The Relic (Cradle of Darkness 2)

Really hard!

Which made me really hard. Achingly hard.

My throbbing excitement leaked a string of pearly fluid that dangled from the tip, making her all the more enraged. So, I got down on my knees. “You can’t be mad at me for seeing you like this and wanting to fuck you. You look glorious, my love!”

“I’m covered in dried blood and other things, in a torn, ugly dress, and I smell.” Every word was shrill, Pearl tearing at her tangled hair in frustration.

“Exactly! So pretty! And please, darling, lower your voice before you wake up our son.”

Those were not the right words, the woman on the verge of further violence. “He’s my son. Mine!”

Ah, ah. I had been very careful with my word choice when I approached my angry woman in the park. “You said we could keep him. That makes him mine too. Also, you love me and want me to be happy. Don’t try to deny it. You told Yeshua as much. Don’t pretend you didn’t. And don’t gape at me like a fish when you know I can read the memory as if I was standing right there beside you.” Palm to my heart, my entire being lit up in joy. “You even claimed to be my wife.”

Her face was turning red, and not in embarrassment.

Holding up my hands, I softened my approach. “I know. He’s tricky in the way he gets what he wants. He said you never had to tell me. He suggested that you could torment me by withholding the statement. And you will!” I smiled, the last vestments of my human mask fading and the real me on full display for her to enjoy. “You will torment me. But… you know just as well as he does that I can see all the beauty of your thoughts. So don’t be mad at me or cross with him.” My smile stretched, the hideousness of my mouth and all the sharp teeth on display. “Get it? Cross?”

“That is not….” But the corner of her mouth twitched.

Oh, but it was. “It is funny, my soul.”

I was myself before her, all charred skin and crackling fire. Massive, winged, ugly, pure. Taking her dirty fingers, I brought them to my lips for a kiss. “I’m sorry. Really, I am. I have not felt fear in so long that when you disappeared last night….” What really was there to say? “I love you. I know you’re angry. But you are only angry, truly angry, because you love me and it scares you.”

Pearl worked to collect herself in her storm of feelings, letting out a deep breath as she snatched back her fingers and pressed her palms to her face. One moment passed, then another. Her breath slowed, her heart rate normalized. She peeked through her fingers and looked at me as if to say what am I going to do with you?

She was going to love me. Already, it throbbed in her chest right beside the annoyance. And it frightened her to no end.

But I reveled in both.

She was so stiff, and I was so much larger. So I let my wings hover around her slight form as if they might embrace her. “Pearl, do you want to talk about the Cathedral?”

“No.”

“Should we discuss Darius?” She had withstood far more than my son had given her credit for. That pussy was unable to know her like I did. Pearl would have eaten Darius’ face down to the bone. Though I am glad she didn’t. He probably tasted terrible.

Voice smaller, she answered, “I’d rather not.”

It was like pulling teeth sometimes with this woman, but I loved every moment of it. “Okay. Then let me bridge the gap you have failed to address. Why haven’t you asked me if I knew about the boy?”

Lips turning down in a frown, eyes flagging, my soul went from queen to grieving mother. “If you had known, you would have offered him to me in exchange for exactly what your son demanded.”

She was so right. I which is why I had offered the boy when I really wanted to get my way and make her a bit less angry about the wedding thing. Though I had not anticipated Yeshua would act after only having seen my bride a single time. Though it would be a lie to deny I was grateful he had.

My worrisome boy wasn’t usually so spontaneous. Which meant he was also desperate.

What Pearl really should really have been asking was, how did my son know about the boy?

God had not whispered that secret in his ear. I had. Tucked it right in his memories so the desperate bugger might have an opportunity to get what he wanted most.

For me to be laden with a soul.

And now I was. One who’d acknowledged she was my wife.