Chapter 47
Did I need Vaeron?
The question lingered like the fog in the forest. I desired him, without a doubt. I had for a long time. Though I wasn’t sure when it had shifted past the pull of our fated connection.
Probably every time he’d demonstrated his willingness to risk himself for me.
And now throwing a trial by light just to keep me safe? When the Goddess could strike him down for subverting Her holy order?
That was monumental.
Hate had imbued my bones from the moment our bond solidified—before, even. Yet now, seeing him cracked open like lightning through the sky, shattered what remnants of animosity still lingered in my soul.
“Yes, Vaeron.” The words quaked in my throat, and I swallowed around the thickness budding there. “I need you.”
The line between his brows softened. Down our bond, relief washed like a rainstorm.
“Come here,” he murmured, rising and gripping the backs of my arms. Pebbles broke out across my flesh as he guided me into his sleeping chamber. Everything blurred by in my periphery, for there was only one place I could focus.
On my mate.
Air ghosted over my skin as he kicked the door shut behind him. Without looking away from me, he locked it too.
“Nothing and no one is going to interrupt this moment.” One knee, then the other, hit the floor like he was preparing to worship at a holy altar. Even with him kneeling, his head was only slightly below mine.
His large, imposing frame made me feel protected in all the right ways.
“This bond…” He rubbed the spot over the center of his chest—where his magic well rested. A mirror feeling burned in the undulating white of mine. I flattened my palm there, my heart beating a staccato rhythm.
Vaeron dragged in a shuddering breath. “I cannot wait any longer to claim you. After tonight, everything became clear to me. But I won’t touch you like that unless you want it too. I would never hurt you in that way.”
The chain linking us twisted a tight circle like it wouldn’t release us from this moment until it got what it wanted.
Most mates couldn’t keep their hands off each other once their brands seared their backs. But with everything that had happened between the Issaraeth and me—the hunting, my broken knee, his betrayal—surrendering to that final act had been impossible.
Its denial had been incredibly painful too.
The image of him punching Herr Elyriane rose from the depths of my mind. As Elessarum, I should have condemned such an act. But I couldn’t find it within me to muster any condemnation. In fact, his public display of possession…made me want to give in.
To let him claim me fully, to join our bodies as one.
Even though I knew the act would demolish the last peaceful piece of me.
Even though I knew my soul would be irrevocably changed afterward.
Even though I knew that by coupling with Vaeron, I was betraying the memory of my parents, of the other Elessarum who had died to keep me out of the crown’s clutches.
I wanted him. Needed him. And that truth made me ache.
So I nodded, even though I knew it was a vow that I would be held to for the rest of my life.
“I need your words, Sylaira,” he crooned, his grip on me tightening.
“I want you, Vaeron,” I told him on a single breath. “I am ready.”
And I was, truly. I was so, so tired of fighting. Of resisting him. Of resisting what I desired too.
I scarcely had a moment to take in his relief before he swept me into a bruising kiss. Our mouths clashed—raw and ravaging. He bowed my back, farther and farther until I had to cling to his tunic to anchor myself amid the storm.
Tongue swiping against tongue, chest pressed against chest, he held me—possessed me.
His need flooded our connection. Mine surged too as he backed me toward his bed. A flash of worry about my leg shot through the haze of my lust, but before I could so much as voice the concern, white ribboned around my frame and lifted me.
Vaeron stood, chest heaving, as his magic settled me like something scared in the center of his expansive mattress. The plush comfort cocooned me, but the light didn’t dissipate. Instead, the tendrils crept beneath my clothes, caressing my skin.
Pebbles scattered out across the surface. My breath hitched as his power circled my nipples and tightened. “Oh!” I gasped at the sensation.
My mate didn’t move. But the hunger in his eyes darkened, until the ice of his pupils had all but melted. Radiance continued to work me as his calloused fingers traveled the length of his torso, removing his formal attire.
Muscles carved by a brutal sculptor emerged as the black fabric fell to the floor. My gaze drew directly to his hardness, peeking out of the tops of his trousers and perfectly framed by a deep V in his abdominals.
There was no doubt in my mind that Vaeron was a dangerous, dangerous male. And even more so to me.
And here I was, choosing him. Choosing to share my body in such an intimate, irrevocable way. Damn the costs.
Seams of light lifted the hem of my linen shirt, and I sat up long enough for his magic to pull it over my head. The bind around my breasts fell away next. Despite minimal exertion, sweat beaded my skin.
It was simply the way my mate drank me in that caused me to heat from the inside out.
“So fucking beautiful,” he murmured, transfixed. I blushed, and he leaned forward, knuckles caressing the back of my cheek. “After all this time…I don’t know if I can be gentle. I don’t know if I can hold myself back, Sylaira. I need you to tell me if it’s too much.”
His power tightened around my upper arms. My core fluttered like a thousand beating wings.
A smirk rose to his lips. “But perhaps you like that idea. I already know being restrained makes you drip for me.”
I couldn’t deny it. Not after what had occurred between us in that closet.
“I’m not a virgin,” I told him, fingers itching to reach out and trace each firm line of him.
His nostrils flared, expression darkening. “How many?” The words bit out of him.
“A few,” I whispered, though the fury radiating from him made it feel like a confession of a sin.
The muscles of his neck bulged. His fists tightened in the sheets. “Then I will have to erase each one from your mind, little fugitive. Because you belong only to me.”
With a low, feral sound, his lips crashed into mine, all teeth and violent tongue. I kissed him back, our bare chests brushing. More of his power flared between us, and our bond crashed open like it could no longer contain the flood of our desire.
His every need—to control, to protect, to claim—slammed into me, stealing my breath.
With a furious jerk, he pulled back, mouth going to my breast and biting. A cry tore out of me, only to be tempered when he licked over the sore spot. With undeniable expertise, he swirled my nipple into his mouth. Wetness seeped from my center as he dragged his teeth along the sensitive bud.
“Vaeron,” I panted, trying to rise but unable to shift from how the glow cradled me.
“I do love hearing you say my name. Especially like that,” he groaned, moving to the other side and delivering an equal measure of sensual sensation.
Once I was a quivering mess, he relented, straightening to his full height. With a twist of his hand, he had me completely flat on his bed, my entire upper torso restrained.
His fingers skimmed my ribs, then hooked in the waistband of my pants. I lifted my hips in silent permission to remove them. In one smooth motion, he did, and then I was completely bare to my mate.
I dropped my knees out wide, showing him how drenched my center was. A rough curse slipped out of him. More white leaped forth, binding my legs to the blankets.
Never had I felt so vulnerable with Vaeron. Never had I been more aroused. Yet no shame rose. No despair. No guilt.
I’d made my choice, and I was owning it.
When he shucked off his pants, revealing all of himself to me, my mouth watered.
Goddess, he was huge. Long, with a head shaped to perfection and already weeping for me. A slight curve that promised untold pleasure.
I wasn’t inexperienced in the ways of sex. I knew what I liked. But never had I been with someone of his size.
And with his body?
I’d be ruined for all other males after this.
He returned to the mattress, stormwood and smoke filling my nostrils as he scooted toward me. Two fingers tugged on my lower lip, then trailed from my chin to my sternum, where our magic coiled. “All mine,” he growled, the possessiveness in his tone rolling a shiver down my spine.
My power leaped to the surface, meeting his touch. Our bond purred in contentment.
With a featherlight caress, he trailed lower until his fingers rested mere inches from where I so desperately wanted to be filled.
He inhaled deeply. “Your scent. There is nothing in all the worlds like it.”
His praise pooled molten heat in my center.
He gripped himself then, lining up with my entrance. His head swiped through the slickness, eliciting a groan. “Fuck, you’re soaked.”
“Please,” gasped out of me as he circled my clit, sending sparks scattering through my veins. His gaze dragged up my body like he was searing each piece of me into his memory. When our eyes collided and he stilled, so fucking close to pushing inside me, I ceased breathing.
“Tell me if it’s too much,” he ground out through whatever restraint remained. If I hadn’t been pinned down, I would have already lifted my hips to meet his.
“I will,” I panted.
Vaeron entered me in one harsh stroke. A scream shredded my throat, but it was nothing compared to the way he rearranged the entire architecture of my being.
Blinding light drowned my vision, blocking out all sensation other than how his cock split me apart.
A roar reverberated in my ears—deep, velvety, and masculine.
A divine storm billowed inside me, sacred, unstoppable, and entirely his.
Because this wasn’t just a claiming. No, it was a divine union. Two souls becoming one. An irrevocable change of who I was. Who I would be.