Chapter 20
POV: Riven?
I kissed my way back up her body, memorizing every inch of her as if I could somehow make up for all the years we had lost. Every touch felt precious. Every breath felt like a gift.
When I finally reached her mouth again, Amara met me halfway, kissing me with a desperation that matched my own. There was no hesitation between us anymore. No fear. No curse hanging over my head. No distance.
Just us.
For the first time since she’d walked into my life, I could simply want her.
And she could want me back.
A laugh escaped me when she suddenly shifted our positions, surprising me completely. I let her. Maybe because I trusted her. Maybe because seeing her smile felt more important than maintaining control.
She settled above me, her green eyes bright with confidence I hadn’t seen before.
My mate.
The thought hit me with the same force it always did.
My mate.
Fourteen years of waiting.
Fourteen years of wondering if something was wrong with me, if fate had forgotten me, if I was destined to carry the curse alone.
And somehow, through all of it, it had been her.
Watching her now, I felt something stronger than desire.
Relief.
Gratitude.
Wonder.
I lay back on the bed while she settled on my lap. I almost came right there.
But then, with all her fierceness, she kissed my chest.
Lower.
And lower.
And then she took me into her mouth.
When I felt the wetness of her mouth and the velvet touch of her tongue, I fisted the sheets. I used every single inch of control I had built inside myself over the last fourteen years.
I used all of it.
Because my instinct was to let go and come.
Her green eyes locked onto mine as she kept moving, and I barely managed to breathe.
“Stop,” I said.
And she did.
She obeyed.
But she smiled.
Then she shook her head.
“No.”
God, this girl.
I honestly didn’t know if the Moon Goddess could make someone so perfect.
She returned to what she was doing, and when her lips brushed me again, it was all it took.
The last thread of control snapped.
I came undone.
Completely.
Overwhelmed.
I had touched myself when I was younger, but eventually I stopped because it only made everything worse. They gave me medications to suppress it, and I took them for years.
Nothing compared to this.
Nothing.
I felt like my soul was leaving my body.
When I finally looked at her again, she smiled, and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
The sexiest thing in the entire world.
Then she climbed back onto my lap and kissed me.
I felt everything between us.
The bond.
The relief.
The love.
The certainty.
And somehow I was already hard again.
She pulled back just enough to look at me, her hands resting on my shoulders.
“Ready?” she asked softly.
A laugh escaped me.
“I waited fourteen fucking years for this. You don’t have to ask if I’m ready.”
For a moment, I simply looked at her.
Really looked at her.
She was beautiful.
Mine.
My mate.
My future.
I brushed her hair away from her face.
“Are you ready?” I asked.
“Yes.”
And in that moment, there wasn’t a single doubt left inside me.
Only certainty.
Only her.
When I finally held her afterward, I couldn’t stop looking at her.
Couldn’t stop touching her.
Couldn’t stop reminding myself that this was real.
That after fourteen years of waiting, after all the fear, all the restraint, all the nights convincing myself I would never have this…
She was here.
And she was mine.
I switched positions with her and laid her down, my body covering hers. Then I said, “Open,” and she did. I positioned myself at her entrance, and she was so fucking wet. Then I looked at her.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes,” she said. “Fuck me.”
And I did.
I thrust inside her really, really slowly, feeling every inch, feeling her stretch around me, feeling her wetness and everything we were doing to each other. She was so tight, so wet, so warm. Then I felt her virginity against my dick, and I stopped to look at her. She was the one who moved her hips first. I felt the resistance, and then it was gone.
When I felt fully inside her, it was like heaven.
I stayed there for a moment, just looking at her. Then I started moving, slow, deep thrusts, the pleasure building inside me. Then faster.
My fingers brushed her clit. I felt her squeezing around me. Then she came.
And I followed.
When I was breathless, she, perfection as she was, tilted her head and whispered, “Mark me, Alpha.”
My wolf surged so hard inside me that it almost brought me to my knees.
Fourteen years.
Fourteen years of waiting.
Fourteen years of wondering if I would ever find her.
Fourteen years of believing I might be cursed to spend the rest of my life alone.
And now she was here.
Mine.
Not because fate had been cruel enough to tempt me. Not because I was losing control. Not because I was willing to die for her.
Mine because she truly was.
My mate.
My other half.
The missing piece I had searched for without even realizing it.
“Are you sure?” I asked, my voice rough with emotion.
Her fingers slid into my hair, her green eyes shining as she looked up at me.
“I’ve never been more sure in my entire life.”
Something inside my chest cracked open.
Love.
Relief.
Gratitude.
Every emotion I had spent years locking away came rushing through me at once. I lowered my head slowly, giving her every chance to stop me.
She didn’t.
She only smiled.
My lips brushed her skin first, lingering at the curve of her neck. I breathed her in, memorizing the scent that already felt like home.
Then I marked her.
The instant it happened, a wave of warmth exploded through my entire body.
It wasn’t pain.
It wasn’t pleasure.
It was something bigger.
Something deeper.
It felt like every broken, lonely part of me suddenly clicked into place.
Like finding my way home after being lost for years.
I tasted her, felt her, felt the bond wrapping around us like golden threads weaving themselves through my soul.
Overwhelmed, I kissed the mark afterward, unable to stop touching her, unable to stop looking at her.
Then I tilted my head toward her.
Her smile was soft and beautiful, her canines already descended.
“My turn,” she whispered.
When she marked me, another shock of warmth rushed through my body.
Stronger this time.
Brighter.
Complete.
I felt it settle deep inside my bones.
The bond.
The certainty.
Her.
And for the first time in fourteen years, every voice of fear inside my head finally fell silent. Only one truth remained.
Amara was my mate. And I was hers. Forever.
When she looked at me and smiled, something inside me settled forever.
The last missing piece.
The final answer.
The puzzle clicking into place exactly where it belonged. She touched my face, and I covered her hand with mine.
“Still alive.”
Amara blinked.
“What?”
“Just checking.”
“Riven.”
“I’ve spent fourteen years preparing for the possibility of dying after this. Give me a minute.”
She stared at me.
Then I started laughing.
A second later, she was laughing too.
For a moment neither of us spoke.
We simply looked at each other.
Really looked.
As if we were both trying to convince ourselves that this was real.
“I love your eyes,” she whispered suddenly.
I laughed softly.
“That’s the first thing you choose to tell me?”
“They’re the first thing I noticed.”
My chest tightened.
Because that sounded exactly like Amara.
Not grand declarations.
Not dramatic speeches.
Just honesty.
Pure and simple.
I brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
“You terrified me.”
Her brows lifted.
“Me?”
“You.”
She laughed.
“I’m tiny.”
“You walked into my office and destroyed fourteen years of self-control.”
That made her laugh harder. The sound filled the room, warm and bright and alive.I realized then that I would spend the rest of my life chasing that sound.
The realization should have frightened me.Instead, it felt right.
Everything about her felt right. When I pulled her into my arms again, she came willingly, resting her forehead against mine.
The bond between us hummed softly beneath my skin.
Comforting.
Steady.
Complete.
“I thought I lost you,” she admitted quietly.
The words hurt. Because I knew exactly when she meant.
The rejection.
The distance.
The day I sent her away.
“I know.”
Her eyes softened.
“You really thought I wasn’t your mate?”
“I thought wanting you might kill me.”
Emotion flashed across her face.
I closed my eyes briefly.
“Amara, I was prepared to spend the rest of my life alone.”
My voice came out rough.
“Then you happened.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck.
And for a long moment neither of us moved.
We simply stayed there together.
The world outside could wait.
The pack could wait.
The future could wait.
For the first time in fourteen years, I wasn’t thinking about survival.
I wasn’t thinking about duty.
I wasn’t thinking about curses.
I was thinking about the woman in my arms.
My mate.
My future.
My home.
And as I held her close, feeling her heartbeat beneath my hand, I realized something that should have been obvious all along.
The waiting had been worth it.
Every single second.