Private Tales Echoes of the Elderglen

[Vespera]

Her breaths were coming in shallow, caught somewhere in her chest as she studied Ash's face. Every line, every hard edge of him was carved so tightly with restraint- his clenched jaw, the pulse ticking along his throat, the way his shoulders stayed taut like he was holding himself back from hauling her into his lap. His emerald eyes burned into hers, unflinching and unyielding, heavy with something darker, something primal that mirrored a storm swirling inside her.

Vespera's cheeks burned crimson, and she knew it took no bond for him to see it. To feel how fast her heart hammered, how her own self-control was fraying thinner with each passing second. She wanted him. Gods, she wanted him just as badly as he wanted her. But every instinct screamed at her that she didn't know how to take it, didn't know how to give herself to him without falling apart completely.

And yet, here she was...

Her hand still on his thigh. Trembling, but refusing to let go.

Golden eyes flickered over Asher, along the sharp line of his jaw to the curve of his lips- lips she wanted to crash into hers again. Her breath hitched quietly, a quiet sound breaking the silence between them.

It seems you're rather intent on torturing me instead.

"How.." she whispered, her voice revealing her lack of confidence. How can you even look at me like that right now? Her bruised face throbbed faintly as she forced herself to meet his gaze again. She was a mess. Broken, scarred, half-fae. A girl who couldn't protect her own mate without getting her face smashed against the ground. And still..

Her thoughts trailed off, something sharp and breathless slipping into her tone. Something dark. Unsteady.

"You look at me like you'd burn the whole fucking world down just to.." She faltered, lips parting as if she couldn't finish the thought. But a flicker of a smile tugged at her lips, faint and fleeting, and though her voice trembled, it was sharper this time, hushed and sultry. Every word laced with daring heat she barely recognized as her own.

"Maybe.." She murmured, golden eyes locking onto his in challenge, her thumb brushing featherlight strokes along his thigh. "Maybe that is exactly what I want to do.." She leaned forward, hovering over him. Her breath mingled with his now, the air between them thick and sparking, every inch of her screaming to close the distance. "But tell me, Asher Adamou," she whispered, leaning in only slightly more, a glint of mischief breaking through her fear. "What are you going to do about it?"

 

[Asher]

Asher had been still. A statue carved from ancient marble, straining beneath its own cracks. But the second she spoke with that voice, breathless and raw and burning with something that tasted like temptation and dared like fire..

His pulse throbbed in his throat as her words slithered around him like silk and smoke. You look at me like you’d burn the whole fucking world down just to—

Fuck, if she’d finished that sentence, he wasn’t sure he’d have survived it. But she didn’t need to. He already knew.

His eyes drank her in, those flushed cheeks, those trembling lips, the soft flicker of a smile that should’ve been impossible after what she’d been through. But there she was, taunting him with it. Holding herself steady despite the shake in her voice. Her hand still on him. Her breath on his lips. And then came the challenge.

What are you going to do about it?.

“Careful,” he rasped, voice so low it was almost a growl, roughened by want. “My self control is hanging by a fucking thread.."

His hand came to squeeze at her waist beneath the water, sliding slow, like he was holding something sacred. Maybe he was. His other hand found the back of her neck, fingers threading through soaked blonde strands as he pulled her the final inch forward until his lips grazed hers, not quite kissing her. Not yet.

“I know, that you think of yourself as less..” he whispered against her lips, voice frayed at the edges. “But, I need you to know something.. That you are, and always have been, the most perfect creature I've ever set eyes on. Bond or not, I cannot lie to you.." he frowned, holding her there to ensure she looked at him when he spoke. To make sure she heard him.

He drew in a breath like it physically hurt to hold back. His nose brushed hers, and he tilted his head just slightly. His hand on her waist squeezed, a tether against the storm building inside him. Still he waited. Letting her feel the quake beneath his skin. His mouth ghosted along the corner of hers, a breath of a touch that made his whole body tense.

He had never wanted something so much in his life, and been so terrified. Would she push him away, again? Realise that she was making a terrible mistake and regret it. Resent him? How long could he carry on like this without losing his mind entirely. She had to know his truths before she made her decision.

"This bond might have sealed our fates, Vess. But .. I want you regardless. I need you, regardless.. Silvren en’ luvaen.. Starlight.. I love you, regardless."

 

[Vespera]

Vespera's breath caught sharply in her throat when his hand closed around her waist, the heat of his palm searing through the thin barrier of her underclothes. His skin was so much warmer than the water, as though he were fighting to keep himself from burning alive. But his touch was almost dizzying with the contrast, and the way his fingers tightened possessively made a soft, involuntary sound slip past her lips.

She didn't think, it was not a conscious decision she had made- her body simply moved towards him, drawn to him like a tide to the shore. Vess shifted forward until she hovered over his lap, water rippling around her as her knees brushed against his hips beneath the surface. His nose brushed against hers, his lips ghosting against hers as he held himself back from closing the distance. She stared at him, not in fear or uncertainty, but something deeper. Something beyond the bond that burned between them.

It was raw hunger, yes, but threaded through it was an aching, unshakeable need. Not just to touch him, but to be with him. Entirely.

Vespera's chest rose and fell against his with every shallow breath, the heat of him bleeding into her skin when the bathwater no longer warmed her. And then...he spoke to her..in Elven.

The words slipped into her like a blade, wrapping around hear heart and driving straight through it. Silvren en' luvaen..

Starlight.

A single tear broke free, sliding down her bruised cheek. She didn't look away, didn't try to hide it. She let him see her in every way. The vulnerability. The want. The terrified hope that had been clawing at her ribs since she met him.

Those words had sealed it for her,

Her hand lifted, fingers curling into the back of his neck as if to anchor herself to him, and for the first time in her years, she didn't hesitate. Didn't overthink. Didn't give herself room to retreat.

Vespera leaned in and closed that distance, her lips pressing into his. It was more than a kiss. It was an answer. A surrender to her own stubborn nature. An acceptance of him. Of them.

Her other hand lifted from his thigh, splaying across his chest where she could feel the thundering of his heart beneath her palm, and then she knew without questions, that she wasn't the only one unraveling.

Every way Ash wanted her, she gave herself. Every wall she had built over the century cracked under the weight of that truth, crumbling until there was nothing left but her and him, tangled in water and heat and the unshakable pull of fate.