Chapter 49 #2
I arch with a strangled moan. “Context... please?”
His antlers curl protectively around me. His tongue laps at the mark he left on my nape.
I thought it was just a myth, he admits. It’s never happened to my kind before.
Not helping, Rh?ven, I hiss. Are you telling me there's some kind of experiment happening in my womb right now?
Oh, no. His nose brushes my jaw. Lumi... It’s said to be a sacred thread—one that only awakens when a true bond is claimed. When your body accepts all of me... the seed, the soul, and the beast.
I cry out as another pulse spirals through my core.
It feels like it’s climbing.
It’s searching, he says. For the cradle. For the place where life begins. You feel every inch because you were made to carry what I’ve given you.
My back arches as a strange heat blooms behind my hips, throbbing alongside the cold still locked inside me.
Once it latches, he growls softly through clenched teeth. It won’t let go. Not until the bond is planted. It’s how the gods ensure that no child is born without a sacred claim.
And now? I whisper, my voice barely audible. Is it... latching?
His muzzle dips down to lick a stripe down my cheek.
It’s taken, Lumi. You’ve accepted the aekisha, his voice roughens with awe. It lives inside you now. Even if I die, it will remain woven in your womb. Proof that you were mine.
Forever?
You’ll feel it every time you move, he purrs. A reminder of what I gave you.
Of what we made.
***
Andrik pov-
She shudders against me, her soft, exhausted whimpers echoing between the trees. My knot pulses with every flutter of her walls, still locked deep inside her.
She’s taken everything I’ve given her—and more. And now there’s a chance she carries my fawnling. A life created from a bond that shouldn't exist.
Her scent is everywhere—floral and sweat-slicked, laced with the sweetness of the aekisha still blooming inside her.
I ease back carefully, murmuring through the bond. Easy now, kala’rh?. Let me move you.
She’s pliant but trembling, head resting against her folded arms as I let my weight rock us back until I’m seated in the moss, legs spread wide. I guide her upright with me, keeping us locked. She shivers as I guide her into my lap, her back flush to my chest, her thighs draped over mine.
Shh... I croon, nose brushing the shell of her ear. I’ve got you now.
My front legs circle protectively around her waist. She whimpers, arching slightly as I cradle her belly in both hands.
You feel it, don’t you? I whisper through the bond. The bloom inside you?
She nods weakly. It’s still there. I can feel it, like it’s burrowing itself.
I press kisses all along the slope of her neck.
Because it is. You’re carrying the soul of what we made. The aekisha has taken... I just know it. The gods have marked you, Lumi. And I will never—never—let you carry it alone.
My hips flex, slow and deep. She keens and drops her head back onto my shoulder.
I press my nose to her neck one last time in Rh?ven’s form.
“Breathe, Sael?n,” I whisper, letting the shift take me.
My form contracts with a pulse of magic, the massive weight of the beast melting back into my skin. She gasps softly at the change. My lips brush her shoulder now instead of a muzzle.
“There you are,” I murmur against her ear. “Still knotted. Still mine.”
I trail kisses over her back as she relaxes, her legs still splayed wide over mine. I want to sink deeper, to wrap her in more of myself.
“Let me move you just a little, sael?n,” I whisper. “Need you closer.”
She nods sleepily.
I adjust my thighs, guiding her hips closer to my pelvis, so her weight settles better over my shifted form. It makes her whimper when the movement shifts the pressure of my knot. I soothe her with soft kisses and slow caresses down her belly.
“Do you know what you look like right now, lumina’ka?” I breathe, curling her deeper into my lap. “A dream no beast should be allowed to keep.”
She turns her head and presses her lips to mine. “You're not just a beast, Andrik, you're rh?en’ka. Don’t ever forget that.”
Just as I’m about to reply, I feel pain ripple through the bond. I freeze, my chest tightening with guilt.
“Sael?n...?”
“Yes?”
“Did I hurt you?” I whisper against her neck.
“No, you didn’t hurt me. I’m just a little sore.”
“I can help,” I murmur. “Do you want it, Lumi?” My fangs graze the slope of her neck, thraev?n already leaking from my gums.
“Your venom?” she whispers.
I hum low in my chest. “It’ll help... ease the ache. Loosen you for me.”
She nods, “Please.”
I barely break the skin. I give her the gentlest bite I can. The bond flares as thraev?n floods into her. Her breath hitches, and she goes lax against me. She sighs my name, and I can feel the second her discomfort shifts to mischief.
“They were really onto something with that venom,” she mumbles. “Still so much pressure, but now it feels... delicious.”
She lifts off my lap a little, and the stretch tugs hard against the base of my knot. I whimper involuntarily, and she lets out a giggle—I think I may have made a mistake.
“Please stay still, Lumi,” I rasp, hands tightening around her waist. “You're going to drive me—”
“But you said you were going to fill me over and over until I’m not able to move, ”she purrs, rocking again. “But I’m still moving...”
My hands move to her swollen belly. “You don't feel full enough yet?” I ask, voice strained, my restraint shredding by the second.
She shakes her head with a mock-pout. “All of a sudden, I feel like I have so much more room.”
She clenches around me, and my entire body locks up.
Thal?n, help me with this human. My breath turns ragged.
“Lumi,” I choke out. Her fingers slide down her stomach until she's cupping my balls gently in her palm. “I bet these are aching,” she teases, wiggling her ass on top of me. “All this seed, and only two little releases? That doesn't seem fair.”
I snarl, but my hips buck helplessly.
“Tell me, big guy,” she murmurs, voice saccharine sweet, “what's the point of a knot this big... if you don't want to use it?”
“Lumi...” I warn again, but it’s hopeless. Her fingers tighten around me, and her slick heat pulses around my entire shaft.
Thrahk.
“What's wrong, lovveerrr,” she hums. “Is the big monster mad?”
My control snaps like winter branches underfoot.
“I'll give you full,” I growl, the sound vibrating through both our chests. “You wanted stretched? You'll be captive on this knot until you're begging for mercy, vaekelsha. (Bratty ember.)
She moans greedily and rolls her hips again.
I push into her as far as I can while still locked. Every thrust is slow and punishing, dragging the thick ridges of my shaft along her front wall.
Her moans get higher and more desperate. She fists the fur on my thighs.
“I'm going to make you come,” I whisper, biting gently at her shoulder. “Not fast. Not rough. You'll break on me slowly, Sael?n. You'll cry when I finally let you fall.”
She whines, arching hard against me.
“You feel me in your belly, don't you?” I rasp, my palm sliding down to press low on her abdomen. “That little swell right here? That's kaemorin. You're kaemorin.”
She sobs my name, and I smile against the back of her neck.
“Not so tough now, are you, little mate?”
She crosses her arms over her chest in protest, but I can feel the way her body squeezes mine, her core pleading for more, even if her mouth won’t... yet.
My fingers slip between her legs. I rub slow circles over her clit until her thighs start to tremble against mine.
“Let me feel it. That little flutter in your belly when your body begs me to give you more.”
“I hate that you’re so fucking sexy,” she moans as her head falls back on my shoulder. She pulls my other hand up to her breast.
“That’s it. That’s my girl,” I growl softly. “So sensitive now. So full. Look how much your sweet little pussy can take.”
Her fingernails dig into my thighs. “Andrik—I—I—”
I pinch her nipple and rub her clit faster.
“Come for me, Sael?n. Let me give you a fawnling. Let the gods see what we’ve made.”
Her orgasm blooms from her core, spreading through her in pulsing waves that make her whole body twitch, clamping down on my knot so hard I groan.
“Andrik!” she moans. “Don’t stop—want more of your come inside me.”
Thal?n.
I spill inside her immediately, unable to resist her plea, flooding her with another release. She grinds down into me.
“Thrahk yes, Lumi—take it—take all of it.”
I can’t stop. She milks my knot, drawing more from me with every clench.
“You broke me,” I whisper. “That voice, Sael?n... I’d give you every drop I’ve ever made.”
She whines when I tip her hips forward, cradling her with one arm as my other hand strokes over her belly.
“Right here,” I murmur, palm pressing low. “That’s where they’ll grow.”
She lets out a breathless moan.
“My fawnling,” I whisper, nuzzling into her neck, “will bloom inside you.”
Her body is still fluttering from the aftershocks, breath ragged, skin glistening with sweat.
We stay like that until my knot begins to gradually soften. The thick swell deflating until the pressure starts to ease.
“Lumina’ka,” I murmur into her ear. “My knot is releasing.”
She makes a soft sound—relief mixed with sadness. I feel it too. The strange bittersweetness of unlocking after being joined so deeply for so long.
It continues to shrink, and I shift carefully, adjusting her in my lap.
“This might feel strange,” I warn.
“It already does,” she mumbles. “Like I’m losing something.”
“I know.” I press a kiss to her shoulder. “But I need to pull out now, Sael?n. Are you ready?”
I grip her hips and ease back slowly. The knot slips free with a soft, wet pop. Cool liquid pours from her body in a thick rush. I can feel it coating my thighs, hear it spattering heavily against the moss.
Lumi gasps at the sensation.
“Oh my God,” she whimpers. “That’s—that’s so much!”
“I know, I know,” I murmur, my hands stroking her sides soothingly. The liquid keeps coming. Pooling beneath us. Soaking into the moss. The obscene wet sounds fill the quiet grove. “Just let it out, sael?n. There’s so much—you’re doing so well.”
I ease her forward, helping her change position so she’s more comfortable as the flow continues.
“I’ve got you,” I murmur. “Just breathe for me.”
It takes a few more moments before the flood slows to a trickle, then stops.
She sags against me, completely exhausted.
“I feel so empty now,” she whispers.
“As soon as you’re feeling up to it, we can do it again, Sael?n, but you need rest.” I gather her closer, shifting us both until we’re lying on our sides on a dry patch of moss, facing each other. “Come here, rh?la’ne. Let me hold you.”
She curls into my chest, and I wrap my body around her protectively
“Lumi,” I whisper. “Your belly—”
“Hmm?” She whispers sleepily.
“There’s a mark.” My fingers hover over her skin. “Right here.”
She blinks, trying to look down. “What kind of mark?”
I trace the edges. The mark glows softly against her skin, iridescent pale-blue pulsing with gentle light, right over her womb.
“I don’t know,” I breathe. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
She props herself up on her elbow to see it better, and her breath catches. “Oh. That’s... beautiful.”
“It is.” My hand hovers over the glowing mark, in awe. “It appeared after we—after I—”
I can’t finish the thought. My throat is too tight.
The mark pulses gently beneath my palm, right where I pressed my hand.
“Do you know what it is?” she asks, worry seeping into her words.
“I think—” I swallow hard. “There's an old legend about a mark called Solvris, but it's just a story... a myth. No rhavari has ever actually seen one.”
“Why not?”
“Because we don't conceive.” My voice cracks. “We never have. The mark is said to be a blessing from the forest. I think it's just a tale one of the first, lonely rhavaris told to give our people some comfort.”
I press my palm gently against the glowing mark.
“Maybe it's just the bond,” I murmur, trying to keep hope from creeping into my voice, but even as I say it, something in my chest flutters with possibility.
She touches the mark. “It's cold.”
“Is it?” I press closer, but I can't tell the difference between my skin and it. “Does it hurt?”
“No, it just tingles, but it’s a comforting tingle.”
We both stare at the mysterious mark until I feel warmth against my own chest, which is strange, because I'm never warm.
I glance down to see a black stripe running down the center of my pale chest. The exact color of rh?ven’s pelt.
“Lumi,” I breathe. “I have one too.”
Her eyes widen, “Holy shit! You have a skunk stripe! Or... the reverse, actually.”
I touch it, and warmth radiates from the mark, sinking into my skin. A sacred heat not of the gods, but of her.
“I carry you now,” I whisper, brushing my thumb over the dark stripe. “Your warmth. Your bond. Even when you're not touching me... I'll feel it here.”
She presses her cheek against the mark and snuggles into my chest.
“We're matching now,” she mumbles, already drifting off.
“We are.” I tighten my arms around her, one hand splaying protectively over the glowing mark on her belly. “Sleep, Lumi. I've got you.”
“Mmm. Love you,” she breathes.
My chest tightens. “I love you too. More than anything.”
Her breathing evens out within moments, and I hold her as the night settles around us. Two marks. Two mysteries. Two souls intertwined so deeply that even our bodies bear witness.
I don't understand what they mean, but I know this: she's mine. I'm hers. And whatever these marks represent—they’re ours.
I press my nose to her hair, breathing in her scent mixed with mine.
For the first time in 3000 years, I fall asleep with my bonded mate in my arms. The glowing mark on her belly is the last thing I see before I follow her into our dreams.