Chapter 24 #2
“What? How?” It took a heartbeat for my mind to catch up. “No, we are not completing the bond right now. You’re not going to cut yourself open to give me ayim. You need all of yours.”
Castiel gave me a dark look. “It will only take a moment.”
“No,” I said gently but firmly, slipping my hand from his.
Hurt flickered in his eyes at the perceived rejection.
I cupped his jaw with both hands and pressed my forehead to his. “Beloved, I will not let you harm yourself for me.”
“I would do anything to keep you safe,” he interjected.
“No,” I said again, eyes shut. “You have already done too much. It will heal in its time. And then, when we bond, it will be in pure joy and celebration.”
He shuddered, and his wings flared briefly. “You mean it?” he rasped.
I kissed his forehead. “If you will have me.”
Castiel captured me in a fierce kiss, his lips molding to mine. Joy and hope and a little frustration bled through his touch. “If you won’t let me mate with you,” he murmured between kisses, “You must let me make love to you.”
Oh, how I wanted that. My core throbbed with need for him. Desire was threaded through every nerve of my body. But I hesitated.
“If you refuse me I will throw myself off this belltower,” he threatened.
I laughed, protesting. “I don’t want to harm you.”
He nibbled on my ear. “What if I told you sex makes seraphim heal faster?”
My eyes fluttered closed as pleasure shot through my body. I need him inside me right then. I was too empty without him. “Would—would that be truth?” I whispered.
“Make love to me and you’ll find out,” he teased, biting my earlobe and tugging. It sent arousal straight down to my sex, and I pulsed with need.
“You’re lying.” I turned and nuzzled the space between his neck and shoulder, licking the freshly healed skin. “But because you nearly died, I’ll allow it.”
He chuckled, and his hot breath against my ear made butterflies swirl in my belly. “That’s my cirra.”
Castiel made quick work of me. With no corset to untie, he stripped me in only a few seconds. When I was naked before him, he bent his head and pressed a kiss to my heart, right between my breasts.
I melted, love for this seraph making me nothing more than an open, beating heart. I wrapped my arms around him as he tongued my breast, driving me wild with desire. How could someone who made me feel so safe also make this love feel so savage?
My hands mapped each healing scar, each streak of new skin across the terrain of his body.
He was a work of art, somehow ethereal and earthy together.
My fingers curved around his muscles, tracking each inhale and spasm as he reacted to my touch.
I felt powerful—I could cause such a reaction in Castiel, mighty warrior and unparalleled lover.
I hastily undid his trousers and tugged them down his hips.
“I can’t wait to touch you again. I need your cock inside me. ”
He licked and kissed his way down my abdomen, pausing to nuzzle against my maidenhair, and then he wrapped me in his recovering wings and laid me down on the floor.
I tried to twist away from his wings, fearful I would hurt the tender flesh, but he placed a hand on my belly.
“Do not move one single inch,” he commanded, a glint in his eyes making me freeze. “I will drink your ambrosia or I will perish.”
I spread my legs.
I was already so wet it didn’t take long. He had to swallow my desire, so thick it was. I gasped and moaned into the soft, downy feathers around me as he brought me closer and closer to climax.
Castiel threw one of my legs over his shoulder, in that thin space between his neck and where his wings wrapped around, opening me further to him.
He looked up at me, his eyes dark and his lips wet.
“We will do this every single day for the rest of our lives,” he promised, sliding his fingers inside me.
I came with a cry, clenching his fingers and wringing every bit of pleasure I could from his ministrations.
He kissed me one more time down there, then slid my leg off him, kissing the inside of my ankle, and prowled up my body. His wings moved and flexed under me, and I felt as though I was a fair maiden, trapped in a bower and about to be devoured by the most beautiful beast imaginable.
When he slid inside me, it felt so right and perfect I couldn’t breathe. That same realization radiated in his eyes.
Oh, I thought hazily. It’s you.
I’ve found you. I didn’t even know I was looking for you, but here you are.
He moved, thrusting and rolling his hips in a rhythm that made me gasp and squirm. When he dipped his head to kiss me, I tasted myself on his lips. He buried his face in my neck, and his heated pants sent me hurtling toward the edge of my own release again.
I stroked his hair back from his face.
Castiel’s rhythm jerked, his hips plowing deeper, and he threw back his head with a cry of satisfaction. The cords in his neck strained, his chest expanded, and his face clenched in painful pleasure.
I climaxed right after him, pleasure painting stars on the back of my eyelids.
After a moment, Castiel rolled onto his back, tightening his wings around me so I rolled with him. My head landed on his chest, my legs tangled with his. Our shared arousal leaked to the stone floor beneath us, evidence of our love.
Our breathing slowed. With his arms and wings holding me to his heart, I snuggled deeper into his embrace. He would never let me go, I realized. Never leave me, not for all the riches in the world.
“When can we mate?” His chest rumbled, and his voice sounded nearly whole again.
I smiled, kissing his nipple. “You said there is normally a ceremony? A celebration of the bond?”
I felt him nod.
“Then why don’t we do it when your sedge can join us? We can travel to Mirkwold and perform the rites when the heather blooms.”
He dropped a kiss on the crown of my head. “Sounds perfect.”
“And…in the meantime…” I hated to bring the topic up, but some things needed to be settled. I wasn’t afraid anymore of his answers.
“In the meantime I should clean up the mess I made.” He sighed. “The people will be frightened—their Herald of Death actually meted out death on their holy leaders. I need to make certain these deaths won’t mean new enemies for the seraphim.”
“You’re staying here?” Delight blossomed.
“For a while,” he agreed. “To give you time to adjust. And so you can spend time with Jo.”
I grinned and kissed him again. “Thank you for realizing how important that is for me.”
His thumb stroked my side, a nonverbal response.
“I cannot wait to see your cottage in Mirkwold.” I stretched to bite him on the chin. “Will you fly me there?”
He rubbed his chin against my head. “As soon as the cult accepts a new leader, I’m abducting you to my home. Our home.”
A place that will fit us both. I fell silent for a moment. “Do you think…do you think the rest of the congregation will accept me? Us?”
“They will if I tell them to,” he declared. “No one is ever hurting you again.”
Sighing, I tried to explain. “I mean…”
“I think they will finally realize you’ve got a brilliant brain and a brave heart,” he added gently. “And they will see you for the leader you always ought to have been.”
“Castiel!” Azrael’s voice boomed up to us. “Are you going to clean your kills or are you going to make me do it?”
Castiel groaned, his wings flopping to the ground beside us.
I laughed. “Is he always so terrible?” Thank goodness I had Castiel as a mate instead of this malevolent curmudgeon. I loved Castiel’s sunny smile and playful nature.
“No. He gets grumpy when he’s worried.” Castiel kissed me again. “Very well. We should probably intervene before the locals panic.” He stood, naked, the sun glinting off his wings.
I shielded my eyes to admire my lover, my mate, and smiled. How lucky I am.
He held out his hand, an offer that meant far more than helping me off the ground.
I took it and stood, joining him for the rest of our long lives. Never had anything felt so right.