Summary: As they get closer to returning to Lykos, Kenna and Diavolos talk about what they want.
Part 1 (PG-13) Part 2 (PG-13) Part 3 (NSFW) Part 4 (NSFW) Part 5 (PG-13) Part 6 (NSFW)
They drain the barrel of Skullcracker Ale in almost no time, especially with Sei and Annelyse’s drink off. As Val fills their mugs, Diavolos tells her to bet on Annelyse, but Kenna is certain Sei can outdrink her. She has faith in Sei’s sheer strength and stubborn determination to never be bested. But as Annelyse drinks mug after mug and begins dancing and singing, Sei slows down.
“Told you,” Diavolos says with a self-satisfied smirk as Kenna reluctantly drops a coin in Raydan’s hand.
She’s grateful that despite the horror of the day, the mood is at least a little jovial as they drink and reminisce about Leon. She knows everyone notices the way she leans into Diavolos and the way he occasionally takes her hand, but no one says a word. Kenna doesn’t think they will, not given the circumstances and how helpful he’s been.
When everyone finally, almost reluctantly, rises and heads off the sleeping quarters, Kenna remains standing on the deck. She stares out at the smooth black water, the waves gentle against the side of the ship.
“As someone who’s slept on the deck before, I can assure you a bed is better,” she hears Diavolos say from behind her.
Kenna turns her head, letting a hint of a smile play across her lips.
“I’m sure it is. I’m just not ready to go to sleep yet,” she explains.
Diavolos studies her for a moment, then laces his fingers with hers. He leads her over to the railing, releasing her hand just long enough to wrap his arm around her waist.
His voice is low and reassuring as he murmurs in her ear, pointing out constellation after constellation in the night sky. Kenna finds herself blinking sleepily after a few minutes, her head resting back against his chest, until Diavolos’ low chuckle startles her and she jumps awake.
“You should sleep,” he says.
Kenna sighs. “I won’t be able to,” she protests.
“You need to try. Come on.” He taking takes hand again and walks with her to her cabin.
She’s about to ask him to stay, but Diavolos gives her a knowing look and follows her inside before she even has to say a word, lighting the lantern while she watches from near the door.
“You need to sleep,” Diavolos says again, nudging her to sit on the edge of the bed.
Even though she’s certain she’ll just end up lying there and staring at the wooden planks above her, she knows he’s right. Slowly, she undoes her boots and undresses, then pulls her nightgown over her head. Diavolos watches her, perched on the edge of her desk. The heat and desire that usually flares in his eyes is tempered tonight, replaced by a look that, to her slightly inebriated and exhausted mind, looks almost tender.
Kenna slips under the thin sheet and blanket, shifting to get more comfortable. Diavolos makes his way over to the bed, kneeling beside her.
“Do you want me to stay?” he asks.
He cups her cheek gently, then tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Please,” she murmurs.
He undresses quickly, putting the lantern out and plunging them into darkness as he climbs in beside her. Kenna rolls to her side, settling against his bare chest. Diavolos wraps an arm around her waist, his other hand running soothing trails across her back.
Kenna’s a little surprised; she hadn’t taken him to be someone content to just cuddle. It makes her giggle a little in her sleep-deprived state.
“What’s so funny?” Diavolos asks, a hint of humor in his voice.
“I didn’t take you for the kind of guy to just hold someone,” Kenna explains.
She feels his mouth spread into a smile as he brushes it against her forehead.
“I don’t,” he confirms.
Kenna lifts her head, finding his lips with hers in the dark, a slow, deep kiss that makes her sigh.
“I haven’t,” he murmurs, kissing her again, then gently nudging her back down.
She idly presses her lips to his chest, his heart steadily thumping under her ear, her eyes slowly drifting closed.
“Sleep, Kenna,” Diavolos says quietly.
~~~~~~~~~~
Kenna manages to sleep a couple hours that night, and a little longer the next, and still longer the next, until she realizes that they’ll be back in Lykos in a few days. She’s ready to be back on land and to finally work to avenge Leon, but she’s not sure she’s ready to forge an alliance with Luther. The thought of it leaves a sour feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“I’m going to have to work with your father,” she says to Diavolos one night as they’re undressing for bed.
There are no pretenses anymore, no secrecy about the fact that he spends almost every night in her cabin. Other than a gently encouraging and reassuring smile from Annelyse, and a few nights of Val narrowing her eyes at them until she seems satisfied that Diavolos isn’t going to attack Kenna in the middle of the night, no one even really acknowledges it.
Kenna prefers it that way. Annelyse is right, she decides. After years of being told what to do and how to behave, losing too many people she loved, and having to fight to get her kingdom back, she deserves something good just for her. She’s seen firsthand now that life is too short to wait and play it safe in everything.
She sees Diavolos stiffen for a moment, then resume undoing the fasteners on his shirt. She likes watching him like this, undressing unabashedly in front of her, his muscles rippling as he strips down to almost nothing.
“You’ll need our troops,” Diavolos agrees.
He smirks slightly when he notices her staring at him. Kenna smirks back, pointedly dragging her gaze over him until he laughs low in his throat and reclines in the bed next to her.
“Yes,” Kenna says. “And considering they’re loyal to your father, I don’t have much choice but to work with him.”
She doesn’t like the idea, but she dislikes the idea of going into battle against Azura without the troops from Abanthus even more.
“I know how my father can be,” Diavolos says. “But he wants to defeat Azura as much as you do. I don’t think even he would do anything to jeopardize that.”
It helps, some, that reassurance. Luther is cold, a ruthless and calculating man, but Kenna is at least a little confident that even he won’t let his own pride get in the way of seeing Azura defeated. She’s a little less certain of what Luther’s pride will lead him to do after, but that’s something she’ll worry about when (if?) they all manage to survive.
Kenna climbs out of bed just long enough to put the lantern out. When she returns, Diavolos’ hand brushes over her hip as she slides back in. Instead of lying down, she straddles him, letting her fingers dance across his stomach and up his chest.
She’s thinking, in the back of her mind where she tries to push the thoughts down, how reluctant she’s going to be to let go of Diavolos when they get back. It’s a pointless worry, she tries to tell herself.
“What’s on your mind?” he asks her.
“Nothing,” she says immediately.
“Kenna.” His tone lets her know she doesn’t have him the slightest bit fooled.
“Nothing I can do anything about,” she corrects herself, leaning down to press her lips to his.
His hands grip her waist tightly, making her groan as she rocks against him.
“Tell me,” he says, releasing his grip to pull her nightgown over her head.
He stills for a moment when she doesn’t answer, bringing his hands back to her waist and holding her in place. She can hear his steady breathing in the dark, feel his fingers drifting down and just barely squeezing her hips.
“I don’t want to stop,” she finally admits.
“Then tell me,” Diavolos commands her.
“Not just now,” Kenna says, suddenly glad they’re alone and it’s dark and she can stare into nothing. “I don’t want to stop when we get back.”
He’s quiet for long enough that she begins to regret the words, and then suddenly he rolls her underneath him, kissing her hungrily. She gasps for breath when he pulls away just long enough to tug the rest of their clothing off.
“I don’t either,” he groans when she arches into him.
“I want you,” Kenna moans. “Now. When we get back. After-“
She sucks in a breath as Diavolos moves faster, harder, her words seeming to spur him on.
“I don’t want anyone else. I don’t want you with anyone else,” he says gruffly, and she digs her nails into his back at his possessive tone.
She likes the way the sensation makes him grunt and bite her shoulder. There’s something insistent and more commanding than usual in the way Diavolos moves against her, the way he bites and kisses her neck, the way he tells her to come just before he pushes her over the edge.
It makes Kenna realize that regardless of what Luther says, what he thinks or wants (because he won’t approve of whatever she and Diavolos are, of that much she’s certain), she won’t let this go.
~~~~~~~~~~
They formulate a plan as a group about proposing an alliance with Luther when they get back. No one is particularly happy about it, and the mood is somber and filled with tension when they finally land in Lykos early one morning. Diavolos initially offers to come with her to speak to his father, but they both realize Luther would probably see right through them immediately, so he waits upstairs.
Before Kenna heads down to the dungeons with Val and Jackson, Diavolos pulls her into a quiet side hallway. He doesn’t say anything, just pulls her in tightly and crashes his lips to hers.
“I’ll be right here,” he says against her mouth.
She knows he means more than just right now, that he means it no matter what comes of this conversation with Luther and what happens after.
“I know,” she reassures him, looping her arms around his neck. “So will I.”
He kisses her again once more, hard, then releases her and heads out to the ballroom. Kenna watches him go, then meets back up with Val and Jackson at the top of the steps leading to the dungeon.
“Let’s get this done with.”