53
ROWAN
NERVOUS was an understatement regarding my bonding with Ivy. It wasn’t going to be spontaneous like her other times. Both of us knew exactly what we were getting into tonight.
It should have helped ease some of my worries, but unfortunately, I felt like a schoolboy about to get his first real boner.
I ran a hand through my hair as Adrian entered the bedroom, his brows raised. “So, it’s finally happening?” he asked, giving me a half-smile and a once-over.
Nodding, I stepped back to take in the casual t-shirt and jeans I’d opted for, which didn’t feel right, but had to be enough given our restrictions. “Yes. And I really don’t need a pep talk, man.”
Adrian chuckled, dropping onto the edge of the bed. “Wasn’t going to give you one. I’m sure you’re completely aware of which hole to insert your dick into.”
I grimaced and turned to him. “Why so crass about our mate? You sound like an asshole.”
“I’m being crass about you, Ro.” He stood and clapped me on the shoulder. “But I was going to wish you luck.”
“I don’t need luck,” I muttered. “I need for this night to not be a total disappointment.”
The amusement disappeared as he sighed. “You won’t disappoint her.”
If only he knew, I thought. He’d spent more than enough time preparing himself for our mate, learning the best ways to please a woman thanks to Dante and his parties. I, on the other hand, never had any experience. Hell, not even my hand. I’d never wanted to explore until Ivy.
I didn’t regret that decision, though. Knowing she’d be my one and only just settled my resolve to finally claim her tonight.
Adrian clapped me on the shoulder again. “You’ll be fine,” he said, handing me a rune stone. “To the Meris room.”
“I can’t believe you still have this.”
He shrugged, taking a step back. “I’d wanted to be the one to take Ivy there first. But, since you need something a little more romantic than the suite, it’s all yours. Just be aware, Elias is probably going to be waiting outside that door for you, and we won’t be too far behind. We’ll celebrate with Summer Court wine.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re an asshole.” But I glanced down at the stone and pocketed it. “An asshole with good taste. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Now, go claim your mate.”
My heart raced, and with one final nod in his direction, I went in search of her. It wasn’t entirely romantic, being trapped in the palace. We couldn’t even escape to explore the grounds. But the Meris room was an option I hadn’t even considered before.
Hands trembling, I made my way to her bedroom. The door was already open, and I found her in the closet, her back to me, wearing a flowing dark blue dress. The fabric looked like liquid night against her milky skin; a long slit in the skirt revealed her thigh, and the low back showed off her mate marks. She’d tied back her hair, which curled like honey and chocolate, and a small amount of make-up highlighted her features.
And her smile…it took my breath away.
“Hey,” she murmured, tugging her bottom lip between her teeth as she looked me over.
“I feel entirely too underdressed,” I said, running a hand through my hair. “But you…you look—”
“Overdressed?” she laughed, cheeks turning bright pink.
I grabbed her hand and pulled her into my arms. Her lips parted with a soft gasp, eyes widening. “You look fucking perfect,” I said. “I can’t wait to be with you.”
Her eyes softened as she brought her free hand up to cup my cheek. “I can’t wait, either.”
If my heart hadn’t threatened to leap out of my chest before, it sure as fuck was now. “We should go before we’re trapped here by the parents.”
She snorted, pushing past me with a shake of her head. “Maeve and Elias? Pretty sure the latter won’t let us leave without him.”
“I was actually referring to Maeve and Hawk,” I replied, entwining our fingers as we left the bedroom. “I think he might be worse than Wolfy.”
Ivy choked on a laugh. “Oh…no.”
I didn’t respond as we entered the living room. Adrian gave me a thumbs up. Maeve, on the other hand, pressed her lips into a firm line.
At least everyone had the bright idea to stare. Ivy looked fucking amazing. Beautiful. And she deserved to feel that way.
Even if Maeve was unimpressed by me, she gazed hungrily at our mate. Not even the vampire could resist wanting a taste.
“I don’t blame you all for taking her in,” I boasted, wrapping an arm around Ivy’s waist. “But tonight, she’s mine.”
Maeve rolled her eyes. “Careful, Archer. Your ego is showing.”
“It is,” I replied. “Because tonight, I’ll be a taken man.”
“Okay. Okay. Put your dicks—metaphorical and otherwise—away,” Ivy said, glancing at me, then at the others. “You guys okay with security?”
If it were possible, Maeve softened, and her team-leader demeanour melted away. “Of course, a mhuirnín. You’ll be safe and secure.”
“And we’ll have privacy?” I asked.
The softness disappeared entirely when she directed her stare at me. “Of course, Archer. We’ll ensure you won’t be disturbed.”
I wasn’t sure the rest of the team realised the magnitude of what was going on. They probably didn’t care except for where Ivy was concerned, which I totally understood. But I was grateful they also weren’t fighting us on this.
Or making us do it in the bedroom so they could ‘protect her’.
As much as I wanted Ivy, I didn’t want to do it in the presence of the others.
Many things I was fine with. Losing my virginity with the team in the next room…not being one of them.
I shared a look with Ivy, and that was all it took. Any worry I had completely disappeared, and it didn’t take long for the troops to be rallied. Wolfy, of course, remained as he was, and though I could tell he wanted to, he stayed back with the rest of the team as we left the suite.
Even Nash joined us. It was an unspoken realisation that he was probably one of Ivy’s other mates, but I was more than happy to leave that for later. And I think he was, too.
I kept my arm around Ivy’s waist as we stepped into the elevator. “So, where are we going?” she asked, glancing up at me through her thick lashes. “You haven’t given anything away.”
I smirked. “I’m a master of secrets.”
Behind us, Adrian, ever the asshole, coughed.
Ivy raised a brow, her smile turning into a grin. “I take it we’re staying in the palace…”
“Of course. I’m not risking your safety.” I tightened my hold on her as I pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Trust me. You’ll like it.”
Her eyes narrowed, but she didn’t ask me any more questions. The elevator stopped on one of the lower levels, letting us out into a quiet, stone hallway. Here, the palace felt different. Less opulent, and more primal. I pulled the rune stone from my hand as we began our trek towards the Meris room.
Ivy held back on her desire to question me, every so often sending me a wary look. I met each one with a smile, until we reached the door. Sliding the rune stone into place where a lock would have been, I listened as the old, enchanted mechanism clicked over, and the door opened on silent hinges.
“After you,” I murmured, moving to stand behind Ivy. I spared the rest of the team a look, not really worried about them disturbing us, not as they donned their Phoenix Agent masks. Even Wolfy got into position, leaving Ivy and I to enter alone.
The nerves before were nothing compared to what I was feeling as we stepped inside.
Ivy let out a soft gasp as the door locked behind us.
“Wow. This is…” She trailed off as she leaned into my chest.
“Welcome to the Meris room,” I murmured, pressing a kiss to her temple. “Tonight, it’s ours.”
The room was built within some old caves beneath the lake and waterfall, with half of it submerged in water. There were steps leading down into the pool, and a rocky shoreline with clear water. Where we stood, however, there was a table already set up with dinner, as well as a sun bed decorated with fucking rose petals.
Ivy saw it the same moment I did, because she giggled while I groaned. “I’ll kill him.”
“Kill who?” she asked, turning in my grip to loop her arms around my shoulders.
I glanced down at her and then back at the petals. “Adrian.”
“Really?” Ivy lifted a brow before pressing up on her toes to kiss my jaw. “This place is beautiful, Rowan.”
“It was Adrian’s idea,” I admitted, sighing. “I was too busy freaking out.”
Her fingers trailed through my hair as she tipped my head down so our lips could meet. It was a sweet, gentle kiss, but with her body pressed against mine and my hands on her hips, it might as well have been the beginning of the end. She tasted like coffee and vanilla, sweet and addictive on my tongue. My fingers bit into her flesh as her nails softly scraped my scalp, and my dick hardened painfully in my jeans.
I walked her back into a column and deepened the kiss, pressing as far as I could into her soft body. Ivy made a sound in the back of her throat.
“Fuck,” I breathed, pulling back. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
Ivy shook her head. “No, of course not,” she said, trailing her hands down my shoulders to my chest. “Are you okay?”
A lump formed in my throat as I released a shaky breath. “More than okay, Ivy.”
“We go at your pace, okay?” She wound her arms around my shoulders loosely, though she trailed her dark eyes down my body.
“Hey, eyes up here, seductress,” I teased.
A half-smile toyed at her swollen lips. For the first time since the explosion, a hint of her magic rolled over my skin. The hair on my arms prickled, and her power reached for something within me. A deep urge that needed to be sated.
The need to claim her. Mate her. Make her mine.
I saw the change in her eyes, the flash of hunger that had her chewing her bottom lip and arching into me. Her lower abdomen pressed into a rather delicate member of my body, a member that wished to be inside her.
Fuck. Keep thinking those sorts of thoughts, and I wouldn’t last long enough for our souls to connect and the bond to be formed.
Nope. I’ll fucking come in my pants before I even get past the kissing stage of the night.
Ivy’s eyes narrowed, and a sly smile tugged at her lips. “What are you thinking about, Rowan?”
“I was thinking...” I stopped and pushed her back into the column. “I was thinking about how much of a mess I am because of you. How badly I need you.”
“I’m yours,” she said, surprisingly gentle. “Whatever you want.”
I swallowed thickly and traced my eyes over her, from the way her chest rose and fell with sharp breaths, down to the swell of her breasts which threatened to spill out from the silk of the dress. I followed the length of her, to the softness of her stomach, and the way the skirt of the dress tightened around her thick thighs.
She was letting me have my way with her. How I wanted. And I sure as fuck wasn’t going to let that go to waste.
I dropped a light kiss to her lips and traced the length of her body with more, cupping her breasts in my hands, feeling their weight, kneading them as I peppered kisses across her flesh. Each one ignited a fire in my belly, burning with the urge to claim her. To finally have our magic join.
A small part of me feared her accessing my magic. My affinity. It terrified me that she might see what I’ve seen, look into the horrible future I couldn’t escape.
But the fear washed away as soon as her fingers ran through my hair. The gentleness of the touch was all I needed, like a promise that despite the terrible, there was hope.
And a future with her.
The kisses continued down her body until I was on my knees before her. I slid my hands beneath the dress and curved them up her legs until I had handfuls of her ass. Ivy gasped, bucking, hands falling from my hair to grip the column.
With a grin, I grazed the skin peeking through the dress with my teeth. “I’ve been wanting to taste you for months,” I said, meeting her stare, taking in her flushed cheeks. “May I?”
“Yes,” she breathed. “I’m all yours.”
And fuck I loved it when she said that. I loved hearing it, more than I ever expected to.
And I loved her, more than I thought possible.
Definitely not the time to admit that, I thought, gently hooking my thumbs into the waistband of her panties and tugging them down her hips. Telling her I love her the night she takes my virginity? Probably not a great look.
I would have to tell her soon, though. There was no way I’d be able to keep that to myself. It was the one secret I was more than happy to reveal.
Ivy stepped out of her panties, and I tucked them into my pocket. “I’ll return them in the morning,” I said, smirking as I hiked one of her legs up over my shoulder, baring her glistening pussy. “But for now, this is mine.”
Before she could respond, I took her in my mouth, licking the seam of her pussy and tasting the sweet desire coating her. Fuck. I groaned as I tested her entrance with the tip of my tongue. She tasted better than I thought possible. Better than Summer Court wine on a hot day.
“Yes, like that,” she moaned, and like a good boy, I kept doing it.
I fucked her with my tongue, taking my sweet time tasting all of her, lapping up her arousal like it was water in the desert. Her fingers curled in my hair again, this time not as gentle, and fuck it drove me mad. But I gave into her demands as she rode my face, claiming her first orgasm.
She shuddered, and her thighs trapped my head between them, burying my face in her pussy. My name fell from her lips over and over with each twitch of her hips taking the pleasure she desired.
Only once she’d slumped into the column did she let me rise. Her cheeks were red, eyes hazy as she sucked in a breath.
“Did I do good?” I asked, resting one hand above her head and leaning into her. “Was I a good boy?
She hummed under her breath as she traced her fingers over my mouth. “A very, very good boy,” she murmured.
If it was possible, I got even harder. So much so I thought I might burst out of my jeans.
“I need you right now before I explode,” I admitted, probably in the least sexiest tone possible.
Ivy’s lips twitched into a smile, but she shook her head. “Do you want to wait a moment? Get yourself sorted before…”
I grabbed her hand and pulled her into my chest. “Nope. Now is good.”
Whatever control she had over her amusement fell apart, because she laughed as I dragged her over to the sun bed. I swiped away the damned rose petals before cupping her cheeks.
“I know, more than anything, what I want right now,” I said, “and that is you and our bond. I don’t need to wait a moment or sort myself out. This is the most certain I’ve been about anything.”
Ivy cupped my hands where they rested on my face, the amusement changing into a softness that tore into me. “I want this bond, too. Not just because of everything else. But because I want to be with you, Rowan. I always have.”
My throat tightened. Dropping my forehead to hers, I threw caution to the fucking wind. “I love you so much, Ivy Wilson. And I am honoured to be your mate.”