Chapter 10
Sten
A virgin.
Untouched save for me.
Oh fuck.
I would have approached it differently had I known, but as we cuddled in the center of my bed, a sweaty tangle of arms and legs, I could not bring myself to be sorry. I rubbed her back, listening to her breathe as I tried to think of what to say.
“Your thoughts are so loud, Sten,” she whispered, echoing something I once said, and I grinned.
“Smart ass,” I growled, kissing her head.
I felt her smile from where her face was pressed against my chest, and something inside me loosened. Like I’d been holding on to resentment for so long, and anger, and I had no room for it now that I had her in my arms. That feeling of contentment flowing through me was marrow deep, and I wanted to know how she felt.
Was it the same?
Did she regret her choice to give herself to me?
I sure hoped not. Because I wasn’t giving her back.
Not ever.
“What was that at the end?” she asked. “The blue sparks and that feeling like, like something was squeezing me to you.”
“I thought that was you. Your magic,” I said.
“But I don’t have magic like that.”
“Luna, you are more powerful than you know.”
“Well, that’s not true,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t want you to think you’re getting some bargain with me, Sten. I mean, other witches here have great magic. My sisters all made good matches because of what they could do for their husbands and their position in the Coven,” Amrin said, and her tone was growing slightly hysterical.
“Luna—” I tried, but she was on a roll.
“But I have none. You get that, right? I can’t do anything, and I won’t be a help to you. Oh, um, not that you are proposing or anything. If marriage is even something your kind does. Fuck. I am messing this all up,” she blurted.
Even worse, she ended her panic attack with some sort of apology.
What the hell did I do wrong?
I had no idea, but I wanted to fix it. I needed to fix it. Her moonbeam eyes pinned me with the hopelessness I saw swimming in them, and I growled. She should never feel that way.
Not ever.
“Hey, what is it you think happened here tonight?” I asked, sitting up and taking her with me.
I grabbed her shoulders and made her face me, needing to look at her while we had this strange discussion. Amrin was my mate, but I hadn’t exactly told her that.
In fact, I hadn’t told her anything.
Fuck.
No wonder she was acting like this was all some short term thing.
“I-I mean, I don’t know. Um, we had sex,” she said, face flaming an adorable shade of pink.
“We did, indeed, my pretty little butterfly, but it was more than that,” I explained, carefully.
“Sten? W-what are you saying?” Amrin whispered my name, and it sounded like a question to my ears.
I cupped her cheeks, brushing back the start tears rolling down her face.
“Why?”
But she just shrugged, making no attempt to cover up or stop me as I gripped her waist and pulled her naked body onto my lap. I needed to feel her skin, her weight against me, so I cuddled her close, sniffing that part where her neck and shoulder met.
Fuck.
She smelled divine. Warm vanilla and jasmine mixed with my own male musk. It was heady, smelling myself on her. I liked it. And I wanted her to carry that scent always.
Sex was not enough to bond mated pairs. There was a whole ceremony, words that needed speaking beneath the light of the moon. I’d already decided on tomorrow night, during the Spring Equinox festival, but I had yet to tell her.
Truth was, I hadn’t told her a whole helluva lot yet.
I wiped another tear from her cheek, lifting it to my lips, and swallowing it down. She melted into me, wrapping her arms around my neck as I rocked us both, rubbing her skin, and trying to ignore the fact I was hard again and wanting to sink into her diving heat.
“Hush, Luna. Don’t cry. I promise, it’s nothing bad.”
“I’m not crying, I’m just leaking my emotions all over the place,” she said, hiccupping a little.
“I understand, it’s overwhelming. If I’d known you were a virgin—”
“No, please. Don’t say anything, please. It was perfect,” she said, moonbeam eyes locked on mine, and I knew she meant it.
“I think it was perfect, too.”
“You do? But I didn’t know anything,” she said, eyes wide.
“You knew me. Your body did. It accepted mine when I took yours. You don’t know the gift you gave me, Luna. You don’t know how it feels to know I am the only man who’s ever had you,” I growled, kissing her once more, helpless to do anything but.
“I’m glad it was you, too,” she whispered against my lips.
“It will only ever be me,” I told her, vibrating with the need to claim this sweet woman.
“What are you saying?” she asked, but it was too soon.
“Wait for me at the festival tomorrow. I will tell you everything then, I swear it,” I whispered, knowing it would be too much for her now.
After all, how did you tell the Witch who owned your heart that you would one day inherit the responsibility of ruling the moon?
She knew me as Sten, just another Monster at Blackthorn. But I was a direct descendant of Mani, the Norse Moon God. I would one day soon have the power to change the tides, influence the seasons, and cast blessings on supernaturals from across the realms once I claimed my title as Premier Celestial Guardian of Asgard.
A future that I thought I’d lost years ago. But now that I had her, my Luna, I knew it would come to pass as the Fates had written. First, I needed to contact my people, let them know what had happened. Then tomorrow, at the festival, I would ask Mani for his blessings, and I would claim Amrin Cordoza as my own in front of all and sundry.
“All right, Sten. Tomorrow, you will tell me everything. I can wait,” she said, and smiled then.
A real smile. One of the rare bursts of light that spread across her face, and I cradled her even closer, cherishing it because that smile was for me. I kissed the top of her head, smoothing my hands down her lush body.
So soft.
So perfect.
Amrin moaned, tilting her head back and lifting her lips to me like a sacrificial offering.
I was far too greedy to resist. So, I kissed her, laying her down so I could worship at her altar properly. I ran my hands down her sides, memorizing every dip and curve. She was deliciously thick, her belly so soft and welcoming.
Spreading her thighs, I settled between them. This was how she should always look, her mouth open, panting with desire, eyes lust-filled as she watched me make my way down her luscious form.
“Will I hurt you if I touch you here?” I asked, petting her pretty pink pussy gently, achingly gently.
“N-no,” she whimpered, flexing her hips as I ghosted over her sensitive nubbin.
“Good, Luna. That’s good, because I don’t know how I can resist you when you’re so fucking wet for me,” I growled, burying my face between her legs.
Rrrr.
She tasted like pure heaven and sin rolled into one. Kiss after kiss, I made out with her slick nether lips. Eating her out rapturously to the tune of my name being called out again and again.
Her fingers burrowed in my hair before gripping my horns and something in me snapped once she did that. Those small hands of hers wrapped around my horns tighter, and I was a madman then. I wanted to consume her, to swallow every drop of her delicious nectar with my tongue.
So… I did.
Mine.