Chapter 22 Clare
Clare
The kiss started slow. Not tentative – we’d already crossed that line – but reverent, like he was tasting something he thought he might never be allowed to have again.
Venom’s lips were warm against mine, his fangs just barely brushing my bottom lip, careful and restrained. I cupped his cheek with one hand, the other pressed to the firm plane of his chest. He didn’t push. He didn’t rush. He let me decide.
And I did.
I parted my lips and leaned in deeper.
The low sound he made – something between a growl and a sigh – rumbled through my bones. His arms came around me, strong and sure, his coils tightening just enough to cradle, not trap.
“I’ve never claimed anyone,” he murmured against my mouth. “But I want to claim you. With teeth. With heat. With everything I am.”
My breath hitched. “Then stop waiting.”
But he didn’t move. Not yet.
His gaze burned into mine – not with heat, but with something deeper. Ancient. Sacred.
“There’s something you need to know first,” he said, voice low and reverent. “If I take you now, fully… if I bite you… it won’t just be physical. It’s not just sex for my kind.”
I blinked. “You said before that it is some kind of bond.”
He nodded once. “More than a bond. It ties us. Soul to soul. You’d become mine. My mate. My clan would recognise you as one of us. It’s not reversible. Not breakable. You’d be part of me, and I part of you. Even across galaxies.”
My heart thudded. “Is that what you want?”
His voice was barely a whisper. “Yes. More than I’ve ever wanted anything.”
I swallowed hard. “And what else does it mean? Besides soul-bonding?”
“It means protection,” he said. “It means family. You’d be accepted by any naga as one of our own. It also means... potential. A future. If we ever wanted children, the bond would allow that. Without it, the chances are…non-existent.”
Children.
I hadn’t thought that far ahead. How could I? But the idea didn’t scare me as much as it should have. Not with him. Not now.
“So, if I say yes,” I said slowly, “you bite me, and I become yours. Forever.”
“Yes,” he said. “And I become yours. But only if you want it. Only if you choose.”
His tail curled gently around my wrist, not pulling, just anchoring me to this moment.
“Do you?” he asked. “Choose me?”
I looked into his eyes – slitted, glowing faintly, full of fierce devotion and something that felt a lot like love.
And I knew.
“Yes,” I said. “I choose you.”
His breath shuddered out of him like I’d just released something he’d been holding for too long.
Venom moved slowly, reverently, lowering me into the softness of the bed.
The sheet was warm and silky, gently supporting my body.
His coils cradled my legs and hips, lifting me into his touch.
His hands traced down my body, slowly undressing me like I was something sacred – not hurried, not hungry, just.. . careful. Worshipful.
When I was naked, I looked up at him. His eyes were dark with lust and desire. Yet he was holding back. He was going slow for my sake. And I loved him for it.
Yes.
That word.
So small, so deep, so intense.
His hands ran up and down my arms. I trembled beneath his touch, not from fear but anticipation. My skin felt too tight for the heat gathering beneath it.
He pressed a kiss to my sternum, another just beneath my ribs. Lower still.
“I want to know you,” he whispered, the forked tip of his tongue flicking softly against the inside of my thigh. “Every breath. Every sound. Every taste.”
My breath caught.
He shifted between my legs, his coils bracing my thighs apart with a gentleness that still held strength. And then – fuck me – his tongue. That split, forked tongue sliding through me like tense silk. He didn’t rush. He teased, explored, circled.
I gasped. My hips bucked against his mouth.
“Please,” I whispered. “Venom…”
He growled softly. His tail tightened a little around my waist, one loop pressing me closer, another sliding up to curl over my breast, teasing my sensitive folds in rhythm with his tongue.
Every movement was calculated, patient. Like he was memorising what made me gasp, what made my body tremble, what made my fingers tighten into the sheet.
When he finally pulled back, I was shaking – aroused beyond thought, strung tight with need. My entire body was a live wire, sparking wherever he touched.
He rose above me, eyes burning. His voice was thick with restraint.
“You’re ready for me. But if I go further… I will mark you. Mate you. No going back.”
I reached up, cupped his face. “I said yes.”
His hood flared. His fangs gleamed.
And then he lowered himself again – this time, not with tongue.
But with all of him.
I felt the first press of him – thick, hot, unyielding – and gasped.
This wasn’t the same as before. This cock was even thicker, stretching me to the limit, and the ridges around it felt more like bumps that would give me the ultimate pleasure when he fully entered me.
And this was deeper, slower, more deliberate.
He was holding back again, despite everything.
“You’re shaking,” he murmured, brushing a kiss across my collarbone. “You can still say no.”
“I’m shaking because I want you,” I whispered. “Because I’m ready.”
A rumble built in his chest. His forked tongue flicked out, brushing my bottom lip as his tail resumed its gentle tease across my breast and down my hip. Its tip settled against my clit, stroking gently but firmly. Preparing me again, even though I already ached for him.
Then I felt it – the moment he let go of whatever part of himself he’d been holding back.
He sank into me, inch by beautiful inch, and my breath caught as my body adjusted around him. His cock felt like nothing I’d ever known. Yet it was everything I needed. Everything I wanted.
I felt utterly filled. Claimed.
And yet, I knew this was only part of what he could give.
His voice was tight with strain. “I’m only using one. If I used both… not yet.”
My mouth parted. “Later?”
He chuckled, low and raw. “Later, my little mate. When you can take it. When you want it.”
He began to move. Slow, deep thrusts that sent ripples of pleasure through me, building something vast and inevitable. His tail coiled beneath my spine, lifting my hips just enough to change the angle, to make me feel every ridge, every twitch.
But it wasn’t just his body. It was his eyes, locked on mine. His hands, reverent on my skin. His hearts, beating in sync with my own.
I was on the edge, trembling, when he leaned close to my throat.
“I’m going to bite you now,” he murmured. “I’ll be gentle. But it will bind us. Soul to soul. Forever.”
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
His lips brushed against the nape of my neck, kissing my burning skin. Then his fangs sank in – just a pinch, sharp but fleeting – and something ancient surged through me. Not pain. Not even heat. More like light. A connection forged not through words or gestures but something deeper. Soul-deep.
My orgasm slammed into me, tearing through my body like lightning. I cried out, and he held me, moved with me, followed me over the edge.
He shuddered with release, his grip tightening, his body locking to mine as his second heart thundered against my ribs. I felt the pulse of him inside me, deep and anchoring. A claiming. A promise.
We were mates. We were everything.
We stayed like that, tangled together in a nest of limbs and coils and breath, until the stars outside the window were just a blur.
I drifted between warmth and dreams, wrapped in Venom’s arms, his coils a steady pressure around me. I could feel the bond between us – not just on my skin where his fangs had marked me, but in me. A thread of silver warmth connecting my heartbeat to his.
Sleep pulled me under gently.
And in the dream, I was not alone.
The air shimmered in warm, comforting sunshine. I stood beneath purple trees. It was so real that I could smell the moss, the flowers, even the tree bark.
Venom appeared beside me, his hand already in mine. His eyes glowed, not with danger or desire now, but with something tender. I could feel our connection simmering faintly between us.
Then I felt her.
Sa’quii.
She walked along the jungle floor with her elegant gait, tails erect and moving in hypnotising patterns. Her three eyes blinked slowly in welcome.
You are safe. Her voice was as warm as always.
“We are,” I said aloud in the dream. “We made it off the planet.”
Venom nodded. “We’re aboard a ship. The Bloodstar. The Intergalactic Authority is here. They’re preparing to strike against the game makers.”
Her feathers rippled with interest. They have not come here yet.
“No,” I said, stepping forward. “And we will try and make sure they don’t.”
I didn’t know why I suddenly felt the urge to protect the chii from the IA, but I’d learned to trust my instincts.
Venom nodded in agreement. “We will not reveal your existence to the IA. We promise. Kalumbu should belong to its own people. Not become another outpost or colony.”
She chirped softly. Thank you.
“Are the others okay? Ba’quoo?” I asked. “Tyvaron didn’t hurt anyone?”
The trees behind her shimmered with new colours – hundreds of golden, bronze and silver chii, their outlines somewhat fuzzy, but the message was clear. They were safe.
They left. The sky-beasts were summoned, but their hearts were not aligned with the hunters. Part of the forest is burned, but none of us were harmed.
Relief poured through me.
Venom tightened his fingers around mine. “Then I hope that soon, you will be able to live freely again. Out in the open. No more need to hide.”
Sa’quii padded forward. Her feathered tails brushed against my hand.
You both carry light now. Stronger together. You have bonded.
I blushed. “We have.”
You will change this world. Maybe more.
I felt it then – a faint ripple of energy as the dream began to pull apart at the edges. The way it always did when dawn approached.
“We’ll come back one day,” I promised. “Not to interfere. Just to see you again.”
We will be here.
Her voice lingered even as the dream melted into mist.