

“Tell me what you want Atarah,” he said with a husky voice in her ear, but she couldn’t utter any word. She wanted more, but he remained still. “I need to hear it.”

“I want you,” she said. “Don’t stop,” she could barely mutter.

He left a trail of kisses on her neck while with one hand he explored her, making her moan his name. He was making her feel again with his lips on her skin, trailing kisses all over her body. His warm touch was making her feel pleasant sensations. Every touch and every kiss were marking her forever, and with him by her side, she thought she wouldn’t feel alone anymore. They didn’t have to be alone anymore.

William was saving her from falling into the abyss, making her feel more alive than ever before. And if it was a dream, she never wanted to wake up from it. She wanted to stay there with him.

Atarah’s head rested on his chest while they stared at the ceiling of the room. She trailed his tattoo with her finger and saw the other marks on his body from old wounds.

“I will never get enough of you,” he whispered while his fingers caressed her cheek. Then he placed a soft kiss on her lips. She smiled while he slowly kissed her. She couldn’t feel more content in his arms, feeling like she could touch the sky.

“Liar,” she whispered to him with a hand on his chest and her hair falling to one side.

“Never about that.” He had a hand on the back of her head while she rested her forehead on his. Her stomach growled, interrupting the moment. “I will bring us food,” he said before he gave her a quick kiss on her nose and stood out of bed, putting his clothes on.

“Could you please bring me a chocolate muffin?” she batted her lashes at him.

“Are you trying to seduce me for a chocolate muffin?”

“Is it working?” She continued doing it.

He let out a short laugh when he put one knee on the bed to get close his face to hers. “It is,” he said when he gave her a peck on the lips. “I can’t believe I’m with a four-year-old girl trapped in the body of a twenty-four-year-old woman. Sonneus, spare me.”

“Your life would be boring without me,” she said, throwing a pillow to him that he easily dodged.

“So close, but not enough,” he added with a whistle before he closed the door, making her shiver for a strange reason.

Atarah stared for a moment at the door with a hand on the white sheet covering her body. Elysia’s words echoed in her mind of a talk they had, but she tried to ignore them and tried to think of something else.

Her friend knew her that well to not returned that night to their room and even bought her a contraceptive tea when they got to Ekkirah.

Atarah hadn’t planned on anything happening, but she was glad she took it. Being on the run was not a life for a child, and less with everything that was happening around her. She was not certain about what was going to happen in the future, but she wanted to believe they would figure it out.