Chapter Seventy-Five
Skylar Cathal
We reappeared in the hanging valley, the final petals of the moondance flower closing as the cresting sun along the eastern mountain peaks painted the meadow in a golden hue.
“Dax, I need to tell you—”
“No,” he said sharply, carrying me toward a bed of soft grass near the trickling creek. “Don’t. Not yet, I need—”
Heavy emotion rang through the bond as a whirlwind of intense feelings hammered into my heart, melting me against him. Daxton’s grip on me tightened as he came to a stop, falling to the grass and tucking me between his legs. I reached out a hand to cup his bearded chin, longing to meet his gaze.
“Dax,” I whispered, kissing his cheek as my tears trickled onto his face.
Daxton turned to kiss my brow, his hold on me refusing to give way as I looped my arms around his neck. I opened myself to our bond, vanquishing any remaining walls that dared to separate us, creating a safe place for us to retreat together.
“I-I’m so sorry.” I sobbed as Daxton’s grief drowned me in an endless sea of sorrow. His pain from watching me die was unfathomable, and I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think.
He was so gods-damned strong.
“I heard you,” I rasped. “When I was at the crossing, I felt you calling me home.” I pulled back to meet his gaze, the gray eyes I remembered now a brilliant silver rivaling the stars. “You saved me.”
“You saved us all,” Daxton answered, pressing his brow to mine as a wave of emotion crashed over us.
With my shift, our bond was uncaged, bringing us closer than I ever thought possible.
“I never lost hope that I’d find you, Spitfire. Never—”
“We will always find each other,” I answered, sealing my promise with a kiss that broke the fabric of time itself.
I moved to straddle Daxton’s hips, pushing him onto his back as I continued to kiss him. My mate’s hands migrated over my curves, with his fingers digging into my skin, leaving marks where only his hands were allowed to hold me.
A deep-seated hunger—no, a need—began forming.
An instinct to claim him.
Our kiss deepened as sensual desire ignited through the bond. I moaned into Daxton’s mouth as he ravaged my body with his rough hands, his growing length pulsating against the apex between my thighs.
“I need to claim you,” I said, rising up. “Remove your armor.”
A dark chuckle of approval shone within his menacing gleam. “Yes, Alpha.” Daxton quickly stripped himself bare.
I moved to straddle him once more, drinking in the rippled muscles and scars of my battle-hardened warrior king.
I firmly grasped the base of his shaft as I traced the tip of his cock against my clit, teasing us both, savoring the build-up of heat.
“Yes,” he groaned, his eyes mimicking liquid silver. “Use me. I’m yours.”
Daxton sat up, gripping my ass with one hand to hold me in place as he worshiped my breasts, sucking on one pebbled peak before migrating to the other. I reached out and roughly tugged on the back of his hair, bending to devour his delicious lips.
I moaned as I broke our kiss, tasting the fevered flesh along his neck before nibbling on the base of his ear as I whispered, “I love you.”
“Oh, Spitfire,” Daxton rasped, his voice heavy with desire.
“Love doesn’t come close to describing the depth of my devotion to you.
” He grasped my chin between his thumb and forefinger, commanding my stare.
“I could live a thousand lifetimes, conquer a million different worlds, and be granted the might of the Gods themselves. But none… none of these compare to one day, one night, not even one second, that I’m gifted with your presence. ”
I inhaled a sharp breath as a flood of emotions burst through the bond, the word “love” falling short of what we truly felt.
“You’re my salvation, Daxton,” I said. “You’re my everything.”
I leaned in and kissed him. The depth of our love screamed down the bond, so loudly that even those at the crossing to the afterlife could hear us.
I needed him inside me. Needed him to stretch and fill me like no other male could. I needed him to—
Fuck. I needed him to finally claim me as his mate.
Daxton sucked in a breath as I re-took control, pressing him flat onto his back as I moved to sheathe his length in one swift movement. Gripping his shoulders, I rolled my hips, watching my mate’s eyes shine a brilliant silver.
And still, I wanted more.
Daxton released a deep moan as I increased our pace.
His hips bucked to meet my fevered hunger.
Our thriving bodies worked in perfect sync as waves of pleasure rolled through the bond.
Still, we fought to be closer, to meet each other in a place of openness and pure bliss that we could only achieve together.
My release was building as Daxton’s grip held me in place. His hips thrust in a euphoric rhythm with my own, taking my breath away as my core began to simmer into a raging inferno.
“Dax,” I moaned, moving against him, my pleasure escalating higher and higher. “Daxton.” My release tore through me as Daxton continued to ram his cock to the hilt. “Don’t… Don’t stop,” I pleaded, waves of pleasure building once more.
“Not planning on it,” Daxton growled in a dark, heavy voice.
“Good,” I rasped, gripping his hands and pinning them over his head, moving atop his lap as I resumed our pace.
I raked my teeth over the base of Daxton’s neck, my phoenix sending wave after wave of power through my body, causing my limbs to tingle until they trembled with the combined height of power and blissful pleasure.
“Are you ready?” I whispered into Daxton’s ear. The power between us was rising and dancing to the melody of our bond.
“Claim me, Spitfire,” Daxton said.
My grip on his wrists tightened as I held him in place. Clenching my thighs, I sat down, seating his cock deep inside me, raking my teeth along the side of Daxton’s neck.
“You’re mine,” I growled as I bit into his flesh.
The heated iron liquid of Daxton’s blood rushed across my tongue in sweet satisfaction. My mate groaned beneath me as he came.
My magic sank into the mark on his neck, sealing our bond and my everlasting claim of Daxton Aegaeon as mine.
Dax’s groans of pleasure continued as I released my hold on his wrists, allowing him to clutch onto my hips and pump his release farther into me, feeling our connection transcend what we held before my claiming mark.
I released my bite, leaning back to admire the mark that I would make sure to re-stake whenever the opportunity presented itself. I slid from Daxton’s lap, and he rose up and grasped the base of my neck, kissing me like a maddened male in search of a cure.
“Don’t for one second think we’re done yet, Spitfire.” He huffed a dark laugh as he lay me on my back, drinking in the sight of me. “It’s my turn.”
The prospect of him laying a claiming mark sent a crazed thrill through me that floated through our bond.
Daxton stilled as he hovered over me, bringing my wrist to his lips. “My mark from before is no longer here. I won’t stand for any other imagining they have a chance with you.”
I didn’t realize it until now, but his scar, likely all my scars, had disappeared. The only mark remaining was the three eight-pointed star design, now filled with crimson.
“Please, Daxton,” I said in a breathy whisper. “Claim me.”
A devilish smile crept across his lips. “As you command, my alpha queen.”
I lay back as Daxton’s massive frame towered over me. Gods be damned, we’d fought to get here. We’d earned the right to finally claim each other.
Daxton positioned himself between my open thighs, lowering himself to run his tongue along my clit before his fingers slipped inside.
“Daxton,” I rasped as he devoured me, his fingers curling in just the right way to make me see stars.
“That’s right, my queen,” Daxton purred against me. “Say my name again. Scream it loud enough so the whole fucking world knows who you belong to.”
“Daxton!” I cried out as the build-up spiraled through me, teetering on the edge.
My mate pulled back, licking his fingers as his eyes traced over my naked body spread out before him. “Fuck, you’re perfection, Skylar.”
“When you claim me,” I said between rapid breaths, “the heat will likely settle in, and—”
“I’m aware,” Daxton said with a grin, moving over me.
“The need to take you will be all-consuming.” Daxton’s voice dropped, sending trickles of anticipation up my spine as he slowly kissed my lower stomach.
“The need to satisfy my instinct to take you will be so intense that we won’t have much sanity once under its sway. ”
“Do fae experience this?” I asked.
“We call it a frenzy,” he said, a low possessive growl sounding in his throat as he looked me over. “I’m already feeling the effects of the bond, and I’m ready to take you again, my spitfire.”
My eyes darted between us, heat pooling in my core, biting my lip at the sight of his length hardening.
“I’m warning you,” he growled, grasping my chin and forcing my gaze back to him. “I’ll be unhinged when it comes to you, Skylar. More than I already am.”
My heart skipped as my phoenix sang in delight, approving of this male.
“I’m ready,” I said.
Wetness dribbled along my inner thighs at the anticipation of him claiming me. Daxton’s eyes darkened as he kissed me, adjusting his hips as he slowly, ever so fucking slowly, slid his cock into me—my body quivering with pleasure beneath him.
“You’re mine,” Daxton said as he thrust his hips forward, slamming to the hilt.
Arching my back, I moaned, clutching onto his shoulders as his teeth grazed over the base of my neck. His hot breath sent a trickle of pleasure radiating through my core, the anticipation of his mark driving me wild.
“Dax—” I pleaded as he opened his mouth, biting down onto my neck.
A wild rush of magic flowed through Daxton’s bite as pleasure, not pain, soared through me.
His hips bucked hard against me, each thrust sending me higher.
I moved with him, his teeth still buried in my flesh as the magic continued to build between us, heightening everything.
I fisted his hair, closing my eyes as I gave into the pull, allowing our magic to blend together, accepting his mark, and submitting, only to him.
My orgasm tore through me as my inner walls clenched around his pulsing cock. Daxton raised up; lips stained a beautiful crimson with wild silver flashing in his eyes. He grabbed my hips and pounded into me, roaring as he came, his chest heaving as I quivered beneath him.
Ice coated the ground beneath us as fire blazed along my fingers, bending when I reached out to touch him.
Daxton opened his eyes to meet mine as a wave of power vibrated between us.
Our bond was unbreakable.
Daxton was mine, and I was his.