The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

‘Cas.’ Or my mother calling me Hawke that reminded me I
wasn’t a thing.”
Tears of pain and anger filled my eyes. I wanted to hug
him. I wanted to launch myself from the ship and swim to
the shore to find the Queen and King and kill them right
now. But I held myself still.
“That I was a person,” he whispered. “That I wasn’t that
thing in the cage or that thing that couldn’t control anything
around me—not even what was done to me or how my body
was used. Hearing them just say ‘Cas’ pulled me out of that
hellscape.” His fingers slid all the way up my arm to cup my
cheek. He tilted my head back. “When you call me Cas, it
reminds me that I’m real.”
“Cas,” I whispered, blinking back tears.
“Don’t,” he pleaded softly. “Don’t cry.”
“I’m sorry. It’s just that I want…” Gods, there was so
much I wanted for him. I wanted him to never have
experienced any of that, but I couldn’t undo the past. “I
want you to know that you are always Cas. You were never a
thing, and you aren’t one now.” I rose, easing him onto his
back. The buttery light of the gas lamp flowed over the
striking lines of his face. “You are Casteel Hawkethrone
Da’Neer. A son. A brother. A friend. A husband.” I leaned
over him, and there was no mistaking the deepening of the
color of his eyes as his gaze dropped to my breasts.
Clasping his cheek, I guided his gaze back to mine. “You are
a King. My King. And you will always be my everything, but
never will you be a thing.”
Casteel moved fast, pinning my back to the bed with the
warm weight of his body. “I love you.”
And I showed him that I loved him, with my words, my
lips, my hands, and then my body, over and over until the
beautiful amber eyes were clear of any and all shadows.