21. Rhune
Rhune
I’m woken by a powerful tugging sensation in the center of my chest—as if my heart knows she is near and demands I look upon her. However, no matter how hard I try, I can’t get my gods-damned eyelids to open.
Willow… I want to see my willow…
The last thing I remember is the feeling of her precious necklace clutched in my palm as the portal threatened to tear me limb from limb.
It was stupid of me to travel back to The Far Place as weak as I was, but logic had no place in my decision-making.
I was so desperate to get back to my mate and see her smile that I completely disregarded the limitations of my body. And I almost died because of it.
I would have, if Nyx and Dravik had not come to rescue me when they did. Because of their loyalty, I live to see my mate another cycle. For that, I will always be in their debt.
But first, I need to find a way to open my eyes.
Suddenly, a pair of webbed leathery paws step onto my throat, crushing my windpipe as the creature presses its full weight into me.
At the next moment, its warm, furry lips are shoved into my cheek, a loud snarfling noise accompanying its aggressively twitching nose.
The creature nudges me once, twice, and when that doesn’t work, it opens its mouth wide and nips me—hard.
My adrenaline spikes from the pain, and I’m able to crack my lids open the smallest bit. This makes Sasu very happy, and he lets out a high-pitched chirp before promptly biting my eyebrow.
Love you too, Sasu…
Satisfied that I am alive and thoroughly punished for worrying him, Sasu steps off my throat and trots away, letting out a few more chirps for good measure.
I’m about to try to sit up when something shifts on my chest. Surprised, I glance downward, and my heart leaps to my throat when I notice Willow’s head resting on my chest.
I take a deep breath of her scent, and the bond hums, filling my veins with fire that threatens to consume me. It wants me to take her, to fill her with my seed until her belly is swollen with my pup.
Breathing through my mouth, I try to calm my racing heart, knowing I’m in no state to breed my mate at the moment. But soon…
For now, I’m just happy she felt safe enough to fall asleep on my heart.
Sensing my gaze, Willow stirs, her eyes opening slowly to reveal the most beautiful pair of green eyes. The circle of red stands out starkly against her natural hue, making them appear even more ethereal.
“You’re awake.” Her mouth tips into the barest of smiles. “How do you feel?”
“There are no words to describe it.” Slowly, I raise my good arm, brushing my palm lovingly over her dark brown mane. “You are speaking to me again. Touching me. I have never been happier in all my life.”
Willow’s nose scrunches up in the cutest little expression, and my heart beats wildly against its cage as I resist the urge to crush her against me in a tight embrace. “I mean, how do you feel physically?”
“That hardly matters.” I rake my claws lightly across her scalp, and a shudder runs through Willow’s body. “You are in my arms. Everything is perfect right now.”
Wanting to wrap both arms around her, I attempt to raise my other, but as soon as I move, a wave of agony travels up my shoulder.
I wince, and Willow’s expression morphs to one of concern. “You are still hurting. Let me go get Nyx—”
“No,” I say, my voice hoarse from pain and desperation.
“Please. I don’t… I have been apart from you for so long.
Please don’t leave me.” I don’t care that I sound pathetic—right now, I need her.
If she leaves my side, I’m afraid my heart might just stop beating, and all of this will be for nothing.
“Please, please stay with me, Willow. A little pain is barely anything to deal with as long as I get to hold you.”
She frowns, but nods and lays her head back on my chest. “Okay. I’ll stay, Rhune. But if the pain gets to be too much, you let me know, okay?”
I nod, knowing I will do no such thing. I will die before I ask her to leave me, even for a moment. There is no question about it.
I lay in the furs with Willow for some time, brushing my claws through her beautiful dark mane and enjoying the ecstasy it is to be in her presence after so long. This… this is truly heaven.
“How rude! I can’t believe that neither of you invited me for snuggles.”
Willow turns her head just in time to see Nyx bounding toward us, his expression bright and mouth fixed in his signature grin. “Rhune just woke up a little bit ago. He, um… he didn’t want me to come get you.”
“Of course not. Rhune is an extremely greedy boy.” Nyx plops down at the edge of the bed, his double-headed tail flicking playfully at his back. “Unfortunately for him, I’m far more persistent. And obsessive.” He winks at Willow, and she turns from him as pink spreads across her cheeks.
“I’m glad to see you in better spirits,” Willow says. “You were pretty gloomy for a while there. I almost mistook you for Dravik.”
Nyx chuckles under his breath. “I can’t be charming all the time, you know. Rhune really worried me.” He turns his eyes toward me, taking in the raised dark-pink skin covering my shoulder. “Speaking of… how is our weary traveler feeling?”
“He’s in pain,” Willow rushes out. “He won’t admit it, but I know his shoulder is killing him.”
“Nonsense. I am a strong mate—”
“You are a stubborn mate. Let me work some more on it.” Nyx shoots me a no-nonsense glare.
I shake my head, resolute. “You’re probably tired from putting it back together. I don’t want you to overexert yourself.”
Nyx’s mouth tips in a wry smile. “We put you back together three sun flips ago, Rhune. Dravik and I have since rested and fed. I am more than capable of healing you.”
“Three… three sun flips?” My eyes go wide. “I had no idea…”
“You nearly died, Rhune. I’m surprised you’re awake right now, to be honest.” Nyx crouches at my side, placing his palms to my shoulder as he sends a wave of healing magic beneath my skin.
My face relaxes as Nyx’s twists in concentration. I know he was lying about being fully rested—but I won’t push the issue in front of Willow. When he’s done, he sits back on his heels with a deep sigh and a sweat-slicked brow, though he seems immeasurably pleased with his progress.
“A few more sessions and a dip in the healing baths and you’ll be as good as new.” Nyx pats the top of my head, and I swat him away with a roll of my eyes.
Sitting up, I’m pleased to find my shoulder no longer feels like it’s on fire. I rotate the joint slowly, testing it out before flexing to demonstrate my prowess in front of my mate.
“Yes, you’re super hot, Rhune. Now up you come. You need a bath.” Nyx pinches his nose to demonstrate the power of my body stink, and I instinctively recoil from Willow.
“I’m sorry, Willow. I don’t want to offend you with my smell.”
She claps a hand over her mouth, muffling the sound of her giggles. “I promise you don’t stink, Rhune. Nyx is just teasing you.”
“Is he?” I lob a glare at my brother, to which he responds with a cheeky grin.
“What? I can’t exaggerate a little?” He nods toward the exit. “You do need a bath, though. Come on.”
Together, the three of us make our way down to the bathing chamber. Willow sits at the edge with her feet in the water, watching me undress with a heated look in her eyes. I’m pleased that she’s watching me, and I make sure to show off my colorful wings as I descend into the pool.
I swim over to her, resting my head on her knees and gazing up at her with wide eyes. “Did I tell you that I missed you?”
“I think so,” she says, running her hand through my wet hair.
“Good. Because it is true. I missed you, Willow. I do not think my soul would have survived another moment apart from you.”
Pink colors her cheeks—as it always does when I say these truths to her—and she dips her eyes, seemingly taking up interest in the lines on her palms.
The necklace sitting between her breasts catches the light, and I reach up, tapping a claw against the ornate face. “Does it please you?”
“What?”
“The necklace.”
She reaches up, capturing it in her tiny palm. “Of course it does! You have no idea how much it means that you got it back for me, Rhune.”
I nod, pleased that she is happy. “Then the pain was well worth it. If you are happy, I am happy.”
I nuzzle into her knees, and Willow lays her hand on my head, her fingertips lightly brushing against my horns. A deep purr builds in my throat as warmth rushes through my veins, and my cock twitches as I remember the last time her hands were wrapped around my horns.
“You okay? You went still all of a sudden.”
“I’m perfect,” I say, my voice coming out a low rasp. “Just hungry.”
“Oh. Well, then, I’ll ask Nyx if he can find something for you—”
“What I need is right in front of me.” My grip tightens on her calves, and Willow’s throat bobs, her pupils blowing wide as the bond between us begins to wake.
Sensing the change in energy, Nyx floats closer to the two of us, his eyes lowered with a seductive glint.
“Don’t you want to come inside?” I ask, toying with the edge of the fur wrapped around her torso.
I want to rip it from her, to expose her beautiful curves and love every inch of her, but I don’t want to move too fast or pressure her.
I never want her to be angry with me like she was the first time we mated.
I will show restraint until the moment she tells me otherwise.
Swallowing hard, she nods, letting the fur slowly drop from her shoulders as she slips into the water. I get a flash of her peaked nipples before she slips below the surface, and a growl builds in the back of my throat as I imagine how it would feel to take one into my mouth and suck.
She resurfaces a moment later, brushing her wet hair back off her forehead with a playful grin. “Well, I’m in the water. What will you do with me now?”
If you had any idea what I’d do to you, you wouldn’t be smiling so brightly.
“What do you want me to do?” I ask, caging her against the wall of the pool.
“Tell me what you desire, and it’s yours.
” I reach up, taking her necklace between my clawed fingers, twirling it in front of her beautiful green eyes.
“I live to make you happy, my mate. All you have to do is say it.”
She swallows hard, her gaze flicking between me and Nyx, that beautiful pink color spreading across her cheeks.
“I… I’m not sure. All I know is I’ve been craving your touch since you left.
It’s like I’m burning up inside, and I just…
I want it to stop.” An unexpected wave of tears springs to her eyes as she looks up at me.
The desperation swimming in them makes something inside me ache, and all I want is to take it away.
“We can make it go away, Willow,” Nyx soothes, twisting a strand of her wet hair on his finger. “Let us help you. Let us make you feel good.”
She nods, the heat in her face spreading across her skin as a wild glint enters her eyes. “Yes,” she begs. “Please. I want… I need to feel better.”
I don’t need to be told twice.
I lift her against me, and she goes weightless in my arms as I flip her around so her back is facing Nyx.
A pleasurable shiver runs through her body as she wraps her legs around my hips, settling her core right above my twitching cock.
Nyx moves in behind her a beat later, his hands sliding down her spine, over her ass, his touch slow and claiming.
“Do you want him inside you?” Nyx murmurs against her ear. “Do you want him to fill your pretty pussy?”
“Y-yes,” she stutters, her head falling back against his chest. “God, yes.”
Dipping down, I claim her mouth in a slow, devouring kiss, swallowing every soft sound she makes as I press the head of my cock against her entrance. “Tell me,” I growl against her lips. “Say you want my cock. Tell me how much you want me to breed you.”
“I want your cock,” she gasps. “Please, Rhune. Please, fill me.”
I push inside her in one long, unbroken stroke, and her back arches, a broken moan tearing free as she takes every inch of me. I still for a moment, buried deep, savoring the feel of her clenching tight around me, but Nyx doesn’t give either of us long to catch our breath.
He disappears beneath the surface without a word.
I feel the shift in her body a moment later. Her thighs tremble, her nails digging crescents into my shoulders as Nyx’s mouth finds her clit underwater. His tongue works in slow, torturous circles as I start to move inside her, drawing several gasping moans from Willow’s swollen lips.
“That’s it,” I rasp. “Come for us, Willow.”
She comes with a cry that echoes off the walls of the cave, her whole body seizing around me. I thrust once, twice more, and I follow her into oblivion, a low groan exploding from my mouth as my cock spills deep inside her. “Gods, yes,” I rasp. “That’s it. Take all my cum. Fucking take all of it.”
A beat later, Nyx surfaces, water dripping down his face and his mouth curved in a satisfied, feline grin. “I think she took all of it.”
“No. Not even close,” I choke, my hips twitching, pushing every last drop to the deepest part of her. “I won’t be done until she’s swollen with my pups.”
Willow lets out a whimper, her body going limp between us as she succumbs to the pleasure flowing through her.
We hold her between us in the water until her breathing evens out and the last tremors fade from her limbs, and only then do we finally clean her off, working slow and careful hands over every inch of her skin before wrapping her in furs and carrying her out of the pool.
Slowly, carefully, we dry her and dress her in fresh, warm clothes, then take her back to my bedroom to rest. She’s asleep before I even lay her down.
I sit next to her in the bed of furs for a long while, just watching the rise and fall of her chest and counting the spaces between her lashes. The longer I watch, the more that the same worry I can never quite shake creeps back in.
She sleeps so much now. Too much. Nyx keeps telling me it’s fine, that her body is simply adjusting, but I’m not so sure. When I glance over at him, I catch the same crease of worry tucked into his brow that’s been living in my own chest for cycles.
Neither of us says anything, though. We’ll just have to watch her closely, monitor her health, and take the steps to heal her if she is truly ill.
Because now that I have her, there’s no way I’m losing her.