15. Elowen
ELOWEN
The ambush hits fast and brutal. One moment we move through the underbrush on patrol.
The next the forest erupts with twisted shadow creatures.
Kaedric roars and shoves me behind him. We fight our way to this small defensible cave halfway up the ridge while the rest of the patrol gets cut off.
Now the entrance stays warded with the last of my shaky magic. We remain stuck here until dawn.
My left wrist burns where the vine mark pulses. Minor cuts sting on my arms and cheek. Kaedric has a shallow gash across his ribs that he ignores while he builds a small fire.
The silence between us thickens until it snaps.
“You keep throwing yourself in front of me like I am fragile glass,” I say, voice low and sharp. “I am not your responsibility, Kaedric. I never asked for any of this.”
He turns slowly. His amber eyes glow faintly in the firelight as he towers over me in the confined space.
“You think I do this because I enjoy controlling you? The mark chose you. The forest chose you. And whether you like it or not the bond ties us together. I will not watch you die because you refuse to accept help.”
The argument escalates quickly. Words turn raw and honest in a way they never have before. All the weeks of restrained tension, the way he has given me space while still hovering, the way I have felt his presence like a constant warm current under my skin, it all boils over.
When the last sharp words die the air between us crackles. The mate bond surges hot and undeniable. It floods me with his hunger and his restraint finally fraying. My own body answers with a rush of liquid heat between my thighs.
I do not think. I step forward, grab the front of his torn shirt with both hands, and yank his mouth down to mine.
The kiss turns fierce and almost angry. His large hands find my waist but he does not take over. He lets me push him back against the cave wall. He lets me control the depth and hunger of the kiss. My hands slide under his shirt and trace the heavy muscle and old scars across his chest.
“Elowen,” he growls against my lips.
“Shut up,” I whisper. I already tug at his belt.
I drop to my knees on the blanket we spread earlier.
I shove his pants down and free his cock.
It feels thick and heavy in my hand. The broad head flushes dark and glistens at the tip.
Running along the top side of the shaft sits the firm rigid line of his baculum.
The hard dorsal ridge makes the upper curve even more pronounced.
The sight sends another pulse of slickness through me.
I do not tease. I take him into my mouth as far as I can.
My lips stretch around his girth while my tongue presses against the underside.
My hand strokes what I cannot swallow. Kaedric groans low.
One big hand threads gently into my hair but he does not push.
I suck him with wet hungry strokes and savor the salty taste of his pre-cum and the way the firm baculum feels against my tongue.
After a few minutes he pulls me up with a growl. He spins me around and presses my back against the cave wall. He drops to his knees, shoves my skirts up, and pushes my underwear aside. Then he buries his face between my thighs.
The first broad stroke of his tongue through my soaked folds pulls a sharp moan from me.
I am already dripping. Slick arousal coats my inner thighs and his tongue.
Kaedric does not seem to care. He licks me like he is starving.
His tongue drags from my entrance up to my swollen clit.
He sucks the sensitive bud with firm rhythmic pressure while two thick fingers push inside me.
The stretch feels immediate and perfect.
His fingers curl and stroke that sensitive front wall while his mouth works my clit relentlessly.
The wet obscene sounds of his tongue and fingers fill the small cave.
I cum hard within minutes. My thighs tremble as my walls clench around his fingers.
He does not stop. He keeps licking and fingering me through the orgasm until I shake and feel oversensitive.
Only then does he stand. He turns me around and bends me forward slightly so my hands brace against the cave wall. He notches the thick head of his cock at my entrance and pushes in slowly.
The stretch is brutal and perfect. His massive girth forces my walls open inch by thick inch while the firm dorsal baculum drags relentlessly along the top of my inner walls, grinding hard into my g-spot with every bit of depth he gains.
When he bottoms out, the blunt head of his cock kisses my cervix and I feel impossibly full, my pussy fluttering and clenching around the thick invasion.
Kaedric stays perfectly still for several heartbeats, letting me adjust to the overwhelming fullness.
Then he begins to move with slow, powerful rolls of his hips.
Each deep thrust drags the rigid baculum along my front wall, pressing firmly and repeatedly into that sensitive spot until sharp sparks of pleasure shoot up my spine.
I moan softly as he pulls back almost to the tip, only to sink back in to the hilt, the heavy weight of his balls pressing against me.
I rock my hips to meet him, taking him deeper.
The wet, rhythmic sound of my slick pussy swallowing his thick cock fills the cave.
My arousal coats him completely, dripping down his shaft with every stroke.
The firm ridge of his baculum never stops grinding against my g-spot, building the pleasure higher and higher until I shatter again, walls spasming hard around him as I cum again.
Kaedric groans but keeps his rhythm steady. He fucks me through it while one hand reaches around to rub tight circles over my clit.
The third orgasm builds fast and breaks even harder. My legs shake. My vision whites out as I clench rhythmically around him with every thrust.
I’m still trembling, gasping for air, when Kaedric slows and pulls out of me with a wet, obscene sound. His cock glistens with my cream, thick strands of my arousal stretching between us. Without thinking, I slide down his body, wrap my fingers around his slick length, and take him into my mouth.
The taste of myself floods my tongue. Sweet, tangy, and unmistakably me.
I moan around him, sucking eagerly, swirling my tongue along the firm ridge of his head and down the veined shaft to clean every drop of my juices.
His hand fists gently in my hair as he groans deeply, hips twitching.
I bob my head, taking him as deep as I can, savoring the messy, intimate act until he finally pulls me off with a low curse.
He flips me onto my back in one smooth motion, spreading my thighs wide as he settles between them.
The new angle makes me feel deliciously exposed.
Kaedric braces himself on his forearms and sinks back into me with one powerful thrust, burying himself to the hilt.
I cry out at the deeper penetration, my sensitive walls still fluttering from the previous orgasms.
His mouth immediately finds my breasts. He captures one stiff nipple between his lips, sucking hard while his tongue flicks rapidly over the aching peak.
The other breast is claimed by his hand.
Fingers rolling and pinching the sensitive bud in time with his steady, deep strokes.
Every pull of his mouth sends sharp sparks straight to my clit, making me arch and press my chest harder against him.
He fucks me with long, deliberate thrusts, grinding his pelvis against my clit on every downstroke while his stiff cock drags perfectly along my front wall.
The wet slap of skin on skin echoes through the cave as he devours my nipples, alternating between gentle sucking and sharp little bites that make me whimper.
Pleasure coils tighter and tighter in my core again, my hands clutching at his back, nails raking down his skin.
Only then does Kaedric let himself go.
With a low guttural growl he cums. Hot thick pulses of cum flood deep inside me.
Steady heavy ropes fill me completely. The firm baculum keeps the head of his cock pressed tight against my cervix, maximizing the sensation as I feel every spurt.
Warm slick fluid overflows slightly around his thick shaft as he continues to grind slowly through his release.
I cum one final time with him, weaker but deeper, my body milking every drop while the vine mark on my wrist glows bright green. Magic flickers between us like living vines.
We stay joined for a long time afterward. We breathe hard in the firelit cave. Kaedric eventually eases out of me. A thick trail of his cum and my wetness leaks down my inner thigh. He pulls me against his chest. His arms wrap around me with surprising gentleness.
Neither of us speaks.
The bond between us feels different now. It remains raw and dangerous but no longer something we both pretend we can ignore.
For the first time since the mark appeared I do not want to pull away.