Chapter 70 Orion
Orion
There she was.
Drenched in wonderful sunlight that reflected off her glossy brown hair, skin glowing under the high sun, with cheeks tinted pink and lips a dark red, she appeared like a beacon of hope and comfort. The owner of my heart, body, and soul.
I pushed out of my seat at her appearance and couldn’t stop myself from crossing the field towards her. I would have normally allowed her to take control of the dream, but now that she was close, now that she and I could almost be together again, I grew desperate.
And tonight was the first night she’d returned to me in days.
Ivy’s smile turned to one of relief when she spotted me coming towards her.
Tonight, the dream had given her a simple sundress that framed her body in a way that made it clear the changes happening to her in the waking world.
Even though it’d been years since I’d seen her naked, since I’d laid eyes on her flesh, I could tell almost immediately that there was something intimately different about her.
And yet I didn’t stop myself from pulling her into my arms and burying my face into the crook of her neck. It didn’t stop her from clinging to me, either.
“You’re real,” she said, voice hoarse. “Not just a dream. You’re real. You’re alive.”
I squeezed my eyes shut as I held her tighter. “I am, my flower. I’m here. Really here.”
She made a sound, almost a sob, as she pressed into me. “Oh, thank the Goddess,” she whispered, face buried in my chest.
“You were never alone,” I said quietly. “I would never leave you. I kept my promise.”
The sound that came from her almost broke me. “I knew you would,” she replied. “I always believed you.”
I didn’t call her out on that obvious lie, though I could never blame her for it.
She had every right not to trust me. I broke her heart and weakened our bond when I disappeared, and I only made it worse by not revealing myself to her as soon as she returned.
If only I had told her, then maybe this would have all ended differently.
But I also couldn’t help but understand why it had to be done this way. Why I had to trust the Goddess and even the Seer. My mate was alive, and she was now safe.
“Do you like it?” I asked, pulling back. Tears brimmed her dark eyes, though they didn’t fall. “You’re at the manor, aren’t you?”
Ivy nodded as she took one of my hands. “We’re here,” she said, her eyes drifting past me towards the building itself. “You created this place.”
“Yes,” I murmured, cupping her cheek gently and bringing our faces together. “I thought if we were both trapped in prisons not of our own making, at least we could escape together somewhere peaceful.”
“Our home,” she whispered, eyes closing. “It’s so nice. Wet, though.” A smile formed on her lips, lips I so badly wished to kiss. “It’s been storming for days.”
“Unfortunately, I cannot help you with that,” I chuckled. “But have you found it to your liking? I know it isn’t finished, but—”
“Orion,” she cut in, eyes opening once more, her expression soft. “It’s amazing. You did all of this on your own. Even Elias had to admire all the work you’d done with the wards and protections. The place is a fortress. I had no idea you could completely renovate a house.”
“You used to tell me how badly you wanted to buy a fixer upper,” I replied, pulling back. “So, that’s what I did.”
Ivy pressed her lips together, the tears finally falling. “I didn’t think you’d remember that.”
“I remembered everything,” I whispered. “I remember everything.”
Of course, there were things I wanted to remember better.
But our nights under the stars formed in my mind almost perfectly; the sleeping bags she brought with her on the second night of me hiding in the old cabin, the sandwiches she offered me after telling me I was too skinny to be healthy.
She’d been right, and her concern had been one of the reasons I’d trusted her immediately.
She was never scared of me, and I was never scared of her.
Ivy squeezed my fingers as she searched my face for something. “How do I help you wake up?” she asked. “They said your physical wounds were healed, but you’re still asleep.”
I brushed my thumb under her eye, capturing a tear. “I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “All I know is you have to do it.”
Devastation crossed her features as she dropped my stare, eyes closing. “I don’t have my power. The collar is still around my neck, and my bonds—”
“I don’t think you need either of those things, flower,” I said, tilting her face to mine. “I just need you.”
A frown pulled at her brows and lips for only a moment before I closed the distance between us and finally made all my dreams a reality.
The first kiss felt like finally returning to a life I’d long given up on. Like coming home after years at war, never allowing myself to find peace.
The second felt like coming to life.
Ivy pressed a hand to my racing heart but didn’t pull away, each swipe of her lips exploratory, gentle. My little mate was curious, not hesitant in the way her mouth opened to me, giving me entrance before I even had to beg.
I’d had every intention of falling to my knees and begging for her, but now that I was locked in this kiss, I would simply have to show her what I meant.
I pulled her tight against my body before I helped her to the ground.
Cool, green grass tickled us as we went down, becoming a bed of moss once her head hit it.
In that time, I didn’t break the kiss, couldn’t tear myself from her, not even if I wanted to.
I’d gone years without being with her, with simply having her at a distance.
And now…now I wouldn’t give up the chance to have my mate again.
Ivy made a sound in the back of her throat as I deepened the kiss. The hand on my chest went around my neck, fingers cupping the back of my head as I brought our joined hands above her head.
It took only a thought to have our clothes disappear. Ivy gasped against my mouth, but I melded our bodies together, pure ecstasy igniting within me at finally feeling her again.
The touch of her body had been a memory almost difficult to recall, but now, we fit together like forgotten puzzle pieces, finally being brought together again to make up a bigger piece. For the first time in years, I felt whole—right.
And knowing that it was her giving me this feeling only made it better.
“I have waited nearly nine years to feel touch again,” I said as I pulled my mouth from hers. I braced my other hand beside her head so I could gaze down at her. “No dream without you could compare to the reality of feeling you again.”
A smile curved her lips as she brought her hand from the back of my head to my cheek. “This is still a dream, though.”
“And yet it feels real regardless,” I replied, shuddering at how well I fit above her. She was all soft and gentle waves against my harsh lines. Even though her stomach felt firmer than it had before, she still melted beneath me. “This is still real to me.”
A tear ran down her cheek, one I kissed away before it could disappear. “It feels real to me, too,” she replied quietly. “Strangely enough.”
“Not strange,” I said, trailing kisses to her lips. “This isn’t our first tryst in a dream.”
She shuddered, tensing beneath me. “It isn’t…”
I pulled back enough to meet her eye. “Do you remember how it felt?”
“Yes.” She arched into me, breasts pushing into my chest, thighs parting teasingly. My cock wept for her.
I swallowed thickly, holding myself back from doing what my Fae instincts wanted of me: my power didn’t even care that our mate was without her own magic, it still wanted to claim her again after so long. The last time hadn’t really counted.
“This will feel better,” I said, brushing my lips against her. “This will feel real.”
“How can you be sure?” she asked quietly, eyes closing.
“Because this time, it won’t be an accident. This time, it will be us coming together, not our power.”
She shuddered in my embrace, legs opening for me. I fit so easily between her thighs and felt her arousal as if we were together and not lying in different beds.
“Ry…” She gasped when our mouths came together again, and I released her hand to cup her warm heat. At first, I only lightly brushed my fingers through her folds, feeling the wetness gathering with only our shared kisses.
But I couldn’t stop myself from exploring her more.
I’d been a gangly boy with no experience before.
Still, she was the only one I’d ever seen naked, ever touched or wanted sexually.
The last nine years had given me a chance to learn how to better pleasure her, how to be a mate better attuned to her needs.
It also gave me far too many ideas for what I wished to do to her once I finally had her again.
I trailed kisses from her lips down her neck, mouth ghosting over the collar that would be around her throat. In the dreams, she could will it away. If only it were that simple.
Ivy gasped, arching into my kisses, her back bowing off the ground as I captured one of her heavy breasts in my mouth.
I swirled my tongue around her darkened nipple, the taste of her sweet flesh exploding in my mouth.
Her fingers curled into my hair as I sucked the nipple hard, biting down lightly on the nub.
“Oh, fuck,” she whispered, grunting when I released her. “Ry—”
I took the other in my mouth before she could utter another word, claiming it in the same way I had the first. Her heavenly thighs caressed either side of me, clenching as I fisted her freed breast in my hand.
Her breaths came like pants, each one travelling through me to my cock.
They were sounds I would certainly never tire of.
I used to recall them from our last dream tryst when I was alone on the island or doing another job for my father.
They were a sound I so badly wished to hear awake, with her really writhing beneath me.
I released her breasts and continued my path down her stomach, skimming the soft hills of her body with reverence.
“I will love this body for the rest of eternity,” I said, glancing up at her.
“More than that, I will prove every single day when we are together again that I am worthy of you and your love.”
Ivy pushed up onto her elbows, the fingers in my hair gentle as she scraped her nails over my scalp. “You were always worthy,” she said, eyes shining. “The more I see, the more I know it’s true.”
I couldn’t help myself; I pushed towards her and stole another sweet kiss, taking my time to explore her mouth again, like I could taste the sincerity of her words on my own tongue. Ivy made a sound in the back of her throat as I laid her back down on the bed of moss.
Pulling away, I sucked in a breath, taking in the flush of her cheeks, the hazy glow of her eyes, and the swell of her lips as she gasped for air.
“There is something I have always wanted to do,” I told her, biting down on a groan as I felt her wet core press against my ever-hardening cock.
Ivy raised a brow. “And what is that?” she asked breathlessly.
“I have wanted to taste you for years,” I murmured. “I have wanted your cum to coat my tongue.”
Her skin prickled with a shiver. “You have?”
“Of course, my flower,” I murmured, skimming a hand down her side towards her thigh. “And before I finally claim you again, will you let me have a taste?”
She chewed her lip for a moment before nodding once.
That was all I needed; I dipped towards her thighs, parting them easily, and viewed the one meal I’ve been tirelessly dreaming about for years.
It wept with need, glossy and pink, begging for my ministrations.
She was even more beautiful than I remembered.
Our first time had been clumsy, a secret we’d kept to the darkness of the cabin where we knew no one would find us.
This time, though, would be real and purposeful, not hidden in the shadows but kept private in our dream.
I swiped my tongue of her greedily, taking that first taste of her carefully, savouring it. The sharp gasp from Ivy, the gentle buck of her hips, had my mouth watering for more.
I sucked her clit into my mouth before kissing the rest of her, from the folds of her cunt down to her entrance, circling it with the tip of my tongue and wishing I could take her entirely. Ivy moaned, guttural and Primal, a sound I wanted to hear again.
Covering her with my mouth, I plunged my tongue inside and lapped at her, taking every piece of her with even strokes of my tongue.
The walls of her cunt fluttered around me, hips moving, seeking more.
I didn’t need the bond to tell me my mate was close to her climax.
Not when she smothered my face with her warm heat.
And especially not when her soft grunts turned into begs for release.
I maintained my pace all the way through her explosion of pleasure. Her cum coated my tongue as she stiffened on the pillow of moss, back bowing off the ground, pushing her weeping cunt further into my mouth.
My name passed her lips like a prayer as she slumped into the ground, panting.
I drank up her release, cleaning her thoroughly before finally pulling away.
As I did, Ivy pushed up onto her elbows.
Her cheeks were flushed a deep pink that ran down her neck.
Each breath she took had her chest rising and falling sharply, though it was her eyes that I locked onto.
They were so filled with warmth, my heart stuttered a beat, pounding hard against my rib cage.
“Ry,” she started, voice gentle. “I—”
Before she could finish, the image of her faltered. Fear flashed across her face, and although I reached for her, tried to keep her in the dream with me, she still disappeared.
And I was once again left alone in the prison of my own making.