46. Theo
Theo
I’m halfway across the courtyard when I pass Wes and Gray heading the opposite direction.
Wes grins. “Kitchen’s all yours.”
Gray smirks. “She’s been in the chamber all day. Probably starving.”
“I know.” I keep walking, but I catch Wes’s knowing look over his shoulder.
“Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do,” he calls after me.
“That doesn’t narrow it down much,” I reply without turning.
Gray’s laugh echoes behind me as they disappear into the dark.
The Sanctuary feels different tonight. Charged. The air hums faintly with residual Ether like static after lightning. The Oath Chamber has been running all day, dozens of bonds formed, dozens of lives changed.
And Bree’s been at the center of it all.
I tell myself I’m just checking on her.
But I know better.
The kitchen glows with soft lantern light when I step inside. She’s at the fridge, barefoot, hair loose around her shoulders, wearing what looks like one of Rhett’s shirts—oversized, hanging to mid-thigh.
She’s rummaging through shelves, pulling out fruit, bread, a jar of honey.
I pause in the doorway, watching .
Her hand trembles slightly as she reaches for something on the top shelf. Exhaustion carved into the line of her shoulders, the way she leans against the fridge door for support.
She’s running on willpower alone.
Then she feels me watching.
She glances back over her shoulder, eyes meeting mine in the glow of the open fridge.
“Theo.”
My name on her lips does something to me. Something primal and possessive that I’ve been keeping buried for too long.
I cross the room without a word, coming up behind her, sliding my arms around her waist. She melts back against me immediately, her head tipping to rest near my shoulder. I can feel her heartbeat through the thin fabric of the shirt, rapid but steady.
“You didn’t eat all day,” I murmur near her temple, breathing in the scent of her—mist and magic and something uniquely Bree.
“Didn’t have time.”
“You do now.”
I reach past her, taking the honey jar from her hand, setting it aside on the counter. My other hand spreads flat against her stomach, feeling the muscles tense and release beneath my palm.
She huffs a soft laugh. “You always this bossy?”
“Only when you need me to be.” I press a kiss to the junction of her neck and shoulder, feeling her shiver. “And right now, you need someone to make you stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Running yourself into the ground.” Another kiss, higher this time. “Taking care of everyone else and forgetting to take care of yourself. ”
“I don’t forget,” she says, but her voice has gone breathy. “I just—”
“Prioritize everyone else.” I turn her gently to face me, hands settling on her hips. Her eyes are tired but bright, silver-flecked and beautiful. “You know, I’m starting to think you have something against pants.”
Her mouth curves, mischief sparking in those eyes. “What gave me away?”
“Breakfast was a strong indicator.” My thumb traces small circles against her hip bone through the thin fabric of the shirt. “I still can’t stop thinking about it.”
“Good.” She reaches up, fingers threading into my hair, and the simple touch sends electricity down my spine. “Because I wasn’t asking permission.”
That shatters something in me.
I’ve been patient. Restrained. Watching her choose the others, waiting for my turn, telling myself I could wait as long as she needed.
But the way she’s looking at me now?
Like she wants me .
Not the careful, measured Theo who keeps his distance. Not the seer who’s always three steps ahead.
Just me.
If I don’t touch her now, I never will.
I don’t think.
I move.
My hands grip her waist and I turn, lifting her onto the counter in one smooth motion. She gasps, legs parting instinctively as I step between them. The movement makes the shirt ride up, exposing more of her thighs, and I have to grip the counter edge to keep from losing control completely.
“Theo—”
I kiss her.
Deep. Claiming. Every ounce of restraint I’ve been holding onto for months dissolving in the taste of her mouth. She tastes like possibility and power and home, and I can’t get enough.
She kisses me back just as desperately, fingers tightening in my hair, pulling me closer. Her legs wrap around my waist and I groan against her lips at the feel of her pressed against me. Even through our clothes I can feel her heat, and it’s driving me insane.
I break the kiss, breathing hard, resting my forehead against hers. I Saw you this morning. Kneeling in the Ether. Radiant. Untouchable.”
“I’m very touchable,” she breathes, and pulls me into another kiss.
“I know.” My hands slide up her thighs, slowly, deliberately, pushing the shirt higher. “It terrified me. Because what I saw looked like goodbye.”
Her hands frame my face, forcing me to meet her eyes. There’s something fierce in her expression, something that makes my chest tight. “Then stay with me now.”
Something in my chest cracks open.
I kiss her harder this time, one hand tangling in her hair while the other grips her hip. She arches into me, making soft sounds that drive me insane. I kiss down her jaw, her throat, finding that spot that makes her gasp.
“Tell me what you want,” I say against her skin, feeling her pulse racing beneath my lips .
“You.” Her breath hitches as my teeth graze her pulse point. “All of you.”
I pull back just enough to look at her, making sure she sees the hunger in my eyes. “Once I start, I’m not stopping.”
Her answer is to pull me back into another kiss, deeper this time, her tongue sliding against mine in a way that makes my vision blur.
That’s all the permission I need.
I yank the shirt over her head in one smooth motion, tossing it onto a nearby chair. She’s bare underneath—of course she is—and the sight of her steals my breath.
The lantern light catches on her skin, making her glow. The Ether responds to my attention, silver mist beginning to curl around us both, warm and almost alive.
“Do you have any idea what you do to me?” My hands map her skin, reverent but possessive, learning every curve, every place that makes her breath catch. “How many nights I’ve dreamed about this? About you?”
Her skin is impossibly soft beneath my palms. I trace the line of her collarbone, down between her breasts, feeling her scars, her heartbeat quickening. When I cup her breasts, thumbs brushing over her nipples, she arches into my touch with a sound that goes straight to my cock.
“Then stop talking,” she says, voice breathless, “and show me.”
I lean down, taking one nipple into my mouth, sucking gently before letting my teeth graze the sensitive peak. She gasps, hands fisting in my hair. I give the other breast the same attention, alternating between gentle and rough, learning what makes her moan, what makes her grip me harder.
The Ether pulses brighter with every sound she makes .
“Theo—please—”
“Please what?” I kiss my way down her stomach, feeling her muscles jump beneath my lips. “Tell me what you need.”
“You. I need you.”
I drop to my knees between her legs.
Her eyes widen, pupils blown with desire. “Theo—”
“Shh.” I press kisses along the inside of her thigh, working my way higher, taking my time. “Let me worship you properly.”
I can already see how wet she is, and the knowledge that I did this to her—that I make her this desperate—nearly undoes me.
“Look at me,” I command softly.
She does, and I hold her gaze as I press my mouth to her center.
She gasps, head falling back, but I grip her thigh firmly. “Eyes on me.”
She obeys, and I reward her by dragging my tongue through her folds, slow and deliberate, tasting her. She’s sweet and perfect and I could spend hours here.
I work her with my mouth, learning every sound, every shiver. When I suck her clit, her thighs tremble. When I fuck her with my tongue, she moans my name. The Ether responds to every touch, silver mist curling tighter around us, pulsing with her pleasure.
I can See it—flashes of light behind my eyes, fragments of our future tangled with the present. Her magic recognizing mine, weaving us together in ways that go beyond physical.
“Theo—oh god—”
I add my fingers, sliding one inside her, and she’s so tight and hot around me that I nearly come just from that. I curl my finger, finding that spot that makes her cry out, and work it relentlessly while my mouth focuses on her clit.
“Please—I’m so close—”
I add a second finger, stretching her, preparing her, and increase the pressure of my tongue. Her hands are in my hair, gripping hard enough to hurt, but I don’t care. I want her to lose control.
“Come for me,” I murmur against her. “Let me feel you.”
She shatters.
Her thighs clamp around my head, her entire body arching off the counter as she comes undone.
The Ether flares so bright it illuminates the entire kitchen like daylight.
I can feel her clenching around my fingers, pulsing with her release, and I work her through it, prolonging it, until she’s gasping my name and pushing weakly at my shoulders.
The glow lingers in the grain of the wood, fading like embers.
When I finally pull back, she’s trembling, chest heaving, eyes unfocused and glazed with pleasure.
Beautiful.
I stand, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, and capture her lips in another kiss so she can taste herself on my tongue. She whimpers against me, hands fumbling with my belt, still shaking from her orgasm.
“I need you,” she breathes against my mouth. Her voice trembles, wrecked and certain all at once. “Inside me. Now.”
I help her with my belt, shoving my pants down just enough to free myself. I’m so hard it’s almost painful, and when she wraps her hand around me, stroking once, twice, I have to grip the counter to stay upright.
“Bree— ”
“Now, Theo.”
I lift her off the counter, turning her, pressing her forward over the wooden surface. She braces herself on her forearms, looking back at me over her shoulder, pupils blown wide, hair falling around her face.