Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
Rafe
Shaken by what has come to pass, I carry Violet to her nest. I feel as though I view myself from above, an omnipresent observer looking down upon a rough soldier—in his arms is a woman who has claimed his heart and life.
I place her in the center on top of Darrion’s jacket.
Lark, already naked, wades straight in, drawing her close as I step back. Even though he’s not in wolf form, he makes the low, rumbly purr that carries her swiftly back into sleep.
I make impressively short work of stripping out of my clothes, given my hands are fucking shaking. An eruption has been set off inside me. Something inexplicable. Not quite malaise. More awareness unfurling.
Gods, this is a lot for a simple male like me to grapple with.
With a last, lingering glance at the nest, I head into the adjoining bathing room where I splash cool water on my face.
The man who stares back at me in the fancy, gold-framed mirror is a little weathered by the years. He is also glowing. I run my fingertips down my cheek before turning my hands over in front of me.
I did not expect this. Not whatever happened between them, and certainly not that it would extend to Lark and me.
Especially not me.
I’m just a beta male, after all. Ordinary. Since Lark’s transformation, and then Atlas chaining me up, life has taken one hectic turn after another. There hasn’t been time to contemplate my fate. Or lack of it.
And I’ll be honest. All of this is more than a man like me could ever hope for.
I stand straighter, let my shoulders roll back, and meet the eyes of the man who stares back at me in the mirror.
I’m a lowly soldier. Not even for the likes of a princess. Never mind an omega princess who will one day be a Griffin Queen.
And yet the Goddess, fate, or sheer luck has brought me to this place.
And Atlas. I want to hate the bastard. Darrion, who is always fucking smug. And Fenix, who is a moody bastard most of the time. I have plenty of reasons to hate them. Her introduction to their world was brutal, to say the least.
And yet I do not hate any of them.
As I stare back at my reflection, I accept that I like them a lot. They are accepting. No one has tried to push me out, nor to sideline Lark. Atlas treats me like a trusted advisor. He has given me the utmost respect—a sense of belonging.
My prior fears feel petty upon reflection. Where the heart and human emotions are involved, one can be forgiven for not being logical. For assuming the worst. And to be fair, it was a rocky start. Atlas’s methods were fucking harsh.
But as I look down at my skin, which shimmers in the lamplight, I feel as though part of me is waking up.
I turn away from the mirror and the unsettled feeling rolling in my gut and return to the nesting chamber only to come to an abrupt stop.
When I left, she was well-loved and sleepy. Now she’s a siren riding her mate.
Lark lies back, hands on her hips. She’s leaning over him, moving with sensual grace as she takes pleasure on her terms.
Lark glances from Violet to me and back again, then grins. “The griffin bastards have gotten her all riled up. Don’t worry. Won’t take me fucking long. Watching them make a Violet sandwich has me well and truly primed.”
So that is what they did…
She moans and begins to ride him in earnest.
“There we go, sweet little princess,” he says. “Keep clenching over me, and I’ll give you my seed.”
My dick goes from semi to hard and leaking pre-cum so fast that my fucking head spins. He tightens his grip on her hips and begins to slam her down onto his length with sharp slaps of meeting flesh.
Sharing can feel so natural when you love someone. And fucking hot. It can make you both impatient for your turn and not want them to fucking stop because watching them come together is perfect too.
And then they are coming.
It feels as though the top of my fucking head blows off. I can only stare in wonder as sensations crash through me.
She rises off him and pitches onto the nest beside him with a giggle—I’m guessing he didn’t knot her. Her eyes land squarely on me, then slide down my chest until they reach my cock. Her grin is pure mischief. She nips her lower lip and parts her pretty thighs.
Lark chuckles. He rolls onto his side so he can watch her face. “See? The lass is insatiable.”
I’m like a man in a daze as I drop to my knees before her. My gaze sweeps down her body until I reach a pretty pink slit, full of Lark’s cum.
“Are you sore?”
She shakes her head. “No. Please. I want to feel you inside me.”
That’s all the invitation I need.
I ease forward, line up, and with deliberate slowness sink into a hot, wet sheath.
I groan.
She wraps her arms and legs around me, pulling me in tight.
“Press your weight onto me,” she begs. “I want you to squish me into the nest as you fuck me.”
Lark emits a deeper guffaw. He’s lying casually beside us, head propped in his hand, watching.
He always did like to watch. I guess all of us fucking do now.
I make love to her. This is no rough coupling. Despite her protestations, I believe the lass has got to be a little sore. There is no rush here. We have the night… or day, whatever is left of it. The sun is rising beyond the horizon, bathing the room in a glow.
As I move above her in an age-old rhythm of surge and retreat, her slick walls caressing my length and lips against my throat, I understand that this is my home. My forever home. Her, Lark, Atlas, Darrion, Fenix, the eyrie.
This fucking nest.
All of it. Home.
There is a war coming. But the war is not here, now, and today. The war is not impacting us in this nest. In this moment, we are safe.
And I am inside her. Thrusting into her. Filling her over and over again.
A sudden wave of heat sweeps down my spine. Sweat pops out across the surface of my skin. I’m close. So close. I slide my hand under her ass to nudge the angle. Her lips pop open, and she emits the filthiest of moans.
“There. That’s the spot, isn’t it?” I breathe against her throat.
Her answer comes in the form of another deep, breathy moan.
I keep my strokes steady, making sure I hit the little sensitive bundle of nerves with every thrust. Her nails score my back. My cock tingles the entire length as I fight to hold back my release. Just a few more thrusts, and she will come, and I can let go and come with her.
“Oh, Rafe. Oh. Oh, Goddess, yes!”
Her cry is accompanied by the sudden sweet fisting of her pussy over me. My world narrows, then is jacked up in a state of acute confusion. I’m still thrusting, but everything is suddenly extra tight. She is still coming over me.
I can’t stop.
And I know I should. Some distant warning bell is telling me that something is very, very wrong.
But as I push one last time into her impossibly tight pussy, a climax to eclipse all climaxes rips through me.
My heartbeat is loud in my ears. A sound leaves my lips, like an animal’s roar. Only I am no animal, latent or otherwise.
I try to pull out, but it’s too late. She is coming again, gripping me. An electric current runs through me, locking me on the edge of ecstasy. Caught out of time and space, I dump batch after batch of scalding seed.