Chapter 44
Waves and whispers
JUDE
I wake to an ache, deep and pulsing. Not pain, exactly. Not anymore. But the memory of it lingers, ghosting over my skin, rising from the chambers of my heart.
I remember the ritual, and falling asleep after.
The way the priest moved around us in slow, deliberate motions, his voice steady as he murmured the rites. The gleam of silver and gold laid out before us, sharp and waiting. The scent of salt and ink and blood.
Lorien’s hands, steady even as his breath came uneven. His fingers tracing over my skin, grounding me, holding me still as the priest took the first piece of jewelry between his hands. A ring, simple but gleaming, shaped from the depths of the sea itself.
The sting had been sharp, immediate. A bright, searing heat that made my breath catch and my vision blur. There was another and another, each one a tether, each one both delicate and unbreakable. A vow forged into flesh, binding me to Lorien in a way no words ever could.
But it was nothing compared to the way Lorien looked at me through it all. Like he was witnessing the most sacred, precious act he’ll ever see, like this was not just pain but transformation. His free hand had tightened around mine, his grip unrelenting.
“Breathe, Jude.” His voice had been raw, his pupils blown wide.
And then it was his turn.
I had watched as he tipped his head back, throat bared, muscles taut with restraint. The priest had knelt before him, hands sure and reverent as he worked. Lorien had barely made a sound, only the slightest tremor in his exhale. But his eyes had never left mine.
I remember the way he looked at me afterward, the infinity of all our unspoken emotions passing between us as the priest declared it done.
Bound.
Mated.
Mine.
I shift now, still adjusting to the weight of it, to the newness of being marked in a way that cannot be undone. And that’s when I feel him.
Lorien is near.
I open my eyes, and he is there, watching me from his place at the edge of the bed. His golden gaze is dark with possession; his hands clasped tight as if resisting the urge to reach for me.
The air between us is thick, brimming with a heavy and electric tension.
Beyond him, the sea stretches endlessly, dark and rippling, illuminated by the ethereal blue glow of bioluminescent creatures drifting past the glass dome.
The water pulses in time with an ancient heartbeat, unseen and slow, hypnotic and constant.
Somewhere, far off, a shadow moves. It’s massive and unseen, gliding just beyond the reach of the dome’s glow.
His throat bobs as he swallows. “How do you feel?”
I flex my fingers, testing the ache, the lingering throb that is more memory than pain. And then I look at him.
I know what he’s really asking.
I shift onto my elbows, letting the sheets slide down my body, exposing skin that still feels hypersensitive, marked. My voice is rough when I finally speak.
“Like I belong to you.”
Lorien’s breath hitches, and his reaction is unguarded.
He’s exposed, achingly vulnerable, and stunningly beautiful.
It’s been rare to catch him like this, to be as open as he is not, after what we’ve done, and I like it.
I like the way we are now, the way he is now, and I hope that he’ll give me more of this. More of him.
He smiles and leans in. His kiss is devastating.
It’s more than deep; it’s consuming, his mouth taking, giving and worshipping.
His lips are warm, his teeth sharp, dragging against mine like he wants to devour me, like he needs me, and his hands—God, his hands—are everywhere. Mapping me. Memorizing me.
Lorien’s mouth trails down my body, lingering over my neck, biting and sucking where he knows it feels so good.
He hasn’t made me wear a collar since we returned, hasn’t even asked about it, and the inks etched into my skin are enough.
To satisfy us both. Because the reality is I like knowing I’m his, and I don’t need a collar to feel it.
It’s in the way he touches me. The way he watches me.
The way his marks now live beneath my skin, impossible to erase.
“Did you want a new one, babe?” he asks, flicking his eyes up to meet my gaze as he makes his way down my body. “I’ll have a new one made for you if you ask me nicely.”
I do.
I wet my lips, heart pounding. “Please, Lorien.”
His smirk is sharp enough to cut, but his eyes burn brighter as his hands skate down my thighs, parting them with practiced ease. He leans in, mouth, hovering over the new, aching marks of our bond, and I swear I feel his breath there.
Warm, teasing, possessive.
“Let me see how well you take what’s mine.”
“Isn’t it too soon?” I ask, my voice quieter than I mean for it to be.
A flicker of uncertainty knots in my chest, an unspoken fear curling around the edges of my desire. What if it hurts? What if I can’t do all the things I used to?
Lorien’s gaze lifts to mine, and the world steadies. He presses a slow, lingering kiss to the inside of my thigh, his breath warm against my skin.
“No, baby.” His voice is velvet and smoke, wrapping around me, sinking into my bones. His lips trail higher, teasing, reassuring. “You forget what I am. My saliva heals, Jude. Every kiss, every touch. It’s not just pleasure. It’s restoration. I could ruin you and make you whole in the same breath.”
His fingers press into my hips, his grip unrelenting as he drags me closer. His smirk is wicked, golden eyes burning as he mouths at the sensitive skin.
“And I’m going to.”
I shudder as his tongue flicks out, tasting, claiming.
Everything feels more. God, it’s so much more. It’s as if there’s just he and me, as if the rest of the world fades in the oblivion and haze of the pleasure washing through me. It’s cool and hot, the calm of the gentle sea and the force of the ocean’s storm.
His mouth swallows my cock, and I scream out, unable to contain the sheer damn excitement rushing through me.
It’s overwhelming; it’s like I’m being pulled under by his currents, caught between the need for more and the frantic urge to breathe.
His tongue is merciless, relentless, playing with my cock and the piercings, and the tension in my body is unbearable, pulling me tighter and tighter until it feels like I might break.
“Lorien,” I rasp. “I won’t last much longer.”
He hums and the vibrations make every piece of metal sing. The sheer damn pleasure and heat are more than I can take, and I’ve never been this sensitive. Never felt this much. Never felt absolutely everything.
I’m a writhing, pathetic and needy mess, straining against the inevitable as I pray to any and every God I can think of to make this last. It won’t.
I won’t. Especially not when Lorien’s throat relaxes and he swallows me so damn deep that I cry out in surprise.
My core tightens and my fingers thread through his hair as I thrust my hips into him, losing myself in pleasure and arousal as I freefall into oblivion.
I come so damn hard that my vision turns into a spectrum of stardust and my body is no longer my own. Wave after wave of arousal crashes onto me and I roar as my cock spills come down Lorien’s throat. I’m floating, dazed and lost, surrendering to ecstasy and barely conscious.
And Lorien’s delighted.
He lets my cock slip from his mouth and he plants gentle kisses on my stomach, his lips warm against my skin as he traces a path up toward my chest. I’m still trembling, still sensitive, and he seems to savor my helplessness, my surrender.
Lorien’s smile is slow and satisfied, and there’s a slither of primal pride in his eyes that makes me shiver, even though he’s being tender.
“You’re mine, Jude.”
I can’t remember what it feels like to be anything other than this.
Anything other than his.
His fingers lace through mine and he pulls them to his cock, and I stare down, still hazy.
His cock is too fucking pretty to be real, and the sight of it now that it’s pierced sends a fresh wave of heat through me.
Each piercing is meticulously placed, traveling the length of his cock and the gold bars reflect the sea’s colors, giving him an almost ethereal glow.
Fuck, I’m going to enjoy worshipping his cock.
“I’m more than fine if my cock is your kink,” he teases, nudging himself closer. “Did you want to explore it, babe?”
I nod, far too eager. Far too willing. Far too lost in him to give a shit about appearance or anything other than him.
My fingers graze the velvet-soft skin of his erection and he shudders, his eyes locked onto me as we have this first. Together. And Lorien’s cock feels perfect. The metal is cool enough to rouse my senses and he is hot enough to make me melt.
I trace the contours of his Jacob’s ladder, feeling the subtle ridges beneath my fingertips as his breath catches in his chest. He shudders again, his grip tightening on my body, pulling me closer.
There’s something impossibly intimate about the way the metal adorns him, like a secret only we share, and it drives me wild with want.
“Fuck, I need your mouth,” he rasps.
“Are you ready?” I ask, drooling at the prospect of swallowing his cock.
“I heal faster than you,” Lorien hisses. “Open for me.”
He barely gives me time to comply before his cock slides past my lips.
The piercings slide over my tongue as he sinks into me and Lorien growls, his muscles tensing as he struggles to control himself.
I’m as delighted as he was earlier, thrilled he’s struggling with the intensity of the new sensations.
Thrilled the piercings I’ve given him are giving him the same pleasure his have given me.
“Fuck, babe,” he stutters.
His cock thrusts and he’s trying to slow his rhythm, trying to make this last, as I tried to make myself last moments ago. And I’m determined to give him the same pleasure he gave me, determined he’s going to come down my throat and I refuse to be denied.
My cheeks hollow, and Lorien groans louder as I match his movements, playing with his piercings with my tongue and letting his cock slip into my throat.
His claws dig into my scalp as his dick leaks precum and the man I adore teeters on the edge of climax, frantically trying to give himself a few seconds more.
I flick my tongue over the ring at the top of his cock and he shudders, slamming his cock in to the hilt.
His control breaks and his thrusts become erratic, and seconds later, he cries out my name as he comes.
His come spills down my throat and I swallow, frantically keeping up with it as the taste of salt and sin floods my senses.
“Fuck, Jude,” Lorien rasps, pulling back.
I smirk and he stares down at me with a look of complete devotion.
“I need you.” His hand strokes his hardening cock. “I’m too fucking turned on to stop. I need to fuck you. Roll over, babe.”
I shake my head. “No. Not for the first time. I want to see you.”
Lorien blinks and bites his lip. He pulls my thighs wider apart and starts to play with my ass as he strokes himself.
He’s careful, patient, more than I’m expecting, given the excitement rippling through him.
Lorien’s on edge and he’s straining against himself, holding himself back for me.
For us. To give us the first time we deserve.
“You ready?” he asks, lining his cock up.
“Yeah,” I mumble, completely sure. “Master.”
His eyes flare with lust and he pushes his cock forward.
It’s so much more now. My body shudders as I feel every inch of him as he enters me, know every piercing as it slides through me.
It feels so damn right that it’s impossible to describe, and when our eyes connect, time slows and we see each other for all we are.
Lorien doesn’t go fast, his hands gentle as he holds me, and the intensity of our connection deepens.
He doesn’t look away as his thrusts become steady, each one a slow burn that builds with a quiet intensity.
He’s seeing the deepest parts of me, and in return, I’m seeing all of him.
All he is and all I am meets and joins, and his hands hold me in place as we come together.
In every way that matters.
Our breaths come in sync, the rhythm of his body, of our bodies, becoming a song we both know, and as his pleasure builds he pushes deeper, a quiet groan escaping him, a sound that vibrates through me, making everything more.
He feels so good, but I’m far too spent to climax again, and this is about him. About us too, but the pleasure I’m taking from it is different. This is intimacy and connection. This is love and devotion. This is him and me, and all we are together.
“I’m going to come, Jude,” Lorien says, his head dropping as his head drops.
“I’m not going to,” I reply.
A smile threatens his lips. “The next time you come, it’s in me. Yeah?”
It’s perfect.
Everything feels right, and nothing else matters. We’re connected and I don’t know where I end or he begins, and this isn’t about the rush of pleasure or the need to finish. This isn’t lust, this is love, and this, this moment, is about unity and trust.
“Yeah,” I whisper, my voice thick with emotion.
He rocks his hips against me and I move for him, with him too, and he grunts as his climax becomes impossibly close. Lorien surrenders to the pleasure washing through him and lets himself go, slipping into his orgasm as it breaks through him.
Lorien’s head tips back as he comes and the sound he makes is pure desire. It’s a cry of raw and unrestrained devotion and the heat of his release wraps around us both, an overwhelming wave of warmth and connection, and I can’t help but watch as he lets go entirely.
It’s beautiful, the way he yields, the way he succumbs.
He’s mine.
And I am his.
Even as we break apart, even as the air floods the space between us and the world rushes back in, I feel the weight of everything we’ve just shared. My chest rises and falls with each breath, still shaking from the intensity of it all, and yet there’s a stillness in me.
A quiet certainty that we’ve crossed a threshold.
Lorien’s gaze holds mine, his expression soft but fierce, like he's claiming me all over again, even though he already has. The connection is undeniable, more than the physical, more than just our bodies. More than what we went through in the temple, more than either of us have had cast on us.
This is choice, and it is ours.
I reach out, brushing my fingers against his skin, and he leans into my touch, his hand finding mine, intertwining our fingers. In that simple motion, everything is said. Once we needed words, and now we don’t. Not now. Not when we have this.
“I love you,” I whisper, as though it’s the simplest thing in the world.
He smiles, his lips curving in a way that makes my heart race. “And I love you.”