Summary: Diavolos disappears from the castle sometimes. Kenna is determined to find out where he goes. Set after the return to Stormholt from Aurelia.
The first time Kenna notices that Diavolos sometimes disappears from the castle is just before a meeting with Luther. He’s a pain in the ass to deal with, argumentative and irritable. She gets tired of him trying to intimidate her. Having Diavolos present is helpful and calms her. He’s adept at defusing most of Luther’s angry rants and has many surprisingly good suggestions regarding battle plans and preparations.
It doesn’t hurt that he’s also nice to look at. Kenna tries to be sneaky about the glances she steals, but judging by the way Diavolos smirks at her and raises his eyebrows, he knows exactly what she’s doing.
Diavolos has been present at all of her meetings with Luther so far, but on this day he’s nowhere to be found. Luther makes a sarcastic remark about her inability to handle a meeting without Diavolos there to hold her hand. She itches to let Sei and Dom send a few fireballs at him, but she doesn’t want to deal with the fallout later, so she levels Luther with a steely glare and ushers him into the war room.
Diavolos is in the throne room when the meeting finishes, and grins at her when she enters. “Kenna.”
Damn that grin. Every time she’s frustrated with him, or he makes some smug remark that irritates her, he just flashes her that cocky smile and her frustration melts a little.
She frowns. “You missed the meeting.”
He looks at her blankly for a second, then realization dawns across his face. “Oh, right. Sorry, Kenna. I was…out. How did it go?”
“Well, your father isn’t dead, and I’m standing here before you unscathed, so I suppose it went fine,” she says coolly.
“Excellent,” Diavolos says. She knows the annoyance is rolling off of her in waves as he walks by and touches her arm lightly. “Kenna. I was nearby. I promise. I won’t miss another meeting.”
He takes her hand and kisses the back of it lightly. “Your Majesty.”
Must he be so infuriatingly charming? Kenna sighs in exasperation as he leaves.
~~~~~~~~~~
Diavolos keeps his word – he doesn’t miss any meetings during the next couple of days, but he’s still impossible to find at times. She’s trying to decide who to put in charge of the Abanthus troops, where they’d be most useful, and she wants to run some ideas by him without Luther’s constant remarks about her inexperience or arguments against every suggestion she makes.
She considers where Diavolos could possibly be going, but everywhere she thinks of in the castle is a dead end. She wonders if he’s going outside of the castle walls, but he doesn’t strike her as the type to be that far away from the center of action with a battle looming.
After a particularly frustrating morning with little progress on figuring out how to take down Azura without her killing everyone in her path, Kenna decides to go for a ride to clear her head. She changes into her riding gear and heads to the stables, surprised to find she’s not alone.
“Diavolos?”
He pops his head out of the door of the empty stall he’d been reclining in, a book tucked under his arm.
“Kenna?” he says in surprise.
“Why are you reading…in the stables?”
Diavolos runs a hand through his hair and stands, picking hay off of his clothing.
Her gaze drifts to a piece of hay stuck to his shoulder and she steps forward automatically, brushing it off. She doesn’t miss the way his eyes drift down to her hand touching him, and it sends a thrill through her.
“I used to go to the stables all the time in Lykos,” he explains. “It was the only place I could get away from…people.”
“The only place?” she teases. “In that whole castle?”
Diavolos leans against the half-wall of the stall, grinning at her. “It was the only place my father and Zenobia and Marco wouldn’t go. Zenobia hated the smell. My father had servants who cared for and prepared his horse whenever he was needed,” he explains.
“And Marco?”
Diavolos’ eyes light up. “Marco…had a rather unfortunate incident with a pile of horse manure once.”
Kenna smiles. “Meaning what?”
“Meaning he was trying to prove that he could handle horses better than me and proceeded to trip over a pile of hay and fall face first into horse dung.”
Kenna bursts out laughing, amused at the thought of Marco covered in horse manure.
Diavolos’ smiles spreads across his face as he starts laughing with her. It’s a good look for him, she thinks.
“You should do that more often,”
Kenna says as she catches her breath.
“What’s that?”
“Laugh. It’s a good look for you.”
“Kenna Rys. Are you…flirting with me?” Diavolos asks, that damnable smug grin on his face again.
“Maybe I am,” she responds casually, careful not to back away as he steps closer, though she can feel her face flush. He doesn’t need to know how much of a reaction he evokes just by being near her. Not yet, anyway.
He’s practically standing on top of her now, his hand brushing against hers, chests nearly touching. He looks down at her and raises an eyebrow, then slides his hand into hers. She almost jumps, not expecting it.
“Come with me,” Diavolos says.
“Where?”
“I want to show you something.”
“…in a stable?” she asks.
“Yes. Are you always this difficult?” Diavolos asks, tugging on her hand.
She half-heartedly tries to resist, but he’s taller and stronger, and she’s curious, if she’s being honest. Diavolos leads her to the ladder up to the hayloft. Kenna halts, turning to look at him.
“Are you showing me how to get pushed out of a hayloft?” she asks.
“No,” Diavolos says, pushing at her lower back.
She leans back against him, resisting, and she likes the sharp intake of breath he takes as her hips collide with his.
“Kenna,” he says lowly.
His breath is warm on her neck and she bites her lip before she leans forward and starts climbing. The hayloft is quiet and warm as they step off the ladder.
Diavolos reclines in a pile of hay, patting the spot next to him and pointing up as Kenna lays back next to him. Through the few tiny cracks in the roof, she can see the bright blue of the afternoon sky, the sunlight peaking through. It’s peaceful, relaxing, laying here next to Diavolos, the rays of sun illuminating his face.
“This is…nice,” she murmurs, turning her head to look at him.
He smiles as his eyes meet hers, and she’s suddenly very aware of how close he is. Her eyes drift to his lips, remembering their kiss on the airship and how much it left her wanting more.
Diavolos notices her reaction, rolling on his side as she scoots closer to him.
“Diavolos,” she says quietly.
“Yes, Kenna?”
“I want you.”
The briefly surprised look that crosses his face does something funny to her stomach, makes her want him even more. His eyes flash with heat, darkening, his hand moving around her hip and pulling her closer.
Before she can say anything else, he’s propped himself up over her, his lips hot and demanding against hers, his tongue exploring her mouth. His hands are impatient as they pull at her clothes, sitting her up to remove them completely.
He goes to remove his own clothing, but she grabs his hands roughly, sliding into his lap. “I want to,” she murmurs against his neck, biting him lightly.
Diavolos grinds her down on to his hips, distracting her momentarily. She bites him again, and he grins at her.
“Stop distracting me,” she gasps as he runs his hands over her breasts. She swats his hands away as she goes to work on his clothing, undoing buttons and buckles and pulling at the fabric when it refuses to cooperate.
“I have to put these back on,” Diavolos growls in her ear. She tries to calm her breathing, her shaking hands, and finally manages to get the fastener on his pants undone. He stands and tugs them off and she takes a moment to appreciate him standing before her.
“You’re staring,” Diavolos says, sitting again and pulling her onto his lap.
“I am,” she agrees. That smug grin crosses his face again, disappearing quickly as her hand wanders down his stomach and slides over him.
He groans low in his throat, thrusting into her hand. He stares at her as she slowly runs her hand over him, speeding up when he curses under his breath, his breathing harsh, his fingers digging into her thighs.
He scoots her back suddenly, his hands fumbling next to them before he rolls her over, their clothing soft against the hay underneath her.
She presses her hand lightly against his chest, kissing him briefly. “I’m…covered,” she murmurs.
“Gods,” he groans, pushing into her. He moves rapidly against her, almost roughly, and she shivers at the sensation, how good he feels. Diavolos tugs at her hip, opening her up further to him, and she moans as she wraps her legs around him.
Her nails scratch down his back as she grinds her hips into his, clenching her muscles around him, sinking her teeth into his shoulder.
She’s close, can sense him losing control too as his thrusts become more erratic and he leans down to kiss her deeply. He brushes a thumb over her clit and she moans his name as she comes. He stops moving briefly and she stares up at him, her breathing rapid and her heart pounding.
“You’re staring,” she manages to say.
He bucks his hips into her. “Can’t help it,” he grunts. “You’re so damned beautiful like this.”
He sits back, lifting her up and over him, sliding into her again. She wraps her arms around his neck, yanking at his hair and kissing and biting at his neck, and she sighs as he thrusts up into her and stills, her name spilling from his lips.
That does funny things to her heart, hearing her name come out of his mouth like that. She’d half-expected this to be a one-time thing, a strictly physical release of all the stress they’d been under, but now…now, she wonders if it could be more. She wants it to be, she thinks.
Diavolos lays them back, his arms wrapping around her as she curls into him and listens to his rapid heartbeat gradually slow. He brushes a hand through her hair, his touch surprisingly gentle, and she shivers as the sweat cools on their skin.
“We should get dressed,” Diavolos says, moving his hand from her hair to run up and down her back.
She props herself up on one elbow, and he grins as he leans up and kisses her, sweetly at first, and then more deeply, his hand gripping her hair.
“I thought we were getting dressed,” she gasps.
He sneaks in another quick kiss. “Or we could go for round two,” he says suggestively.
“Maybe if you play your cards right,” she teases him.
“I’ll see what I can do. You should definitely start joining me here though.”
Kenna grins. “That can be arranged.”