55. Chapter 50
Chapter 50
Sometimes, even in the midst of war, it’s important to remember why we fight. Sometimes, you must strengthen the heart before you worry over strengthening the body.
~Maeve Arden, The Future of Magic and Dragons
Maeve
In the past, I’d craved Cole’s touch with a hunger that burned through me. I’d been desperate for the heat that was as much a part of him as the fire he wields. His hands, his lips, his arms wrapped around me, his legs tangled with mine—I had needed them like air. Now, they’re mine. His body is mine, just as my body belongs to him.
And I know exactly what he wants.
The last tie at the back of my dress comes undone, and without hesitation, Cole slides the fabric from my shoulders. It pools at my feet in a whisper of crystal strands. My shift still clings to me, too much fabric between us, too much distance. I strip it away, letting it fall, leaving nothing between my skin and his burning gaze.
His eyes drink me in, and he grins—a slow, wicked thing that sends heat spiraling through my core. He reaches out, fingers featherlight as they trace the curve of my cheek, but I ignore the caress. Not because I don’t want it—I do, desperately—but because I want something else more.
I’ve never undone a cravat or waistcoat before, but I refuse to let that stop me. My fingers are steady as I work, one button at a time, peeling away the layers that separate us. Cole watches me in silence, his breath coming slower and deeper, as if he’s savoring every second. His clothes pile at his feet, my wedding gown lost beneath them, a memory of the day that led us here.
“Men wear too many clothes,” I mutter as I reach the last few fastenings.
Cole huffs a quiet laugh. “I could take care of them with a flick of fire.” His voice is husky, thick with the promise of what’s coming.
I shake my head, kissing the sliver of skin I’ve just exposed between the folds of silk. “Not these. Today is important. Besides, there’s no need to rush. We have all night.”
His exhale is soft and shudders as my fingers ghost over him, tracing the lines of his muscles with slow, deliberate reverence. There is nothing beyond this room, nothing beyond us. For once, we aren’t running or fighting. For once, time is ours to spend as we please.
His shirt slips from his shoulders, and my fingers dip into the waistband of his trousers—a tease, a promise. The hardness beneath my touch tells me he needs this as much as I do. I drag it out, watching his restraint coil tighter and tighter, savoring the way he aches for me.
Tonight, I am in control, and it is intoxicating to watch him unravel beneath my touch.
Shadows curl at my fingertips, stretching into long, sharp nails. I trail them down his stomach, leaving thin crimson lines in their wake—marks that heal almost as soon as they appear. But the momentary sting only fuels the fire in his eyes, his body tensing, his breath hitching.
And I smile, because I know he is mine.
The last buttons of his pants come undone, and he forces himself to stay still, letting me dictate the pace. With a single motion, I push them down, leaving him bare before me. Nothing separates us now.
He’s so hard, his need glistening at the tip. I know he wants to pull me to bed, but I have other plans. My lips part, and I kneel, watching his eyes widen as realization dawns.
I press a kiss to the head of his shaft, tasting him, savoring the way he shivers but holds himself back. Cole is control incarnate, yet I can feel the storm beneath his skin. My tongue flicks over him, and through our bond, his restraint pulses like a taut wire, stretched to the breaking point. He wants—gods, he needs—to move, to take, to turn teasing into more.
Instead, he moans, “Maeve… I need you. All of you.”
His voice is raw, edged with desperation, and it makes me smile. He could claim what he wants in an instant, yet he surrenders to my touch, to my pace. He knows I’m making this night something we’ve never had before.
Something slow.
My shadows weave around him, caressing the ridges of his stomach, tracing his lips with a cool wetness. A shudder runs through him, and then my darkness curls around the base of his shaft, tightening just enough.
He moans, hips pressing forward despite himself. A wicked thrill rushes through me. I lower my lips over him, and as soon as the heat of my mouth surrounds him, flames erupt around us. They don’t burn. My shadows absorb the heat, just as his fire can no longer harm them.
Because his fire is mine.
And my darkness belongs to him.
A groan tears from his throat, and his fingers tangle in my hair. He tries to be still, but I feel every pulse of his self-control fraying, unraveling. My tongue glides along the base of his shaft, and his hips jerk, involuntary, driven by sheer need. Through our bond, I feel it—the way his body aches for mine, the desperate pull of his hunger.
I drag my nails lightly over his balls, and his restraint buckles. He’s shaking, breath ragged, fingers tight in my hair, but still—still—he holds back. Just barely. His eyes blaze molten orange as he stares down at me, lost in sensation. No smirk. No teasing grin. Just raw, undiluted desire.
If I told him to take me, to give in completely… what would he do?
The thought sends a delicious thrill through me. I release him, rising to my feet with deliberate slowness. One hand strokes his length as I meet his gaze, never breaking it, daring him to snap.
“Take me, Cole,” I whisper. “Show me what you want to do to me.”
There’s no time to finish my thought. He’s already moving, lifting me with a growl, hands gripping my thighs as his mouth crashes into mine. His claws lengthen, pressing into my bare skin. A gasp escapes me, swallowed by the hunger of his kiss.
Flames and shadows swirl around us, the same dance that ignited during the bonding ceremony. Magic hums in the air, pulses in the floorboards. A rhythm neither of us controls yet moves us all the same. The sound of it echoes in our breath, our moans, the racing of our hearts.
It is ours.
Just as Valinar has a rhythm, just as the void sings its own song, we have one too. It winds through the very fabric of this moment, surrounding us, binding us.
Because no matter where we are, we are each other’s world.
Cole breaks the kiss, pressing against my entrance, his breath hot against my ear. His voice is a low, dark promise.
“It’s my turn to play with you now.”
I don’t get the chance to respond. He lays me down and straddles my head, his shaft brushing my cheek as he smirks.
“I liked what you were doing earlier. But I want a turn.”
Then his mouth is on me.
Lightning ignites under my skin. My back arches off the mattress, hips moving of their own accord, torn between escaping the intensity of his tongue and pressing closer, more. I lack the discipline he has. That contradiction—flee or surrender—only makes me need him more.
I grasp his length, guiding him to my lips. The moment I take him into my mouth, his hips roll, slow but insistent.
And then, thought ceases.
I don’t think. I feel.
Pleasure floods my body, but through the bond, I feel his too, as if his need is mine, as if I am the one buried in heat. I lose track of where my body ends and his begins. Shadows and flames still weave around us, our rhythm carrying us further, pulling us deeper.
Deeper.
I drown in it.
Then he pulls away, and the loss is devastating. The world feels cold, empty, wrong. A broken moan slips from my lips, and I arch into the space where he had been, trying to find him, trying to fix it. My hands search for his body, but my mind reaches for him first.
Where are you?
I don’t open my eyes, don’t want to leave this boundless, breathless place we exist in.
A beat of silence. Then his voice, thick and deep, slides into my mind.
Inside you.
And then he is.
His weight presses into me, heat surrounding me, filling me, claiming me. His lips find my neck, and I smell myself on him, taste his scent in the air. The edges blur further. My nails dig into his back. Or are his digging into mine?
Does it matter?
Does anything matter except this?
The sea of pleasure is endless, its waves crashing in time with the rhythm of his thrusts. The scents of spiced amber and fresh rain intertwine, wrapping around us like the tides of something ancient, something eternal.
Then I’m the one pulling him under, rolling him onto his back, my body writhing against his. My hands splay over his chest, but whose touch is this? Mine or his?
I don’t know.
I don’t care.
The rhythm pulls us deeper, and I surrender. Then, like crystal shattering against stone, our magical world breaks apart. My eyes fly open, locking onto the fire in Cole’s gaze as I scream his name. Bliss consumes everything. The drumbeat pounds in time with our bodies, rising to a crescendo as we moan together—one last, aching note of pleasure before the sound fades.
The madness we touched only moments ago becomes a memory. Echoes of our rhythm hum through my mind, but they are distant now, lingering traces of something unearthly. My breath comes ragged as I collapse onto Cole’s chest, our skin slick, our hearts racing in unison. He holds me close, his own breath just as unsteady.
“That was…” His voice is hoarse, but he doesn’t finish.
“I know.” There are no words for what we just shared. Nothing could compare. We’ve made love before, but this—this was something else. Something beyond.
“That was magic,” Cole says, certain, unshakable. The truth of it settles between us, a final, undeniable fact. A slow smile tugs at his lips as his fingers tangle in my hair.
I sigh, pressing my cheek against his chest. “Yes. That was ancient magic.”
Even now, something of it lingers. Our minds remain tangled at the edges, the separation between us still blurred. As I trace my fingers over his skin, I feel both the movement and the sensation of being touched. My body. His body. The distinction feels unimportant.
Cole’s breathing slows beneath me, deep and steady, but I stay awake. I trail my fingers down his arm again, lost in the impossible intimacy of feeling him from both sides. My lips curve in a secret smile.
“You’re mine,” I whisper. “All of you. Forever.”
“I am,” he murmurs. “But you’re mine too. Nothing and no one can take you from me now.”
Yes, I am. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.