Chapter Thirty-Four
Elaina
It had become normal to wake with Drazien’s tail inside me, but instead of simply resting there, it was moving, thrusting in and out at a lazy pace, the tip curling to drag along my inner walls.
“Drazien!”
My voice was husky with sleep and not nearly threatening enough considering it felt like I’d only just gone to sleep after waking to find him gone in the middle of the night, but the crystals were shining with red light, meaning it was well past dawn.
We still needed to have that conversation, but it clearly wasn’t going to happen right now.
“I need you, rethari.”
He spoke the words against my neck before trailing his lips over one of his marks. Each time he touched it, it was like he was touching my clit, the nerves lighting up and sending sparks of pleasure through me to pool in my belly.
I was already dripping slick, his tail making obscene noises as it moved within me, and it wasn’t long before moans escaped my throat as I neared my peak.
Drazien shifted, rolling me fully onto my stomach and covering my back, his weight pressing me into the bedding. I could feel his erection along the cleft of my ass, but he didn’t move to replace his tail with it.
“Give me your pleasure, shael.”
His tongue dragged along my neck as he shoved one hand beneath me to press a finger to my clit. I shattered, clenching around his tail and crying out into the pillow.
The moment the high faded he lifted off my back and gripped my hips, pulling them up until I was on my knees. He yanked his tail from my core, but I was only empty for a moment before he was surging into me, stretching me around his cock.
“Oh-umph,” was all I could say as the air was forced out of my lungs.
A growl filled the air around us and the tips of his claws dug into me from his grip on my hips. He’d barely seated himself inside me before he was pulling back and slamming in again.
He was usually far more careful, but I could feel the throbbing need within him. The instinctive desire to stake his claim once more and assure himself that I was okay. That I was still there.
Still his.
My instincts rose to match, urging me to lift my hips higher as I clenched my hands in the bedding.
My cheek was already pressed to the pillow, my breasts rubbing against the sheet beneath me each time I jolted forward, but I shivered when one of his hands left my hip to slide up my spine to my nape.
His fingers reached all the way around the back of my neck, but the pressure he applied was carefully controlled. He was asserting his dominance without causing pain or discomfort, and my body responded by melting and releasing more slick.
“You will never be placed in danger again. You will never carry bruises from another. You will never bleed for another.”
He snarled the words, never slowing his pace as he kept slamming into me. His tail was curled around the front of my thighs, helping hold me in place, but the tip slipped between my legs to press against my clit.
I’d already been approaching the cliff once more, and the added friction pushed me right to the edge.
Leaning over my back, his warmth burned into my spine as he pressed his forehead to my cheek, murmuring, “You are mine, rethari. My thorn. My omega. My shael.”
Something inside him felt desperate, and while I wasn’t sure what had brought on this sudden need for reassurance, I gave it.
“Yes, I am yours.”
It was hard to get the words out since I could barely breathe between his punishing thrusts and the weight of him pressing down on me, but I knew he heard me. Knew he felt the truth of it.
“As I am yours.”
The tip of his tail began to circle as he responded, and it threw me over the edge. I shuddered, light bursting behind my eyes as waves of pleasure rippled from my center, but Drazien wasn’t done with me yet.
He pulled out of me, leaving me wide-eyed and gasping as the world rotated. Pillows fell off the edge of the bed and blankets tangled around us, but he didn’t let them get in the way of pulling me atop him.
The position didn’t mean I had any control over what was happening. I was on top, but he was still in charge, sheathing himself in me as if I were nothing more than a toy for his use.
And I was.
He moved me up and down his shaft, both hands back on my hips so I didn’t have to do any of the work. I just placed my palms on his chest and tried to breathe.
That grew harder to do when his tail pressed against my back hole, surging inside the next time he brought me down his length. I’d already felt full, but with the addition of his tail inside me, I was stretched to the limit.
My fingers curled, nails digging into the flesh beneath me. Drazien’s lips pulled back, showing his teeth, but the threat emanating from him was only to my sanity.
“Mark me again, rethari. I want the universe to see I’m yours.”
Lost in the throes of heat, I hadn’t even thought about it before biting him, but I didn’t have that excuse this time. Despite that, I didn’t hesitate.
He needed it, and I wanted to do it.
My nipples dragged against his rough skin as I leaned down. I couldn’t reach his neck, I was being rocked too much to even try to stretch that far, so I dug my teeth into the muscle of his chest, directly over his heart.
It took more effort than I remembered. But I clenched my jaw, biting down until my teeth pierced his flesh. The moment my bite broke through, he slammed me down one last time, his knot ballooning inside me as we both came.
Jet after jet of his cum pulsed into me as I shuddered atop him, my limbs weak and trembling. His pleasure poured through my chest to swirl with mine, making it grow until it was all there was.
There was no bed beneath us. No rebels we’d captured, that he’d snuck off in the night to question. No secret plots, or hidden plans, or dangers.
There was just us, together, our pleasure feeding into each other, shared between us the way everything was through the bond.
I didn’t know how I hadn’t believed in it before or why I’d tried to run from it.
I was panting, dizzy from the high as I laid on Drazien’s chest. His hand moved up and down my back, a soft purr vibrating my cheek, a hint of blood laced within the scent of slick and seed.
I would have been perfectly content to lie there for the rest of the day if my stomach hadn’t chosen that moment to rumble.
“I have been negligent, rethari. You need food.”
I turned my head enough to look up at Drazien, arching a brow as a lazy smile crossed my face.
“You were busy fulfilling a different hunger.”
He huffed and his usual smirk smoothed the crease between his brows. I still didn’t quite understand his need to feed me, but since bonding I had been able to feel how strong it was, so I didn’t question it.
It took a while for his knot to soften enough for me to pull off of him. It was uncomfortable since he was still partially inflated, but Drazien immediately made it up to me by licking me to another orgasm.
My stomach growled again while I was coming down once more, and Drazien shook his head.
“They warned me about the sounds, but that is still concerning.”
Chuckling, I rolled over and covered my face.
“I can’t help it.”
He started to say something else but was interrupted by a beeping I hadn’t heard before. Raising my head, I watched as he frowned while reaching for his communication device.
His eyes lifted to mine a moment later, and while I felt a hint of irritation in the bond, it didn’t show on his face.
“Let’s clean up and get you fed. Then we must meet with Rhydek.”
My own brows bunched as I sat upright, dragging the sheet with me. I knew Rhydek was the one who had put Drazien in charge of finding the rebels, and he was the leader of Morrakan while the Torvakai was gone.
“We shouldn’t make him wait.”
If he had news about the rebels, I wanted to know, and my appetite died at the thought of what he might have to tell us.
Drazien leaned back over the bed, placing a fist on each side of my legs before claiming my mouth for a searing kiss.
I tasted us on his tongue when he pushed it into my mouth, and by the time he pulled away I’d almost forgotten we were supposed to be doing anything other than what we’d already been doing since we woke.
“I have no problem taking you straight to him, but I feel as if I should remind you of our… sensitive noses.”
I groaned. Part of me wanted to say fuck it and skip the bath, but more of me was sweaty and sticky, and apparently, smelly.
“Fine. A quick bath.”
Of course Drazien didn’t listen, knotting me again in the pool he took me to. He washed my hair as I clung to him, trying to get my legs to cooperate, but they refused to work with his knot lodged behind my pubic bone.
Soaping my breasts almost led to more sex, but another reminder from my stomach that it was achingly empty had him sighing and pulling away from me.
“Dress, before I decide whatever news he has can wait. I can always feed you my seed to quiet your belly’s snarling.”
Laughing, I was tempted to take him up on the offer, but I knew Rhydek wouldn’t call Drazien unless it was something important. We had plenty of time to indulge in each other, but the Torashkar couldn’t be ignored.
We dressed and headed for the Market, where Drazien bought several sahvey for the two of us. The burrito-style meal was easy to eat as we walked back up to the High Ledge, and I was done by the time we strode through the main cavern that split into separate tunnels.
My eyes automatically went to the one that led to the Archives, and I took a step towards it before stopping.
The last memory I had of the space had been utter ruin, and a piece of me needed to see if it was truly as bad as it had seemed or if it was salvageable, but there were chains across the tunnel entrance.
“What—”
Drazien’s tail curled around my waist as he placed an arm across my shoulders and turned me in a different direction.
“They want to be sure the stone is stable before they allow anyone in. Repairs have already begun.”