Chapter 25 Ezra
Ezra
I stay kneeling, the silence between us louder than anything Renato said.
“Aurora, I won’t touch you again until you ask me to.”
My voice is rough, desperate, not me. But maybe that’s a good thing.
“I need you to look at me. I need to know you’re okay.”
The little goddess turns to face me. Tears drip down her beautiful features, and a small, sad smile plays on her lips. My heart breaks a little, knowing that I was the one who did this to her.
Although, to be fair, Renato helped.
“I-I was going to kill him. I wanted to kill him. He was going to hurt you … hurt me. That’s not who I am,” Aurora chokes out, covering her face with her hands.
“But it’s who I’m becoming, isn’t it? I can feel it …
something monstrous waking up inside of me.
” Her tears fall faster, and I realize she’s not scared of me but scared of herself.
“Are you afraid of me now, Ezra? I understand if this is too much for you. I won’t blame you if you leave,” she says through her hiccupping sobs.
I reach for her, then stop, fingers curling into fists.
I promised—not a finger, not a fucking whisper of a touch—unless she asks.
But stars damn me, I need her to ask.
“Tell me, little lupine.” My voice is hoarse, thick with something I won’t name. “Tell me what you need.”
“Hold me, please. I need you,” she whispers.
My arms wrap around her, and I nuzzle into her neck, breathing in her warm honeysuckle scent.
Leaning back, I cup her chin, tilting her face toward mine.
“I’m not scared of you, Aurora.”
Her eyes search mine, looking for a lie she won’t find.
“I need you to understand that.”
I brush a soft kiss against her lips. Then another at the corner of her mouth. And then one more.
My lips linger, a silent promise against her skin.
“I could sense your magic again. And even though you used it to attack Renato, at its core, it’s good and kind and smells like … kettle corn, actually.”
When I chuckle, she cracks a lopsided smile that seems to slip out before she can stop it.
I’m getting through to her.
“Really?” she asks, her voice so soft I almost miss it.
“Really, little queen.” I press my forehead to hers, holding her close. “I would never lie to you. Not even to spare your feelings. Your magic is begging to be released, Aurora. Until you claim it, it will claim you in moments like this.”
My fingers trail down her spine, a soft anchor against the chaos. “But I know you. I see you. And I know that when you have control, you will wield your power for the good of everyone.”
Something shifts behind her dark green eyes. Something electric … something certain.
A shiver races through me, nerves snapping, heat blooming wild beneath my skin.
Aurora leans forward and plants a soft, lingering kiss on my lips.
“I hope you’re right, Ezra. I’d never forgive myself if I harmed an innocent being.”
She says it like a confession, as if she’s already bracing for who she might become.
I swallow hard, my grip tightening on her waist. She doesn’t fucking see it. After everything we’ve shared, she still thinks she could be a monster.
I know monsters.
Aurora Hagan will never be one.
“The power was intoxicating,” she whispers. “I’ll have to get used to it. But I need you to keep me grounded, bring me back if I lose control again …”
Her teeth scrape lazily up my jaw until she finds the tender spot below my ear, and sinks in. My breath stutters out, my chest tightening, my hands locking onto her hips.
I growl deep in my throat, shadows curling tight around my wrists, slithering up my back as if they could stop me.
“Careful, little vixen. Unless you want me to bite back.”
She rises slowly, looks down at me on my knees, and whispers, “Undress me, Ezra.”
I lift her T-shirt over her head and cup her perfect tits through a deep purple bra. Lowering my mouth, I suck the soft skin above the lace, leaving dark marks that make my shadows curl with possessive pleasure.
Aurora threads her fingers into my hair and pulls me tight against her chest, her moan snapping the last thread of reason I had left. I suck harder, desperate to hear it again.
I unhook her bra, let it fall, and suck one of her nipples into my mouth while my fingers tease the other. My free hand slips her skirt down her hips, where it pools at her feet.
“Stand up, Ezra,” Aurora commands.
As I stand, my hands glide up the backs of her thighs, over the curve of her ass, and along her spine. She’s so fucking soft that the dark thing buried deep inside of me howls to keep her safe, even if I have to rip the heavens open and pull the Milky Way down piece by piece.
As I stretch to my full height, I glance down at the fiery little queen. For the first time, I notice the significant height difference between us, with me standing a solid foot and a half taller. She’s so small, so perfect. And towering over her means I can shield her from anything.
At least, that’s the lie I tell myself.
I’ve done enough to damn myself a thousand times over. I know she’s more than I was ever meant to have. But if the stars try to take her from me, I’ll become the reason they burn out.
Aurora stands on her toes, plants a short, sweet kiss on my lips, then falls to her knees.
From the floor, her gaze locks on mine as she unzips my pants. My fingers dig into my palms, shadows curling around my wrists like chains.
Restraint? Devotion? Obsession?
I don’t fucking know anymore.
She has no idea what she does to me.
Giving up control, especially in matters of intimacy, has never been something I’ve been comfortable with. But with Aurora? I will be her faithful follower, a willing devotee, and an eager pupil, ready to follow her every command.
She pulls my straining cock from my pants, and when her fingers wrap tightly around my thick length, a growl rumbles from somewhere deep in my chest.
Her lazy strokes aren’t mercy. They’re fucking torture.
Aurora’s gaze never leaves mine, a silent, steady confirmation that she’s in control. It feels like a challenge, but that’s not exactly right. It’s a level of intimacy that’s both terrifying and exhilarating.
I’m utterly speechless. Me. Speechless.
One look. One fucking word. I’d raze Heaven and Hell to the ground just to fuck her mouth like it’s the last sermon before I vanish into oblivion.
With her fiery eyes still glued to mine, she sticks her tongue out and laps up the pre-cum beading on the tip of my cock.
“Fuck, Aurora.” Her tongue is heat and gravity and the kind of pleasure that rewrites galaxies. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I want to. I’ve been thinking about it since this morning,” Aurora mutters.
I fight for control as she maps every inch of me with her mouth. My fists clench at my sides, every muscle torn between restraint and the desperate need to thread my fingers through her hair and drown in everything she’s offering.
And when she finally wraps her lips around me, taking me deep into her mouth, we both groan. Aurora’s tongue makes a maddening swirling pattern on the bottom of my shaft as her mouth works me into a frenzy.
“Aurora. Christ, your mouth is divine damnation,” I say stiffly as I dig my nails into my palms.
I don’t want to hurt her, and I don’t want to come yet.
I want this to last for-fucking-ever.
The goddess removes my cock from her mouth with a frustrated grunt and looks up at me. She grabs my hand and places it at the back of her head.
“You won’t break me, Ezra. I know what I want. I might be a virgin, but I’m not fragile. And I’m definitely not innocent. Don’t hold back. I’ll tell you if I’m uncomfortable. Besides, you’re clenching your fists so tight, I’m afraid your fingers will punch straight through.”
Aurora smirks and tilts her head, gaze locked on mine, daring me to lose control.
Who the fuck is this woman? Sweet one second, smirking the next, spitting temptation like it’s a second language—and she still looks at me like I’m something worth touching.
She wraps her mouth around me again, setting the rhythm with agonizing control. I fist her hair, my hips twitching as I try to match her pace.
When she looks up, her gaze is crown fire and wicked intent. She hums softly, pulling me deeper, offering me deliverance and my downfall. I feel the back of her throat give, and I nearly come undone. She didn’t hesitate. Just opened for me, and now I’m buried to the hilt.
She swallows, and I forget how to breathe. How to think. How to exist without her.
Mother of the godforsaken stars.
My vision bleaches white. My hips jerk. My control explodes.
I want to fuck her mouth until I’m not a monster, not a shadow, not a fucking thing.
Just hers.
I want to rip open the heavens and demand to know why she’s here, with me.
Why I get her. Why I get to fucking keep her.
But then I feel it, the strain in her throat.
The bruises.
The pressure.
Fuck.
I freeze, pulling back before I go too far.
Dropping to the floor, I run my knuckles down her soft, tear-stained cheek and whisper, “Aurora. Your throat. Please don’t hurt yourself.”
My other hand mindlessly grazes over her darkened, bruised neck, while my shadows writhe with worry at my back.
I refuse to be the cause of her pain.
“I need you to trust me, Ezra.”
She presses her palm against my chest. Not to stop me. Just to make sure I’m listening.
“We’ve known each other for such a short time, but I know my limits. My neck feels better than it did this morning. I want this, want you, so bad it almost hurts. Please allow me to make my own decisions about my body.”
I can’t argue with that. Her body is hers. Not mine.
I’m just the lucky monster who gets to worship every inch.
“I trust you, Aurora. Please promise you’ll tell me if you’re uncomfortable or don’t want to do something. As I told you last night and this morning, you are in control.”
“I promise,” Aurora whispers, urging me to stand.
As I follow her command, her hands glide softly down my chest and thighs, leaving a trail of warmth in their wake.