Chapter 45
Itugged the hood of the cloak up higher, hiding my silver hair. Pine needles dusted the ground, and I jogged forward, careful to avoid any fallen twigs lest I give away my position. Vaeron already had an easy enough time with our bond leading him straight to me.
My heart beat a staccato rhythm against my ribs. A wild melody sang in my veins. It was so wrong, wanting him to hunt me like this again.
And yet heat spread through my center even as I ran.
We were far enough from the camp now that no one would disturb us either.
I slid between two trees, pausing to catch my breath. I’d thrown up a barrier between us so he couldn’t peek into my mind and discern my location through my eyes. Yet I still sensed him closing in.
This chase wouldn’t last as long as my flight from Ithuriel’s manor in the south.
A crack rent the air, and I whirled, finding a hare bounding away. I crept forward again, using what little moonlight spilled through the branches overhead to scan between the trunks. My breath frosted the air in front of me.
“Little fugitive,” Vaeron crooned.
I froze, searching for the source of his voice.
But nothing moved in the distance. At my back. At my sides.
I dragged my gaze up, up, up. White teeth flashed in the night as he offered me a predatory grin from a high branch in the tree I hid beneath.
A small scream tore from my throat, and I sprinted forward. His laugh followed, along with a heavy thud. I reached out an arm, snagging rough bark, and flung myself around the pine, trying to throw him off my trail.
A smile spread across my face as I ducked under a low branch and scrambled up a crag. I was grateful I’d changed all of my clothes then—the pristine white would have been ruined from the dirt and moss covering the rock.
I reached the top, taking a quick survey of my surroundings before bolting again. But I was exposed, no vegetation growing atop the stone.
Vaeron landed in front of me, massive white wings spread wide. Sinister delight glinted in his glacial iris, the purple hidden by shadow. He looked like an omen of death, all sharp contrasts and the promise of violence.
I skidded to a stop, pebbles flying. He reached for me, and I twisted, all the dancing I’d been doing aiding my agility. His feathers brushed against me as I continued my spiral around him, then sprinted toward the trees once again.
But as I reached them, all the air around me sucked backward.
My eyes widened even as excitement crashed through me like thunder. His Command cracked through the night.
“STOP.”
I did, nearly falling over myself as his thrall took hold of me. Warmth spread through my limbs, held in place by his mighty power. Our bond purred in my chest as the distance between us closed.
“Sylaira, Sylaira, Sylaira,” he crooned, jogging to my side. “I can feel how much you like this.” He stepped behind me, his arms wrapping around my waist.
His magic fell away, and I gasped as his hold tightened. I was pinned against him—and I liked it. My hood fell back, and his nose traced the side of my neck.
“It’s far less fun when our bond pulls me in your direction. But fuck, the thrill of chasing you is more intoxicating than the strongest sape.”
I whimpered as his teeth grazed my pulse point. “Please, Vaeron.”
“Please what?” One hand drifted lower until he cupped my needy center.
“Fuck me.”
A dark laugh rumbled against my back. “Oh, I will, little fugitive.” He lifted me, carrying me into the trees where a thick blanket splayed across a bed of pine needles.
“How did you–”
“I told you I would never let you run from me again unless I knew I could catch you. And I am the realm’s finest hunter. I know exactly how to corral my prey.”
He settled us on the blanket, his arm still banded around me like he thought I’d try to escape again. Little did he know how much arousal pooled between my thighs. My whole body was tense with anticipation.
I tugged at the ties of my cloak, letting it fall against him. He freed it, then traced my ribs with the back of his knuckles. A shudder swept through me.
“So fucking perfect for me,” he rasped, finding the buttons of my jacket and working them off. I missed the strength of him caging me when he had to use both hands to free it.
But that must have signaled my willingness to stay, because he helped me to my feet, spinning me to face him. Moonlight shone in his eyes, the stormy lavender cast in sharp relief.
With predatory slowness, he peeled my jacket off, letting it fall to the ground with my cloak. He removed his own, his eyes never leaving me.
One knee, then the other hit the ground. Reverent hands swept over my curves until he pulled my boots off. He lifted my tunic and tossed that away too, pressing kisses along my stomach. My chest heaved against the bind of my breasts, nipples peaking in the cold.
And yet I only shivered from his feather-light touch. From the gentle way he cradled me when all I wanted was for him to be rough.
Once I was only in my undergarments, he groaned, drinking in the sight of me. “You are a Goddess. The Goddess. There is no other explanation as to why you are the very image of beauty.”
My breath hitched as he memorized the shape of me again.
“Lie back and let down your hair.”
Without breaking his gaze, I did, propping myself on my elbows. He stripped out of his own clothes with that same arduous, deliberate pace. Like we had all the time in the worlds for this moment of worship of one another.
His body covered mine, fevered against my flesh. When he rolled his hips, letting me feel every inch of him, I whimpered. He captured my lips again, our kiss passionate and unhurried.
But I wanted more.
I tangled my fingers in his hair, arching into him. A growl rumbled in his powerful chest. His teeth raked over my lower lip, drawing a hint of blood. Metal filled our mouths as our tongues tangled in a complex dance that flowed without misstep.
Light spilled out of him, cocooning us in a bubble all to ourselves—just like when he’d claimed me. The war, the Demons, the treason, all of it fell away as I lost myself in my mate.
Breathless, I tugged his face away from mine. But he wasn’t done kissing me. His mouth closed over my pulse, tongue and teeth laving at the spot. My nails raked along his bare skin. Pleasure flooded our bond as our touches turned frenetic.
Vaeron reared back, a lock of iron-gray hair falling over the scar that bisected his eyebrow. His fingers hooked in my underwear, and he rolled them down my legs. White tendrils with a thread of black slipped under the bind around my breasts and released them until I was fully bare to my mate.
His focus snagged on my glistening center. “So wet for me. Did you like that chase?”
“Yes,” I replied, unashamed of how thoroughly it had warmed my blood.
“What about when I Commanded you?” His fingertips traced the inside of my thigh.
My core clenched, giving away my answer. His dark laugh brought pebbles to my skin. “That’s what I thought.”
The air in our cocoon wavered. His chest expanded. And then he spoke another.
“OPEN YOUR LEGS.”
They fell apart into a deep butterfly. Yet only my lower half was bound to obey him. So I reached a hand forward and swiped it through my wetness.
Vaeron captured my wrist and licked my fingers clean. “More divine than Goddess fruit.” He released me, kneeling on the blanket between my thighs. His hot breath ghosted across my sensitive flesh. “But it’s far better directly from the source.”
He sucked my clit between his teeth, and it was only because I was frozen by his magic that I remained on the ground. Every sensation was heightened. The scrape of his beard. The flick of his tongue. The tightening of his fingers.
My head lolled back as I surrendered to the rainstorm of pleasure my mate delivered.
He added one finger, and my center pulsed around it. “More,” I panted.
Another digit slipped in, filling me further. The chill of the night slipped away, replaced by the heat of sex. His mouth worked faster, swiping my slit while his fingers curled against my walls. He flattened his tongue and lapped.
“Vaeron.” His name was half plea, half prayer. Because he was the God of my pleasure; no one else could ever deliver it like him.
He broke away from my center, his gaze capturing mine while his fingers worked faster.
“OBEY.”
The fabric of my being leaped to meet his magic. Every piece of him wrapped around every piece of me. And I fucking loved it, loved being trapped under his thrall.
“Open your mouth.”
I did, not even trying to fight the magic.
“Good girl,” he purred, the heel of his palm grinding into my clit. A gasp fled my open lips. “Now come.”
An orgasm detonated inside me, white blinding my vision. My walls clenched around his fingers while ecstasy ricocheted up my spine.
Had I known he could use his Command for that…
“That’s it, keep coming,” he crooned.
Pleasure was a tidal wave, crashing and retreating and crashing and retreating. Time obliterated as bliss consumed me, leaving pebbles dusting my skin.
Vaeron’s fingers exited me, and he shoved them into my mouth. “Suck.” My lips closed around him, and I tasted myself as he pulled them out. “Open.”
With the hold his Command had over me, I couldn’t even speak. My body was his to manipulate as he saw fit.
And I dripped for it.
“On your knees.”
I sat up, perching obediently beneath him as he rose. He fisted his cock, pumping it from root to tip. My mouth—still wide—watered. Arousal gushed from between my thighs, soaking my calves and the blanket beneath me.
“Stick out your tongue.”
I did, and he ran the head along it, wetting it. Then, he eased inside, hitting the back of my throat. I gagged, and he retreated, only to do it again.
“You take my cock so well, Sylaira,” he praised. “Now close your lips around me. I want to feel every inch of it on my dick.”
My tongue ran along the underside of his length as he pushed into my throat again. My nostrils flared as I struggled to breathe through the fullness in my mouth. His fingers threaded in my hair, taking control of my movements while he fucked into me.
The primal groans spilling out of him only heightened my enjoyment. I looked up through my lashes at his rapturous expression, and I savored the power I held over him. I might have been under his Command, but he was utterly gone for me.
I moaned too, and he swore, his balls tightening. “I’m not going to last if you do that.”
So I repeated it when he was all the way in my throat. His pace quickened as he chased his release. Pleasure pounded from him into me and me into him. He chanted my name like he’d forgotten anything else existed.
His dick jerked against my tongue, and he pulled back, chest heaving. No ice blue or stormy purple remained in his eyes, completely swallowed by black. He stared down at me, limbs trembling as he fought for a semblance of control. “On your back.”
My body obeyed—not that my mind would have objected. I was wound tight from how he’d used my mouth, and I wanted nothing more than to feel every thick inch of him inside me.
I parted my legs, wetness sliding down my thighs.
He wasted no time lining himself up with me and spearing inside.
A cry had me arching off the ground as he split me, his fingers no real preparation for his size.
But it was the best kind of ache as he started to move, his skin slapping against mine.
“TOUCH YOURSELF.”
The Command came through clenched teeth. My fingers slipped to my clit, circling the way I liked. My other hand found my breast and rolled my nipple.
Vaeron growled his approval. “You’re going to come again for me, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” I whimpered, his cock hitting the deepest part of me.
“NOT UNTIL I SAY,” he purred, pace quickening.
My movements slowed at his power’s compulsion, keeping me on the edge of bliss. I pleaded with him to let me shatter, but he held me there, gaze dark and hungry.
“I love you, Sylaira. In this life and all our others.”
“I love you too, Vaeron.”
“Then come with me,” he gritted out. His cock slammed into me one last time, all the way to the hilt. A cry ripped from my throat, and ecstasy flooded my veins. My walls pulsed; his cock throbbed.
Pleasure engulfed our bond, until I didn’t know where my side ended and his began. We were one, bound for eternity.
One perfect circle between our shoulder blades, a symbol for all the world to see us as mates.
One soul split into two bodies.
As my orgasm flashed through me, I wanted nothing more than to have a million moments like this. Panting, I came down, vision adjusting to the dark alpine forest once more.
Vaeron cradled me in his arms, pressing gentle kisses to my temple. “You did so well, little fugitive.”
His praise curled around me, sinking beneath my flesh and caressing my soul.
With a groan, he exited me, leaving me bereft. From a bag I hadn’t noticed before, he pulled out a waterskin and a cloth, wetting it before cleaning me. A shiver wracked my frame and he collected me against his bare skin, the heat from him enveloping me. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” I murmured, eyes heavy. Satiated from two powerful orgasms and exhausted from the exhilarating chase, all I wanted was to sleep.
Vaeron snaked out more of his magic, gathering our clothes and dressing me. He slung the bag and rolled blanket over his shoulders, then scooped me into his arms. Wings sprang from his back, and I took a moment to study them for any signs of change.
Thankfully, there were none. Unlike the white in his primary power, his eyes, or his hair.
“Let’s get you home.” Vaeron shot into the air, and my breath caught in my throat. But I snuggled into him, content to let him carry me back to the camp with how boneless my limbs were.
Fires dotted the ground beneath us as we returned to the central command building. When we landed at the doors, no one was around to witness our return. I slipped my hand into Vaeron’s as he led us up two flights of stairs to a small room at the end of the hall.
A low laugh rumbled in his chest after he closed the door behind us.
“What?” I asked, head tilting to the side.
He reached into my hair and pulled out a pine needle. “This.”
I swept my locks over my shoulders, frowning when I found two more leaves tucked into the tangles. “Perhaps I need a proper bath.”
“Tomorrow,” he crooned, tugging me toward the bed. “For now, I want to hold you.”
We quickly shed our clothes, and I dove under the blanket to chase away the chill. When he wrapped himself around me, I sighed, savoring his embrace.
“Vaeron?” I whispered into the dark.
“Yes, little fugitive?”
“Promise me something.”
“Anything.”
My eyes closed. Sleep crept on the edges of my awareness. “That you’ll never stop pursuing me.”
“Never, Sylaira. Never.”