ᴀꜱʜᴇɴ ꜰʟᴏᴡᴇʀ || ᴘᴀꜱꜱɪᴏɴ & ᴅᴇᴠ (ɴꜱꜰᴡ)

[Devils Temptation]

Land of Flowers

Here, the earth breathes softly,
its skin covered in a living tapestry of color.
Each blossom opens like a whispered secret,
revealing its heart to the sky.

The air is thick with the scent of life,
wild and unashamed,
and the wind moves gently,
as if careful not to disturb the fragile beauty.

In this place, time forgets to move.
The petals fall slowly,
not as endings, but as beginnings—
a cycle of quiet rebirth.

This is a land where sorrow cannot root,
where even the stones are cradled
by the soft embrace of green,
and all that blooms, blooms forever.

---

---

Ash, blood, and the sounds of pleading screams. There were few hallmarks as potent in war as the scent of death. Oftentimes, that stench and noise clung so tightly to the survivors that it followed their every movement and thought until their very last dying days. Unfortunately, that was hardly the worst aspect of it all. Those who perished in a battle were oftentimes the lucky ones. Those that remained? Soldiers that lived were a commodity. Refined gradually through one Hell-like battle after another... each and every single one culling off more and more. Some might have described it as a blessing to make it from one battle to the next, others would refer to it as a curse. Everyone that fell lingered somewhat on the people who remained. Every ally, every family member, every life taken hung on like a ghoul to the backs of those who treaded onto the next day. With everyone single departed, that weight only grew heavier and more bitter.

That desire for revenge only grew stronger.

The hatred only seemed to seethe more, as if everyone taken had collectively aimed their grievances into the remaining few that survived.

If he closed his eyes, he could remember them. Those flowers. Clouds above like pure wisps of sugary floss. Brisk, chilled that slipped into his lungs like a fresh sip of cold water on a hot day. If he kept his eyes closed for too long, that sight was inevitably replaced by the sight of something else -

-

Ash, blood, and the sounds of pleading screams.
​

---

​

"You must understand, don't you?! Just like with us, that foul bitch stole everything that was precious to us! You must have been a good man once, you must have seen what the Empire leaves in its fucking warpath!" Pleading words from a hoarse throat, the palm of an older man clenching the chest plate atop himself. Numerous scarring had woven down the entirety of his facial features, a carve to his lip, a nick to his ear... an eyepatch lingering over his left eye likely after being lost in battle. Saddled against the right half of his chest were numerous medals and honorable accolades from his time in battle, but in that moment he had been steadily tearing them off one by one. Each and every single one was cast onto the ground with another thrust.

Each one at the foot of those black greaves that stood right in front of him. Torn and shattered apart. Stomped furiously as if every shove of his heel would smother the actions that had awarded him those medals in the first place. Pleadingly, he wrapped his hands together and lowered his forehead to the younger raven-haired knight in front of him.

"Why are you throwing all your awards onto the ground? They're the evidence that your loyalty belongs to the Empire. In this world, where the Empire is the one faction that rises above all... you're casting away everything that gives you value." Calmly, with a tone like pure ice, the younger man knelt and picked up the stomped down medals. Five of them that had been torn off the side of the older soldier's jacket. Nestling them into his grip like a delicate bouquet of flowers, he shoved one back onto the man's chest.

"Battle of Nightfall Creek. You bravely lead your cavalry amongst a larger force of infantry and completely eradicated every man in the platoon. To the point that the entirety of that tribal nation's population collapsed and was assimilated over night." One instance of genocide. Not too unusual, for the Empire's tactics. Feeling through the other medals, he picked up another and smashed it next to the first - right back on top of the knight's chest.

"The Siege of Kyraust. For fourteen days and fourteen nights, you sat valiantly at the gates of the fortress city and starved out every man, woman, and child within those walls until - by the end of the siege - the city you entered was so famished and broken that you could count the number of families that survived could be counted on one hand." Smudged the medal with his thumb, he moved to a ribbon next... preparing to award it back to the night once again before his wrist was clenched.

"Please... you know. You know why it had to be done. I live with those mistakes every day of my life... I have had enough. We need to stop the destruction - the loss of life. Somewhere, deep down, you know that too! Do you remember?!" One more plead to the younger knight's sensibilities... a tremor of happiness flickering along the older man's expression when he saw the knight's eyes flutter close and that faint hint of stress to clench against his jawline in a look that was equal parts pensive as it was introspective. Yes. He understood it well... the Empire was the strongest of all the nations on the continent. Spearheaded by an Empress with ultimate control and power over the whole of her empire, they operated through a system of warfare and assimilation. Neighbors and borders were constantly being raided and overtaken. Those who survived the bloodshed were given a place in the Empire - after all, it was a society that put strength above all else.

Former royalty. Generals. Anyone who could have even an ounce of value to the Empire was inevitably assimilated into their territory and their political system. They were given a place in the machine that continued to devour and take in all of those around them who were too weak to defend themselves. He was no different. The former prince of a small, mostly passive nation in the North - a place known for its flowers and a holy site for many. The type of country that one would have never expected to be raided and razed. He remembered it clear as day, when the first regiment of cavalry trampled past those meadows and set one of his villages aflame. The first of many. No amount of pleading or diplomacy would have absolved them - the Empire needed complete control of that small little nation in order to solidify a glaring hole within their borders... and so? They killed everyone that had once been in charge, they left no one but those that could be incorporated.

Out of the nearly fifty-thousand that had been living in the Principality of Floara, one hundred and fifty people survived.

Out of those one hundred and fifty who survived, one hundred and thirty were enslaved.

Nineteen were conscripted into the Empire's army.

One had been given a place among the generals of that Empire.

Prince Tyre Floara VII

A young man that had risen staggeringly quickly amongst the ranks of the Empire as a genius tactician and a fearsome general in war - capable of employing both brutal and courageous tactics while also handling himself with grace and eloquence. Soft spoken at the right times but strong and firm in the others.

When his gaze fluttered open once more, a bittersweet look lingered in his inky black eyes while his gaze remained cast down to the remaining medals on the ground. "You asked me if I remember... I do. Every time I close my eyes, I remember." Solemn, soft words that dripped a sense of understanding at the man's plight. ...And, for just a few moments, there was such an overwhelming look of relief atop the man's expression until the sudden --

CRUNCH.
SPLATTER.
SMACK.
​

One smooth draw of the sword at his hip, drawing one slice vertically along the man's neck to cut straight through his throat and decapitate him cleanly. A faint splash of blood danced along the tip of that blackened blade to dust Tyre's right cheek and before the head had fully rolled atop the ground, he would catch it by the hair to hold it in front of himself all while that splatter of blood wasted all over the discarded medals below.

"It is precisely because I remember that injustice that I cannot let a sloppy rodent like you get in the way. Do you understand that? You and I are not the same. You lost the moment you tried to strike at the pillars supporting this Empire." Dropping the head atop that fallen body, Tyre would let out an all too gentle laugh for how brutally he had offed the man beneath him.

"There is only one thing that you should've struck. Her Highness, the Empress." That was the only damage that would do anything worthwhile. Swiping his blade off to the side, he let a slick arc of blood splatter onto the ground off his weapon before he sheathed the sword and turned around with one flourish of his cape to make his way out of the barracks where the two had been speaking to one another. It was a simple, poorly thought out plot from one of the more senior generals to recruit Tyre into a coup to overthrow the Empress.

One that failed miserably because of how laughably sloppy it was...

Seemingly from the loyalty of one of her subjects.

But...

That could not be further from the truth.

Tyre would not bother to report this incident to the Empress, however. Something so insignificant was not ultimately worth her time, he had deemed. Indeed, there were countless attempts at rebellion from within the Empire that assimilated all those that it had once declared war on and crushed beneath its boot. In that sea of those who it took under its mantle, there were many who wished to enact revenge. The larger the Empire grew, the more unstable it became. The more common these attempts had become.

Every day was another attempt to overthrow the Empire and the powers that sat atop the throne...

Every day was another failure.

They were sloppy. Their resolve was not ironclad enough. He would show them what it really meant to overthrow an Empire.

---

There were many pitiful attempts that oftentimes missed the ears of the Empress, but the one Tyre thwarted a few days prior was too momentous to not be heard of, whether through advisors or through traveling gossip - he would've inevitably been summoned to the royal capital to explain why he had kept secret his merciless execution of a senior general. The Royal Capital was a bastion of a city, built atop such profound hordes of gold and riches that some described it as the cradle of Heaven. No less was expected of the one woman who forged the entirety of the Empire, who ensured that all those riches - all that power - all the talent would funnel back into that one city that sat at the very center of the empire.

Tyre had arrived immediately upon being sent the letter demanding his audience to the Empress. Fresh-dressed in similarly dark colors, not a single blemish or hint of mess anywhere along his faintly pale features. Nor was there any type of concern on his expression. Keeping such information from his superior officers, in itself, could have been seen as treason. That he merely killed an accomplice that had gotten too sloppy. Treason was met swiftly with execution. In spite of it all? He merely lifted his index finer within the handle of that tea cup, bringing it to his lips for another leisurely sip until an attendant entered the waiting lounge and gave him a brief salute before announcing firmly.

"The Empress will see you now. Please leave any weapons within the lounge. They will be handled delicately and given to you upon your return!" To which Tyre had grasped the sash holding his sword to his hip and lifted it high enough to sling his arm underneath it and settle it down atop the table. With that, he followed the attendant as he was lead through those massive halls. Past several lines of infantry and numerous royal guards... and then finally brought to the towering red gates of her Highness' throne room.

​

He had seen those gates only once before. One mere week after his country had been razed to charcoal. When he was forced to meet the Empress' summons and she immediately took him within her army and her country... a night that replayed in his head time and time again. Silently, he treaded towards those gates to push them open with one hand and proceed into the throne room. Exactly five steps. No more, no less, before he settled into a kneel atop that red carpet and in front of the throne.

"My Empress. You have called and I have answered. Please allow me to apologize for keeping the execution of General Garm from you - I wished to lessen your work by keeping the squashing of an insignificant bug from your attention." Holding his head low, he kept his fist on the carpet and kept his other arm folded behind his back - not daring to raise his head to her. "I will accept any punishment you deem fit for my actions." Insignificant. To describe the killing of one of the most affluent and powerful generals of the Empire insignificant was nothing short of amusing. Yet, he had always been like that. No matter what problem she may have had - no matter how overwhelming or how soul-crushing it felt to resolve... he always remained in her shadows and swept it all up. Every single time.

Even this coup was no different. All of it was resolved before she even had a chance to lose a single second of sleep to the thought of it...

 

[Passion]

She was pulled from her hovering position and close to him. Veah would never say she was an easy woman to get along with. Many would label it impossible to get close to her, but Tyre proved it was possible at least to some extent. She wasn't going out of her way trying to make it difficult, but she lived a life of betrayal, mistrust, and darkness. He had seen the hurt girl under the thick and thorny layers. A part of her that craved the warmth of love and safety. She was still learning about this side of her, but at times she hated it. It made her weak, but it allowed him to keep breathing.

"I will speak to you how I wish. Maybe you felt like you were doing something to benefit me and my empire, but I saw it as you holding back information and not working with me." They could debate it until they were blue in the face, but she couldn't agree with him. At least he did understand where she was coming from enough to apologize. That would be something the empress would struggle to do herself.

Her body tensed for a moment when he used her confession of change against her. She knew it was unlike her to change for anyone. However, his poor reaction when she first told him she was taking him to the battlefield had her unsettled. She had hoped they would have a sick enjoyment out of it, but his reaction to the news changed her goal. It was a cruel way to attempt to have fun with him, to get closer to him, to see what he was really made of. The foundation of the goal broke as soon as he had destroyed his room. She cared enough about him that she didn't want him to hate her like the rest, although little did she know what spite he had simmering.

He held her so gently despite her thorns and fires, and she showed her soft appreciation by reaching up to cup the cheek she had recently punched out of blind rage. "You don't have to prove yourself to me in such a way. I hadn't doubted you as a warrior since you already proved yourself with your skills and victories. You have also proved your worth to me as a man." However, she did have doubts about him as a leader of her army and empire based on the very reason why she was attracted to him; his abrupt and fearless boldness.

Her mind spun with thoughts of a life away from the throne. A daydream that she rarely had, as it felt as whimsical as stepping foot on a faraway planet. Only in death would she leave behind her empire. It was her purpose. Even if the masses didn't much like her, she still felt the responsibility to keep everything functioning. To keep growing. To not give up until the impossible goal of the entire world was hers.

Then she would feel relieved of her life of pain from existential rejection, right?

It wasn't that black-and-white of a goal, but a drive that turned her into the monster he hated.

"I could have any man in the empire, Tyre, and you are the one I love. Do you really think you need to prove yourself to me? I just need you to not go astray. I need you to be consistent even if I struggle. And yes, I'm a cursed woman. Staying close to me will never be easy." She twitched as she thought about it. "I'm aware of this. So I fear your betrayal or you pushing me in a way that I have to end this. Or maybe you will one day disappear into the night." The thought alone made her heart ache. "I do not like you having this sway over me, but at the same time, I can't get enough of it. At times, I take this conflict out on you. It isn't fair, but am I known as a fair woman?" Hardly. At times, she could keep respectable deals to show the value of her name or word, but other times, she was far from fair to her subjects and victims.

Yet he spoke of longevity and love. Holding her like the gentle princess she would have been if it wasn't for Xemva or her family and her kingdom's rejection of her ailment. It made the softer sides of their relationship somber, but it didn't stop her from soaking up every bit of warmth he offered her to ease her tormented mind and soul.

Every time he spoke of love, she either stirred, tensed, or held her breath. It was much like when he said her name. She often felt the weight of his words. "So aligned that we collided." They had wanted to appease each other to the point they had mismatched. The understanding lifted more of her anger and disappointment. It was replaced with the glowing feeling he was able to give her that no one or nothing else could. It was how she knew it had to be something profound like love. "And I love you," she whispered.

She affectionately curled her body against his. One of her hands hugged his arm a bit closer to her as he petted her slightly tangled hair. His intimate presence and closeness were enough to make her swoon since no matter how angry he made her, he had her even more captivated.

A soft sigh escaped her. "You know, considering everything, I gave you some pretty good choices." She casually tangled her legs with his, seeming to want to get even more wrapped up. "You would still remain close and use your strengths. If you retire, you could still use your wisdom and good instinct, or the other option is to focus on a squad that I'm sure will become notorious and make waves." She was a bit confused about what Tyre truly wanted. Did he even know? Did he wish to be a war hero? An emperor? A gardener? There were often contradictions in his stated wishes and his actions. From bloodshed to gardening, did he want to grow, wither, or m̷̋̈͋̀̕ư̶̛̦̾̆͒̀t̵̽̌a̵͌͐͝t̸͊͝è̷̤̬̱̅́?

He had pulled away and it was difficult to not throw herself at him again for a much different reason than before. It always felt colder when he wasn't against her. It was especially cold during her hours of prayer. Without him brought a lack of warmth and the risk of a painful numbness.

"It sounds nice to rely on and trust someone other than myself and Xemva." She pushed herself up into a seated position. "At the same time, that should be all I need." But it wasn't. In her pause alone, it could be felt... She needed Tyre. She might not like that she did, but it didn't change the fact that she did. The idea of being spoiled in the affection that she had been starved of sounded heavenly but also overwhelming. It was clear the empress wanted affection but also struggled with it for numerous reasons. Slowly, she was becoming more accepting, but it required careful patience and care for her to grow.

She let out a sigh as she considered her current state which left her rather weary on multiple fronts. "Fine. I will sleep here, but I think we should arrange to share a bed more regularly. I know you don't like my chambers, but maybe we can invite more warmth into it over time." She went from about ready to kill this man to now talking about sharing beds with him, but knowing Veah, was this a surprise?

"I am sure there are still some leftovers from dinner. I do not need much. Even some bread would do for now. I haven't been feeling very hungry." She got to her feet, her footsteps light as she headed to the mirror in his room. Fixing her robe, she noticed she looked frail, and she didn't quite like it compared to the booming confidence she was usually dressed in that she used to scare those around her.

"You know, Xemva is real, and she did hear you. I am surprised you spoke to her, but I'd watch what you say." She would brush out her hair with her fingers as she gazed at her reflection, but there was little she could do to mask her dishevelment. Perhaps a night in his arms would do her some good.

 

[Devils Temptation]

I gave you some pretty good choices.​

"I agree. They are good choices. To stay alive. To stay safe. To remain by your side... but they aren't enough. Not for what I want." Those three things were not enough. She did not understand what it meant to be offered bliss just to have it torn away by force through powers out of his control. Tyre would never again allow for something like that to happen to what was precious to him. Even if his greed devoured anything, EVERYTHING in front of him. Shaking his head, his lips settled into a nostalgic smile... tinted with that faint edge of a somber hue. "We can talk later on this matter... I promise." He doubted she would ever truly understand. The two - they were overwhelmingly at odds with one another. She, a woman who knew not what she could have lost and he, a man who was given everything just to have it taken from his hands. How could he dare to show her what true fear for him looked like? He could not. That was why... no matter the conversation they had that night, his objective would never change.

Not when it came to his little winter blossom.

At the same time, that should be all I need.​

Untangling himself entirely, he would grasp at the edge of the sheets and pulled them over her chest to lean forward for one more kiss to her forehead. "Keep your body warm while I return. It might seem that it is simple to give you everything you desire but tell me something, is it satisfactory enough for a flower to be given the bare minimum to sprout? Or... does it need all the attention and affection you can spare to blossom? I care not for 'all you should need' - only for 'all I can give you.' " Tender words were his final parting to her before making his way to the doorway. No guards had been remaining and now, there was no one to block his way out of the hallway... but there was still a chain around his throat. What would happen had he not returned? All that tender affection she had would turn into metal ripping his throat apart as she dragged him back to her - dead or alive.

You know, Xemva is real, and she did hear you.
I am surprised you spoke to her, but I'd watch what you say.​

Flinching, he would stop right then and there on the doorway. Tyre had not looked back but his expression warped into one of unease the moment those words left her lips... she had heard? Heard what? No response would grace the Empress, merely a brief - acknowledging glance before he closed the door and left for the kitchens. Nothing made sense. Nothing. How much did she really know from powers beyond his comprehension? Why was she warning him? Surely a goddess could smell the bloodlust on him... so had she merely ignored the warnings that were fed into her? Fucking agonizing. If only those rumors were merely that, rumors...

...maybe he would be the one to pray to her. How important could Veah have truly been to her...? If it was through the Goddess blessings that made her - kept her as that vile Empress... to him, it was nothing more than a curse that dyed the woman he had come to adore in an ugly shade that reminded him of his past demons. If only he could separate the two...

---

---

Too long...

Tyre had been taking too long. To just fetch some mere bread should have taken nothing more than twenty minutes. The absurdly large halls of her palace would be most of the time taken and yet it began to stretch further... thirty minutes, forty - all up until the knock at the door would arrive with only a quarter to spare until the end of the hour. "I have returned, Veah." To which he would step in and the sight of him was... different. Not the battle-hardened warrior she had seen drenched in blood. Not the more eloquent, refined nobleman who seemed to wear his grace with an aloof charm. Clad in a white apron with sleeves tucked to elbows and one button undone to match the likewise faintly disheveled sight of his appearance. Vulnerable and less put together, not too unlike how a commoner might have looked preparing a meal. A meal was exactly what had been waiting in his hands, tray with what looked to be that side of bread she asked for... alongside a proper meal. Stew that looked freshly made and a pitcher of colder water to go along with it.

He made it himself. For her. The faint smudge of oil along his cheek would be hastily wiped away. Under his other arm had been a basin of water and a warm towel. "If you don't want the rest, there is no need to eat it. It is a stew from my country, good for combatting the cold. Strip for me. I will wipe you down. Servants can do it instead, yes, but I want to be the one to take care of you and you promised to let me." Setting the basin of warm water off to the side of the bed he would dip the towel into the water and squeezed to leave it just mildly soaked enough so that he could position himself behind herself to run it down along her back and over her shoulders.

The same motion that had his bulkier palms tightening, thumbs positioned against the ridge of her shoulder to work down the knots of tension that had started to mercilessly accumulate on her body. "Veah... your back feels like a brick..." Tyre quietly complained, pausing right as his hand came to a rest against her nape. Brief noise of his lips settling down against the back of her neck would have her enjoying a momentary set of kisses trailing down her spine before he returned to massaging her. "I hardly need an excuse to have my hands on your body... but it would make me much happier if you let me take greater care of you. That is, of course, if you believe that I love you... beyond merely keeping your bed warm at night." Both arms wrapped around her waist and he took the moment to hold her. Deep inhale to take in her scent and a few more moments to keep her back pressed to his chest to savor the warmth of his body and the beat of his heart.

 

[Passion]

While she waited for him, her mind danced with thoughts about what Tyre might really want. It caused her tension since she felt like there was little more she could give him. Even when she tried her best, was she doomed to be seen as a disgrace? It sure felt like that when she wasn't ruling with an iron fist and a bloody sword. Veah had learned that was the only way she was heard or respected. She wasn't quite sure what to do with these softer tones. She wouldn't think about it too deeply, at least, not right now. The lack of sleep had her head airy and her body feeble. The thought of resting in his arms sounded all the more peaceful as each minute went by until…​

Where is he?
What is taking him so long?
He wouldn't leave her and their love behind like everyone else, would he?​

Such thoughts reminded her why she hadn't desired to grow close to anyone, but Tyre had found a way to breach her defenses and now she didn't want to let go. If something happened to him, she'd—…

Footsteps. She impatiently approached the door as he entered. He did look different than before. A much more simple and tender man. Veah was hardly herself too. Her icy and strong presence was softened by multilayered exhaustion.

"Again, you did not obey me but…" Her words lingered as she studied the meal made with care. He had been gone too long for it to be just leftovers, and perhaps he saw the patterns of Veah liking the heat to escape the cold, and so stew being one of her favorite meals. "That smells good." Good enough that it awoke more of her appetite. However, her hungry gaze would leave the bowl to look up at him when he told her to strip.

"I had thought about washing up before I came up here. I've been kneeling for hours, but I had to see you right away…" She had picked him over her basic needs that now was trying to attend to. He was all she could think about unless Xemva forced her attention away from him. It was becoming a bit of a problem, but their dust was unsettled.

Gathering her hair, she draped it over her shoulder before untying her robe. The black fabric dropped to the floor, leaving her stunning figure bare. "I still don't understand why you wish to care for me in such a way. Especially since you are right; I have servants and I can take care of myself." Hardly. When Veah was focused on a matter, whether political or personal, it had a way of consuming her. She would skip meals, isolate, refuse to sleep, and do whatever she needed to do to be successful, but it always risked hitting her hard like it had now. She had been terribly stressed out between the upset of her goddess and her concerns with Tyre.

Sitting in front of him, she would allow him to start to wash her. "Mmm…~" She hummed when the warm rag trailed down her back. Although Veah would jolt in place even from some light pressure to her sensitive back. "Aaaahh! Careful!" With the weight of an empire and a dark goddess on her, she was nearly always tense to the point a lot of her body and mind forgot how to relax.

"My food won't just be cold but it will turn sour by the time you work out all my knots." She took a deep breath, and with an exhale, she forced her body to relax more. Her head rolled towards his when she felt his traveling lips. She wanted to question him on why he wished to take care of her so tenderly. She could assume that was how he showed love, but it was so foreign to her. She wondered how she showed love. Guess by not sentencing him to death was one way.

"Like I said, I can take care of myself. You take care of a big need of mine already as is. My need for warmth that goes beyond the bed." He had made her feel human again.

She would fall quiet and breathless when he squeezed her from behind. Her heart started to flutter and she felt her soft and tired body sinking into his. He would feel her tensed body unlocking in his arms. She wanted him to never let her go. When in his arms, frozen and forgotten oceans rolled. Her mind turned fuzzy with sweet thoughts and urges all centered around him giving her a strange clarity where all she needed to think about was him. When she started to breathe again, it was gentle and relaxed. She absolutely melted while wrapped up in his affection. He could meet a need not even the best servant ever could.

"At this rate, I'm gonna fall asleep like this before I eat." She forced herself out of the warm haze he was putting her in. She pulled herself up to reach for the towel once more. "I'll finish washing up and then I'll eat" Would he at least let her help? If so, she would do exactly that.​

 

[Devils Temptation]

I still don't understand why you wish to care for me in such a way.​

This time, there was no hesitation. All this time he fought those feelings that he, himself, knew to be true. "Because I love you." Spoken so casually and calmly without that raging inner turmoil that lingered on his lips every time he so much as implied he cared for her at all. "I don't care about anyone else. Not your servants, nor whether you can take care of yourself. None of that matters to me. I trust you can but a gardener does not need a reason to tend to his bloom. He does it because it makes him feel complete and because that blossom blooms most beautifully when he does." There was no reason other than... he cared for her and wanted to nurture her. No reason remained deeper than that. Already, he was by her side. Already, he had her fascination. Already, she would do so much for him. Had he just listened to what she had said, allowed her to put him away in that box she so dearly wanted to keep him in... it would make no difference, he would still have her heart.

That wasn't enough. Not for him.

Like I said, I can take care of myself.
You take care of a big need of mine already as is.
My need for warmth that goes beyond the bed.​

Even as he continued to tend to her and the half-complaints rolled in alongside the mixture of pleasured whines and softer breaths - there was no pause in how he handled her body. "I would care for your well being even if we never again shared a bed." Tyre quietly admitted, breathing those words against the Empress' back for a few moments of that gentle adoration that the two cultivated with one another. As she slipped out of the embrace, he did not chase her. Merely slipped out of the bed to allow her to lean back comfortably against the pillows while she ate once she had helped him wash her body. The food was still pleasantly warm had long since traveled to the point that the temptation to start and finish on the meal would've been increasingly harder to resist - especially on an empty stomach. Tyre did not rush her nor did he leave her side, merely sitting by her and picking up the book he had left half-opened on the nightstand.

Nyxorian History

"Do you feel this country is held together strongly?" The general asked, flipping his thumb over the pages to proceed deeper into the book. "My country... we were all one kind of individual. There were different ethnic groups but it mostly remained homogenized. What about this one? Do the people consider themselves Nyxorian or are just lying in wait while identifying with their past nation? It's something I've noticed increasingly more at this point in my career under this country - every rebellion, every front I've been to, every talk of secession was always lead by a strong sense of nationalism. Some group that considers themselves not like us." Momentary linger with his fingertip tapping against one of the pages of that 'great' and 'beautiful' Empire that was truly no different than a bunch of cobbled together losers that had been integrated under their conquerors.

There was no real unity in this nation. Just a... false promise. A thin string that barely kept together what was bursting at the seams. People like him were scattered throughout the Empire - after all it had a terrible habit of keeping alive those it deemed to be useful, as if they were some sort of cogs that could be torn out and placed back into a larger machine. Life did not work like that.

"I, of course, do not consider myself Nyxorian either. This is not my home. It never has been." Snapping the book shut, he would set it to the side before leaning closer against the bed to the point that his hand brushed against her jaw. A confession like that could have been taken as treason... a lapse in loyalty. If he was not from this nation, why would he even bother to fight for it? How could he ever be seen as loyal. "...But you aren't all that different either, are you? You own this nation, this is your creation and yet... this place is not really a home to you. No different than a prison, really. Obligations, rules, responsibilities - you might as well be a slave to your crown." Had he known what was good for him, he would have stopped talking right then and there - even after she had told him that her Goddess was always listening in upon him... to even dare to try and make Veah waver when it came to her blind loyalty to expanding the country was suicidal.

...But that was not what he was doing.

Setting a hand between her thighs, he leaned over her and towered atop the smaller woman. "Mark my words... I will make another home for myself after what was taken from me. You will be a part of that. So while you may despise me for how I claw at power like this - I cannot help it. One day, there will be a place you will feel more safe than anything in the world, a place where you can freely be a woman instead of a weapon." Grasping at her hand, he leaned ever closer until they were nothing more than a breath away from one another... "...I plan to make you my family."

"...It doesn't matter what stands in the way. Armies, nations, battles... or gods and goddesses... I will find a way for it to work. I refuse to lose someone else I so dearly love." Even if he had to burn everything down to get it... or maybe that was what had been stirring through his mind, flashing in those darker eyes of his. Perhaps this was some convoluted way of assuring the Empire's demise.

To take the heart of the operation and pluck her out, leave the nation nothing more than a bleeding out husk...

It did not matter so long as he had her.

His lips sealed against hers finally, savoring that momentary mixture of the sweetness of her lips and the more tender flavors of the affection he had stewed up for her. "I love you. So much so that it hurts at times... I despise the term soulmate but in this moment I can not think of anything that fits more." Keep him by her side, isolated to the palace where he could not grow any stronger... or separate him from her where he could continue to fight on her behalf. Both had elements that were lucrative but both had elements that were terrible. Could they truly resist being apart from one another...? Could he stomach knowing that he was a mere ticking time bomb by her side? The Goddess demanded blood be shed. His talents were most potent on the battlefield. Sooner or later... he would have to return to it and perhaps this time, it would not be on behalf of Veah but rather that malevolent Goddess that tried so dearly to separate the two.

 

[Passion]

Her mind buzzed and blurred when he said love was the reason why he cared. It never settled right in her head. It was like he was speaking a foreign language. For the longest time, no one in this realm loved her. Born to be hated and feared, it was hard to wrap her mind around Tyre truly loving her. While he never told her exactly what she had done to him on a personal level, she still knew she was the one who destroyed his homeland. He should hate her, and she shouldn't trust a word out of his mouth because of that, but… she felt love. Not only that, the more he said he loved her, the more she wanted it, even though it was difficult for someone like her to accept.

After washing, she fetched her robe once more, loosely wrapping it around her frame as she regained some personal space. She found it was better to handle Tyre in doses, or it was easy to get overwhelmed. At the same time, she wanted to always be in the same room as him. She thought about him too much when he was away, and his so closeness calmed her.

Taking a seat once more, she would eat her stew. Falling into silence while eating was a promising thing; the woman who claimed to have little appetite appeared to be lying to herself. The flavorful and still-warm meal inspired her hunger and warmed up her core once more. She could be so sweet sometimes, it was almost too rich for someone who struggled with affection.

She listened to him, her blue eyes falling on him each time she ate a spoonful of her meal. What a complex topic he was bringing up, but a fitting one for the empress. She knew very well what was going on with her empire as a whole. Sadly, she was not superhuman enough to know about all the ins and outs of her expansive empire as she wished, but she was not clueless about its strengths and weaknesses. However, it was something she didn't talk much about, not even with her generals.

"You are a Nyxorian whether you like it or not. This is your home." She challenged his statement without skipping a beat. "The empire is my creation, and so it is my home." Veah had simplified thinking of what a home was. Why wouldn't she? She never had a caring family or even much of a childhood. As long as there was a roof over her head and a bed she called her own, this was a home. Not only that, he was invited into her home. Her empire. He couldn't see it, but the empress did offer him a chance to rebuild his life here as she did many of those who were in the empire. However, she wouldn't have predicted any of them to want to rebuild with her.

"Soon Xemva will unite the entire empire. Once that happens, Nyxoria will be golden. Everyone will be on the same page. Everything will fall into place." She placed her empty bowl down and stood back up. "I was hoping to capture more of the North, but travel there is always so taxing." Much like their last venture. "My next goal will be summoning Xemva. No one in Nyxoria will doubt her existence, and they will bow even deeper to us. Everyone will be united." It was crazy enough to work, although she would still rule by fear, as the goddess that clung to Veah was far from holy.

He then presented a different option—one that spoke to her on a much more personal level. A life where she wasn't just a ruthless leader, but a life where she was loved, felt safe, liberated, and had a family. The thought of family was as foreign to her as love. She had never seen herself having another other than the ones she killed. She had no plans of taking a husband, having children, or even close friends that felt like family; they all would betray her as they always have. She was alone with Xemva and had been fine with that. However, the more time she spent with Tyre, the more she felt like she was missing out on life. It didn't make sense—she was the most powerful woman in the world, and yet she was deprived?

She fell silent again. This time, she searched his eyes for the spark of a liar. How could he want her as family? Would he really go through hell to not lose her? Her mind burned, and it nearly made her panic, but she wanted to believe him, even if it was a lie. His words sounded so sweet in a world that had turned her ice cold. She should have been more receptive and affectionate in that moment, but she was stunned by the rush of emotions his words paired with his gentle touch gave her.

Their lips met, and Veah kissed him back with a heat that made up for her silence. Her kiss was deep and impassioned, breaking only so he could speak more sweet words to her. If the thoughts of family, home, and love were confusing, the concept of soulmates was even more puzzling to a woman like Veah.

In fact, it was so baffling that she couldn't help but tilt her head. "...And I love you too, but soulmates? Me?" Why was her heart thumping so hard?

"For me to be your soulmate sounds nothing short of a cursed fate." It truly was. After all, she was the monstrous woman who had ruined his life, yet she looked up at him with the eyes of a girl full of suffering but also with hope. A hope that there was more to her life than Xemva and an empire. Something more… fulfilling. It felt taboo to have dreams like a typical woman her age. After all, nothing about her was typical… but he had her dreaming.

"Soulmates… love… family… I hardly know these words beyond their definitions. What I do know is what I'm experiencing. You make my heart yearn and my mind spin. You have me seeing life in different colors."

Were they soulmates to help each other walk on new paths?
Was it all just lies and delusion?​

"Perhaps it is better we speak on this when I have more rest." Although surely she would wake up worried about her duties instead, he was also good at distracting her before she became too wrapped up.

She pulled away, but this time, her touch lingered long enough to grab at his arm and gesture for him to follow. "Don't leave my side tonight, my love." Times like this, she felt like she would fall apart if he did. "I want to soak you in like sunlight." She was really becoming his thorny but tender flower. "I don't know why you are so addictive." She couldn't get enough. Intoxicated off his love and natural attraction, Veah would guide him into another kiss while she lightly clawed at his back to cling to him.

 

[Devils Temptation]

Lie or not, that one night would have been the start of the largest experiment the Empire had ever seen... to either be the defining factor that would leave it with a BLOOD-HUNGRY and WARPED monarch... or to take it on a new route for something far more glorious. Tyre held more power in his hands than entire kings would in that moment, he alone would decide what would truly become of the Empress. Gentle cultivation and adoring affection or... the creation of a demoness.

The latch of his arm was not met with resistance. Pushing his knee over the edge of the bed, he would grasp at his dress shirt to undo the first few buttons and leave it dangling over his shoulders. Faint hint of fresher scars that he had acquired at the most recent battle... ones that danced and mingled along the other marks of his body that she so desperately wanted to grow acquainted with. Did she want to see him in the way he wanted to see her? To know everything about her in ways no one would ever dare to? He hoped. How shameful if it had been nothing more than a one-sided obsession... but he was already well past the point he could pull away. Bare skin nestled against her own, coaxing her into that endless warmth. Both arms would come to curl along her slender waist and this time around he had not bothered to let her turn away from him. Her face would bury against the strength of his chest.

I don't know why you are so addictive.​

"Does it matter? Does a sunflower question why it craves the sun? Sometimes... a need is so inherent and fundamental that it cannot be explained. You, for me, are that need." Tyre could not explain it but he knew in his heart that it could not be denied. She would not be denied. Returning one final kiss to her lips, he guided her to settle to the deepest sleep of her life against his chest. A much needed rest after endless hours of prayer and deprivation from her addiction.

---

---

All too often she would be faced with waking up to an empty bed, an empty tent, a fleeting sense of warmth... there was always a line the two had to respect with one another. This time around, that line itself had been shamelessly violated. Veah would have woken up to the same sight she had gone to sleep to. Buried right against the chest of her lover with such warmth soaking their bodies that it felt painful to even try and tear away. Tyre had no doubt that days spent after prayers to Xemva were nothing short of painful. Filled with aching heads, exhausted bodies, and sleep deprivation... he committed to making sure she felt none of that in the morning. It was only when Veah began to stir that he finally sat up and one hand would slide through her hair to reveal her forehead so he could press one kiss to the center of it.

"I watch you sleep quite often." The raven-haired general would admit - perhaps a little unnerving to the eternally paranoid Empress but it was quickly followed by a caress of his palm over her jaw and the faint graze of his lips over her own. "...You mutter and you toss, you have this terribly afraid look on your face. You did not tonight. Commit to sleeping more often with me, even if we do not..." A slip of his fingertip over her thigh. "...indulge in one another. Do I make myself clear?" He was the one giving commands now...? Yet his tone was just as firm as she might have taken with one of her own subjects. Not in an attempt to exert his influence or power over that, the nature of his words was different. Concern. Raw, genuine concern and love for her. He worried for her and he watched over her... and now, just once, he was able to keep her resting comfortably.

Guiding her smaller figure up and out of the sheets, he would sit her down onto a straddle atop his lap. Both his arms would wrap around her waist and while both of them had important work to do in the early morning, he made no attempt to push her to do any of that. Merely... his arms wrapped around her slender waist in an embrace and the occasional shared kiss would have the two of them savoring each other's warmth.

"It is the morning. You have to make some choices today, I suppose. About me. About us. Should I leave you to clear your head a little so you can make them in good conscious? Then... if I must... I have one more request." Index and middle finger grazing over her lips as he pulled her away just enough to coax her hands to ease off of him and settle back onto her own lap. "...Kiss me in a way that truly shows everything you feel for me. I said I would accept anything you chose if you took care of yourself. You did. Spoil me just once more, my little blossom." Tucking his thumb under her chin, he guided her gaze up once more. Lidded eyes stared at her with searing levels of heat and want... before he closed his eyes entirely and let her do as she wished. Something chaste. Something brief. Something scared. Or... something intimate. Something passionate. Something she never felt or gave him before until that point.

Whatever the culmination of her feelings truly were... he wanted to feel them now, in that moment.

 

[Passion]

As she lay there, curled against him, she wondered why he needed her. She knew her worth as a woman, but Tyre could build any life he wanted. He wasn’t bound by a goddess or weighed down by the same crushing responsibilities she carried. He had more freedom and more choices than she ever did. And Veah knew she was out of touch. She didn’t love the way it was written in books or performed in plays.

But she didn’t have it in her to question him, nor did she want to move. A quiet peace washed over her as she was held so tightly against the one she loved. Her mind stilled, and she could feel her inner warmth kindling, much like the campfire they had slept beside. One couldn’t literally soak in love, but somehow, Veah was. Each second with him was healing, filling a void, making him all the more special to her and all the more tied to him.

With a final big exhale, she drifted into sleep in his arms. It was deep and quiet, exactly what she needed. For once, there was no tension lingering in her even as she slept. No unrest, no subconscious guard held up. She was completely vulnerable, yet she had never felt safer. He kept her secure, and for the first time in a long time, she felt truly at peace. She did not even dream as everything she could dream of was in the here and now with him.

She had been sleeping so soundly that waking startled her. But as soon as she realized he was still there, her heart fluttered happily. She buried her face against his chest, welcoming the warmth, even if it made it harder to breathe by smothering herself in him.

When he confessed that he had been watching her, she reached up and cupped his face. Maybe it should have been concerning, but instead, it made her feel cherished in a way a crown alone never had.

“Yes, I’ll allow you to sleep with me every night… unless you upset me.” That wasn’t hard to do, but she never stayed mad at him for long. “I want to wake up every morning with you and this feeling…” She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. “You make me feel like a new woman, Tyre.” She didn’t understand it, and she worried it made her weak. But instead, she felt stronger, and warmer on a personal level.

She shifted on top of him, her robe clinging loosely to her body as she pressed against him, soaking in his warmth. She returned his affection through tender kisses and gentle caresses. The morning sun bathed the room in a golden glow, chasing away the shadows. Giving the accent of a warm angelic-like glow. No darkness to hide behind, no barriers between them; just open hearts that lay bare.

Her fingertips brushed along his cheekbone, cherishing both him and this moment. "No… I don't want to clear my head yet. I like you there," she whispered with a quiet resolve in her voice. Outside this bed, countless demands awaited her. Duty, responsibility, the weight of an empire. But here, in his arms, she had peace. He was her calm at the center of the storm, the only place where warmth, love, and quiet understanding existed. She wished she didn't need this, wished it wasn't so consuming. It did nothing for the empire, but this ran so deep.

His request was simple yet profound; to kiss him in a way that conveyed everything she felt. She exhaled a quiet laugh. “At this point, to do that, I’d have to kiss you until our lips go numb.” A teasing grin curled her lips, though there was truth in her words. “I don’t think there’s anything I can do or say that would easily express all that I feel for you. Do others fall in love like this? Is it always this deep? Or is this something rare?” She didn’t know if there was an answer, but she would explore it... and she would start with the kiss he had asked for.

Her lips met his, filled with passion, devotion, and the depths of love. She was trusting him with her heart and her obscured mind. She pressed her body back against his as if trying to merge forms while she kissed him with heart. Her lips parted enough to make the kiss all the more intimate all while her heart was sparking with emotion for him. Her nails lightly clawed at his face, and she shamelessly whimpered into his mouth. He hardly had to do a thing to resonate so deeply within her.

"You make me want to do nothing but kiss you and make love with you all day…" she confessed, her breath warm against his lips. Her face lingered close, unwilling to part from him. "I need to make some choices, but one thing I already know is that I need you, Tyre." Her hips rocked against his, pressing closer, silently urging his own instincts. There was an intimacy in her every movement, not just rooted in desire but a longing for something deeper.

She pulled herself up into a sitting position, letting her robe slip from her shoulders, falling away completely, leaving her in nothing but a flimsy pair of dark panties. Her full breasts, narrow waist, and smooth skin were bathed in the warm morning light. Her blue eyes, smoldering with emotion, locked onto his.

“You’ve already spoiled me by showing me what I’ve been missing.” Her hands slid up her wide hips, over her waist, coaxing his gaze to follow the shape of her figure. She wanted him to memorize her, every detail, every movement. Her fingers grazed the sides of her breasts before she cupped them, fondling herself as her hips grinded against him in slow, teasing motions. "Why don't you also show me how you feel?" She carefully searched his gaze, always looking at him deeply as if mesmerized by his mere existence.​

 

[Devils Temptation]

You make me want to do nothing but kiss you and make love with you all day…​

"Then? Do it. You say you'll go to these lengths for me... but then when all is said and done, how much can you really commit to?" He challenged, lips pausing just at the moment that her own started to plead on how she needed him... did she really? Something was still missing in that moment. Tyre did not doubt her - only... he doubted she understood just how much the two were truly made for one another. There was something that only he could offer her - something that, if she lived eternally for centuries upon centuries, she would not dare to find in any other man. Grasping his palm against her hip, a lean in would start to kiss along her neck and shoulder. There was no veneer of gentlemanly conduct. Just the ogle of a beast, darkened eyes and lashes fluttering to a half-lidded glare as he took in every inch of her body as if she were descended straight out from the Heavens.

He would not change one single inch of her body... only commit that which he was not completely familiar with even further to memory. Tyre inhaled, easing himself back against the headboard of the bed as a hand drew down the line of buttons along his dress shirt. One undone after the next to reveal the portion of that tough, rigid muscle that she had grown so familiar to being locked beneath time and time again. One after the next, controlling her gaze until he stopped just as he reached the last button, denying her the sight of that V-line. "...Let us try going a little further. You want me to show you how I feel? Very well. I will. Just remember... you asked for this. I will not allow you to complain or escape. I will show you the full extent of my feelings." Low, rumbled words that seemed halfway a threat...

The general did not elaborate on what he planned to do to his Empress.

He never did. Just the look in his eyes was enough explanation. The way he planned to make her completely submit.

Palm to her cheek, he gazed into her eyes just one more time... "I love you. I promise to stop holding back tonight... and I am sorry if you cannot take it all. You have to understand. I only feel this strongly because it is you. The one woman in the entirety of this world who..." Fingertip grazed over her jaw, her chin, tenderly pressing down on her lower lip until she was forced to look up at him. "...can mend that one part of myself I refused to give to anyone else. You will have to take responsibility." Brief, fleeting kiss that was so faint that he had no doubt she would chase more. More that she would not get. Tyre's broad palm slid down her bare back, fingertips digging into that pair of dark panties to cup and knead at her bare ass before slipping a little lower to brush up against her bare entrance.

Moments like these, when she was out of her armor and off her throne... it was too blatant, the way that his hand effortlessly devoured her body. Rough to her soft, masculine to her feminine. That palm continued to feel against her body and back, guiding her to lay further and further back until that grinding came to a halt and his fingers were already buried into her needier core. Slow, sensual grind of his fingertips as he grazed them against the softer, wetter lengths of her walls. "How often do you daydream about me...? I would tell you how often I do for you but if I did... I doubt you would ever look at me the same way again." Digits dug deeper and deeper until she could feel the satisfying tuck of his knuckles right against her core.

All the way into her body before that push and drag of those skillful tips would start to fuck against her core fast and hard. This wasn't what she wanted. Not entirely - there was so much more he could offer her... but he made her wait. He made her simmer.

That needy flare in her heart, he cultivated it slowly... speaking those sweet but oh so corruptive words into her ear.

"Let me tell you what I am going to do to you today... you may think you're in control, but you aren't." Wet, lecherous sounds of her dripping wet pussy continued to fill the room as he towed the line perfectly, ensuring that she was never quite about to push off the edge... and yet she was so dangerously close to it, the way he toyed with her orgasm. "...I am going to fuck you. Not once. Not twice. As many times as I want... right through your orgasms if I must. Every time I do - I will make you cling closer to me. I will make your head emptier with every single finish until there's only two thoughts in your mind... me and how good it feels to submit to me. You will cultivate that state of mind - I will get you there time and time again, night after night..." All powerful Empress hardly mattered in that moment - she was a woman about to be utterly claimed. He was not as wild nor feral as he might have been on some nights. Not with the roughness that plunged her into the bed sheets or had her fight before inevitably surrendering...

There was a calm, calculated, almost chilling precision to the way he reminded her of what her fate would be.

"...You may resist the thought for a few minutes - but I will tell you to clear your schedule entirely. Morning to night. I care not what duties might be pressing you... today I am your King." Fingers drawn out her suddenly before his hand grabbed at her hip and shoved her down to the bed beneath him - both arms grabbing at her wrists and slamming them down to the mattress so that intense glare could silence whatever complaints he was sure she would be having. "Do you know what else you will 'allow'? By the end of tonight..." The sensation of his belt grazed against her hips as Tyre drew it off and tossed it to the side, pulling cloth until only the bare sensation of his tip was pressed against that drenched core. "...you will beg me to cum inside you." He was not asking her to submit to him. Not in the slightest.

He was telling her what would happen to her in an hour or two.

Just as he had stopped her clear response by pinning her to the bed, he did not allow her to get a proper word in before the sensation of his cock plunged into her core. The hands on her wrists slid off, allowing her to do as she pleased - whether that was to shove against him or rake her nails down his back, he didn't care. Tyre's intense glare bore straight into her eyes, both arms wrapping tight around her body as he smothered her against the sheets. Every thrust guided her tight core to ease up further... to loosen just enough for a few more inches to smother into her core. Every moment he got closer, Tyre made sure she could hear - feel his pleasure. The grind of his well-carved torso grazing up against her softer, feminine physique, the way the heft of his body practically stuffed her down to the sheets. Intense, dark eyes meeting her own and refusing to pull away as he fucked into her - there was no escaping him in that moment.

Could he really do it...?

Make her head go completely empty?

Veah might have expected something intimate and slower. Sensual grinds and slow, measured love-making... what she received instead was the intense, overwhelming need for her that far overwhelmed anything that anyone would have ever shown her. No lovestruck prince, eager concubine, or foolish soldier would ever come close to the way his intense, onyx gaze shone with pure heat for her. Nothing would come close to the way he fucked her as if he could not last one single second without the warmth of her body. This was not just normal, carnal need.

He needed something deeper than the cheap satisfaction of just finishing in a tight hole.

He needed to assert his ownership of her.

Veah was his fucking woman.

"Do you... haah... know why I love missionary so much...?" The most basic, simple position of all... not at all like the warped, overwhelming nature of their relationship. Comfort, intimacy, there were so many reasons and yet the one she heard was - "I love the way you look so helpless when you realize there's nothing you can do but give up and give into me. Oh, my love... I will take such good care of you today..." Heavy, husky hums against her ear practically drowned out by the raw sensation of his thighs slamming against her hips and making the room ring out with the noise of the bed shuddering and her soaked entrance drenching the sheets.

 

[Passion]

Veah gave Tyre a long look after he promised to show her the depths of his feelings toward her. She would never have believed in a million years that she would entertain such a thing with a man, but there she was, not only doing it but hungry for his brutal honesty. She didn't know what to expect to some degree, but she knew that as long as it was with him, she wanted to explore it. She could feel she was tracing the edges of something deep and unknown. Something hotter than she had ever known.

Her face leaned in toward his hand. "You don't have to hold back. If for some odd reason I can't endure it, I will survive it." Just as she had survived all her death wishes and the hate sent her way. Other than possibly having her head chopped off, Veah was sure she could withstand nearly anything.

"Mend…?" She echoed back with depth. She didn't believe she could heal anything at this point in her life, only destroy and rewrite. He lulled her into a soft kiss that left her craving more. It was easy to fall under the spell of emotions he gave her. They had been breaking through her darkness, opening her up more and more to a life much different from the one she had now.

His hand on her bare body felt heavenly. It was hard not to melt from his touch alone. He had a way of making her feel like putty. The thoughts of the empire left her mind, replaced instead with him and the sensations he provided. At times, it was concerning how easily he could cause such a deep part of her to stir, to dance for him, but she couldn't deny his call.

He found how wet she had already become. So slick, so needy. And if that wasn't enough of a clue to how driven she was, the way her face and eyes lit up once he stimulated her was telling. She leaned back to allow him better access to the very core of her femininity.

"Too much," she confessed in a hot breath. It had been hard to focus on her tasks as empress when he kept plaguing her thoughts. From her concerns about him betraying her to lusting over the thought of the next time she could get lost in him. She had been silently praying for him more than Xemva. She had repented, but having him like this would disgrace her as a follower once more, as her faith was tied to a different being. This man.

How much did he really think about her? Did she haunt his dreams? Did subtle things remind him of her? Did he think about her late at night when he was alone? She wanted to know, but she was afraid to ask. The uneven weight of their feelings could unsettle her if she was the only one falling head over heels. She had tried to resist, but she was caught in an endless descent, especially in moments like this.

When he spoke to her with words dripping with passionate desire, it made her mind blur and burn. It spoke to Veah, to her aching core. He penetrated her beyond the physical. Her breathing became unsteady but heavy with yearning. Her thighs trembled as he pulled her closer to the edge, giving her a taste of all the pleasure he could bring her.

As an empress, certain words stuck out, submit being one. She hated the idea of being weak, and passive, of giving in while living in a world that wanted her defeated and dead. However, why was it that when she thought about it with him, while she was coming alive with desire, she felt tempted to fall weak to him?

"I've learned that you are a powerful man in many ways, but I like to test it personally." She squirmed her hips, a sweet moan pouring from her between sharp breaths as he continued to toy with her increasingly wet and heated body.

He admitted he had plans to lay claim to her entire day. As a woman of power, he would be putting a halt to many meetings and studies for the day, but Veah couldn't bring herself to protest. She wanted him too fiercely to be sensible, and Veah had always found a way to get what she wanted, even if it was by blood and fire.

Her king?

His boldness knew little limit...

But why would it? ​

She rewarded him for his audacity with a spark in her eyes when he shoved her onto the bed. A spark that begged for what her words could not. How could she ever say the words that would ruin her, that would taint the only facet of herself that had allowed her to survive? She still didn't quite understand it either. Why would she want to submit? Why wouldn't she want power through and through? It confused her, made her want to scream from the pits of her existence, and yet she lay there as a silent whirlwind. She was getting swept up, and her only ground was the man who had a hold on her heart. She was seeing how, somehow, she kept becoming more and more vulnerable to him in ways she didn't even know were possible.

What he claimed he would make her beg for was more alarming than the title he gave himself. She had hinted to him how her feminine instincts had a way of getting the best of her when they were in the heat of the moment. She had even warned him about how she found herself craving to take risks she knew better than to take. However, instead of using this information to be more mindful, he more or less taunted her with it by claiming he would make her beg for his seed.

Veah's face turned a rosy shade of pink, but a flicker of fear flashed in her eyes at the thought. She had an entire empire to run. This could make things extremely complex, and it already was due to having her feelings so intimately entangled with another.

Logic, even her god, told her to RUN...

and yet…​

"Prove it…" was all she could say before he boldly took her. She wanted him to prove he would show her how he felt without holding back. That he desired the title of her king. That he could get her to beg for what she had never allowed a man to do.

One thing was certain—it was extremely hard for her mind not to go black as soon as he went inside her. He had a way of driving her wild, and her wetness welcomed him into her deepest and tightest depths. A place only he was allowed within. Her hands reached out for him, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly as if trying to hold on to him before falling off a cliff's edge.

"T-Tyre!!" The way she said his name was a perfect mix of a growl and a cry. He had a way of bringing out such an animalistic and yet spiritual part of her. The way he looked at her made it seem like he was eager to see every second of her unraveling, falling apart to find the core of a much softer woman. It was so embarrassing to have someone witness her becoming undone at the seams, but it was also so liberating and vivid to do so.

He kept their bodies close enough that she felt like she was drowning in his heat and essence. She sang for him in the form of unfiltered moans of bliss. She could resist him at times, but there was no denying Veah loved having sex with him based on the pooling wetness already slightly staining his sheets. Silently, she prayed he would make her cum and cry until she was nothing more than a gasping, trembling mess.

She could tell the way he desired her was unlike anything she had experienced. Not merely blinded by love or lust, he had the conviction to claim all of her, to take from her more than she was capable of giving. Yet… she still didn't resist. Their chemistry, their fate, blared away doubts as she spiraled deeper into passion.

Her gut told her that Tyre was a once-in-a-lifetime lover. She could continue to claim many nations, recruit the brave and the strong into her bedroom, and still… it wouldn't be him. She wanted control over their relationship as she did with her concubines and every other aspect of her life, but she couldn't with him. He had become her definition of love and desire, whether she liked it or not.
​

Tight.​

​

She became so damn tight when he told her why he liked to look at her when he took her.​

Her head jerked back, and her nails sank into the back of his neck in reaction. It stimulated her more. "Why do I want to give in to you so badly?! It drives me fucking CRAZY!" she whined between her cries and the slams of their bodies. She wrapped her leg tightly around him, trying to get more tangled in him, despite the fact that what he was saying was actually frightening for a woman in Veah's position. But she couldn't stop indulging in the intimacy and excitement he was offering her, seemingly wanting to overdose on it in a way that spoke to her deeper than she wanted to admit or could even understand.

The longer she was in this state, the more her defenses crumbled. It was evident by how her facial expression melted with pleasure. She used her hold on him to pull her soft body even tighter against his, blindly kissing his shoulder, collar, and the side of his neck. She showered him with kisses that vibrated with all the moans he was plucking from her. With how her breathy voice gained volume and her body heated to the point of light sweating, she was nearing the cusp of one of her sweet orgasms.​