Chapter Thirty-two
WILDER
T he lightning at Thea’s fingertips seemed to pulse to a rhythm Wilder couldn’t hear, but with every flicker of that power, he felt her come back to herself, come back to him.
She was no longer the girl spying on Warswords or training in secret in the Bloodwoods. Gone was the shieldbearer desperate to make her mark. Gone was the Guardian who followed without question.
Here was a storm wielder, a Warsword-to-be.
And she was his .
Still standing there naked, Wilder watched Thea in awe as she took in her magic, magic that didn’t harm him as it danced across his skin with her touch.
‘It’s beautiful,’ he told her. ‘Like you.’
She blinked at the bright bolts. ‘How is this possible?’ she murmured.
A smile tugged at his mouth. ‘I must be a really good fuck.’
Her gaze snapped to his, amusement bright in her celadon eyes. ‘Is that so?’
A grin spread across Wilder’s face as he tugged her close to him and kissed her soundly. ‘Credit where credit’s due, Princess.’
Thea laughed, and he wished he could bottle the sound. Instead, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed. He didn’t care for the late hour, not when he’d waited a year to have her again. He intended to worship her thoroughly, for as long as he could.
On the bed, he laid her down, surveying her naked body with appreciation, his cock already stirring to attention again.
He ran his hands down the sides of her thighs, marvelling at the softness of her skin, at how her body responded instantly to his touch, her legs falling open for him, making his mouth turn dry.
He’d never have enough of her – would never stop wanting her, mind, body and soul.
The way she looked at him told him she felt the same, and he swore by the Furies that as insatiable as they were, he’d never stop trying to please her. Making her happy and keeping her that way would be his life’s work.
Her eyes were hooded with lust, her hands caressing her breasts and teasing her nipples, tempting him.
‘Lower,’ he told her. ‘Move your hands lower.’
Challenge gleamed in Thea’s eyes, but she obeyed, her hands slowly trailing down her stomach, to the heat he knew so well between her legs.
‘Spread yourself,’ he said, taking his rock-hard cock in his grasp, stroking it slowly from base to tip. ‘Wider. I want to see all of you.’
He heard her intake of breath as she used one hand to bare herself to him completely, exposing everything.
‘Like this?’ Her breathing grew faster.
‘Exactly like that.’ His cock pulsed in his hand at the sight and he leant in, blowing a stream of cool air directly onto her glistening core. ‘Touch yourself, Thea,’ he told her. ‘You know I love to watch you.’
At his instruction, her fingers circled her clit and a moan escaped her that sent a bolt of pleasure straight to Wilder’s balls. He didn’t take his eyes off her, didn’t stop stroking his cock either.
‘You want to add a finger? Or would you prefer I take it from here?’ he said, edging closer to her.
At his words, her back arched, her breasts lifting, her peaked nipples practically begging for his mouth.
‘You…’ she panted. ‘I want you.’
That was all he needed to hear. He seated himself between her open thighs, rubbing his cock through the slickness he found there.
Closing his lips around one of her nipples, he pushed inside her, just an inch.
He bit down on her nipple and she cried out, before he flicked his tongue over the sensitive spot and sank into her another inch.
‘Oh gods,’ she panted beneath him.
‘If you need to pray to them to get you through, go right ahead, Princess,’ he said, before he thrust inside her fully.
Thea bucked beneath him, bowing off the bed with a gasp, raking her nails down his back, spurring him on. He pounded into her, each movement rougher than the last.
He fucked her as he loved her: fierce, hard, unrelenting.
She gave as good as she got, biting his lip until he hissed, just on the right side of pain. ‘Do your worst, Warsword,’ she said breathlessly, raising her hips to meet his.
A primal noise escaped him as she writhed beneath him.
He wanted this to last forever, wanted to map every inch of her body with his hands and his mouth.
‘Fuck me from behind, Wilder,’ she told him, already moving.
She was on all fours in an instant, giving him a glorious view of her small waist and sinful curves. Arching her back, Thea pressed against him, demanding more.
More he was all too willing to give her.
He pushed inside her again. ‘Fuck…’ he muttered as the new position allowed him deeper.
‘Yes, Wilder…’ Thea murmured, dropping to her elbows.
The sight of her nearly undid him. Gripping her hips, he drove into her again and again.
He was shaking once more, shaking with the effort of holding back.
Her cries of ecstasy had him right on the edge, and all he could think of was how much he loved her and how he hoped she felt it with every stroke of his cock.
Slowing his pace to a rhythm torturous enough to drive them both to the brink of madness, he reached around and played with her clit until she gave a strangled cry. She sat back against him, her spine to his chest, her hand coming up to clamp around the back of his neck.
‘Will you come undone for me again, Thea?’ he murmured, his other hand grasping her throat and squeezing gently.
He moved with her, drawing out their pleasure in long, lavish strokes, relishing the feel of their sweat-soaked bodies sliding together as one.
Her grip tightened on him and he knew she was close – and thank the Furies, because so was he. He’d been teetering on the edge with her.
He circled her clit again, once, twice, before gently pinching the sensitive spot.
Thea screamed, clamping around him and pushing down, hard.
Wilder lost control. His climax tore through him like a storm, washing over him with so much force it was a miracle he didn’t collapse right on top of Thea. He came long and hard, spilling himself inside her with a shout.
‘Holy Furies…’ he croaked, still riding the last waves in a haze of pure bliss, still thrusting slowly into his storm wielder.
‘You can pray to them if you like,’ Thea murmured, pulling him down with her as she sank into the mattress. ‘But they won’t save you now.’
He gave a rough laugh and drew her close, pressing a kiss to her damp hair. ‘Who the fuck would want saving from that?’
Wilder was wrapped around Thea, breathing in the heady scent of her.
Still sleeping, she rubbed her backside against him, seeking him out even in the depths of slumber, and he hissed at the contact in anticipation.
He was already hard for her, already running through the various ways he could wake her up, when someone pounded on the door.
‘I know you had a long night and day, Warsword, but your party is arriving…’ came Everard’s voice.
Wilder groaned into the crook of Thea’s neck.
She stirred with her own muffled noise of complaint. ‘Tell me I imagined that racket?’
Wilder dropped a kiss to her bare shoulder, fighting every instinct to turn her over and seat himself between her legs again. ‘I’m afraid not.’
‘He said something about our party arriving? I thought they weren’t getting here till sundown?’
Wilder grimaced as his gaze shot to the window. ‘It is sundown.’ They had fucked and slept their way through the day.
‘Fuck,’ Thea muttered.
Wilder was inclined to agree. Only years of discipline and training got him out of that warm bed, and he went about stoking the fire in the hearth to life and heating water over its flames for them to wash.
He felt Thea’s gaze on him as he moved about the room naked, his hard cock bobbing in front of him. His eyes met hers. ‘Don’t get any ideas, Princess.’
She licked her lips. ‘Wouldn’t dream of it.’
He forced himself to look away, lest he start something they didn’t have time to finish, but he couldn’t help the smile that played on his lips as he went about locating the clothes they’d discarded the night before.
It was in the quiet moments as they washed themselves before the fire, smiling at each other and sharing heated glances, that the need to express himself hit Wilder.
He wanted to say something, something powerful to capture everything that rushed through him as he looked upon her buttoning her shirt – such a simple act that seemed so familiar, so intimate now.
It was in this suspended moment of time that he realised words were not enough, that his love for her demanded everything of him and he would gladly give it all.
Thea looked up from tucking her fate stone beneath the folds of her shirt, the sight of it tugging at Wilder’s chest. He searched for something to say, anything to relieve the swelling pressure in his heart.
He was in awe of her, of everything she had fought and won for herself, of the magic he could feel humming from her even now – of the fact that she had chosen him .
‘You’re staring,’ Thea pointed out. ‘And you’re only half dressed.
’ The smile she gave him nearly broke him.
‘Not that I’m complaining,’ she added, dragging her fingertips across his bare chest. ‘But we’d best get downstairs.
Torj and the others saw enough of us in Harenth, remember? Don’t fancy them barging in again.’
The memory jolted Wilder out of his trance and he chuckled, shrugging his shirt on and quietly revelling in Thea’s lustful gaze as his bare skin disappeared beneath the fabric.
They strapped their weapons in place and faced the door.
‘You ready?’ Wilder asked her, wishing more than anything that they could remain tucked away in their room.
‘I don’t think either of us are ready,’ Thea admitted. ‘But we’ll figure it out.’
Wilder offered his hand. ‘Together, then?’
Warmth bloomed in his chest as she laced her fingers through his and reached for the door with her other hand. ‘Together.’