Chapter 17 #3
I cried out as he slammed into me at a pace that should have shattered me.
He had been holding back before our connection snapped into place, but no longer.
The lights in the room flickered out as his entire body and mine lit up silver, my fingers both pushing and pulling away from him because he was so goddamn deep I could feel it in my fucking throat.
A snarl echoed from his chest as he pounded into me faster and faster, until his lips seared to mine and slammed against me completely, my name between us from his lips.
Oh fuck.
I felt his cock pulse, growing larger and thicker, as he filled me completely with his cum, the satisfaction of it leaving me feeling dizzy with relief.
That was right about when I blacked out.
I was starting to understand the meaning behind la petite mort. It was clear to me an orgasm could very much feel like a transcendent, death-like experience.
Except the French got one part wrong in their euphemism… there was nothing ‘little’ about it.
Nope. Saint was not little in any way, especially according to the ache between my legs and the breathless moment before I came, when something irrevocably changed within me, making the moment anything but small or unimportant.
In fact, I think it was possibly one of the most pivotal moments in my life.
Something I would obviously never tell Saint, because come on—that would totally give him a big head.
To match his big cock?
Wow. Okay. I clearly was still not out of this lust-induced state. Maybe I needed to go through some type of ‘get Saint out of my head’ therapy. I could also try having sex with him again… just to make sure that’s the problem, of course.
“Arabella.” Saint’s voice was soft and persuasive as his lips brushed against my neck, bringing me from my internal thoughts that had slowly been dragging me out of unconsciousness.
His muscular arms and bare chest were cool against my heated skin, and I stretched against him, refusing to open my eyes fully because I honestly wasn’t positive I was ready to wake up.
A small almost-moan broke from my lips as pleasure sparked throughout every nerve ending, making me shiver. Holy hell. That had been something else.
“I think I died,” I said somewhat in amusement as a low, husky chuckle left his lips, edged in something that I needed to see.
I opened my eyes to find his gaze back to normal, his body wrapped around mine and a blanket pulled over both of us.
The room was completely dark, and for just a moment I could pretend like there weren’t several things we needed to talk about.
“You did, actually.”
I blinked, processing his words before tilting my head in confusion. “What?”
He flashed a dangerous smile, his teeth nipping at my collarbone and making me moan. “You did die, but then you came back to life. Less than a second, really, but when I put my mating mark on your soul, your heart literally stopped beating.”
“Holy shit,” I mumbled, feeling slightly dazed by the revelation, and then smiled. “So we are really mates?”
“That was never in question.” His eyes flashed with a dark heat. “And no questions, really? I just told you that I essentially ripped your soul out during sex and killed you, while continuing to fuck you… and nothing?”
I blinked at him. “I have to be honest, it’s doing the opposite of scaring me.” In fact, it was turning me on.
His chuckle was louder, his smile authentic as he shook his head, his fingers brushing across my neck, his bite mark pulsating slightly. What? I was being honest! I mean, clearly, I was very much fine, so the notion didn’t bother me at all.
“I have known you were my mate since I first arrived here,” he admitted after a moment, his voice turning softer as he looked down at me.
I felt a blush run over my cheeks. “God terrors have ‘fated’ mates of sorts, and I just never expected to find mine, but when I was called here… well, it became pretty obvious why.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I whispered.
“Besides the fact that I had to get a hold on myself before I fucking ripped you from Razar’s arms and claimed you on your bedroom floor?” he mused, his eyes sparking at the idea of the challenge, no doubt.
“You were that attracted to me?”
My pulse jumped as his eyes looked down at my neck. I could feel a bond between us, and the pride in his chest made me feel a sense of warmth and affection for him, thrilled that my reaction to him made him happy. Man, this was a lot of warm fuzzy feelings.
“God terrors don’t feel any form of desire until they meet their mates,” he informed me softly as my brows went up.
“So you were never attracted—”
“Never,” he confirmed and then brushed his nose against my collarbone. “Our mates are the only people we ever physically love.”
My heart squeezed, and I blinked. “So this was both of our first times?”
His eyes widened slightly as something rather emotional passed through them, his sharp nod making me smile. He wrapped his arms around my waist and laid his head against my chest. I brought a hand through his hair, loving how intimate the moment felt.
I was cuddling with Death. Holy shit. That was… something else.
“What was the other reason?” I asked after a moment.
“Besides the five nightmares that follow after you obsessively? Or the sense of affection that you share for them?” He looked up at me, his eyes flashing with heat rather than being upset.
“I figured you wouldn’t take kindly to being taken away from them, and that was very much what I wanted to do at the time. ”
I bit down on my lip at the thought of the others and their reaction to all of this. Saint’s eyes snapped to it. “What?”
“I just don’t know what to do about the others. I mean… clearly, I survived… us. So do I tell them that? I am worried they will be upset—”
“I think they have a clear understanding of who you want in your life, flower,” he said, running his fingers up my bare waist. “Razar will probably attempt to start some shit with me, but it is what it is. Plus, it was about time that I explained to them why exactly you can’t die from being with one of us.
I had tried several times before, but then figured it was best explained to you first. They like to tell themselves that I’m crazy, but I doubt when it comes down to it that they will be all that surprised. ”
“You are a tiny bit crazy.” I flashed a smile. “And surprised about what?”
“Crazy about you.” He offered me a serious look. “You are not human, Arabella. Well, not fully human.”
What?
“What?” I sat up slightly, but he just dragged me down by the waist and pinned me against him, his fingers brushing through my hair possessively.
“Nightmares existed long before humans, and I assume we will continue to do so. However, our worlds have always been rather separate, and that, in part, comes from the inability to mate successfully with them,” he explained softly.
“That was until the sis metas were brought into existence. It was clear upon the birth of the first that there was something distinctly different about them, because despite being human, they found themselves constantly gravitating towards nightmares.”
“Soothers?” I asked, aware that was what sis meta meant in Latin.
“Precisely.” He nodded. “We don’t know where they came from, if it was a natural mutation or something else, but they were born into the world with this innate ability to soothe the nightmares that most humans feared.
It was actually one of the reasons that humans would sacrifice certain youth of their community to the ‘monsters’ that lived outside their walls, hoping that one of them would be a soother.
Most weren’t, but the ones that were not only managed to stay alive, but often bred with the nightmares. ”
“Is that how the Class D are created? Is everyone who has them a sis meta?” I arched a brow in confusion, wondering how something that important would have just escaped my attention.
“No.” He shook his head. “Remember, a female nightmare can still mate with a human male and become pregnant, even if the male doesn’t survive the act of mating itself.
Although some humans do survive for a time, especially if it is a weaker nightmare.
Never a Class A though. No, the soothers are not only extremely unique, but the only species of individuals that can successfully mate with extremely powerful nightmares to continue their line. ”
“So? I don’t understand what this has to do with me.”
I was piecing it together though. The realization of what this could mean left me with a sense of satisfaction and exhilaration that everything I had wanted could be that simply achieved.
“You don’t know who your parents were, correct?” he asked, and I nodded.
“It isn’t very important, but if I had to assume, they were terrified humans that realized they had given birth to a child that far exceeded their understanding. They made the right decision by bringing you here.”
“Because I’m one of these soothers?”
“You are one of the only soothers left. Many of them have been killed by humans,” he explained, frowning. I felt a stab in my heart. “But that is why you are able to not only soothe nightmares but also survive mating with them.”
“Wow,” I breathed out. “And the others don’t realize it?”
“It would take a special eye to recognize it. They aren’t very well known.
” He kissed my cheek gently before nuzzling against my throat.
“Which is a good thing, because while you have hand-selected your mates out of free will, some nightmares may try to force you into mating if they knew of your identity.”
My stomach revolted at that. “What? Why?”