I roared her name, hips jerking, spilling deep inside her, pulse after pulse, my release ripping through me like fire, like salvation.I collapsed over her, our bodies slick, trembling, ruined most perfectly, hearts hammering together, breath tangled, souls utterly consumed.
Lying entwined in the hazy afterglow, I cradled Elizabeth against my chest, her soft and warm body fitting perfectly against mine.A heavy silence draped over us, broken only by our synchronized breaths and the faint hiss of dying candles.Shadows clung to the room like secrets but no longer felt menacing—not with her in my arms.The amber glow flickered across our skin, stubbornly defying the dark.
I brushed a damp lock of hair from her face, marveling at how the moonlight kissed her skin, turning her into something ethereal, almost unreal.My heart thudded beneath her fingers, beating with a strange mix of triumph and vulnerability.She had undone me quietly, completely.Something ancient inside me—hardened, hidden—had cracked open under her touch.
As if she sensed the storm of thought within me, Elizabeth shifted closer, her fingers tracing slow, idle patterns across my chest, leaving trails of heat in their wake.Her voice, when it came, was soft but certain.
“I want to know everything about you, Amir.Who are you?”
Her words settled between us, heavy and intimate.It wasn’t just curiosity—it was an invitation into the sanctum of my soul.To answer would be to strip away the centuries of armor I had built, to expose the wounds, the battles, and the bloodstained purpose that defined me.
“Everything is… vast,” I said quietly, my voice hoarse, laced with a rare hesitance.“But I’ll give you pieces of me—as long as you give me your truth, too.”
She looked up at me, her eyes shining in the low light, filled with wonder—and something deeper.A challenge.A promise.
“Everything,” she whispered, her smile soft, vulnerable, and bold all at once.“I’ll tell you everything.”
She curled tighter against me, drawing the covers around us to seal us in that moment.I felt it—the shift—the pull of something far greater than lust or desire.
I was unraveling.
And as the memories surged—painful, beautiful, unstoppable—I knew I had to start.Somewhere.Anywhere.Before I drowned in everything, I had never told a soul.
ChapterFifteen
AMIR
Lying amidst the tangled sheets, I wrestled with the chaos inside me.Emotions I had long buried clawed their way to the surface—raw, jagged, and achingly human.It was terrifying and unfamiliar.These sensations made me feel exposed and vulnerable in a way no blade or enemy ever could.
Elizabeth’s fingers ghosted over my chest, a touch so light yet heavy with a tenderness I didn’t deserve.She unsettled me, stripping away my defenses layer by layer.I didn’t know how to handle it—her, this, us.
Her voice broke the silence, soft but piercing.“Who are you, Amir?Is Amir your real name?”Those storm-washed eyes searched mine, unwavering, reaching for truths I didn’t know how to give.
I closed my eyes, shame curling through me.Damn, Lazarus.I shouldn’t have let her get this close.I shouldn’t have let her look past the surface.But she did.She saw the darkness that festered beneath my skin, the shadows that twisted my soul.And still, she stayed.Unafraid.Curious.Hopeful.
A bitter laugh scraped my throat, laced with self-loathing.What a fool.Opening my eyes, I met her gaze, my chest tightening as I prepared to shatter whatever fragile bond was forming between us.
“I am a darkness,” I confessed, my voice hoarse, raw.“I don’t belong in this world...or any other.”
Her breath hitched, shock rippling across her delicate features, but she didn’t pull away.Her hand remained over my heart, warm against my cool skin.
“If not here...then where?”Her words trembled, the slightest fracture in her voice betraying her fear, her intrigue.She was braver than I ever gave her credit for.
The truth weighed heavy, suffocating.I wanted to lie, to protect her from the storm I carried, but there was no point.She deserved the truth, even if it destroyed whatever illusion she held of me.
A deep, shuddering sigh escaped me as my vivid, merciless past flooded back.Solaris.My home.Once beautiful—now corrupted.The memories clawed at my mind, unforgiving, dragging me into the shadows I had fought so hard to escape.I could almost see it again—not lit by the familiar sun, but by an immense, otherworldly clock whose face mirrored the moon.I could hear the laughter that once echoed through the citadels, feel the way life used to pulse with purpose.
But that was before.Before darkness seeped in, twisting everything it touched...twisting me.My voice came out jagged, fractured.“I come from a place called Solaris...a once-magnificent realm.A place of light, purpose, and hope.But that is long gone—shadows have since tainted everything, and corruption has sunk its claws into the very heart of my world.”
The memories unfurled like a cruel tapestry, threads of joy ripped apart by loss and betrayal.My chest tightened as faces I once loved flashed before my eyes—faces now long gone, reduced to ashes and echoes.“Solaris was the realm of time travelers, ruled by the Court of Timebornes and Timebounds...protected by the House of Darkness.”My voice wavered, the pain too real, too raw.“We were guardians.Heroes.Until we became monsters.”
I swallowed hard, the taste of regret bitter on my tongue.“An evil queen ruled Solaris once, her cruelty poisoning the land, driving it into chaos.Under her tyranny, everything fell apart.I fought...I fought so damn hard to protect it.But I failed.”My gaze fell, shame searing through me.“I lost my army.I lost my home.I lost...myself.”
I looked past Elizabeth, my vision blurring as I stared into the abyss of my past, the weight of it pressing down on me, suffocating.Solaris had been my paradise, my purpose.And now...it was nothing but dust and ruins.
The silence between us was heavy, suffocating, wrapping around us as the twisted sheets clung to our skin.I looked at her, searching her eyes for understanding, for any sign of fear.But all I found was a blazing curiosity, an unwavering trust I didn’t deserve.
“How much do you know about your father’s society?”I asked, my voice low and edged with steel.I needed the truth.No more lies.No more secrets.“I need to know.How much do you know?”
