Chapter 21 - Damian #3
I only speak again when I’ve begun pressing open-mouthed kisses along her collarbone, using only one hand to undo the buttons down the front of her blouse, the other cupped under her rear to keep her pressed to me steadily.
“This is the only kind of madness that should be acceptable,” I whisper on her flesh, trailing my tongue toward the valley between her breasts.
She moans when I flick my tongue over one erected nipple, using my now free hand to undo the drawstrings on my sweatpants, the taste of her breast intoxicating me and making me impatient.
Desperate to be inside her, it doesn’t take much effort for either of us to become naked against the door. Only a tiny trigger stops me as I hold her gaze, and that’s when I frown.
“Promise me you won’t disappear after today.”
My words must have struck a chord, and Poppy’s brows furrow, her eyes brimming with tears as she touches my face, shaking her head slowly.
“I promise. I’m not going anywhere this time. I choose to stay, Damian,” she whispers. “I choose you.”
Her promise makes my heart squeeze in an impossibly warm way, and that’s all it takes for passion to come over me again. When I kiss her lips, it feels like we’re sealing a deal.
Except, this is not a deal. It’s a promise made from one heart to another, filled with love and the understanding that comes from a decade of sacrifice. Somehow, in the span of a few days, so much had happened, but Poppy and I have both become different.
Mature.
The kind of alpha and luna who don’t just feel bodily pleasures, but who feel the magnitude of the mate bond the moment our bodies connect.
I’m deep inside her, but it’s not just her aching walls I feel, or the throbbing of my cock when it needs friction to chase orgasm.
It’s the fated mate bond we feel, our bodies tingling in all the right places, doubts and fears disappearing from our minds as we hold on to each other, the warmth of the embrace expanding into heat that makes us feel invincible.
I wrap my arms around her and carry her back to the bed, wanting to see her beneath me as we reach that sweet, addicting spot together. Once she’s lying down, I pull her legs over my shoulders, my thrusts becoming deeper as I press a palm to the top of her pelvis.
“Oh, my—hng!” she cries out, throwing her head back as pleasure pools in her core, ready to explode.
I can feel how close she is, and so am I. My thrusts get deeper, muscles tightening, and I’m pounding into her until the knot in my scrotum releases, and I spill out hot ropes of cum deep inside her. She orgasms at the same time, her walls convulsing and milking my cock for every last drop.
Breathless and spent, I collapse my weight onto her, and her arms fold around me.
I’m startled when Poppy’s breath hitches, and thinking I suffocated her with my weight, I quickly pull back.
But that’s when I see her eyes turn milky-white.
“Poppy?”
She doesn’t move for a good few seconds, doesn’t blink her eyes, white orbs staring at nothing in particular. But when she finally blinks, she lugs in a deep breath as if it’s the first one after being knocked out cold.
I frown hard as I slowly pull out of her, but not leaving her eyes.
“What just happened?” I ask, and she gulps hard, her eyes turning hazel and soft.
“I just saw where the dark witch coven is hiding,” Poppy reveals as I take her hand and help her to sit upright, and she frowns. “I had a vision, or something; I don’t know. But there was a sign on the road. Wichita Falls.”
“Wichita Falls…?” I gasp with recognition. “That’s where Jackson was working with the rogues, where we found Dorian when he was kidnapped.”
“So, it’s true, then. Jackson wasn’t working independently.”
I nod. “But Cyrus has been keeping an eye on the abandoned building. They put up surveillance all around town.”
Poppy shakes her head slowly. “They’re hiding behind ancient runes and wards somewhere on the outskirts of town. I saw a waterfall, and a very dark cave…”
I press my lips into a firm line, clenching my jaw. “We’ll need to take this information to the council.”
Poppy agrees with a firm nod. “They’re planning something big, Damian. I just couldn’t see it. They’re afraid of me for some reason, and they won’t come out of hiding any time soon.”
“We need to be prepared.”
I go around the room, picking up our clothes, and take them back to her. Poppy lifts her eyes to meet mine.
“Damian…”
“Yes?”
“For some reason, I’m not afraid,” she whispers.
Smiling gently, I lift a hand to her cheek. “It doesn’t change things. It is still my duty to protect you and Daniel. You never have to do anything alone again.”
She touches the top of my hand, closing her eyes as she nuzzles into my touch. “I know.”
I smirk in satisfaction, then press a kiss to her lips, feeling her necklace still in my pocket.
“Then let us work as a team from now on.”
“A team?” She looks up and smiles at me. “I think we can do that.”
As our lips meet again for a soft kiss full of promise, my heart swells with pride.
Maybe it was hard to be the alpha of Valley Walker only because I thought I needed to do it on my own.
But with Poppy on my side, I feel like anything is possible, because we’re a team.
Poppy, Daniel, and me.