Chapter 46 Elariya
Elariya
“A New Life”
We'd been awake for a while now, neither of us speaking. We were content to simply exist in this stolen moment of peace and closeness.
Dawn crept across the sky, painting the land in shades of fire and crimson, and the world outside was slowly coming alive.
I watched it from the cocoon of Wolfe's wings, wrapped around me like the most precious blanket.
We lay in a bed. I had no idea where we were. And I didn’t want to ask.
All I knew was this place was beautiful, he was beautiful, and I didn’t want to leave yet.
We were in a beach house, the room rustic with exposed beams overhead, bamboo and thatched palm walls, and shutters that carried the sound of distant waves.
The tide rolled in steady breaths beyond the walls, as if the sea itself slept beside us. We’d been here all night. Far away from everyone and all things that troubled us. Here our passion had thrived.
My back pressed against the solid warmth of his chest, rising and falling with each steady breath. Wolfe’s arm was draped over my waist, his hand splayed across my stomach, anchoring me to him.
I could feel every inch of him—the hard planes of muscle, the heat radiating from his skin, the way his heartbeat thrummed against my spine in a rhythm that had become as familiar as my own.
The bond had faded sometime in the night. I didn’t know when. The urge to be near each other had decreased, giving us time to sleep. But we woke like this. Together in silence, still touching and naked, skin pressed against skin.
It felt like the in between moment of all decisions. The breath between breaks where you decided which way you wanted to go.
Wolfe traced a finger across my hip.
The touch felt like a test. He knew I was awake. But he didn’t know what I was thinking.
The stroke came again. This time moving higher, skimming over my breasts. The touch said I want you—and I hope you want me too.
“The bond is gone, Ziyka,” he murmured against my hair, his voice still rough with sleep.
“I know,” I whispered back.
He sighed deep and the rumble of it vibrated through his chest, sending a delicious shiver down my spine.
“I can’t stop touching you,” he whispered, his tone cautious as if he didn’t want to shatter the quiet intimacy of the moment.
This was just us now. No bond driving us to do what we already wanted to do.
If I stayed, if I chose this, then whatever came next would belong entirely to us—and that was exactly what I wanted. No more restraint. Not from me. I was done with that.
“I don’t want you to stop touching me.”
“Good, because I need to be inside you again.” His lips brushed the curve of my shoulder, lingering there.
Such a simple touch, yet my body reacted before thought could catch up and something warm and languid ignited low in my belly.
I turned to face him and we fell into a kiss.
He found my breasts again and ran his fingers over the peaks of my nipples.
Wolfe groaned, kneaded the flesh in his large palms. “I can’t get enough of you, Ziyka.” He muttered against my lips. “Every time I think I have enough, I want more. And I can’t stop.”
“I don’t want you to do that either.”
He smiled in between kisses, then guided me so I could lay flat on my back. Then he moved on top of me, his wings dissolving into smoke and shadows.
His fingers found my entrance and stroked gently over my clit. A hum of satisfaction rumbled in his chest as he plunged deeper. “So wet for me already, mage? It would be a crime if I didn’t taste you.”
Oh. Gods.
My head spun as he replaced his fingers with his tongue. He took one long draw on my clit and sucked hard. All the blood rushed through me and I arched off the mattress.
He caught my breasts in with his hands and continued his kneading while he ate me out.
Wolfe gave me exactly what I wanted, and the sounds of sweet delirium ripped from my throat as I came.
The sudden orgasm wracked my body with pleasure, cracking me wide open for him.
“Gods!” I cried as he lapped up the arousal flowing from me.
He surged up onto one hand on the bed, looming over me before he parted my legs and shoved his cock deep inside me, stretching me wider.
We groaned out loud together. I clawed my fingernails into his back, breaking skin. Pleasure hummed in every pore of my body, building with each heartbeat until there was nothing but sensation.
“Oh fuck, Ziyka. You feel so good.”
“You too,” I stuttered.
He powered forward, slamming himself inside me.
A cry tore from my throat. He didn’t hurt me.
It was the pleasure. The wave of raw pleasure that crackled across my body, leaving my skin burning.
It was so much, too much. Wolfe threw his head back and groaned, low and ragged. Then he fucked me, deep and hard.
I hooked my ankles behind his back and held onto his wide muscular shoulders, as if I were hanging on for dear life.
He drove into me over and over, claiming more of me. My breasts bounced against his chest and my entire body ached with the need for more. More of his touch. More of him.
My helpless cries mixed with the rough sounds of his chest-deep grunts and I climaxed again.
“Give me your eyes, Ziyka.”
I’d closed them. I opened my eyes for him and gazed up at him through the blissful haze.
Pushing deeper, he picked up the pace of his thrusting. “Fuuuuck!” He groaned, the vein at the side of his neck throbbing.
Blessed Mother, seeing him like this unraveled me. Not because of the pleasure alone, but because he looked at me like I was something worth losing himself for.
I wished I could keep the memory of this moment in my mind forever.
His cock jolted inside me, and my body answered. I screwed my eyes shut, bracing for the next wave of orgasm.
It came and he climaxed too, slamming into me.
And the two of us shattered together.
He gazed deep into my eyes, looking for something and he smiled. “Still hate me?”
At first the question threw me, then I recognized the callback to our little game. “No. I don’t hate you. You bewitched me.”
“Now I guess we’re even.”
I moved back to him for another kiss.
The world felt quieter now.
Warm morning air drifted through the shutters, cooling my skin as sunlight crept across the sheets.
“Maybe you’re thinking too much.” Wolfe tweaked my nose playfully.
"You’re so silly. How can I be thinking too much?" I challenged softly, my fingers tracing idle patterns along his forearm.
He pulled me closer, snuggling against the pillows on the bed. We were still there, still naked beneath the sheets, still eager to touch each other.
It was the middle of the day.
We were supposed to be elsewhere—him with the Bloodsworn, investigating, and me at Hyxian. But Wolfe decided we were having the day to ourselves.
As eager as I was to get back to Hyxian and practice my time weaving skills, I hadn’t complained. I wanted nothing more than to stay hidden here with him.
We spent the morning lost each other, breaking only to eat the food Wolfe summoned from the manor and to swim in the sea before inevitably finding our way back into each other’s arms again.
Now we were trying to see if we’d gotten the mind reading skills others got after they were mated. We hadn’t.
“There’s always something crazy with us, Ziyka.” Wolfe chuckled against my ear. “Fate may decide to give us the gift at the worst possible time.”
We both laughed. Outside, waves broke softly against the shore, their steady rhythm folding into the silence between our words.
“In the meantime,” he pressed another kiss to my shoulder, then on my neck. “I can guarantee that you can look at me and know what I’m thinking.”
I gazed up at him, took note of his expression, and decided to try it out. "You’re thinking that… you never want to leave this bed."
A husky laugh escaped him. "You’re not far off." His hand slid up from my stomach, fingers skimming the underside of my breast before settling over my heart. He could feel it. "Your heart is pounding."
"It’s your fault," I accused, melting further into him.
"Why? Why do I make your heart beat faster, lady Nightblade?"
Instead of looking at him I turned away and gazed ahead at the turquoise sea. Sunlight shimmered across the water, scattering bright reflections that danced across the ceiling above us.
He finally told me where we were. Ochiai Island, the other side of world.
The water was so blue—a happy blue, Emabelle would call it. I agreed with her. Just looking at it now made you happy.
"Elariya," he breathed, and my name had never sounded so good on his lips.
"You gave me this perfect moment, and I wish we could stay like this forever," I whispered. “This feels like… like we’re at the end of the journey and we figured everything out. But it’s just in my head. The moment we leave this place, we’ll have to face reality.
All we have is today.” And I selfishly wanted to pretend that nothing existed beyond this moment.
He lifted me so I could sit and face him, then he tucked my hair behind my ear. “Today is the first step in the path to forever. All the things we worry about now are just a small glitch in the grand scheme of things.”
“Are you trying to say to me, we’ll laugh about this someday? Because I can’t see it.” I pretended to pout but really, I meant it.
“I can’t see us laughing either, but I hope for some sort of peace.”
My heart yearned for peace too. “The days are going, Wolfe. And I still feel like an amateur pulling rabbits out of a hat.”
Everyone else seemed certain of themselves, while I was still guessing my way toward destiny.
He shook his head and sat straightened. “No. You know you are so much more than that. I have faith in you, Elariya. You will learn what you need to do to learn to master your powers.”
“Thank you. I just worry it won’t be in time. This time.”
“We can’t worry about that Ziyka.” He brushed over my cheek.
“I do, though. Maybe that’s why I want to know what you’re thinking.”