Heaven Hath No Rage - Book Two

Delayed Departure

Theo was spooning the noble after they had awoken from their second nap. Most of their night had been spent talking in addition to throwing in a few rounds of fun and recuperation between all that they had discussed. They had been up for a few minutes at that point, but neither of them had spoken. Theo had just let her hands trail Ava's body, exploring and getting reacquainted.

Ava was pliant under her touch, moving for Theo to get the best reach of her side, her arm, her back, her shoulder. Theo dragged light fingertips along wherever she could access and it sent the occasional shiver through Ava. When Ava had been squirming too much, she had transitioned to attacking her neck with kisses. Theo was placing sloppy kisses down Ava's neck as her soft laughter filled the room. She pulled away to laugh slightly and pulled Ava in closer to her chest.

"I am both exhausted and invigorated," Ava hummed and Theo chuckled in response.

She was about to ask what came next since the sun was peeking in through their windows, but a knock interrupted. She felt Ava go rigid in her arms and Theo's head snapped to the door. She lifted her head up and looked at her weapons on the table, she could get there if needed but she didn't know if it was better to go for that or to duck under the bed and hide.

"Lady Vaith, I have brought up breakfast for you," a voice spoke from the other side.

Ava relaxed and ended up laughing, "Thank you, Arnelo! Come on in."

The door opened as Theo sat up in bed, thankful she had put on a shirt to sleep. Ava had not but paid no mind to the fact that a guard was entering her room. She sat up and pulled the covers over her chest. The guard set the food down on the table and turned to the bed, bowing his head slightly and then heading out. As Theo caught sight of his face, her blood went cold. A shiver traveled down her spine as she stared at him leaving. Her eyes were still on the door he had left from when Ava got up to retrieve their breakfast.

Not only had that been a Vaith guard taken straight from the Baethan military, but he was also one of the people that found themselves in the room with her while Ulisses physically and mentally broke her down. What was Ava doing with him? She had said the night before that Arnelo was her guard. How did that happen? She seemed to trust him but her gut twisted at what that could mean.

Arnelo could be working against Ava, feeding information to Lord Vaith. Or, they could be in cahoots. Or, it could just be a different story. Theo wasn't going to let paranoia get in her way. She could just ask Ava about it if she wanted. But she didn't want to, if she did she might have had to rehash her torture which tended to become a mood killer.

"-two times a cycle," Ava laughed as she brought the tray to the bed.

She snapped out of her thoughts. If she admitted to not paying attention, it would tip Ava off that she had been preoccupied with something else. To avoid any questions, Theo simply nodded along instead of clarifying what Ava had said. She reached for some ham, eating it straight off their shared plate with her fingers as she leaned back in bed.

"Hungry?" Ava teased.

Theo laughed, nodding with a full mouth. Already feeling more relieved at just seeing Ava smile in her direction. Riva help her, she was fucking pathetic.

Ava picked up a piece of bread and broke it in half, making work of her portion. Theo grabbed her piece of bread after she was done chewing on her ham. To say they scarfed down their food would be an understatement. Neither of them spoke, it was a race to stuff their faces with sustenance– their energy had been depleted throughout the night.

Eventually, they moved away from eating on the bed and instead took their tray to a section of the room that housed lavish couches and lounge chairs. All that was left were pastries and Theo was so full, all she could do was pick at one. Ava had no intentions of stopping, she was ripping apart pieces of different pastries to get a taste of them all.