Chapter 5 #2
Senna breaks the kiss first, gasping for air, and I press my forehead against hers. We're both breathing hard, chests heaving, and I can feel her pulse racing beneath my fingers where they rest against her throat.
"This is insane," she whispers.
"Yeah." I don't disagree.
"I barely know you."
"I know."
"But I don't want to stop." Her eyes search mine, vulnerable and honest in a way that makes my chest ache.
"Then don't." My voice is rough, scraped raw. "Don't stop."
She kisses me again, and this time it's slower. Deeper. Like she's trying to memorize me the same way I am her.
The bond hums beneath my skin like lightning about to strike.
Senna kisses me again and my magic surges—wild, untamed, crackling through my veins like I've lost all fucking control. I have to wrestle it back, force it down before it does something I can't take back. Before I mark her in ways that can't be undone.
Because that's what my magic wants. Wants to claim her so thoroughly that everyone will know she's mine. Wants to sink into her skin until there's no question, no doubt, no possibility of her walking away.
But I can't do that to her. Not when she's scared. Not when she barely knows what the hell is happening.
I'm trying—fuck, I'm trying to think rationally about this. To slow down and give her space to process what Serai just dropped on us.
But then Senna shifts against me, her hips rolling in a way that makes my cock throb, and rational thought flies right out of my head.
"Lorenth." My name is a whimper against my mouth, and her hands are everywhere. Sliding under my tunic, scratching down my chest, tugging at the fabric like she wants it gone.
"Wait." The word scrapes out of me even though it's the last thing I want to say. "Just—hold on."
She doesn't hold on. She grinds against me instead, her core pressed right against the hard length of my cock, and I groan into her mouth. She's destroying me. Unraveling every shred of control I have left.
I grab her hips, trying to still her movements, but she just makes this desperate sound and kisses me harder.
"Please," she breathes against my lips. "Please, I need—"
"I know." I force myself to pull back enough to look at her, to see her face. "I know what you need. But we should slow down."
Her eyes are hooded, pupils blown wide, and her skin is flushed the most beautiful shade of pink. She looks wrecked already and I've barely touched her. The dress has slipped off one shoulder, revealing the curve of her collarbone, the soft skin of her neck where I can see her pulse hammering.
She's gorgeous. Absolutely fucking gorgeous.
And I want her so badly I can barely see straight.
"The food," I manage, my voice strained. "The wine. They're designed to enhance this. To lower inhibitions. You might not—"
"I want you." She cuts me off, her hands framing my face, forcing me to meet her gaze. "I want this. I want to know what it feels like."
"What what feels like?" My thumbs stroke along her hipbones, trying to soothe even as my own need threatens to consume me.
"To feel good." Her voice breaks on the words, and there's something raw in her eyes. Something that looks like pain beneath the desire. "I just want to know what it feels like to feel good with someone."
The confession sends ice through my veins.
What the fuck has her life been like that she's never—
I don't let myself finish the thought. Don't let myself imagine what kind of bastard would have her and not worship her the way she deserves. Because if I do, if I let that rage build, I won't be able to focus on her. On this.
On giving her exactly what she's asking for.
My hands cup her face, thumbs brushing over her cheekbones, and I make myself think. Force my brain to work through the haze of want clouding everything else.
She's begging for this. Pulling at me like she'll die if I don't give her what she needs. But I need to be sure. Need to know this is really what she wants and not just the magic and wine making her reckless.
"Senna." I keep my voice steady, controlled, even though everything in me is screaming. "Do you want me?"
"Yes." The word is a moan, her hips rolling against mine again, seeking friction. "Gods, yes. Please."
"I want to take my time with you." I press my forehead against hers, breathing her in. "Want to learn every inch of you. Want to make it so good you forget everything else."
"Then do it." Her fingers tangle in my hair, tugging hard. "Or let me—I want to feel you buried in me. Want to know what it's like when it's supposed to feel good."
The words break something in me.
She captures my mouth in a kiss that's pure desperation, all heat and need and hunger, and I'm done. Finished. Every last shred of control I was clinging to shatters like glass.
I kiss her back with everything I have, claiming her mouth like it belongs to me. Like she belongs to me. My hands slide down to her thighs, bunching the fabric of her dress in my fists as I drag it up and out of the way.
The silk pools around her hips, and I break the kiss just long enough to look down. To see her.
Fuck.
She's bare beneath the dress. No undergarments. Nothing between me and the slick heat of her except air and intention.
"You're going to kill me," I groan, pressing open-mouthed kisses along her throat. "Absolutely fucking destroy me."
Her laugh is breathless, shaky. "Good."
Her fingers fumble with the laces of my trousers, tugging at them with clumsy desperation that makes my heart clench. I help her, making quick work of the knots, and then my cock springs free and she gasps.
"Is that—" She looks down between us, eyes widening. "Will it—"
"It'll fit." I cup her face again, forcing her to look at me. "I promise. I'll make it good for you."
She nods, trusting me in a way that makes my chest ache, and then I'm lining myself up. The head of my cock brushes against her entrance and we both shudder.
She's soaking wet. Dripping. Ready for me in a way that makes my magic flare again, trying to mark, trying to claim.
I push forward slowly, watching her face, and the tight heat of her body closing around me is—
Pain. Pleasure. Everything.
She gasps, her head falling back against the wall, and I freeze. Give her time to adjust even though every instinct is screaming at me to drive forward. To bury myself to the hilt and never let go.
"Okay?" The word comes out strangled.
"Don't stop." Her legs tighten around my waist, pulling me deeper. "Please don't stop."
I push forward another inch. Then another. Slow and steady and so careful it's killing me. Her body stretches around me, taking me in, and she makes these small sounds that go straight to my cock.
When I'm finally seated fully inside her, we both go still.
She feels perfect. Like she was made for me. Like every part of her was designed to fit against every part of me and nothing else will ever compare to this.
"Move," she breathes. "Please, Lorenth, move."
I pull back slowly, watching where we're joined, and then thrust back in. Deep. Deliberate. Making sure she feels every inch of me.
She cries out, her nails digging into my shoulders, and I do it again. And again. Setting a rhythm that's slow but intense, each stroke deliberate and claiming and so fucking right I can barely think.
Her kisses turn frantic, desperate. She kisses like she's trying to crawl inside me, and I kiss her back with the same wild hunger. Our tongues tangle, our breath mingles, and the sounds we're making—gasps and groans and desperate pleas—fill the space between us.
I shift my angle and she keens, her whole body arching against mine.
"There?" I grind against that spot inside her, making her see stars. "That's it, Senna. Let me hear you."
"Oh gods." Her voice breaks. "Right there. Don't stop, please don't—"
I don't stop. I fuck her exactly how she needs, hitting that perfect spot with every thrust, and her moans get louder. More desperate.
My magic surges again, wrapping around us both like a living thing. I can feel it trying to bond us, trying to forge something permanent between us, and I have to fight to keep it contained. To keep from marking her in ways she didn't ask for.
But fuck, it's hard. Especially when she looks at me like I'm everything. When she holds onto me like I'm the only thing keeping her grounded.
I memorize every detail. The way her eyes flutter closed when I thrust deep. The little hitch in her breath when I roll my hips just right. The flush spreading down her neck to her chest, making her skin glow in the lantern light.
She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
And she's mine.
The thought blazes through me, undeniable and absolute, and my next thrust is harder. Deeper. Claiming.
"Lorenth." My name is a prayer on her lips. "I'm—I can't—"
"Let go." I press my forehead against hers, never breaking rhythm. "I've got you. Let go for me."
She shatters.
Her orgasm hits like a tidal wave, her whole body going rigid before trembling violently in my arms. She cries out, the sound raw and beautiful, and her inner walls clench around me so tight I see stars.
And then I feel it.
This tug. Deep inside me. Deeper than bone. Deeper than blood.
Something snaps into place between us, clicking like a lock finding its key, and my magic roars in triumph. It floods through me, through her, wrapping around the bond that just formed, though not entirely complete.
Holy fuck.
The soulbond. It's real. It's actually—
Senna's still trembling in my arms, still coming down from her high, and I'm frozen. Caught between the overwhelming rightness of what just happened and the terrifying implications of it.
I can feel her. Not just physically, though that's there too—the slick heat of her still clenching around my cock, the racing of her pulse against my chest. But deeper.
I can feel an echo of her emotions crashing into me.
The pleasure still singing through her veins.
The contentment settling warm in her chest. The hint of fear lurking beneath it all.
She feels me too. I know she does. I can see it in the way her eyes fly open, wide and shocked, and fix on mine.
"What—" She gasps. "What was that?"
I don't answer. Can't answer. Because I'm still buried inside her and she's still pulsing around me and my own release is building at the base of my spine like an inferno.
I capture her mouth again, kissing her through the aftershocks, and start moving. Slow at first, then faster. Chasing my own climax now, unable to hold back anymore.
She meets me thrust for thrust, her sensitivity making every movement intense. She whimpers into my mouth but doesn't tell me to stop. Just holds on tighter, taking everything I give her.
The pressure builds. Builds. My magic wraps tighter around the bond, around her, and I know—I know—this is going to change everything.
I bury myself as deep as I can go and come hard enough to see white. My release floods through me, through the bond, and I feel Senna gasp as the sensation echoes back through her. Like she can feel what I'm feeling. Like we're sharing this moment on every possible level.
It's intense. Overwhelming. Perfect.
I collapse against her, bracing my weight on the wall to keep from crushing her, and we both just breathe. Our hearts hammering in sync. Our bodies still joined.
And I swear a bond pulses between us, demanding to be acknowledged. But I don't know what the fuck to do with that.
I don't know what the fuck to do at all right now when Senna has just altered everything I am.