Chapter 20 #3
"Beautiful," he breathed, his hands cupping my breasts, thumbs brushing over nipples that were already hard and aching. "So fucking beautiful."
I arched into his touch, a whimper escaping my throat. Heat pooled low in my belly, wetness gathering between my thighs. I'd never felt need like this—raw and consuming and absolutely overwhelming.
"Please," I gasped, not even sure what I was begging for.
He knew.
His mouth closed over one nipple, hot and wet, tongue circling before he sucked hard enough to make me cry out. His hand worked the other breast, rolling and pinching, sending jolts of pleasure straight to my core.
I ground against him, feeling his cock slide against my wetness, the friction making us both groan.
"Fuck," he breathed, his control visibly fraying. "You're so wet for me already."
"Yes," I panted, my hips moving of their own accord, seeking more pressure, more friction, more everything. "Please, Ahrick, I need—"
He lifted me with ease, turned us, laid me back on the bed. His body covered mine, all that powerful muscle and heat pressing me into the mattress. I felt every inch of him—the hard planes of his chest, the ridges of his abdomen, and his cock, thick and hard, pressing against my entrance.
"Are you sure?" he asked one more time, his voice strained with the effort of holding back. "Once we do this—"
"Yes." I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him closer. "I want this. I want you. All of you."
He kissed me again—deeper this time, slower, like he was trying to pour everything he felt into this one moment. His hand slid between us, fingers finding my clit, circling with just the right pressure.
I gasped, my back arching off the bed. "Oh god—"
"So responsive," he murmured against my throat, his fingers moving lower, sliding through my wetness. "So ready for me."
He pushed one finger inside, then two, stretching me, preparing me. I was already trembling, already so close to the edge just from his touch.
"Please," I begged, my nails digging into his shoulders. "I need you inside me. Now."
A low growl rumbled through his chest. He positioned himself at my entrance, the head of his cock pressing against me, and then—
He pushed inside.
Slowly.
Agonizingly slowly.
Stretching me. Filling me. Claiming me.
I cried out, my body adjusting to his size, to the overwhelming sensation of being filled so completely. He was big, and the stretch burned in the best possible way.
"Breathe," he commanded, his voice rough. "Relax for me."
I tried, forcing my muscles to loosen, and he slid deeper. Inch by inch. Until he was fully seated inside me, our bodies joined completely.
"Fuck," he groaned, his forehead pressed against mine. "You feel incredible. So tight. So perfect."
I felt it then—that thread of connection we'd been building since the moment we met.
It pulled tight.
Sang.
Vibrated with power.
His heartbeat thundered against mine—fast and hard and out of sync.
For now.
He started to move—slow, deep strokes that made me gasp with each thrust. His cock dragged against sensitive nerves, sending sparks of pleasure through my entire body.
"More," I begged, my hips rising to meet his. "Harder."
He obliged, his pace increasing, his thrusts becoming more forceful. The sound of our bodies coming together filled the room—wet and obscene and absolutely perfect.
"I love you," he said, his voice rough with emotion and desire. "Love you so fucking much."
"I love you too," I gasped, my nails raking down his back. "Don't stop. Please don't stop."
His hand slid between us again, fingers finding my clit, circling with perfect pressure as he continued to thrust deep inside me.
The pleasure built—higher and higher, coiling tight in my core. I was close, so close, trembling on the edge of something massive.
"That's it," he growled, his pace becoming almost brutal. "Come for me. Let me feel you."
His fingers pressed harder, his cock hitting that perfect spot inside me with each thrust, and then—
I shattered.
My orgasm tore through me with devastating force, my body convulsing around him, my vision whiting out from the intensity. I screamed his name, my hands clutching him with desperate intensity as wave after wave of pleasure crashed over me.
And then—
It happened.
My heart stuttered.
Skipped.
Stopped.
For one terrifying, infinite moment, there was nothing.
No heartbeat. No breath. No life.
Just darkness and silence and the certainty that I was dying, that something had gone wrong, that—
Then—
Thump.
My heart restarted.
But it wasn't alone.
Ahrick's heart beat with mine—perfectly synchronized, perfectly matched, like they'd been doing this forever.
Thump-thump.
Thump-thump.
Thump-thump.
The same rhythm. The same pulse. The same song.
One heart in two bodies.
I gasped, my back arching violently, my entire body flooding with sensation so intense it bordered on pain. The orgasm that had been fading suddenly reignited, stronger than before, fueled by the bond snapping into place.
I felt him.
Not just physically—though that was overwhelming enough, his cock still buried deep inside me, throbbing with his own need.
I felt his emotions. His very essence. His soul twined with mine.
Love. Fierce and protective and absolute and all-consuming.
Relief. That I was safe. That we were together. That we'd survived.
Desire. Raw and primal and desperate, his need for me burning through the bond like wildfire.
And beneath it all—a sense of rightness. Of completion.
"Merrilee." My name on his lips was a prayer. A benediction. A claim.
"I feel you," I whispered, wonder and pleasure mixing in my voice. "I feel everything. Your desire. Your love. Everything."
"I know." His voice was rough with emotion and need. "I feel you too."
He started moving again—harder now, faster, driven by the bond and his own desperate need. Each thrust sent pleasure ricocheting through both of us, amplified by the connection between our souls.
I felt his pleasure as my own—the tight heat of my body around him, the way I clenched with each thrust, the building pressure at the base of his spine.
And he felt mine—the stretch and fullness, the friction against sensitive nerves, the way pleasure coiled tighter and tighter in my core.
"Again," he growled, his hand finding my clit once more. "Come for me again. I want to feel it through the bond."
His fingers worked expertly, his cock hitting that perfect spot with each powerful thrust, and I was helpless to resist. The pleasure built impossibly higher, fed by both our arousal, amplified by the bond until I couldn't tell where I ended and he began.
"Ahrick—" I gasped, my body trembling. "I can't—it's too much—"
"You can," he commanded, his voice rough and dominant. "Come for me. Now."
The orgasm hit like a tidal wave, even more intense than the first. I screamed, my body convulsing violently, my inner muscles clamping down on him so hard he groaned.
He thrust deep one final time, his cock pulsing as he came, filling me with his release. His pleasure crashed through the bond, mixing with mine, creating a feedback loop of sensation so intense I thought I might actually die from it.
We clung to each other, our bodies shaking, our hearts beating in perfect sync, our breath coming in ragged gasps.
His pleasure was mine.
Mine was his.
We were one.
Completely.
Forever.
He collapsed beside me, pulling me against his chest, both of us trembling with aftershocks. His cock was still inside me, softening slowly, and I felt the wetness of his release mixed with mine.
"Fuck," he breathed, his voice shaky. "That was—"
"Incredible," I finished, my own voice barely above a whisper. "I've never felt anything like that."
"The bond amplifies everything," he said, pressing a kiss to my temple. "Every touch. Every sensation. Every emotion."
I could still feel him through the connection—his love, his satisfaction, his absolute contentment. And beneath it all, a possessive pride that made me shiver.
Mine, the bond seemed to whisper. Finally mine.
"Yours," I agreed softly, knowing he felt my response through the connection. "Always yours."
We lay tangled together afterward, our hearts still beating in perfect rhythm, our breath slowly returning to something approaching normal.
I pressed my hand against his chest and felt it—that steady thump-thump that matched my own exactly, perfectly, eternally.
"It's real," I whispered, awe coloring my voice.
"It's real." He covered my hand with his, pressing it harder against his chest. "You're mine now. Forever. No matter what happens."
"And you're mine."
"Yes."
I looked up at him and saw everything I needed to see in his eyes.
Love. Devotion. Certainty. Forever.
"What happens now?" I asked, my voice quiet in the darkness.
"Now?" He pulled me closer, his arms wrapping around me like he could shield me from the entire universe. "Now we leave this planet. We get on that Alliance ship. We go back to Alliance space. We deliver Persico's warning to the Prime and hope she listens."
"And then?"
"And then we figure out the rest together." He pressed a kiss to my forehead, gentle and sweet. "As mates. As partners. As whatever we need to be for each other."
I smiled against his chest, feeling his heartbeat—our heartbeat—steady and strong.
"I like the sound of that."
"Good." His hand stroked down my back in long, soothing movements. "Because you're stuck with me now."
"I can think of worse fates."
He laughed—a real laugh, warm and genuine and free of the shadows that had haunted him for so long.
And I felt it through the bond. Felt his joy and his love and his absolute certainty that this was right, that we were right, that whatever came next, we'd face it together.
I closed my eyes and let myself sink into the feeling.
Into him.
Into us.