Chapter 148 Love and Change

Chapter 148 Love and Change
ERINA -

The royal chambers were quiet except for the soft crackle of the fire in the hearth and the faint light of the sunset that slipped through the tall windows.
Erina looked up at him then. His shoulders were still rounded with exhaustion and the skin under his eyes looked bruised from everything the Goddess had taken and given back in the same breath.
She lifted her hands to the collar of his coat and began to work the buttons free one by one. His breath hitched when her knuckles brushed the warm skin beneath the fabric, but he didn't stop her.
He only watched her face with his glowing eyes and an expression that told her that his love was real. It gave her butterflies and made her heart flutter.
His coat fell to the floor with a soft thud, before she tugged his shirt from the waistband of his trousers and pushed it up over his head.
His chest rose and fell faster now and she could feel the heat coming off him even before her palms settled against his skin.
He'd stayed silent as she roamed his body, his gaze never leaving her face.
She'd slid her hands over his blue skin and admired how his muscles bunched and curved. She was teasing his nipple when he finally reached for her.
His fingers found the hem of her too-large shirt and pulled it over her head. It wasn't a quick movement either. He took his time sliding the material over her skin.
The air brushed against her, causing goosebumps.
He drug the back of his fingers across the tip of her breast and watched her face as he did it.
Her mouth opened on a breathy intake, and a smile pulled his lips up in satisfaction.
He went lower and undid her pants and let them fall to the floor beside the rest of the clothes.
The moment they were off, Erina stepped closer to him so she could press herself up against him. The skin to skin contact and the cool air of the room sent a rush of exhilaration through her.
He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her just enough that she could wrap her legs around his waist and together they fell back against the thick mattress.
He pulled back for just a small moment, taking in her features and form before he bent and kissed her slowly, his lips moving over hers like he was memorizing the shape of her mouth all over again.
She kissed him back with the same hunger, tasting the faint salt of sweat and the sweetness that always seemed to cling to him.
His hands roamed down her sides, tracing the curve of her waist and the flare of her hips before sliding up again to cup her breasts.
She arched into his touch and a small sound slipped from her throat, and he answered with a low rumble in his chest that vibrated through her.
When he shifted between her thighs, she opened for him without hesitation. She was more than ready for him as she felt her slickness already against the cold air of the room.
He entered her in one slow glide and they both stilled for a moment, breathing hard against each other’s mouths.
They moved together then, slow and deep, every roll of his hips drawing a quiet gasp from her. She clung to his shoulders, nails digging in just enough to leave faint marks that would fade by morning.
He buried his face in the crook of her neck and whispered her name against her skin as he pushed in and out in a slow, almost melodic rhythm.
The tempo built gradually until pleasure coiled tight in her belly and then snapped open in a rush that made her cry out against his shoulder. He followed a heartbeat later, his body shuddering as he spilled his seed inside her. He didn't let go and instead held her close through the aftershocks.
They lay tangled together afterward, sweat cooling on their skin, hearts still pounding an uneven rhythm.
Kai traced lazy patterns along her spine with one fingertip, and she felt the faint tremor in his hand that told her how much the day had cost him even now.
After a long while, he lifted his head and looked down at her. His eyes were heavy-lidded but clear, the blue in them bright even in the firelight.
“Erina,” he said softly, his eyes boring into her, like what he was about to say scared him. “Will you rule beside me? As my Queen?”
She knew her answer already, but she wanted to give it the same respect he was giving it. So she searched his face and thought about the life she'd left behind.
Her inheritance and the life she could have had, along with all the things she loved. Like the coffee shop she'd spend rainy afternoons studying, or the friends she loved and would never understand where she'd gone.
Then she thought about Kai and their life here. The friends she'd made and the love she'd found. The way she could feel his heart as it beat steady against hers like it had always known where it belonged.
With a smile, she answered him, “I could never live without you,” she told him. “Not in any world. I love you, Kai. Yes. I’ll be your Queen.”
The moment the words left her lips, light bloomed between them.
It started small, a soft blue glow right over her heart, then spread outward in thin silver threads that wrapped around her ribs and down her arms. Warmth followed the light, pleasant at first.
Then it flared brighter, and everything changed.
The warmth sharpened into heat, and the heat turned into pain.
She gasped, and her back arched off the bed. The pain was sudden and bright, like needles threading under her skin. It raced along her arms and legs, tracing patterns she could feel even though she couldn't see them yet. Her fingers curled into the sheets and her breath came in short, sharp bursts.
Kai’s arms tightened around her. “Erina,” he said, voice rough with worry. “What's wrong?”
She tried to answer him and tell him she didn't know, but the pain crested in waves and cut her words off before they could even begin.
They started in her spine and traveled across her shoulder. It felt like her bones were shifting and reshaping themselves. She heard the crunch and felt the snap every time one moved.
Her ears ached as though they were being pulled upward and outward. Her tailbone throbbed until she felt the impossible length of a tail unfurl behind her, heavy and alive, twitching against the sheets.
Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes. The pain wasn't unbearable, but it was everywhere and it was relentless.
She clung to Kai and saw recognition bloom in his features as his eyes trailed over her face and head.
He smiled as he pulled her in tighter, murmuring against her hair that she was safe, that he had her, that it would pass.