Crown of Crimson (Underworld Gods 2)

Naked, of course. We had to get off our wet clothes. I had to fuck her until she pretty much passed out. I was so impressed with the way she handled herself today at the meeting, with all my kin, and I could tell they were impressed with her. Made me feel very lucky to have her as my queen. When I was with Louhi, I was in awe of the wickedness of her mind, the way she indulged her powers. With Hanna, my wonderment and pride come from watching her bloom into the Goddess she’s yet to become. I’m not sure she sees the changes herself. She is too young and too focused on the changes of her body and appearance, which are growing stronger and more beautiful every day. She doesn’t know yet that the greatest, most crucial changes are the ones happening inside her.

She is exhausted, though. From her training, from being underwater, from the residue from the magic. Fuck, I think she’s still tired from the way my Shadow Self and I shared her the other week. The sea is finally calm, so I don’t want to wake her. She needs this rest.

I sit down next to her on the bed, the mattress dipping in from my weight. Her body is a work of art. It’s the work of long days training that have made her thighs sleek and muscular, her ass firm and powerful, her arms strong and tight. And yet the rest of her is so soft. The natural curve of her belly, her full breasts, the sweet flesh of her inner thighs. I need her to see that who she is on the outside is matching who she is on the inside: powerful, vulnerable, strong, and soft.

Sometimes I wonder if Vipunen is the real God just rolling the dice, guessing the future. If not him, the Creator, someone, anyone, just trying to see where things will land. It’s so easy to think how Hanna might have turned out. Had I not rescued her from Louhi at the Star Swamp, would she have lived? Would Louhi have taken her in? Is that where she could have become Salainen, the one to destroy me, or the one to raise the Old Gods? If we go back further than that, if Louhi or the Bone Stragglers had gotten their hands on Hanna when she first came to Tuonela in search of her father, could she have been turned then?

Is it luck or happenstance or destiny that I took Hanna for my own and in the end turned her into a queen?

Of course, I can’t help dwelling over Tapio’s words, that there was always time for Hanna to change and become what we fear. It’s one reason why I wish my trust in Vipunen was one hundred percent. She’s training with him alone…what is he shaping her to be? I have no doubt now that Hanna can defend herself, she has shown me some of her acquired moves, plus she had fighting skills to begin with. Vipunen doesn’t need to turn her into a warrior. If he does, then that’s a problem.

Could a warrior Hanna, turned to darkness, turned against me, become this Salainen? Is the Salainen that exists already her but from a different timeline, a different future?

Get a fucking grip, I scold myself. You’re thinking like a hapless mortal now, not a God. Hanna is your queen and she will unite the land, end of story.

I pinch the bridge of my nose and exhale heavily. Despite the all the sex, tension has a way of creeping back in.

It is at the sound of my breathing that Hanna makes a small noise and turns over in her sheets. It would be pitch black down here save for the sunmoonstone sphere that’s giving off low moonlight. Funny, I don’t remember bringing one along, but there must have been one on the ship.

“Tuoni?” she whispers, her eyes fluttering open.

My chest tightens. I’ve always hated the sound of my real name—except when she says it. Then I just want to hear it more.

“You’ve been sleeping,” I tell her, placing a hand on her calf. “It’s dawn. We’re close to Shadow’s End. The seas are still calm.”

“Do you have coffee on board?” she asks in a husky, drowsy voice that makes me hard.

“I can check,” I tell her. “The beans might be spoiled, it’s so damp here. I might have decaf, but I choose death before decaf.”

“So do I,” she says, giving me a small smile. “I can wait.” She slides her palm over the empty space beside her. “Why don’t you lie down? I’m guessing you haven’t slept at all.”

I shake my head, a jerk to the left. I can’t sleep in a situation like this. I can’t show any weakness. Even when I was screwing her, I was still paying attention to the sounds outside the boat, part of me always ready to attack or defend if it came to it. I think I’ve mastered it for good now, having been able to do so with my Shadow Self. At the moment he is sleeping too, but soon he will rise and I will have to split into two different bodies. Ever since we united in the library with Hanna, it’s been fairly seamless.