45. Huntyr
Chapter 45
Huntyr
A growl rumbled in his chest, followed by a mischievous grin that only slightly made me regret my demand.
But even with the sun beating down on us, even with my entire body on full display to him, I wanted more.
The hunger in my core was not one for food, not for blood. I just wanted him.
Wolf’s hands on my thighs tightened as he aligned himself with my entrance. He was losing control, and I fucking loved it. I loved watching him unravel in front of me, loved watching him lose himself piece by piece as I touched him.
He was mine to torture, mine to pull apart, and I wanted to watch his undoing. I’d been wanting to watch it, I realized, for some time now.
Wolf started slowly sliding into me and carefully adjusting my body to fit his. I held myself up with arms tight around his neck, pressing my breasts into him and letting him move me as he pleased.
I sucked in a sharp breath as he pushed himself all the way in, filling me so deeply that I nearly lost control.
“Is this what you want, dear wife?” he asked. Our breaths mixed in the tiny space between our lips. His words left his mouth and tumbled directly onto mine. “Is this what you want to feel?”
He slid my body up then back down again, growling once more at the sensation.
My breath hitched. “More,” I whispered. “I want more.”
Wolf smiled, the tips of his lips brushing mine. Water fell from my hair onto his chest as I stared at him, held him.
He moved faster.
Harder.
Moving himself into me perfectly, effortlessly guiding my hips so he slipped in and out with a perfect, controlled rhythm.
Even in the water, I knew I was dripping wet for him. I had been since before we even made it to the damn river, and he knew it.
He tasted it.
“More, Wolf,” I demanded, tossing my head back and soaking in the pleasure that spread through my entire fucking body. I wanted more, wanted to feel him all over me, wanted to touch him, to look at him outside of the water.
He understood what I meant in an instant. He took two strides and hauled us out of the water, guiding our naked bodies to a nearby tree. He kept my legs wrapped around his waist as he pressed my bare back against the bark.
“I’ve wanted to have you like this for so fucking long, Huntress. And now, you’re my wife .” He nipped at my earlobe. “Now you’re mine, and I’m never going to let you out of my damn sight.”
I moaned in pleasure as he pumped into me again, sending my back grinding against the rough bark of the tree. I pressed my head against it and leaned back to look at Wolf in all his remarkable, gorgeous glory.
Hells, I fucking loved this man.
He fucked me like it was our first time, like he had been starved of me for years, like he never felt anything so pleasurable in his life.
“Drop the bond,” I whispered. “I want to feel it.”
He slowed only slightly, eyes flickering open and meeting mine, before drawing his brows together.
And then he dropped the walls of his bond, allowing all the emotions to flow through.
I gasped in surprise, not just at the sensation of love and light overflowing in my heart, but at the want. At the longing. At the relief and peace that he felt too.
It wasn’t just lust. It wasn’t just the primal longing, the act of our bodies together as one. He truly wanted this for some time now, and not just my body.
He wanted me like this. He wanted me to give myself like this to him.
“Is this what you want to feel?” he asked, sending more love, more light, until I was sure my chest would be overrun with emotions. “Do you want to feel how I would burn this entire world for you?” He pumped into me again. “Do you want to feel how obsessed I am with every single thing you do? Every single move you make, Huntress?” More love. More light. More power. “Because I’ll let you feel it every fucking day for the rest of our lives if that’s what you want. My heart beats for you.” He bent down and kissed my neck, sucking lightly on the skin. I moaned his name, louder than was safe in the middle of this forest.
Wolf.
Wolf.
Wolf.
I was speechless, absolutely taken aback by the overwhelm of emotion.
But a few moments later, Wolf paused and pulled back. “Tell me you’re mine.” I felt it then through the bond—the tiny, minuscule amount of fear that lingered there. “Tell me you’re not leaving, that we’re in this together from now on.”
I ran a hand down his face, over his lips, across his thick, wet eyelashes. Oh, Wolf. Did he really think I would do all of this, go through this fucking mess of a journey, defend him, let him feed from me, if I wasn’t his? If I wasn’t in this with him?
But I knew that feeling. The fear. The desperation that you might lose again, that you might have nothing. Again.
I knew it all too well.
“I’m yours,” I said, voice cracking. I dropped my own walls, then, and let him feel the love behind every word as I said, “I’m so deeply yours, Wolf. I’ve been yours long before the wedding, long before any of this. I’ve never stopped being yours, even when I was mad as all hells, even when I hated you for betraying me.”
He swallowed
“I am yours, Wolf, and nothing is going to change that.”
My words unlocked something in him, gave him that final push we both waited for. His movements grew stronger, rougher, as he pumped in and out of me against that tree. The shadows of the leaves cascaded over us, but as my eyes fluttered closed, as I felt the peak of my orgasm rushing through my body, I didn’t care where we were or who might be near us in the forest.
I had Wolf, and that was all I ever fucking needed.
He moaned my name as he climaxed too, both of us crashing down and clinging to each other like we were the only ones who mattered in the world.
I was his. It was the truth, and it had been the truth for longer than I wanted to admit.
B y the time we made it to Scarlata, I wasn’t sure my legs were even working. I was floating on the dirt path, barely alive.
We didn’t run into any hungry ones, thank the fucking goddess. There was no way in all hells we would have been able to fight them if we did; there was no way we could have defended ourselves.
Even after he drank my blood, Wolf struggled. His steps grew shorter, slower. He started to limp yesterday, and I truly thought I would have to summon my wings and fly us both the rest of the way to Scarlata.
We would have plummeted to our deaths, certainly.
But that crumbling, ruinous kingdom came into view ahead of us, and I collapsed against Wolf in relief as we entered the clearing of Scarlata Empire.
Our new kingdom.
I saw Voiler and the rest of the rebels waiting, but I was instantly distracted by two figures running toward us. Rummy and Jessiah sprinted to greet us as soon as we took two steps onto the land. I fell to my knees, as did Wolf. Rummy fell in front of me as she gripped my shoulders.
We were both alive.
Jessiah muttered a slew of questions and concerns to Wolf as they surveyed each other too.
“Don’t you ever do that again, you bitch!” Rummy yelled, punching my shoulder lightly. “You scared the living shit out of me! What were you thinking? You could have been killed!”
Wolf and Jessiah quieted. Everyone turned to me.
I was so fucking exhausted. Rummy was right—what I did was stupid. But I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face.
“What?” Rummy asked. “Why are you smiling like that? Did it work?” Her eyes slid between Wolf and me repeatedly as she waited for a confirmation. “Did you kill him?”
“It worked,” I said. “It worked.”
The four of us laughed together then, Wolf and me all but collapsing as pure relief washed over us.
It worked. It was over. The biggest obstacle to our freedom was gone.
“But we’re not out of danger yet,” Wolf interrupted. “I have no doubt that my father’s men will retaliate. He wasn’t the only one who wanted power for The Golden City. They’ll come for us.” He looked at me. “They’ll come for you.”
“Then we’ll be ready.” I gripped Rummy’s outstretched hand. “We’ll be ready whenever they come.”
Jessiah and Rummy shared a glance then both looked at me.
“What?” I asked.
“There’s something we want you to see. Both of you.”
W olf walked behind me as we followed Jessiah through the ruins. I wasn’t as fearful of Scarlata this time around. The crumbling gray walls, the overgrown foliage of the kingdom it felt oddly familiar now. It felt comfortable, like returning home after a long journey.
“When Jessiah took me here a few days ago, I couldn't believe my own eyes.” Rummy spoke with an excitement I hadn’t heard from her in, well, forever. There wasn’t much to get excited about in Midgrave.
“You’re making me nervous,” I said. “Tell me where we’re going.”
She smiled widely, hooking her arm through my elbow. “It’s better if you see it for yourself.”
My body tickled with nerves. Part of it was Wolf’s nerves, too. I could feel every inch of his presence as he walked two steps behind us in silence, following his brother without question.
We reached a portion of the ruins hidden behind a large, stone wall. It looked as if it had once been the central meeting place of the kingdom. I imagined the queen—my mother—summoning her people here to speak. To rule.
We walked around the edge of the wall.
And my stomach dropped.
Dozens—no, hundreds—of vampyres sat waiting.
All of them with their eyes on me.