Chapter 32
“You can’t. I never should have suggested it.”
Soren glared at Vane, ignoring the fear in his eyes and the way his body still trembled slightly.
“I’ve made my choice. If you want to spend tonight arguing with me about it, that’s yours. It won’t change anything.”
“Stop,” he snarled. “I can see what you’re already doing.”
She scoffed. “And what is that?”
His next breath was harsh, the air rushing between his teeth. “You’re already acting like this is our last night together. And gods, Soren, it very well could be if you do this.”
“If I don't, who will?” Her voice echoed off the walls of the chamber. “Someone needs to end this.”
“Not you.”
She got to her feet and began to pace. Vane followed her, standing with his feet wide and his arms crossed.
He knew they were at an impasse. He had to; this was no longer just about them.
Kronos had appeared to them in a mortal’s body, and gods knew what had truly happened to the real Ilav.
Knowing Kronos, he was probably dead. The king of the gods was overstepping—perhaps he always had, since the moment Sol had declared him king and the power had slowly begun to go to his head.
Eventually, after she had paced herself to exhaustion, she faced Vane.
“Done?” he said.
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, fuck off, Vane.”
His lip curled. “Say that again. Please.”
Sudden heat flooded her at the wicked gleam in his eye and the low timbre of his words. She tried to push the feeling away, insisting, “Not now.”
“Yes, now. If you’re leaving tomorrow, this is my last chance to remind you what it’s like when we fuck.”
She narrowed her eyes. “That’s all you can think about right now? Fucking me?”
“Oh, no, my love. I’m afraid it doesn’t stop there.
” He pushed off the wall and stalked towards her.
“I want to taste you in every way imaginable, and I want you to taste me too. I want to obliterate every thought from that pretty little head of yours with my cock, and then I want you to bring me to the edge so many times, I can only beg for you to let me come. But mostly, I want to show you what it’s like when we make love—to remind you how it feels when the only thing that matters in this entire fucked up world is you and me. ”
He had backed her up against the opposite stone wall, his hands on either side of her, caging her in. Her breath came in heaving gasps as the sparking heat of his power surrounded her, warming the ice that was always inside her.
They were two sides of a coin—fire and ice. Both were capable of bringing death, but to each other…
She remembered why she had risked everything for this.
Together, they were perfect—completion.
Her anger and fear did not slip away as she looked at him towering over her.
She refused to hide anything from him. But he didn’t back away from her hurricane of emotions.
He never had, not since the day she had first wept in that field.
Instead, she let everything—every bit of rage and anguish and terror—fuel the next three words.
“I want you.”
He leaned in, and her back arched off the stone as his teeth grazed the curve of her neck. He dragged his tongue over her skin, swirling it across her pulse point, and she nearly cried out.
She felt his mouth curve as he moved to her ear, nibbling before he whispered, “Be patient. We have all night, and I intend to use every second of it.”
A soft whimper escaped her, and he groaned, fisting his hand in her hair and tilting her head back.
He searched her gaze, his eyes black with desire.
The moment felt distended in space, separate from the others before and those that would come after.
Her core pounded with her heartbeat, and her chest felt like it was caving open for him.
This was not merely lust or infatuation.
This felt beyond anything she knew to be possible.
She had died for him, and she knew without a doubt she would do it again.
But now, she wanted to feel everything he had to offer.
She wanted to pour herself into him, to be as close as possible in every sense.
Their lips were inches apart, both breathing fast and heavy. There was a game in this heavy emotion too, one they had always played with each other. Who would break first, knowing they both wanted it just as much?
Bend the knee, relinquish all control.
Only for you. Always for you.
His voice filled her mind, touching every part of her like a caress, but even as she trembled, she remained a breath away. Emotion and lust swirled within her in a dance, and the clarity of what this all meant hit her hard enough to make her gasp.
It shouldn’t have been a surprise, to know just what she felt. But knowing Sora had felt it a century ago and knowing she felt it now were two very different things.
“Please,” Vane moaned, mouth just barely brushing hers, begging her to give in.
She was breaking, but he would catch her. Of that, she had no doubt.
“I love you,” she said, each word hushed and deliberate in the miniscule space between them.
His eyes widened, his pupils expanding impossibly wider as he muttered, “Fuck it, game over,” and captured her mouth with his.
She stood on her tiptoes to reach him, a broad hand on her back to support her, but soon, that wasn’t enough.
They both needed more. More. More. The desperate need was a beat between them, an undercurrent in every touch, each demanding press of his tongue against hers.
She fisted her hand in the material of leather armor.
“Take it off,” she ordered, half-dizzy.
He nipped at her lower lip, pulling it between his teeth, then asking, “Which part, my love?”
She bit his lip right back, dragging her hands through his hair. “All of it.”
“Good,” he praised. “I fucking love it when you’re demanding.”
“Clothes off, sir,” she muttered, kissing up his neck.
He groaned, his hands going to the ties on his flight armor. “You know, you said that to me the first day at camp.”
She nipped at his jaw. “I know. Did it turn you on?”
“Much more than was appropriate at the time.”
He tore the leather material free of the ties, and she pulled it off. His undershirt came next, and she traced careful hands over the scars on his back, kissing his shoulder as she did. She was still fully clothed as she reached for the ties of his breeches.
He gently grabbed her wrist to stop her. “Wait. I want to see you.”
“You have. It’s my turn,” she said, punctuating the words by sliding her hand up the hard outline of his cock.
He let out a rough moan, his hand bracing behind her on the stone wall. “Fuck,” he hissed as she worked him through his pants.
“Do you still want me to wait? Or do you want me on my knees in front of you?”
He traced her swollen lips with his thumb, his eyes heavy with lust. “Knees. But not for too long, or they’ll bruise on the stone.”
“We’ll see,” she whispered, kissing her way down his muscled abdomen before he could argue further.
When she reached the dip just below his waistband, she finally undid the ties and unsheathed his cock from the leather, thick and beading with precum at the tip.
She took it in her hand, flicking her gaze up to his as she swirled her tongue over the head, lapping up the salty liquid.
He fisted a hand in her hair and ordered, “Tap my leg if it gets to be too much, understand?”
“Mhmm,” she hummed, using her hand to pump the base.
He groaned, pushing his hips forward. She had no memory of doing this before, but instinct took over well enough as she took as much of him as she could. He thrust gently the first few times before his control began to fray. That was what she loved most.
When he started to tremble, his groans near-guttural, she pulled back and kissed his hip. Through heavy breaths, he managed to say, “You are cruel, my love.”
“I want you inside me.”
He shut his eyes briefly and then looked at her and said, “Not yet.”
“But you want to, now don’t you?”
“Yes,” he said, wasting no time. “But you need to be ready.”
It took her a moment to understand the meaning of his words. She had never been with a man, not in this life. She vaguely remembered that there had been some pain the first time with him, especially given his size.
“I’m right, aren’t I?” he said as she rose, her head barely coming up to his chest. “You haven’t touched anyone else.”
She took a step closer to him, his cock brushing up against her belly. “No one. I never wanted to. Now, I know why.”
His eyes flared, and this time, he dropped to his knees. She gasped softly as his hands slid up the curves of her thighs, making quick work of her pants. She stepped out of them, and before she could think or even take another breath, he parted her from her entrance to her clit with his tongue.
She cried out, bracing a hand on his broad shoulder for some semblance of stability as she lost all sense of the room around her. He curved a hand around her ass and squeezed as he circled her clit with his tongue, teasing her until she was panting and pleading.
He pulled away, a cold rush of air taking his place as he looked up at her, lips curved. “Do you want to come?”
She couldn’t think beyond the want. “Please,” she gasped.
“Good,” he said darkly. “Don’t hold back. I want to hear my darling wife scream my name so everyone in these tunnels knows just whose face she’s riding.”
“You—are….”
But she lost whatever she was going to say, along any hint of embarrassment or incredulity, as he slid his tongue inside her.
Her eyes rolled back and her legs shook with the effort to remain standing. He replaced his tongue with two broad fingers, sliding them in slowly and curling, tapping softly inside her. She was so close.
“Good,” he murmured. “You’re ready.”
She shattered. A million stars rained down, scattering across the cavern as shadows swept out from her in an impenetrable wave and Vane licked her until she had to push him away.