Chapter 30 Carve Your Name Into Me #2
I return with an armful of furs—thick and soft, covered in my scent. I spread them across the floor in front of the mirror, layering them carefully.
The vines shift, one drags between her lunhae. Her thighs tremble.
“Not yet, Lumi.” I glance at her reflection. “Just a few more minutes.”
Next come the silks. Cool and slippery, a sharp contrast to the warm furs.
A vine curls around her nipple. She arches, desperately reaching for more pressure.
I light the candles slowly, one by one, until the room is bathed in flickering gold light.
“Kai’luvar ves’thral morin,” I murmur, watching her in the mirror. (Your pleasure belongs to me now.)
I step toward her, the vines sense my approach and shift—loosening just enough for me to guide her.
The one across her mouth falls away. She gasps for air, lips parted and swollen.
“Andrik, please—”
“So patient. So perfect. My beautiful, bound little mate.” I whisper, running a frost-tipped finger along her jaw. “We’re just getting started.”
I guide her forward until she’s kneeling on the furs in front of the glass. The silk beneath her knees is cool against her burning skin.
“Look at yourself,” I command softly.
Her eyes find the mirror. A pink flush spreads from her cheeks to her chest, her pupils are blown wide. The firelight catches on the sweat dripping down her stomach.
She’s never looked more beautiful.
New vines rise, wrapping around her thighs and calves, binding them together so she’s kneeling with her legs folded beneath her, leaving her open for me.
Another set curls around her wrists, pulling them behind her back.
“Velorin ves’thral,” I whisper, kneeling behind her. (Safe in my hold.) My body cages hers, my chest flush against her back, thighs locking hers in.
In the mirror, she can see everything. Her bound body. My hands resting on her hips. The steam rising from where our skin meets.
“Watch yourself, Lumi,” I purr against her ear. “I want you to see how your body begs for mine.”
My hands slide up her sides, leaving little blue ice swirls in their wake.
“Kai’velorin ves thral, Sael?n.” (You’re so beautiful like this, soulbond.)
Her skin is blazing. The Rhavari heat taking hold, burning her from the inside out.
“You’re too hot, l?venkae,” I rasp, watching her face in the mirror. Her eyes are glazed over and desperate. “Thrae’vesin kai’luvar.” (Your body is pleading for relief.)
I call frost to my fingertips, ice crawling across my skin, turning my hands cold enough to soothe.
“Let me cool you down,” I whisper against her neck.
For a second, I just breathe her in. Her scent is dizzying—honeysuckle and caramel yearning.
My fingers trail down her stomach. She jerks at the contact, crying out.
“Thal’vesin,” I remind her. The vines shiver in response to my voice, tightening just enough to remind her she's mine. “Let the cold sink in.”
I drag my hand lower, between her thighs. The temperature change makes her moan—my frigid skin against her burning flesh.
“That’s it,” I praise, watching her in the mirror. “Let me take the heat away. Veyl’kae, virel?n” (You endure so beautifully, little flame of my core.)
I slide one finger through her lunhae, collecting the slick nectar she's dripping for me.
“Kaemorin,” I murmur.
I push my finger inside her slowly. Her body clamps down immediately, trying to pull me deeper.
“Andrik. So—”
“Too cold?” I ask, stilling.
“No. Don’t stop, please.”
I add a second finger. Her body squeezes me, thawing the frost right off my skin.
“So soft for your Sael?n,” I breathe, dragging my fangs along her pulse. “So warm, little mortal. You bloom around me like you were made for this.”
“Kai’tharae ves’morin.” I rasp. (You’re perfect for me.)
I curl my fingers inside her. Her thighs shake inside mine.
“Andrik, more! I need more.”
“You’re melting for me l?venkae,” I mumble into her hair, my voice cracking with restraint as I press the tip of my third finger against her entrance, feeling how tightly she pulses, eager but unready.
“Not yet, Sael?n,” I whisper. “I won't break what I cherish.”
“I—I can,” she gasps. “Please, I want you to.”
I hush her with a kiss to her temple.
“That’s it,” I growl, bracing her hips steady as I press the full length of them inside her.
“That’s my thal’kisha,” I murmur, pulling her deeper onto me. “All the way down, veythra. Feel how full you are?”(My unraveling.)
I curl my fingers, stroking over the spot that makes her cry. “You’re gripping me so tight, Sael?n. So greedy. So perfect for me.”
My other hand slides from her hip up to her chest, cupping her breast, thumb grazing over her nipple.
“You feel that?” I whisper, watching the water trickling down her inner thighs. “My ice turns to water for you.”
I thrust my fingers deeper. Her eyes flutter shut.
“No,” I command softly, voice brushing over her ear. “Eyes open. Watch what you do to me.
Her eyes snap open. “That’s it, Lúmina’ka,” I praise. “My little light.”
She’s close—her walls pulse around my fingers, thighs quivering against the vines.
But I’m getting close too. My fangs are aching against my bottom lip. My vision rims in red. The beast claws at my ribs, demanding I claim her now.
Not yet. Not like this. I'd rather die than take her too soon.
I slow my pace.
“Andrik, no. Don’t you dare—”
“Stop panicking, thralae,” I rasp. “I’m not stopping, I just need you to do something for me first.”
I withdraw completely, and she makes a sound of pure frustration.
“I’m going to kill you.”
“Shh, Sael?n,” I murmur, releasing the bindings. They unwind slowly, leaving faint frost-etched patterns across her skin.
“I need you to trust me.”
I shift back slightly, giving her space to move. My hands find her hips, guiding her gently as I reposition her, until she‘s facing me.
“Straddle my lap.”
She hesitates, rage flickering in her eyes, tempered by desire.
“Velorin,” I vow, voice low. “I’m going to make you come so hard you forget everything but my name. But first—”
I ease her into place. Her thighs slide over mine, her molten heat settling against my kaev?n. Even through my pants, I can feel how soaked she is. Her arousal brands me through the layers.
We’re eye to eye now, the mirror behind her capturing the full arc of her spine, the soft tension in her shoulders.
“I want you to mark me,” I rasp.
Her eyes widen. “What?”
I tilt my head slightly, antlers catching and fracturing the firelight. I tap the base of the left one, where it meets my skull, the most sensitive spot.
“Here. Carve your name into my antler. Skarae’n ves kaemorin.” (Mark me as yours.)
“Andrik—”
“And while you do,” I continue, voice dropping low. “I’m going to fill you with my fingers again. And when you’re finished carving—when you’ve marked me permanently—then I’ll let you come.”
I raise my hand. Frost coils around my palm until I’m holding a small ice dagger.
“Ael’tharvin kai vel’morin,” I whisper, guiding it into her hand. (Carve yourself into me.)
She stares at the dagger in her hand, then at my antlers, then back at me.
“You’re... serious?” Her voice cracks.
“Veyr’tharae, Sael?n,” I whisper, pressing it into her palm. (Completely serious, soulmate.) “Mark me. Make me yours the way I’m about to make you mine.”
Her breath stutters. She lifts the dagger, positioning the tip against the base of my antler.
The moment it connects, I feel it—sharp and cold... and unbearably right.
“Start with the ‘L,’” I murmur, slipping two frost-kissed fingers back inside her.
“And don’t stop, no matter what I do to you.”
She presses the blade into my antler. Searing pain lashes through me. My vision flashes white.
I growl low in my throat, eyes flaring. Her body tightens instantly, already fluttering around me.
She gasps and jerks when I deepen the rhythm.
“Thal’vesin,” I snarl through gritted teeth. “Finish the letter.”
She drags the blade down, carving the first line of the ‘L’. Every scrape sends lightning down my spine. My claws extend, digging into her hips.
I curl my fingers inside, finding that spot that makes her spasm, and her head tips back. A cry escapes her lips.
“Andrik, I can’t—you’re.”
“You can,” I rasp. “Kaivelorin ves’thral.” (You’re doing so well.) “Give me the rest of your name, Sael?n. Carve it into me.”
Her hand trembles as she drags the blade into the ‘U’. The curve of it cuts through frost and ancient bone in exquisite pain.
I thrust deeper, faster, hungrier.
“That’s it, thal’kisha,” I choke out. “You’re making me yours.”
She carves the ‘M’. Her breath comes in desperate pants, as her body clamps around me like a vice.
“Andrik, I’m so close—”
“Not yet,” I bare my fangs. “Finish your name first.”
My free hand slides up her back, threading into her hair, tugging just enough to make her gasp.
I add a third finger, stretching her, while my thumb finds her kaelinae.
“Andrik!” She cries out, the dagger stutters in her grasp.
“Finish it,” I growl, voice trembling with restraint. The forest answers—trees bend, snow erupts upward in a sacred storm of witness.
She drags the blade through the final stroke.
Lumi.
Her name. Carved into me, etched into the most sacred place on my body.
“Now,” I rasp against her throat. “Come for me, lumina’ka. Let me feel you come undone in my hands.”
I thrust my fingers deep, curling them exactly right. My thumb circles her kaelinae.
She shatters.
Her scream rips through the cabin as she convulses around my fingers, body seizing like the gods themselves are pulling her apart.
I lose my last ounce of control. My fangs sink into the soft curve where her neck meets her shoulder. I taste copper and magic.
Thraev?n floods from my fangs into her bloodstream. She sobs my name, fingers twisting desperately in my hair, as she pulls me closer.
Her pleasure floods into me, through the bond. The world goes hazy. I feel her pleasure as if it’s my own—her orgasm crashing through both of us like a tidal wave.
I come hard, without a single touch, cock pulsing uselessly behind my pants.
“Sael?n!” I roar against her skin, my whole body shuddering. “Veyr’kai ves” (I break for you.)
Every tree for miles bends toward the cabin. Snow shoots into the sky like geysers. Animals howl into the night.
I can feel everything—
Her heartbeat synching with mine. Her soul brushing at the edges of my own—begging to fuse.
The way she’s still clenching around my fingers, tremors rolling through her.
The taste of her blood on my tongue.
I keep my fangs buried in her neck as we both shake through the last of it, then slowly withdraw them. I lap at the bite mark, sealing it with one last drop of venom.
Two perfect crescent marks that prove she’s my sael?n.
“L?venkae,” I murmur against her skin. She lies boneless in my arms. I withdraw my fingers gently.
Outside, the forest settles. The trees straighten, animals fall quiet, snow drifts back down.
Inside, the only sound is our breathing,
Her hand lifts shakily and hovers where she carved her name.
“I marked you,” she whispers in awe, voice full of wonder.
“You did,” I rasp. “Ael’tharvin kai vel’morin. (You carved yourself into me.) “I’ll wear your name for the rest of my life—though it feels like I already have.”
She traces the letters.
L-U-M-I. Each one sends a spark of sensation through me.
“Did I hurt you?” she asks softly.
A broken laugh escapes me. “Yes.”
Her eyes widen.
“And it was perfect,” I murmur, pulling her closer. “Pain from you is sacred, snowdrop.”
She quiets, fingers brushing the mark on her neck with a slight wince.
“You bit me... again.”
Guilt slams through me.
“I’m sorry—I should have asked. I lost control.”
She cups my face, pulling my gaze back to hers.
“Andrik.” Her voice is firm, “I loved it.”
She collapses forward, forehead resting against my chest as the dagger slips from her hand and clatters to the floor.
Her breath slows as her body melts into mine. And yet, a knot forms deep in my gut.
I should feel like I’ve been blessed by the gods.
But all I can think is—
Did I take too much?
My claws retract, shame coiling in their place. Her lashes flutter as she lifts her head, still caught in the throes of my venom—but the moment her eyes meet mine.
I flinch.
Because whatever she sees... makes her pull back.
My grip loosens instinctively, just enough for her to slide off my lap. Suddenly, the silence is too loud, and I’m hyper aware of the mess I made. I’m humiliated that I came in my pants like a pathetic virgin.
I try to reach for her hand, but she moves it before I can touch her. Pain lurches in my chest.
“Do you... regret it?”