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There’s a conspiratorial gleam in his eyes. “I speak your language and wear your modern clothing. I own a car and a home, and I have a bank account full of money. What do you think, Empress?” “I think you stole this car along with a memory or two on how to drive it.”
I don’t know how much my panther understands about the situation between me and Memnon, but this feels like a feline fuck you, and I am here for it.
Memnon wants connection, reassurance. This was his grand plan after all. He couldn’t resurrect the past, but he could at least draw forth my memories of it. I suppose, at the heart of all the sorcerer’s vengeance, he simply wanted to feel less lonely.
“It doesn’t matter when we marry, little witch.” He squeezes my freshly healed hand. “Neither magic nor time can keep us apart.” His eyes are luminous. “We are like the stars. Eternal.”
Be at ease, fierce queen. You don’t have to fight any longer. You are safe with me.
He’s a part of me just as much as Roxilana is, and no amount of magic or anger can change that.
“You think I am scared of the Romans? Of death? Or that I would cling to my throne if Memnon didn’t sit beside me?” I shake my head. “I would follow him to the ends of the earth. I would follow him even into death. But I think you shall go there first.”
“This is not how we end,” I whisper. “We are eternal.”
“I see everything now,” he says. “I understand. I punished the one person who tried to save my wretched life. My best friend and soul mate, the love of my life. I have treated you like an enemy and made you hate me, and I relished it all in the name of vengeance. But this whole time you were my savior.” He turns his face up, his glittering eyes rising to mine. “I’m sorry, est amage. It is not enough, but I am sorry.”
take flight from the trees around us as he finishes, “Your bidding be done, under moon and sun. My will is yours until your heart is won.
“I expected to be enjoying the fruits of my vengeance. Namely, I thought I’d be married to you and well on my way to eating your pussy out.”
“Yesterday, I sought revenge,” he says slowly, walking backward toward the far wall. “Today and for the rest of my life, I will seek to make you happy. If it’s romance you want from me,” he says, his eyes too bright, “then that’s what I will give you.”
“Hey look,” I say, nodding to the stone coffin as I drag away a thick web. “It’s my second lover”—I squint at the name—“Ephigenia. I’ll wake her in another year when I get tired of you. I do so like burying my lovers.” When I turn to look at Memnon, his face is displeased. Too soon for jokes apparently.
“I cannot believe a child—our child—existed at all,” he says softly, “and that I must simultaneously celebrate and mourn their life.”
“If you think I’m stopping just because you came quick,” he says against me, “here’s your notice—I’m not
“Gods,” he murmurs in Sarmatian. “Two thousand years and I’m finally home.”
He’s in my mouth, in my pussy, and wrapped around me, pressed against me as closely as he can get. I sense if he could, he would simply melt into me.
Beneath the surface of my soul mate lives a monster, one who loves me and little else.
Nero gives me a look that I think says, I know you’re a fucking chicken, lady
Nero butts his head against my shoulder then, rubbing himself against my side. I don’t know if he’s being affectionate or marking me just to make it clear where we all stand, but I smooth my hands down his sides and give his forehead a kiss.
as the sorcerer scoops up an unconscious Nero and settles the big cat over his shoulder. I’m about to stand when Memnon bends down and scoops me up in his other arm.
It must be incredibly difficult to carry both me and Nero, but Memnon doesn’t complain and doesn’t slow as he moves through the woods.
Good morning, my vicious queen who demands the blood of our enemies. I smile.
I flick my eyes to the headboard, where the now empty manacles hang limply against Memnon’s belt. “I’m sorry, est amage,” he breathes, breaking off the kiss. “I wanted to be a good captive. I did. But after two thousand years apart, I have grown greedy.”
I nearly laugh. Of course he hasn’t met them. “You’ve been too busy making yourself my enemy to get the chance to meet your future in-laws.” I realize my mistake immediately. Unfortunately, so does Memnon. “My future in-laws?” His voice is dripping with delight. I cannot even explain the slip of tongue. “I can,” Memnon says, listening in to my thoughts. “You rode me better than I ride horses. Of course you want more.”
lmao
Where in the Goddess’s name do you get this stamina? Magic and two millennia of yearning, he says.
sparing a glance at Nero, who is busy trying—and failing—to catch a butterfly with his teeth. My familiar has forgotten for a moment that he’s supposed to be a proud, majestic creature.
“There is one thing I hold holy in all this gods-forsaken world,” Memnon says, closing in on Juliana. Goose bumps break out along my skin. His voice still has that unsettling otherness to it. “And you hurt her.”
Some bonds are stronger than others. Not even a forced bond can overpower a fated one. I stare up at the ceiling. “That foolish woman doesn’t know who we are,” I say in Sarmatian, my voice shaky. King, queen. Husband, wife. Ancient lovers, recent enemies. Soul mates.
Nero bounds into the kitchen, presumably coming in from outside. As soon as he sees me, his pupils dilate. The big cat only pauses a moment before leaping onto the island, nearly bowling me over in the process. “Nero,” Memnon says sharply. But my familiar has already crawled halfway onto my lap. He lifts his head and presses his snout against the juncture where my jaw meets my neck. If he were a dog, I’m sure I’d now get lavished with licks. Nero being a panther, he nips at my jaw, growling a little.
“There will be time to make love like the heathens we are. But tonight, I want to savor your skin and the look in your eyes. They hold my whole universe in them.”
“Let me show you how I love you,” he breathes.
