Chapter 36
THALRIC
Desire floods my veins as I capture her mouth with my own. Crushing her to my chest, I stroke my tongue against hers, desperate to claim her entirely.
She moans as her body molds against mine, the heat of her center pressing directly against my length. I long to sink deep into her body.
Gods help me, but I am lost as her hands slide over my shoulders, her blunt nails digging into my skin. Primal instincts surge through me and press her back against the wall. I groan as she wraps her legs around my waist, her hips arching into mine.
My stav is painfully hard and erect, straining against the thin barrier of fabric separating us.
My knot expands, throbbing with a need so intense it nearly drives me mad.
Grinding myself shamelessly against her, I nearly lose myself entirely when her breath hitches and she breathes my name out like a prayer.
“Aurora,” I rasp, my voice rough with desire as she tightens her legs around me, locking her ankles at the base of my spine, pulling me even closer.
Her body is soft and yielding even as she clings to me, demanding more. Everything in me demands that I mark her, and claim her fully, sinking my fangs into the tender flesh at her throat and filling her with my essence, branding her as my mate.
She is mine. Only mine. Always mine.
But beneath this intense need burns a painful truth. Her life is not truly hers or mine. If I claim her… if I take her fully and give in to this primal need, she risks everything.
I drag my mouth from hers with a tortured groan, pressing my forehead against hers as I struggle to control my ragged breathing. Her sweet, intoxicating scent floods my senses, her warmth seeping into my skin.
Gritting my fangs, my resolve nearly breaks as she looks up at me, her eyes glazed, and her lips swollen from our kisses.
“Thalric.” She presses a tender kiss to my lips. “I don’t care about the curse. I only want you.”
The words are a blade to my heart. I cup her cheek and stare deep into her honey-brown eyes. Every fiber of my being screams at me to hold her tighter, to never let her go.
But I know it cannot be.
“You are my savryl—my cherished one, Aurora.” My voice catches, choked by the weight of the truth. “But we cannot do this.”
My heart clenches as her eyes shimmer with tears.
“Auri,” I whisper brokenly, pressing my lips against her forehead. “I want so desperately to take you as my mate, but I cannot. I must protect you… even from myself.”
I force myself to pull away. “Forgive me,” I whisper, turning toward the balcony, my body shaking with the effort it takes to walk away from her.
I leave before she can speak, wings heavy with the ache of everything I cannot say.
The rain is cold against my skin as I step into the storm. As hard as it is to leave her, I know it would be harder still if I gave into my emotions and took her as my mate, only for her to succumb to the curse because of my selfish actions.
Clenching my jaw, I spread my wings wide and launch myself into the darkness.
Even if she cannot truly be mine, I am hers, completely and irrevocably. And nothing—not time, duty, nor fate itself—can ever alter that truth.