Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
SEB
The creator must be rewarding me for what we did tonight.
I have no other explanation for why I’m experiencing nirvana right here in my shower.
I never expected Zoe to wait up for me or to lead me by the hand to the shower and wash me like I was a thing to be worshiped.
And when she asked me to claim her, when she grabbed me and kissed me and drew me to her, it was as if the heavens had opened and the almighty himself was smiling down on me.
And now, in her, my dragon one with me inside my skin, I am a mated warrior. I have found my end and my beginning, and I want nothing more than to return the pleasure this brings me.
I thrust into her, starting slow, allowing her time to get used to my size.
She’s tight and wet. Her quiet mews of pleasure and tiny gasps building with my rhythm.
I reach between us and tease that sensitive bud between her thighs, feel her hips respond to me with sharper and faster thrusts.
I give her what she needs. Hard and deep, all the time rubbing where I instinctively know she needs it.
“Oh my god, Seb. Seb!”
She arches in my arms, and I catch her nipple in my mouth, fluttering my tongue across the tight bud.
She clenches around me and cries out as an orgasm rips through her.
My mating trill goes into overdrive. As her body clenches around me, I unleash myself, pounding into her until my own climax seizes me.
I tip her neck to the side and bite, holding her with my teeth until I’ve emptied myself inside her.
It’s the way of my kind, and it will leave a mark.
It’s something I should have warned her about, but this entire night has been a roller coaster for me.
When I finally release her, her inner thighs are dripping with my seed and she reeks of mating scent. I help her back onto her feet, but she holds on to me.
“Wait. My knees feel like Jell-O.” She rests her forehead against my chest. “Seb, that was incredible. I’ve never had sex like that. I’ve never…” She looks up at me. “Was it the same for you?”
I laugh and place a finger under her chin. “It was the most incredible experience of my life.”
She smiles and steps into the spray, rinsing off the mess I’ve made of her. The water’s gone cold, and our fingers are turning pruney. As soon as she’s done, I shut it off and guide her back to the bed.
“Do you want me to go back to my place?” she asks.
“No fucking way. I want you right beside me.”
“Okay,” she says softly.
“Do you need anything to eat or drink?” I ask, corralling her toward the bed. There’s no way I’m letting my mate go to bed hungry.
“No, I’m fine.”
“Thank fuck. I’m exhausted.” Without my saying another word, she crawls into bed and scoots to the opposite side. I crawl in beside her, loop an arm around her waist, and pull her to me with a growl of contentment.
With her head tucked under my chin, I start to drift off.
“Seb, what’s that sound you make? That purr? It’s really beautiful.”
I chuckle. “I’m glad you think so. You’re the only one who can hear it.”
She looks over her shoulder at me, rolling onto her back to see me better in the dark, although I know I must be nothing but an indistinct shape to her. “What? Anyone could hear that.”
“Stick your fingers in your ears.”
She does and then looks even more confused.
“The call is coming from inside the building,” I say with a chuckle. “Just settle down. It will quiet as soon as my dragon falls asleep. With how exhausted we are from tonight, it won’t be long.”
I lay my head back down, and she runs her fingers through the side of my hair. “You got the rings.”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t seem happy about it.”
I want to tell her everything, but I can’t keep my eyes open. “Tomorrow,” I say, pulling her into my chest. She settles down and falls into a deep, dreamless sleep.
When I wake, the sun is shining through the blinds and Zoe isn’t in bed with me.
I run my hand over her side of the sheets and find them cold.
After a few deep breaths, I surmise that she’s not nearby anymore either.
She’s been up for a while, then. Probably back at her place.
I need to find her and make sure she’s not second-guessing our mating last night.
Bed her again, my dragon rumbles. I think it’s the happiest he’s ever been, and I definitely feel better than I’ve felt in weeks.
For once, I don’t feel feverish. Hell, if I don’t love the idea of luring Zoe back to my bed.
I think of how she looked last night up against the shower wall, her neck flushed, her skin tacky from the steam.
I need to find her. Make sure she’s okay.
I bound out of bed and complete my morning routine in record time, throwing on a pair of jeans and a merino sweater. Then I go looking for her. I don’t have to go far. She’s standing in my kitchen, fully dressed, with a cup of coffee in her hands. She doesn’t look happy.
Only when she turns toward me do I notice who is standing next to her.
“Morwyn? When did you get here?”
“Just a few moments ago,” the Virgo doctor says, his wild dark hair making him appear far more unhinged than he actually is.
“He says Remus is still recovering. You didn’t tell me he was hurt last night.” Zoe’s brow furrows.
“It didn’t come up,” I mumble.
She looks down into her coffee and frowns.
Morwyn glances between us, his nostrils flaring. He smiles, no doubt picking up my mating scent. But before he can get distracted, I ask, “What’s happening with Remus?”
“You got him to us just in time. We cleaned out all the infected flesh and pieced his arm back together. Now, we’re just waiting for him to regrow the parts we had to eliminate. Unfortunately, some of his bones were crushed in the fight, so it’s going to take a while.”
“Crushed?” Zoe asks. “Will he be able to use his arm again?”
Morwyn nods. “Dragons heal much faster and more thoroughly than humans, Zoe. Even if I had to amputate his arm, it would completely grow back within the year. I didn’t have to amputate, thank the creator, but there was considerable bone damage.
” His gaze falls directly on me. “We tried the water, Seb. It didn’t work. ”
“Shit. Not at all?”
“Wait, what? The celestial water in the vial?” Zoe asks.
“Yes. We thought it might have healing properties because it repels the ring.”
“It repelled the infection, all right. Would have repelled it deeper into his bone,” Morwyn says. “Thankfully, we tested it on excised flesh. But I can definitely say we can’t use it in its raw form.”
“No, of course not,” Zoe says, as if the question is rudimentary. “What’s in that vial is pure, unadulterated positive celestial energy. The ring reacts to it, yes, because the ring is pure, unadulterated negative energy.”
We both stare blankly at her.
She holds up her coffee. “Boiling water will scald you, yes? And if I put an icicle in it, eventually the ice will melt and the boiling water will cool, but at the moment something frozen meets something extremely hot—”
“It can shatter,” Morwyn says. “How could I be so stupid? We’d need a method to contain the curse and slowly infuse the area with a diluted solution.”
Zoe tips her head. “Or maybe a drip or a pill. I’m not a doctor, but in witchcraft, we’d probably mix two drops of this stuff into someone’s tea every day for a month, not put it directly on a wound.
Not that I’ve ever worked with something so powerful, but I have worked with herbs like lemon balm.
When taken in a tea, it helps with a number of ailments—anxiety, depression, indigestion.
But if you make a bath bomb out of it, it does absolutely nothing for you.
You could soak in it all day without any benefit. ”
“Brilliant,” Morwyn says. “And now that you have worked with it, do you think it has broader applications than healing?”
“That’s an unfair question, Morwyn. She’s only seen it once—”
“Actually, I do have an idea. The first stages of an idea. But I’m not ready to explain it yet. Not until it’s fully formed, you know?”
Morwyn nods, and I’m so proud of my mate, I can’t even speak.
“On that note…” Morwyn turns to me. “I came to ask your permission to take Remus to Cardinal Island to accelerate his healing.”
“Of course,” I say immediately. “Whatever he needs.”
Morwyn finishes the coffee in his mug and gives a little bow to Zoe. “A pleasure to meet you, Zoe. I’m so happy you’ve joined the zodiac dragon family.”
She smiles and shakes his hand, but I don’t miss the look of confusion that flits through her features at that last part.
I interrupt by hugging Morwyn goodbye and telling him to tell Remus that I’ll visit him on Cardinal Island.
I walk him to the door, where he grabs the key around his neck and disappears.
When I turn around, Zoe is waiting for me. “What do you think he meant by that ‘joining the family’ comment? Like because I’m working with you?”
I hold out my hands to her. “We should talk.”
But she just shakes her head. “When you told me that what I was doing could save lives, I didn’t really understand until now.
Remus might have lost his ability to draw, to tattoo, from his injuries.
He might have lost his tattoo business. Either of you might have been killed or disabled last night.
We have to move faster. I need to ascend again. This can’t wait.”
I scratch the back of my head. “Yes. What you’re doing could change our lives, Zoe. And yes, if you’re well enough, it would be great if you went back in today, but—”
“I’m well enough. I can do this.” She crosses her arms over her chest, and I can tell she’s resolute.
I raise a hand. “But about last night. We should talk—”
She smiles. “I’m fine with what happened last night, Seb. We’re both consenting adults. Sure, it was fast, but if you’re okay with it, I’m okay with it.”
My breath leaves my chest in a huff. Does she understand what it means that we’re mated? “I’m okay with it. I would like to be okay with it again, very, very soon.” I pull her against me and find her neck with my lips.
She giggles. “It’ll have to wait. Once I ascend, I’ll be useless for the next twenty-four hours, which means we need to do it now, today.”
“Why?”
“Because there’s something I have to do this weekend and something I have to ask you.”
“Anything.”
“Will you come to my coven’s Beltane celebration?”
“Beltane?”
“May first. It’s a fire festival to celebrate the halfway point between the spring equinox and summer. I have to go. I’d like you to come as my guest. Besides, it’s at my parents’ house and will give me access to some magical resources I can use to follow up on my theories about the ring.”
I hate the thought of her going anywhere right now with the Saint’s Order on a killing spree, but if she has to go to this celebration, I will definitely be at her side. “I’d love to.”
That makes her smile. “Then we should get started right away. I’ll need time to recover. I’ll get my bag.”