Chapter 19 #2
I think of Anders when we were pups, crying because he’d scraped his knee.
We were young and hadn’t yet learned to shift.
I’d taken his hand and led him back to the village and had never let go until his cut had been bandaged by our aunt.
Holding baby Gunnar for the first time, overcome with an emotion too strong for my young mind to understand.
Little Wulfric coming into a world our mother lost her life bringing him into, wailing for our mother’s milk and comfort.
I’d held him tight as tears fell down my cheeks and whispered, “I’m here.
I’m going to take care of you, little Wulf. ”
Haven’t I given enough? Sacrificed enough? Is it finally my turn to allow myself to be happy?
“Lyall?”
My vision is blurred when I open my eyes.
Soren’s here, his hand warm on my cheek, his eyes full of worry.
Blinking away the tears, I kiss the corner of his mouth, mapping a trail of kisses up his jaw to the shell of his ear.
“I did my duty to my family. They no longer need me, not as they once did. I will miss them.” My throat starts to ache as I think of Wulfric and Kieran, Gunnar, Aunt Helga, Anders and his family…
“Greatly. But I surrendered a part of my soul once, and I’ll not do it again. Wherever you go, so do I.”
Framing my face in his hands, Soren turns my head enough to claim my lips in a kiss that leaves me breathless with how desperately I want him.
I will never let us be separated again. I’m choosing Soren this time, for the rest of our lives.
The desire in Soren’s scent is enough to drive me mad. I can barely keep my hands on the oars, running them up his side, curling my fingers in his hair, rubbing his hard cock through his jeans. It’s a miracle we get back to the present without wrecking the boat.
When we return to Soren’s timeline, he takes my hand and pulls me close. He nips at my earlobe, breath hot on my skin when he says, “There’s a hotel nearby. Want to stay the night?”
“Why not go to your home, though?”
“Because I don’t want anyone but me to hear you screaming my name all night.”
I don’t think I’ve agreed to anything faster in my life. This hotel Soren spoke of isn’t far at all, but he does stop briefly to buy some supplies for our night together.
It’s not long before we’ve made it to our room.
There are stunning views of the river from our windows, but I’m far more interested in the large bed.
Soren tosses the bag of supplies on it and then takes my hand in his.
It’s only a few feet to the bed, but in that time, we manage to get out of our clothes.
The sheets are as soft as clouds look, puffing up around me when Soren pushes me onto the mattress.
I spread my legs wider to accommodate him when he drapes himself over my body. “Fuck, Lyall. It hurts to look at you.”
I frown. “What? Why?”
Soren’s eyes widen, then he laughs, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Sorry. Not literally. I just meant—ugh. You’re hot. Okay? Really, really hot.”
“I feel quite cool, actually.”
Soren doubles over with a snort, laughing into the crook of my neck. “I can’t with you.”
“Enough talk.” I roll my hips against his waist, breath hitching as our cocks grind together. “Gods. Soren. I need you.”
He claims my mouth, teasing the seam of my lips with his tongue. I part for him, groaning past his lips when his tongue teases mine. As we kiss, Soren grinds relentlessly against my cock until I’m reduced to whimpers and gasps. I need this man with an urgency that makes my very bones ache.
“Tell me what you need, sweetheart,” Soren rasps. He kisses his way down my chest, stopping to scrape his teeth over my nipple. I thrust up against him, fingers bunching the sheets.
“Need you inside me.” It’s been so long since we were joined so intimately. I can’t wait much longer.
Soren’s lips form a smile against my skin. “Whatever you need.” Reaching down, he takes my cock and strokes. His touch is slick and perfect, and I can’t stop myself from bucking into the tight sheath of his fist.
Hot lips trail kisses and love bites down my skin.
Soren takes me into his hot, wet mouth and sucks from root to tip.
I can’t stop the cry that tears from my throat, grabbing his hair to urge him on.
“Gods, love, don’t torture me like this!
” His mouth feels incredible, but it’s his cock I want more than anything.
Soren chuckles around me. There’s a click followed by a spurting sound, and then slick fingers rub circles over my hole. My breath hitches in anticipation, my hips rocking back against his fingers of their own volition.
A thick finger slips inside, making me gasp at the sensation.
When Soren adds another finger and curls them inside me, sucking hard on my cock at the same time, it takes everything I have not to spill down his throat.
As amazing as he’s making me feel, what makes it all the better is knowing he’s the one I’m sharing our bed with.
Soren’s fingers slide in and out, stretching me open. He pulls off my cock with a gasp. Before I can growl my disappointment, his tongue is inside me, and I can do nothing except moan his name. Gods, he’s too good to me. He was always a generous lover. That hasn’t changed, not even now.
“Soren. Love, you’re going to drive me mad.”
He flattens his tongue and licks from my hole to my balls, sucking on one. “Ready for me?”
I groan, thrusting against his fingers so they slide in even deeper. “Been ready, love. For so, so long.”
Soren’s face twists into something bittersweet. “Fuck. Me too.”
Sitting up, he grabs the backs of my knees and pushes them up toward my chest. “Hold yourself open for me, sweetheart.” I do as he says, holding my knees in place.
Soren bites his lip as he pumps his hand up and down his shaft until he’s slick.
He sinks inside me slowly. The stretch and burn makes me hiss in discomfort that fades slowly into pleasure as my body adjusts.
Soren moves slowly, eyes heavy-lidded, lip between his teeth. “You feel so fucking good, sweetheart.”
My legs wrap around his waist, bringing him closer, deeper.
I feel my way across the sheets until I’ve found his hand, grabbing hold and squeezing tight.
Our foreheads touch. Soren’s breath gusts against my mouth in shuddery gasps, his skin feverishly hot and slick with sweat.
He goes slow at first, likely afraid of causing me pain, but I roll my hips to take him in deeper, faster.
The memories of all those agonizing years we spent apart will never fade, but as Soren presses kisses into the nape of my neck and his hand grips mine, they hurt less and less.
I throw my arm around his shoulders, clutching him to me.
I never want to lose him, not again. Soren took my heart with him when he left, and now that I’m finally whole again, I never want to go another day without him.
When I come, it’s with a cry of his name.
“I’m right here,” Soren says against my neck.
“Right here, Lyall. I’ve got you, sweetheart.
” He shudders in my arms, gasping through his release.
There isn’t a part of me that won’t smell like him, like us.
I despise knowing I’ll have to shower thoroughly later so no one in my time can scent him.
Scent fades, but my memories won’t. Soren is here in my arms, his cock softening inside me, his body warm as sunshine in my arms.
I will never go another day without his light, even if it means leaving the life I know behind for another.