Epilogue
Serenya
Kael carried me into the bed like he was afraid I’d try to escape him, but there was no running from the need pooling low in my belly. The portal slid shut behind us, sealing out responsibilities, Skarashk colony ships, politics, and anything that wasn’t us.
Here, there was only warmth, the glow of our kethra, and the desire flowing between us.
He set me on the blankets with a gentleness that stole my breath. His silver eyes reflected our red glow, dragging over every part of me until I trembled.
“You’re staring.”
My voice was a whisper, but the self-consciousness I’d had before was gone.
His lips spread, teeth flashing.
“You’re mine.”
He said it like that was explanation enough. His voice was rougher than usual, and I shivered as he crawled overtop me.
“It’s been too long since I had you.”
My core throbbed. We had only been apart a short time, and then I’d sat with him as he worked, but ever since we bonded, hours felt like forever.
I reached, curling my fingers around the back of his neck.
“Then take me.”
His control slipped. I felt the flood of heat, devotion, and possession, before his mouth claimed mine. He settled over me, braced on his forearms, hips cradled between my thighs.
It wasn’t close enough.
I wrapped my legs around him and arched against his chest. The kiss was slow at first, coaxing, then my lips parted and he deepened it, his tongue stroking against mine in a way that made my toes curl. The roughness of it was still a thrill, the split tip exotic.
His tail slid along my calf, curling around it in possessive loops that made me squeeze him closer. I was desperate to feel him inside me, to be as close as we could get, bond open and sharing it all.
We finally broke apart for air, Kael growling as he trailed his lips down my throat, slow enough to make me tremble. When he reached his bite mark, he slowed even more, hands sliding under my thighs to tilt my hips so he could drag his shaft through my folds as he sucked on my flesh.
I cried out, head pressing into the bed as each little ridge on the bottom of his shaft bumped over my clit.
Our link sent sparks through me as he did it again, adding the scrape of teeth over the sensitized skin. Everything else disappeared, until my world revolved around Kael’s breath on my skin and the weight of him over me.
His hand traced up my ribs, thumb grazing over my nipple and making me squeak. He smiled against my skin as he did it again, and I tossed my head with a moan.
“You keep making those sounds, and I won’t be able to stop until the ship enters Earth orbit.”
I shivered, slick spilling from me as I bit my lip and took hold of his ridges. I used them to pull his head up until I could meet his molten gaze.
“Do you promise?”
His breath shuddered out in a snarl and he moved lower, sucking my nipple into his mouth before I knew what was happening. He thrust his hips at the same time, and I bowed off the bed, the sensations making my thighs shake as the tension in my core increased.
I was already on the verge of coming, but I needed him inside me first.
“Please, Kael. I need you.”
He groaned, switching to suckle on my other nipple as his hips pulled away. I whined at the loss, missing the length of him spreading my lower lips, until there was pressure at both of my entrances.
His mouth moved back up to mine, lips demanding before he pulled away and pushed my hair from my face. I blinked up at him, holding my breath.
“Tell me you’re mine.”
Smiling, I pressed my heels to the backs of his thighs as I clutched his shoulders.
“For as long as you’re mine.”
His kethra flashed, eyes reflecting the light as he leaned down to nuzzle his mark.
“The bond is eternal, veyrari. My eth is yours, forever.”
My breath caught, throat clogging. I’d been teasing, but eth was soul, and I knew he meant it.
“Then I’m yours forever.”
I’d expected him to thrust into me in a rush, but as he claimed my mouth once again, he filled me slowly.
Inch by agonizing inch, he stretched me open, my walls fluttering around him, until the swell of his knot met my entrance.
His tail pushed into my other opening at the same slow pace, invading until I felt stuffed.
He paused there, gently rocking, until my body relaxed. When he began to move, he took me slow and deep, grinding into me until I was gasping and trembling beneath him, a mess of twisted nerves and tangled desire.
“Give me your sehl’ar, veyrari.”
The next thrust was deeper, his knot stretching my opening until it burned. I whimpered with the next one, trembling on the edge, and when his knot popped through, locking behind my pelvis, I came with a scream.
Kael roared over me, his release taking him at the same time, his shaft twitching inside me as his knot kept everything locked within. It went on and on, the connection between us flooded with our pleasure, until we were too tired to keep going.
Kael rolled so I lay draped over his body, his heartbeat thundering beneath my ear as we caught our breath. He stroked my spine, bringing me back down and grounding me. Piecing me back together after shattering me into as many pieces as there were stars.
“We will return to Earth soon,” he murmured into my hair. “There will be council meetings, and politics, and Humans seeking to learn what you know of us. If it gets to be too much, you can tell me. You can stay on the Zeydrassk, and I’ll handle it.”
Lifting my head, I met his gaze with a smile.
“We are tavehn. Where you go, I go.”
His eyes softened in a way I’d never seen before, and his kethra flared bright as the bond thrummed in my chest. Taking hold of my head, he leaned forward and kissed me, flooding me with more feelings than I could interpret while his tongue did wicked things to my mouth.
Wrapped in Kael’s arms, the future wasn’t what I’d pictured it would be, but it wasn’t frightening.
It wasn’t controlled by anyone else, and it was full of possibilities.
I looked forward to taking my place at his side, facing the UEC together, and helping future women who chose to be Claimed by the Morrak.
The End!