Chapter 34 #4
He complies, withdrawing then thrusting back so hard I cry out, and he does it again and again, setting a rhythm that’s going to shatter me. My nails rake down his back, and he moans, but it only makes him move faster.
“Is this what you wanted?” he asks, his voice ragged. “Is this what you’ve been thinking about?”
“Yes,” I gasp out. “Yes, god, yes.”
He shifts slightly, and I nearly come apart right there. He must feel it because he does it again, driving into that spot over and over while his hand finds my clit and circles it with firm, perfect pressure.
“Come for me,” he commands. “I want to feel you come around me.”
“Yes,” I murmur, feeling that delicious pressure.
Feeling it ebb and flow like a wave growing bigger and bigger each time until the wave finally breaks, and I shatter, my whole body arching off the cushions as pleasure crashes all around me.
But he doesn’t stop. Instead, he rides me harder and deeper until I shatter completely.
When I can breathe again, he’s still hard inside me, still moving with that relentless rhythm. “Again,” he says.
“I can’t.”
“You can.” He pulls out and flips me over before I can process what’s happening. “Hands and knees.”
I scramble into position, my arms shaking, and then he’s behind me, one hand gripping my hip, the other sliding up my spine to grip my shoulder. He enters me from this angle, and somehow he’s even deeper.
“Oh god,” I moan as he sets a punishing pace that has me bracing against the cushions.
“That’s it,” he says, his control starting to fray. “Take it. Take all of me.”
His hand slides around to find my clit again, and the dual sensation—him pounding into me from behind, his fingers teasing—is so far beyond pleasure it’s almost punishment. I’m climbing again, the waves coming so fast I can barely breathe.
“So close. Come with me, Cora. Come with me now.”
He drives in deep, and I come gloriously once again, screaming his name. He follows me over with a groan as he explodes inside me.
We collapse together in a tangle of limbs, both of us breathing like we’ve run a marathon. My whole body is singing, oversensitive and sated, but somehow still humming with residual pleasure.
He pulls me against him, my back to his chest, one arm wrapped around my waist. For a long moment, we just breathe together, his face buried in my hair.
“That was…” I trail off, not sure how to finish that sentence.
“Yes,” he agrees simply, making me laugh.
We lie there as our breathing slowly returns to normal. His hand traces idle patterns on my hip, my stomach, and I’m half-tempted to fall asleep just like this.
But I can’t. There are still things to say. “I love Chase. I won’t give him up. Not unless he gives me up.” I shift position to meet his eyes. “He might.”
He tilts his head, and I see understanding dawn. “You intend to tell him. All of it.”
I nod.
“You think you can keep us both.”
“I don’t know what I think,” I admit. “But I know what I want. And I also know that I won’t be responsible for the end of everything. So it’s like I said. If you want me as your bride, knowing that our actual marriage will never be consummated…”
I let my words trail off, then take a breath. “Once we’re truly married, this ends.”
The silence stretches between us. His hand comes up to cup my cheek, his thumb brushing across my lower lip.
“I’ll take what you’re offering,” he says finally. “And trust that you’ll change your mind when the time comes.”
“I won’t,” I say firmly.
“We’ll see.” There’s confidence in his voice, arrogance maybe, but also something that might be regret.
He pulls me against him, and I let him, because arguing seems pointless when I can feel his heartbeat against my breasts, and the night is still young, and tomorrow is the betrothal ceremony, and everything will change.
“Stay,” he murmurs against my hair. “Just for a little while longer.”
I should go back to Chase.. But my body is liquid and satisfied, and I’m so tired.
“Just for a while,” I agree, finally closing my eyes in the comfort of his arms.
I slip out of the tent while Adric sleeps, pulling my dress back on with shaking hands. I need to go to Chase. Need to see him, be with him. Adric will be my fiancé soon—but Chase is the one I love. Even if I want them both.
The thought twists in my chest as I step from the tent into the night air.
The courtyard is empty, silent except for the whisper of wind against stone.
I tilt my head back, looking up at the five moons hanging low and orange in the sky, as I try to sort through the tangle of feelings that won’t let me rest.
That’s when I see them.
Two figures on a high terrace, silhouetted against the orange moonlight. One is unmistakably Kali—I’d recognize that sharp, warrior stance anywhere. The other has her back to me, but something about the way she holds herself seems familiar.
Then she turns, just slightly, and the moonlight catches her profile.
My heart stops.
It can’t be.
But even from this distance—even with the strange orange glow making everything look otherworldly—I know that face. I’ve mourned it for years.
Mom.
Oh, dear god. My mother is alive.
I sag, then realize I’ve forgotten to breathe.
What the hell is going on?