Chapter 244 Safe in His Arms

Chapter 244 Safe in His Arms
I didn't hit the floor. Wex caught me instantly. His thick arms wrapped securely around my waist, hauling my smaller frame flush against his hard chest. He buried his face in the curve of my neck, his lips pressing firmly against my rapid pulse point.

I gripped the rough leather of his tunic, my hands shaking violently. A deep, tearing sob ripped its way out of my throat. It was not a sound of grief. It was the raw, painful release of survival. We had lived. We had actually made it through the fire, the falling shadows, and the complete destruction of the old world.

"I have you," Wex whispered fiercely, his grip tightening until my ribs ached. "I am right here. Let it out."

I cried, hiding my face against his broad shoulder. I felt the hot tears soaking into his tunic, the salt mixing with the dust of the long day. Through the bright golden tether connecting us, I felt his steady, unmovable strength pouring into my chest. It was a warm, powerful current designed entirely to carry my exhaustion. He did not rush me. He did not tell me to quiet down or compose myself. He just stood there, a massive, solid mountain, holding my weight until the violent shaking in my limbs finally began to slow.

I had never been allowed to be weak. My parents had punished tears with sharp slaps and cold isolation. Karol had used my vulnerability as a weapon to humiliate me in front of the high court. The old regime expected obedience and silence.

Wex was the first person in my entire life who demanded my weakness as a gift, offering his own strength in return without a single condition.

I drew a deep, ragged breath, my chest heaving against his. I tasted the salt on my lips and the faint, smoky ash still clinging to my hair.

"I thought I was going to lose you on that mountain," I confessed, the words muffled against his skin. The memory of his still, silent chest in the ruined plaza flashed brightly behind my closed eyelids. "When you stopped breathing in the dust... I felt the entire world just end."

Wex pulled back slightly, just enough to look at my face. He reached up, using the rough pad of his thumb to wipe the wet tracks from my cheeks.

"I am never leaving you," he promised, his tone carrying a dark, fierce certainty. "The gods themselves could not keep me in the dirt while you were still standing here."

His golden eyes dropped to my lips.

The comforting, grounding warmth of the Sovereign Bond rapidly shifted. The protective tide receded, pulling back to reveal a roaring, intense hunger that burned twice as bright. The heat radiating from his large frame was intense, warming the cool air between us and making my skin flush.

"You have given everything to the people today," Wex said, his voice dropping an octave, becoming a rough, predatory purr. His hands slid down from my face, trailing over the thick, stiff fabric of my gown. "You gave your mercy to the broken. You gave your commands to the kings."

He stepped forward, forcing me to take a slow step back. The back of my knees bumped gently against a plush, velvet chair, but he kept moving, backing me up until I had nowhere left to go.

"But you are done sharing," Wex growled.

My pulse jumped, a rapid, frantic rhythm beating against my ribs. I looked up at him, my breath catching in my dry throat. The sheer dominance radiating from him was intoxicating. For a woman who spent every waking second commanding the fate of a continent, the sudden, overwhelming demand in his eyes was a profound relief. I did not have to lead right now. I just had to surrender.

"Wex," I breathed, my hands sliding up his thick arms, feeling the hard, coiled muscles shifting beneath his skin.

"You are the Sovereign of the earth," he stated, his hands gripping my waist firmly. He easily lifted me right off the floor. My heavy boots dangled in the air as he carried me away from the chair and across the plush rugs. "But in this room, you are just mine."

He did not set me down. He carried me toward the massive, elevated bed sitting in the center of the private chamber. The tall, wooden posts cast long shadows against the pale stone walls. The thick silk sheets looked cool and inviting in the dim light of the burning fire.

He stopped at the very edge of the mattress.

Wex let my boots hit the floor, keeping me pinned firmly against the edge of the bed with the solid weight of his hips. His golden eyes blazed with a dark, primal need that sent a jolt of liquid heat straight to my core. The golden tether pulsed violently, matching the exact rhythm of my racing heart. He wasn't asking for permission. He was making a claim that no treaty or crown could ever rival.

"I am going to take every single piece of you tonight, Eddena," he whispered. He leaned down, his lips brushing roughly against my ear, sending a fierce shiver straight down my spine. "And I am not going to be gentle about it."

His large hands moved to the top of my bodice, his fingers gripping the thick silver laces tightly, ready to strip away the final barrier between us.