Chapter 25 #2
A soft giggle drifted up from the darkness; she must have read my thoughts. “You know I’m very much in the asking forgiveness, not permission camp. But I promise this wasn’t Seraphiel’s idea. Though I think he’d be cool with it, too. I’m in love with quite a few perverts, you know.”
I swallowed hard. My heart began beating so fast, I thought it might explode.
What was she saying? She couldn’t be… I didn’t deserve it if she was.
“You’re in love? With Mikhail and Seraphiel?
” She hummed lightly. My heart felt like it might explode as I asked, “Could you love me as well? Someday, somehow?”
A small, warm hand landed on my face. “Maybe. I loved you when I was a little girl. A crush back then. But I dreamed of you for all those years, wondering what it would have been like, if I hadn’t been taken away.
If we’d been able to stay together. Have real lives.
A home, children. I mourned all of that… and then I found you here.”
The fantasy I’d had, the same one that had kept me awake for centuries, wondering about Tili and who she could have been if I’d protected her, burned to a cinder at the memory of how I’d treated her when I’d met her again.
Shame roiled in my gut. “You hated me here, for good reason. I was an asshole.” I rolled to one side, putting a little space between us.
“Yeah, you were,” she said, her hand moving though my hair, lighting invisible fires of pleasure under my skin everywhere she touched.
“It shocked me, too. But when I saw your room, and then your soul, I knew. You loved me, you missed me, just as much.” She reached over and pushed me down, then hovered over me, rubbing her bare breasts on my chest. “Ry, I’m not good at being angry.
Holding a grudge. I already carry enough burden around with me every day.
Why load myself up with resentment, too?
I forgave you. Truly. I mean, I’m not going to turn down some more chocolates and back rubs—and if you turn back into the old basshole Head Boy, the whole deal’s off.
But, Ry… Ashtad? You don’t have to earn my forgiveness. ”
“Your grace,” I choked out. “What you’re describing is like Her grace. That is a gift we can never deserve, that rains down on all of us. Sinner and saint.”
“Well, I’m not Her. And I’m no saint.” And then she reached down, her nimble fingers tracing the lines of my muscles until she encircled my throbbing cock.
“I’m a dirty, dirty girl in the dark with a hot guy.
” She giggled. “It's probably good that it’s dark. I might be afraid of the monster if I could see it.” She slid down and, before I knew what was happening, took the head of my cock into her mouth.
“Don’t,” I groaned, my hand moving to her hair. “Don’t!”
She pulled off instantly. “Why not?” she asked, her tone full of mischief. My garbled curse and explanation that I was too close made her laugh, and hum around the head.
“No, you don’t,” I chided as she tried to squirm away from me. “If we’re doing this—and I still think Mikhail may come back up here and rip my wings off for it—I’m going to make it last.”
I was much stronger and larger than Feather, and I flipped our positions, sliding her up and over on the floor underneath me in one smooth move.
A second later, I had her waist in my hands and her pussy directly under my face.
I dove down, my tongue exploring every inch of her wet flesh.
Her scent rose around me and her salted nectar filled my mouth.
I luxuriated in her taste, nipping at her until she tried to squirm away, and alternately licking and sucking at her clit until she gasped.
“I’m coming!” I felt a wave of deep satisfaction while she shuddered under my tongue. She sighed contentedly, but I kept lapping all around her salty-sweet opening, nowhere near done. “Ry, it’s too much!” she protested, but bucked against my face again, silently demanding more.
“You’ll take it,” I growled into her soft, damp curls. “You’ll come twice more, and then your tight little pussy will pay the price for taunting me.”
“Taunting?” she managed to say before I crooked one finger and plunged it into her, nibbling at her clit at the same time.
I kept moving, hitting that spot, until her inner walls fluttered and pulsed again as she shrieked out her pleasure.
I smiled and licked the evidence of her orgasm off her thighs, the sound of my wet face against her skin almost obscene in the darkness.
By the time she came again, she was begging me to fuck her, her whole body trembling as if she was losing her grip on sanity.
I knew I was. The end of a blanket brushed my hand, and I grabbed it, tucking it under her neck and head.
Her wings were spread out on her sides on the floor, and I wished I could see them.
But the feeling of her would be more than enough.
“I’m going to fuck you now, Feather,” I said, my voice a dark promise.
“You’re going to need to relax. And when I’m inside you all the way, and fucking you so hard, I’m going to open my soul to you.
You’ll see what’s inside me, know that I love you more than life itself.
We’re not going to merge, but I want you to see how I feel for you—how you’re the center of my world now.
I am never going to leave your side again.
Do you understand? I lost you once, and I will not be parted from you again in this life. For any reason.”
Mikhail wouldn’t ever accept me as a co-mate, and there was no record of such a thing existing. But I could be her servant. Or theirs. I would bow and scrape for the rest of time if it meant being near her.
She made a small noise of assent and tried to spread her thighs for me, but she was wrung out from coming so long, so hard.
“I’ve got this, beautiful Scrap,” I crooned, and pushed her thighs open, setting the head of my cock to her opening.
“Just lie back and let me fuck you. Let me love you.” The first few inches slipped in without any trouble, though she made a moaning sound that had me stopping for a moment.
Then I began rocking slowly, going an inch farther each time.
“Is that… Is that it?” she murmured when I stopped again. “It’s so thick, Ry. I can’t take any more.”
“Oh, rosebud,” I said, brushing her hair away from her face.
“That’s halfway.” She made a hysterical giggle, and I pushed another inch inside.
“Now, take a deep breath, and let it out slowly.” She obeyed, and I pressed my hips forward again, reaching down and rubbing her swollen clit with one hand.
“You’re so good, listening like that. Opening up for me.
It’s going to feel so perfect when I’m all the way inside you.
When I’ve stuffed you so full, you couldn’t fit anything else in.
When even your soul is filled with mine…
” I cut myself off, knowing that couldn’t happen.
We couldn’t merge spiritually. But I could give her a physical merging she’d dream about for eternity.
I plunged in and out, hitting the end of her channel, and knowing I needed to make her come again before she would open, stretch to fit the last two inches.
When she shuddered, and I felt those walls tighten and then release, I pushed all the way inside and began thrusting, gently at first, then harder.
“Does it hurt, Feather?” I asked. “Tell me it feels good.”
“So good,” she moaned. “Hurts a little, too. Why do I like that? Harder, Ry.”
I thrust faster, feeling the orgasm building, my balls tightening. “Then it’s time for you to see how much I love you, hm?” I managed to say, and I closed my eyes in the darkness and opened myself as wide as I could, being careful not to reach out, only to expose my own heart.
I’d merged physically in the past with others, but those had been surface experiences, a little physical relief. But I’d never revealed my soul, even when my partners had wanted it. I’d always held back.
This time, I whispered my name into her ear, and let her see every single part of me.
“Feather, my Tili, my beloved Scrap, I am Righteous Arm of Justice, once known as your friend Ashtad. I have longed for you for centuries, and now my name is changed. I am yours. Yours forever.” I smelled the salt of her tears as she took in my soul.
And then, before I could stop her, she stepped inside. Her own spirit merged with mine so effortlessly, like it had been inevitable since my creation, and hers. How had she done this without sharing her name? Was this an accident?
I let go of the sudden pulse of concern that she might regret merging with me. There was no room in my heart for anything but joy.
The universe I carried inside me lit up to welcome her.
She was glorious here. A nimbus of silver light surrounded her, with a dark flare from the place on her nape where she had lost Mikhail’s mating feather. Her wings weren’t small at all. They were a mix of gold and silver, and stretched to the horizon on every side.
I gazed into her face, knowing her. This was the woman I had seen when I’d sung at the Great Gate, only days after she had first entered Sanctuary covered with filth, and I’d judged her. This was the dream woman I’d seen, the one I’d torn Sanctuary apart looking for.
What is your name, my love?
She giggled, covering her bright face with both hands.
Strange cords of power stretched from her palms and back behind her, bright energy pulsing light through her fingers and deeper into her soul.
I’d never seen anything like it, never heard of such a thing.
She was connected to a vast reservoir of power.
I don’t want to tell you my name, she thought back, shaking her head. Yours is lovely. But… I had to choose a new one.
I fell to my knees in the spirit space we had created, my heart singing my name to her without ceasing. Tell me your name, my love.
For some reason, she shook her head harder. You’ll laugh.
You couldn’t deceive in this space, and I knew she must be right. Is it the worst thing, to bring joy to one who loves you? I stared down at her until her gaze met mine. And I do love you, Feather. Tili. More than my own soul.
When she spoke her name—which I knew she had chosen in the Abyss as soon as she said it—I did laugh. And when our souls entwined, there was nothing but pleasure, and love, and a waterfall of joy and amusement.
And in the bliss of the moment, I hardly noticed how the ribbons of power she held moved around us, connecting us in a new way.