Chapter 19 #2
Tears pricked my eyes. My eyelids fluttered in an attempt to stem them back.
Our gazes locked, I let him draw me against his firm body.
We released each other’s hands so that he could hold my waist. Just as I was placing my palms on his muscular chest, a mischievous glimmer sparked in his beautiful silver eyes.
“And I promise to always let you have the last grain cracker, even if I badly want it,” Kayog deadpanned.
I gasped, stunned before bursting out laughing with the rest of my family. Isobel snorted, then chuckled while shaking her head at my mate. I should have wanted to kick his behind, but I just wanted to hug and kiss him. Maker, he was so perfect.
And now, I wanted a grain cracker…
I gave his chest a playful tap, and he tightened his hold around me, his face radiating love and amusement. He rubbed his cheek against mine, and I felt myself melt from the inside out. Kayog loosened his hold and faced me, his beak aligned with mine.
My stomach fluttered with excitement and anticipation at what would follow.
Isobel held a horac between our beaks. It was a special fruit, with the same size and bumpy exterior as a lychee, but with the soft skin of a peach.
Its interior resembled a white star apple, aside from the creamy white nectar in the center that glowed.
The horac possessed psychotropic properties.
In our case, it further opened our third eye, allowing a couple to form a permanent psychic bond.
With it, Kayog and I would be able to perceive each other’s emotions at an even deeper level, sometimes anticipating the other’s needs as they arose.
We held the horac between our beaks and waited for Isobel to step back and complete the circle.
Only then did Kayog and I bite into the fruit, both swallowing one half of it.
A tingling sensation quickly overshadowed the delicious sweetness of the fruit.
It began on my tongue, sliding to my throat, and then spreading throughout my body.
Kayog and I pressed our foreheads against each other’s and closed our eyes as the horac filled us.
The melodious voices of my family rose around us.
A violent shiver coursed through me in response to the specific frequency and tones aimed at stimulating our third eye.
Seconds later, my family clapped their wings to emit a soft rattling sound—not quite a drumming.
The rapid movement of their wings and of their specialized primary feathers further enhanced the effect of the horac.
Kayog and I opened our psychic selves wide as we focused on each other.
Moments later, a bright light exploded before my mind’s eye.
The world vanished around us. Nothing existed but my mate, in and around me.
I felt infused with his presence, his love for me, and all that he was as if we had become a single being.
We literally entered a trance, no beginning, no end, just one soul reunited at last.
And then I heard it.
It was a haunting melody. Faint at first, it resonated inside me, swelling into a mesmerizing crescendo.
I wanted to wrap myself in it, drown in it, and forever bask in the enthralling song.
I had never experienced such a thing before—or heard of this happening to any other Temern couple.
I realized then that it was the song of our souls playing in perfect harmony.
Now I understood why he loved it so much.
Something settled inside me as our bond locked into place.
The tingling gradually faded along with our dazed trance as reality crept back in.
But the languid sense of well-being lingered as I slowly opened my eyes.
I locked gazes with my soulmate, and tears once more threatened to surge forward.
No one should be able to love the way he did. And he loved me… Linsea.
His wings wrapped around me, sheltering us from prying eyes as he deepened the kiss. The singing and wing clapping stopped, followed by the cheers from our friends and family.
We broke the kiss with much reluctance and enjoyed each other’s embrace one final time before turning to our guests.
I was giggling like a silly teenager as everyone hugged and congratulated us one after the other.
We then enjoyed the snacks and drinks laid out on a table left of the fountain, with a stunning statue of the Syllen Goddess Etraya looking down on us with a benevolent expression.
“Mares and I will be bonding as well in two weeks, after I complete my current mission,” Tala said in a conspiratorial tone before taking another sip of wine. “And then we will marry one month later once I’ve had my veris to do the whole vine intertwining thing.”
Although she said it as if to imply it was weird, her excitement and anticipation shone bright. She was as madly in love with her mate as I was with mine.
“Congratulations!” I exclaimed. “It was time for him to make an honest woman out of you.”
As expected, she huffed at that human saying. “It will take far more than that to make me an honest anything. Mischief and troublemaking are my middle names. And also part of my irresistible charm.”
“No lies detected,” I said with a chuckle.
“I will have to find a way to one up you, though. This setting is stunning, and the ceremony was lovely,” Tala said pensively.
I snorted. “You will have no issue achieving that. Edocit marriages are beautiful with all the intertwined vines and circle of life. It must be wonderful to not only marry the love of your life but also the very land that welcomes you,” I said wistfully.
Her face softened, and she took on an air of wonder and vulnerability that she rarely displayed.
“I can’t wait. I’ve met his mother tree and visited the land many times. I look forward to being one with them. But this day is all about your happiness. And right now, I believe it is time for you to go be naughty.”
“Tala!” I exclaimed, my cheeks burning with embarrassment, which had her laughing in the most unrepented fashion.
“I only speak the truth. It is naughty time for the both of you,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows in a raunchy fashion.
To my dismay, her words immediately had me aroused. And our bond instantly alerted Kayog to my needs. He jerked his head in our direction, and our eyes meeting felt like a physical blow. My talons curled, and my stomach fluttered.
He smiled and extended a hand towards me.
“Have fun,” Tala whispered as I walked to my mate.
I took his hand, and our friends and family gave us a final parting hug, words unnecessary.
Hand in hand, Kayog and I took flight. He lifted gracefully, his maroon feathers caressed by the soft glow of the moonlight.
We soared through the sky, twirling and spiraling in an unrehearsed aerial ballet.
We danced to the melody of our souls and the rhythm of our hearts beating in perfect harmony.
I always wondered what my nuptial flight would feel like.
Never could I have imagined being so completely in sync with anyone.
Lost in my mate, I didn’t realize how far he had taken us away from prying eyes.
Below us, a lush forest gave way to a large body of water.
The moonlight on its surface made it glimmer like an ocean of precious gems. But Kayog drawing me close against his body wiped out any thoughts of our surroundings.
I instinctively adjusted the flapping of my wings to his as he claimed my mouth in a passionate kiss.
His hands roamed over me with growing urgency, caressing and exploring with a possessiveness that had me throbbing with need.
He pulled away from me to rub his face the length of my body.
I flapped my wings just enough to hover in place.
His hand probing the closed seam between my thighs prompted me to part it open.
My mate sank in two fingers inside my slit, wresting a strangled cry from me.
It destabilized me for a split second, but I quickly readjusted my movements to remain semi-stationary.
The nuptial flight could prove challenging, but also helped cement the fresh bond, forcing us to really become attuned to each other.
And the thrill and hint of danger that came with it was the biggest turn on.
A bolt of lust exploded in the pit of my stomach when Kayog let himself drop enough so that he was facing my pelvic area.
I yelped when he lifted my right leg over his shoulder, while still fingering me with the other hand.
It was a risky move, as my foot could have knocked on his wing.
His mouth replaced his fingers, making me cry out as he deftly settled my other leg over his right shoulder.
I held onto his head, an inferno raging inside me as his tongue delved greedily into my core.
Kayog maintained us airborne with slow, controlled, and powerful flaps of his wings.
I barely used mine, except to adjust our vertical position as he continued to devour me.
Pleasure built quickly, enhanced by the emotions flowing freely through our connection.
His arousal might as well be mine. I could also feel the burning need in his loins to lower me onto his cock and fuck me senseless.
I couldn’t say if that thought or his response to how my own musings affected me, but it sent me over the edge.
I cried out and threw my head back as my climax crashed into me.
The sudden movement sent me toppling over.
It should have scared me, but the smug and victorious emotions emanating from Kayog kept me riding high.
He caught me with a swift swoop and pulled me close as the wind whistled past us. The world spun around us as he resumed his aerial dance, heart against heart, the flowy feathers of his tail caressing my legs with each tumble.
Just as I was regaining my bearings, I felt him extrude.
He didn’t have to speak or nudge me in any way for me to wrap my legs around his waist. We locked eyes, and a silent communication passed between us.
Holding on to his shoulder with my left arm, I slipped my free hand between us and gave his cock a couple of strokes.
Maker, his pleasure blasted into me with such strength I nearly came undone again.
I loved how his silver eyes darkened with lust, their intensity sending a delicious shiver down my spine.
I aligned his cock with my opening and lowered myself onto it even as he thrust upward.
Fuck! He felt even thicker than usual, despite how wet and relaxed he had gotten me.
Kayog swallowed my moans in a voracious kiss as he began to pump into me.
Each stroke drove me insane with bliss. The swirly ridges of his shaft always procured me with the most delightful sensations.
But it was his ganacs—the wicked bumps on the head of his cock that did a number on me.
They were designed to stimulate the erogenous nerve endings in a Temern females inner walls.
However, they were also extremely sensitive for males.
And right now, each time they rubbed against me, they sent electric sparks of ecstasy through Kayog, and straight back to me through our bond.
The sensory overload had me screaming in no time as another brutal orgasm swept me away.
The world below vanished as we physically became one, soaring through the starry ocean of the night sky.
My entire body was shaking, burning from within as waves upon waves of pleasure crashed over me.
I felt on the verge of combusting, the wind whipping past us preventing me from bursting into flames.
Through his own bliss, Kayog relentlessly pounded into me, wresting one orgasm after the other from me until I felt on the verge of breaking.
More than once, Kayog nearly joined his voice to mine, but with a near godly level of self-control, he managed to pull back from the edge to continue wrecking me.
And at last, after he claimed the fifth or sixth climax from me—I had lost count—Kayog surrendered to his own release.
His pleasure struck me with such violence, a bright light blinded me, and my brain froze.
Time stood still. For a moment, I wondered if I’d been knocked right out of my body, until my skin began to tingle.
His seed erupted in me, bathing my battered insides as he continued to pump in and out of me until he was fully spent.
He reclaimed my mouth, our tongues mingling in a shared breath as sparks of ecstasy went off each of my nerve endings.
It was sweet and tender, stripped of the almost rabid passion that had burnt so brightly between us.
It was a promise, a pledge, a seal to the unbreakable bond between us.
Wrapped in a cocoon of love and devotion, linked bodies and souls, we glided toward the horizon, towards a future of endless possibilities.