Chapter 18
Ethan
She healed faster than she should have, my amazing female.
Didn’t matter. I was ready.
I wrapped her in a soft blanket and carried her into the suite of rooms Bahre had assigned to us. I made sure a warm bath was waiting.
She sighed in bliss as I lowered her into the water.
I stripped quickly and joined her in the massive, Atlan sized bathtub.
I took my time, my hands exploring every smooth plane and feminine curve.
She was covered with a host of small scars.
A history I needed to learn. Every mark a secret I wanted her to share with me.
But not yet. Right now, I needed to make sure she never doubted me again. Never left my side. Never wondered if she was alone in the universe.
I stroked her body, played with her breasts, pulled her into my arms and explored the wet folds of her pussy, fucked her with my fingers until she was squirming with need. That primal, alien energy that wrapped around her like a second skin rose to the surface. Her eyes flashed like mirrors.
Her beast wanted to come out to play.
I helped her out of the water and dried her off gently. Rubbed something that smelled like flowers and spice into her warm skin.
She didn’t speak, waiting to see what I would do.
When I pulled the matched set of mating cuffs out of a drawer she froze as if stunned.
I’d put the last few hours to good use. Thank god Kovo had realized his sister was mine and I wasn’t fucking giving her up.
After I made myself clear, he’d grinned and decided to help me get things ready.
“I had these made while you were in the pod.”
“For me? For us?” Her gaze drifted from the mating cuffs in my hand to my face, searching. “Are you sure? It’s forever, Ethan. Beasts don’t do divorce. She’s jealous. Irrational. She’ll want to kill any female who tries to touch you. Sometimes I can’t control her.”
I stood before her naked. Alone. Ready to be something else. Ready to be hers. “Will she ever hurt me?”
“Never! Mine!” The booming outrage came from the beast in question and I smiled.
“That’s what I thought.”
Her skin darkened, a faint shimmer of indigo-blue flowing across her neck and jaw like the ocean catching moonlight. Her hands—once delicate—lengthened slightly, claws emerging like glass-coated blades. Her eyes glowed faintly. “You don’t like Atlans. You don’t like aliens.”
“I like you.” I reached up and cupped her cheek in my hand.
Ran my thumb over her bottom lip. “You’re fucking gorgeous.
Intelligent. Fearless. Strong. Wild in bed.
You have more courage in your little finger than most men have in their entire bodies.
I fell in love with you. I’m not walking away. I’m not giving you up.”
Her breath hitched. “My beast thinks she owns you, Ethan.”
“I’m okay with that.” I smiled, unafraid as I closed the first mating cuff around her wrist. It was about four inches wide.
Platinum and gold. The elegant design engraved in both pairs of cuffs, hers and mine, belonged to her family bloodline on Atlan.
Kovo had insisted she would love the design.
“I love you, Lyra. I claim you as my mate.”
“Love. Love. Mine. Mate. Fuck. Claim. Now.” The beast had taken over, my mate’s voice sultry and deep.
Demanding. She’d barely gotten the words out before I was moving.
The whole world could’ve been on fire behind me and I wouldn’t have noticed.
I placed the second cuff on her wrist, lifted her arms over her head and pressed her naked body back against the wall.
Instantly, the cuffs locked into place over her head, held by the specialized device Kovo and I installed while she was healing.
“Mine.” Her beast strained against the cuffs, testing the strength of the restraints.
Her pussy flooded with wet heat when she couldn’t break free. The musky scent of her desire made me delirious. My dick was rock hard and ready, pre-cum leaking from the tip as my balls ached with the need to fill her up. Come inside her. Mark her. Claim her.
I closed the matching cuffs around my wrists and took off my clothes as she watched every move. Licked her lips. Panted like a wild animal who’d been cornered.
I pressed forward and crushed her against the wall like I’d been starving for her for years.
Because I had. My hands slid over her body, explored every curve.
I didn’t care that her beast pulsed with something not quite human.
I didn’t care that her skin glowed, or that her true strength was suddenly twice mine.
I kissed her like a drowning man—hard, deep, so fierce it should’ve left bruises.
She kissed me back with that same fire, mouth savage against mine, her clawed hands curling into fists. Whimpers of frustration left her throat as if she couldn’t get close enough.
I knew what she wanted. Needed. I’d done a lot of research about Atlan mating rituals during those two long days she’d been unconscious, when they couldn’t tell me if she was going to live or die. Make me whole or destroy me forever.
I felt like I’d been waiting for this moment, for her, my entire life.
I lifted her hips and settled her bottom on a custom indent that formed a partial seat in the wall.
Then I leaned in and closed my mouth over her molten core.
Fucked her with my tongue. Tasted and claimed as I rubbed her clit with one hand and squeezed and fondled her nipples with the other. Worked her until she came apart.
Thrust my dick deep before the walls of her pussy stopped pulsing.
Lyra
He loved me.
He put mating cuffs on our wrists. Claimed us.
Saw our true nature, the beast, and wanted us anyway. Wasn’t afraid of our claws.
I am beautiful. Mate agrees. My beast was a tempest of love and lust inside my mind.
There was no separating the two emotions.
My body was his. My desire was his. Every cell in my body responded to his touch.
Only him. He was mine now. Cuffed. Mated.
Claimed. His tongue in our pussy. His hands on our body. Touching. Teasing.
The cry that left my throat when the orgasm took me was not Atlan.
It was feral. Primal. A beast enjoying her mate’s attention.
Craving him. She would never get enough.
Never desire another. She would kill for him, protect him, obsess and care for him every moment for the rest of her life. He was hers.
And he was mine.
Ethan shifted, filled me with his cock, held me in place, his hips thrusting. Lifting me. Fucking me so hard my breasts bounced and my pussy ached. My beast was in control, her needs wild and instinctive.
She wanted to bite. Touch. Suck and lick and taste. She was powerful. Demanding. Impossible to control. I couldn’t control her. Couldn’t stop her.
He did. Our mate had us laid out like a feast. My beast couldn’t break free. Couldn’t fight or direct him.
She could only surrender.
He kissed me as he fucked me. His hands wrapped around my hips, tilted my pelvis so he could go deeper. Faster.
Gods, he was fucking magnificent.
Mine. Mine. Mine. The beast practically sang the word in my mind. Over and over. Every thrust of his hips drove her closer to release. To complete submission.
We needed him. His strength. His patience. His courage. His love.
We weren’t alone anymore. Would never be alone again. Never.
When he died, we would follow. My beast would not survive without him.
She was strong, but I was broken. By grief.
By loss. By chasing ghosts for too many years.
Even knowing Kovo was alive would not be enough to satisfy her.
Kovo had a mate. My beast was unique in the universe. Completely and utterly alone.
She needed Ethan. A mate. Someone who would never leave us. Never choose another. Without him she did not have a reason to exist. A mate to protect. Purpose. He was our purpose now.
His kiss was a drug on our lips, addictive. His hands were everywhere. His cock was thick and buried deep.
A keening cry left the beast’s throat as she came, the spasms in our pussy clamped down on Ethan’s cock, squeezed him like a fist.
He followed me over the edge, his pleasure a low, rumbling moan that made my beast wild. I needed to hear him make that sound again. That sound was mine. His seed was mine. His heat and touch and love were mine. I was greedy. Hungry for him. I wanted more. Needed more.
My beast agreed. “Mine. Mate.”
“Mate. I am yours.” Ethan kissed me. Long. Slow. His cock still inside me so we were one being. One heart.
I would always need more. From him. Only him. We were his. Heart and soul. Body, breath and… beast.