Chapter 41
Forty-One
WILLOW
Ishuddered at the fullness, wrapping my arms around his neck. We faced each other, me in his lap as he slowly—maddeningly—rocked his hips. I breathed into him, sliding my tongue along his, wanting to taste all of him.
The decadence.
The depravity.
The devotion.
Everything burned. The film of my heat may have lifted, but it hadn’t completely dissipated. Flames still licked in my blood, and my pussy clenched, trying to take more of Kaelen. I tangled my fingers in his hair, loving the feel.
The tip of his tongue lashed over my skin as he trailed his mouth to the juncture of my neck.
My head rolled to the side, submitting to him. I gave all of me to him, willingly. My omega might have quieted, but she was still in control and commanded me to submit to our alpha. I released a keening sound that broke the last of his restraint.
“Omega,” he breathed, his voice a husky whisper. The points of his teeth grazed my flesh. “You’re mine.”
“Prove it,” I hissed, the sound morphing into a moan as his knot stretched me.
The next words died on my lips. A sharp, brief pinch pricked on the side of my neck. It wasn’t the painful, agonizing bite I had expected. Instead, it was a quick, searing pain that soon gave way to something otherworldly.
My stomach coiled and then snapped as I came with his knot and his teeth buried inside me.
My head fell back, sweat sticking to my flushed skin.
Large, callused hands gripped my waist, holding me still on his lap, forcing me to feel everything.
He came with a roar, the sound muffled as his teeth sank in further.
Every cell in my body sang with the sensation.
The lingering burn of my heat vanished. The firestorm swirling within me quieted into a gentle warmth, lapping at my limbs until I was euphoric with the feeling.
My omega settled, purring like a contented kitten basking in the afternoon sun, finally at peace in the presence of her alpha.
Our alpha.
A heaviness grew behind my sternum, the bond settling into place.
It was him. It was Kaelen.
It was his passion, his desire… his love… for me. Tears welled in my eyes. The intensity of it was too much, but also not enough.
This was what I thought I would never have, and now that I did, I almost didn’t believe it.
The teeth in my throat receded, and his tongue lathed over the wound in tender strokes. I sighed, and he nuzzled the mark, caring for it as we both rode out the high of combined release and our new bond.
It was subtle, but it was there. Kaelen was there, the beat of his heart pulsing with mine. When I was younger, I worried a bond would be too distracting. How wrong I’d been. This was glorious. The most brilliant sensation.
I knew Kaelen loved me. That all the things he had promised me were true. His vows played on repeat with each thump in my chest, reminding me of my alpha’s words.
Devotion. Love. Protection.
I’d never question my feelings for him again.
Not when the strength of it made our bond glow like a full moon on a cloudless night.
He shifted, his hands moving to cup my face. His thumbs stroked my cheeks with a tenderness that made my heart ache. Instinctively, I wrapped my legs around his waist, rubbing my face against his, marking him with my scent.
Although the nest smelled of us, I needed more. I needed my alpha to smell of me.
Gently, he tipped my head back, and his eyes met mine. Flecks of obsidian glimmered in the jade. They were the color of emeralds, shining under the moon at midnight.
With the tips of his fingers, he flicked the tears away, his lips hovering over mine.
“Mine,” he whispered, his vow thrumming in our bond. “You are mine, Willow. My omega. My mate. My wife. My everything. Just as I am yours.”
“Mine,” I murmured back, running my fingers through his beard. “Will you add something for me? Here?”
My nails trailed over the swath of un-inked skin near ribs.
“A willow tree for my heart,” he said, sealing his lips to mine in a coaxing embrace.
I clung to him, a pliant and willing thing. A simmering warmth curled in my belly, a different kind of fire. Gone was the intense need. Instead, it was a soft blend of intimacy and passion.
After his knot deflated, a hollowness remained, my omega not quite satisfied. I whimpered, holding his face in my tiny, shaking hands.
“Alpha. More. Please.”
“All of me belongs to you now, Omega. Come here.”
With that, he pulled me into his chest, my tight nipples brushing against the corded muscles. I groaned as he lifted my calf, resting it over his hip. His mouth closed around his mark, and I moaned. He slid into me, his chest vibrating with his purr.
It was a heavenly sound. And it was only for me.
In only a few slow strokes, I shattered, coming with his name on my lips as he knotted me again.
Kaelen held me close, moving with a reverence that took my breath away. I dozed in and out, succumbing to the intensity of my heat and our new bond. When I was awake, he caressed me, murmuring words of love and adoration that I felt echoed in the bond.
Now, he could never hide from me or me from him. There was no doubting his commitment. I was foolish to ever think he was anything less than worshipful. Any uncertainties I harbored disappeared.
Kaelen was my alpha.
He was my home.
My everything.
My sanctuary and salvation.
My mate. My love.
My eyes fluttered, lost in the rhythm of his body, the scent of his skin, the caress of his rough fingers. I sank into a blissful sleep, one lulled by the hum of my alpha beating in my chest.
When I woke, the smell of fresh bread and the dulcet purr of his voice greeted me.
The afterglow of my heat still muddled my senses.
I reached out, spreading my fingers in the mussed blankets of my nest, cocooned by the scent of my alpha.
My other hand rested on the ridges of his stomach, my head on his chest, listening to the steady beating of his heart.
His hand covered mine, gently stroking my knuckles, bringing them to his lips and kissing them.
“Good morning, mo chroí.”
“Is it? Morning, that is?”
“Yes. You have been in and out for the last two days.”
A sleepy, content look glazed my expression, and my hand drifted to my throat. My fingers danced over the raised mark. I loosened a disbelieving breath. It was real. It hadn’t been a heat-fueled daydream. The bond glowed in my chest, radiating love.
As if answering my unspoken thoughts.
I glanced at Kaelen, his eyes twinkling in the morning light filtering through the sheer curtains. He brushed over his mark, and I shivered. He reached behind him, closing his fingers around a glass.
“Drink,” he ordered, bringing the rim to my lips.
“Bossy alpha,” I said, still doing as he said.
“Stubborn omega,” he bit back, a quiet laugh softening his retort.
The cool water slid down my throat, and I nearly moaned, forgetting how good water tasted. He continued to feed me, his touches constant and reassuring until I pushed him away, too full to eat anymore.
I basked in the brilliance of our bond, touching him as much as he touched me. Eventually, we’d have to leave my nest, but for a little while longer, it was just us. I burrowed into him, flicking my tongue over his pulse, making him release a possessive sound that made my pussy contract.
After what felt like an eternity, he shifted, rolling onto his back and settling me on his waist. I squeaked, his tip nudging me. A wolfish grin slid into place, making him look even more dangerous. The tip of his tongue pressed into the roof of his mouth, his palms caressing my curves.
“Let’s get you cleaned up, Omega,” he whispered, his voice still rough with sleep.
My heart lurched, my omega nervous about leaving our nest. Every instinct screamed for us to stay in our haven. The tired creases around his eyes faded, and he lifted my chin with a gentle finger.
Our bond hummed behind my sternum.
“Don’t worry, sweet omega, it’s still us. After our bath we can curl back into this nest, and I can lick that pretty cunt of yours until you're screaming for your alpha.”
I breathed a delighted sound, enticingly rocking my hips against his length until he hissed, nails biting into my hips to stop me. A cloud of my scent thickened as I perfumed, and Kaelen snapped. Sliding out of the bed, he lifted me in his arms, carrying me toward the bathroom.
“Patience,” he said, more to himself than me, it seemed.
The cool air in the ensuite stung my flushed skin. Kaelen sat me on the vanity while he busied himself running the bath. I greedily drank in the vision of his toned, muscled legs flexing as he crouched.
Saliva coated my tongue when I imagined running it over the lines of every tattoo decorating his chest. I wiggled slightly, releasing a breathy sound. Turning, I faced the mirror, shocked by the image staring back at me.
Pale pink colored my cheekbones, a flush still warm on my chest and neck. Rough skin bounced under my fingers as I feathered them across my lips. My hair was a knotted mess. All that aside, I couldn’t stop staring at the raised mark at the juncture of my collarbone.
Kaelen turned, steam rising from the tub.
“It’s very pretty,” he said, his eyes dark as the backs of his knuckles grazed over the sensitive skin. “Just like my omega.”
Another blaze of love alighted in our bond, and I splayed fingers between my breasts. Lips pressed against the underside of my jaw as he lifted me, lowering us into the bathtub.
Water sloshed over the sides, lavender bubbles curling around my toes.
My back leaned into him, his legs bracketing my hips. A soapy cloth trailed over my arms, melting away the tension that had been suffocating me for days. My eyes closed. The gentle caress of his hands lulled me into a light doze.
Fingers slid into my hair, shampooing and massaging my scalp. The motion made me moan, and he prodded the small of my back.
“Needy alpha,” I teased.
“Only for you,” he murmured, his tongue flicking over his bite.
We stayed in the bath until the water cooled, the last of the steam billowing into nothingness. Rivulets of water cascaded along the divots of his muscles as he stood, eyeing me like a starving lion. The tattoos on his hand flexed as he extended it to me, helping me out.
Wrapping an oversized towel around me, he carried me back to our nest, gently laying me in the mountain of blankets and pillows that smelled like us.
Strong arms curled around my bare thighs, his fingers dimpling the skin there as he dragged me closer. He sat on his knees, illuminated in the afternoon sun. My core fluttered. He teased my opening, and my back arched.
With a feral growl, Kaelen fell to his stomach, burrowing his face between my thighs. The tip of his tongue followed the path his thumb had taken, the ecstasy blinding.
“Mine,” he said, lapping at me until my vision blurred. “Already so wet. Taste as sweet as you smell. Going to come for me, Omega?”
“Yes. Yes. Yes,” I chanted, yanking on his hair and bucking into his mouth.
A moan vibrated against my clit and I came with a broken cry as my release tore from some unfathomable place in my core that I didn’t know existed.
“More,” he rasped, slipping two fingers into my pussy.
“God,” I whimpered.
“He’s not here, mo chroí. He has forsaken you. Left you with the devil. I’ll be your god.”
“Fuck.”
“Yes,” he growled. “I will fuck you. Corrupt you. Sin for you.”
He unraveled me. Ruined me. I came two more times, once with his mouth and fingers before he sank into me, stretching me in the most devastating way.
“Knot,” I gasped, clawing at his sculpted shoulders with each snap of his hips. “Alpha. Husband. Please.”
“Again,” he said, kissing my neck. “Say it again.”
“Alpha,” I begged.
“No. The other one.”
His knot inflated, catching on my entrance with each thrust. It was so close. I was so close. I barely registered what he demanded of me until he stilled and clarity crashed down on me.
“Husband,” I whispered, my throat raw as I slid my tiny hand over his cheek. “My husband. Only mine.”
And he was.
This gorgeous, protective, ruthless alpha was mine.
He belonged to me.
“Wife,” he murmured, rocking his hips and locking his knot into place.
The thread in my abdomen snapped. My omega was a melted, sated kitten as my release rolled over me in slow, sweet waves. Each peak crested and lapped at my frayed nerves, other small orgasms shaking my tired body as Kaelen came, spilling his seed.
“Nothing means anything without you,” he said, fusing our lips together in a languid, consuming kiss. “Everything I do from this day forward until my last breath will be for you. Thank you, Willow.”
“For what?”
He smirked, pressing another chaste kiss to my lips. “For letting this demon corrupt you.”
My hand landed on his forearm, tracing the words etched there.
Tá sé scríofa.
It’s fated.
And we were.
“You didn’t corrupt me, Kaelen. You showed who I was always meant to be.”