Chapter 85 Ivy
Ivy
What the hell was I thinking?
The earth was slick and wet from all the rain. Not to mention—I had no idea where I was going. There was a path cutting through the trees, but with how wet the ground was, it was mud, not paved.
Should I be going off the path? Xerxes was going to find me regardless. The male was a goddamn beast. He would have no issue finding me out here. So, it wasn’t like I was going to get lost.
And if he didn’t, one of the others would.
But Goddess above, was I really okay to have back-to-back bonding? I’d only completed the bond with Hawk last night. Physically, I felt fine. No ache, no pains.
And mentally, I felt…okay. There hadn’t been any unwanted visitors in my dreams.
Emotionally, I felt even better. More secure and settled. I chalked it up to Hawk, but it also had a lot to do with Xerxes and Thor wanting to accept the bond. Despite this being in the most unromantic way possible, they wanted to be with me.
After everything, it really shouldn’t take me by surprise, but it did.
Every time I met a mate and they wanted to be with me, it was like a shock to the system.
For a moment, I was a teenage girl again being told I could never be loved for what I looked like—for the way I was—and it made me second guess everything.
“But here I am,” I muttered, finally stepping off the path into the trees when it became less steep of a decline, “running off to get chased by my mate.”
I considered undressing before he found me. The thought had me stopping beside a large tree and looking over my shoulder. I really, really couldn’t afford to lose more clothes because my mates liked to tear mine apart. And without my magic, I couldn’t just whisk them away myself.
Somewhere in the distance, I heard a branch break. Cursing under my breath, I started through the forest again, picking up my pace.
Pregnant and running through trees, I thought, shaking my head. Well, not running. I really couldn’t do that anymore. Not with the uneven wet earth or without a bra—or without my magic to keep me going. This was not a good look for me.
At the sound of footsteps, I looked over my shoulder again, heart pounding. I expected to see Xerxes’s large form between the trees, the dark fur of his Primal, those black eyes already locked on me.
But there was nothing, and somehow that made the anticipation worse.
I stopped for a moment and gasped for breath. Again, I heard rustling that most definitely wasn’t because of the breeze. I expected to be scared, but the only thing happening to me was a fluttering of desire between my thighs I couldn’t ignore.
Before I could move, something else sounded behind me. A deep, guttural growl that had me stiffening. My skin prickled, but not with fear.
I turned slowly, sucking in a sharp breath as Xerxes stalked through the trees. Dark eyes locked on me as he moved on all fours, teeth bared. I most definitely felt like prey as he prowled towards me, but not in a terrifying way.
I took a step back, one he met easily. “You didn’t put up much of a chase,” he growled, rising onto his hind legs.
Swallowing, I tipped my face to keep his stare. “Unfortunately, I’m not built for it.”
There was something about him chuckling that sent tingles of desire right through me.
I backed up another step, this time hitting the trunk of a tree.
When he met the step, it put my face at the bottom of his chest. I’d almost forgotten just how damn huge he was as a Primal.
Nearly eight feet tall, he towered over me in an entirely different way to how Damon did.
And especially shifted, it was like being face to face with something from my nightmares.
But I felt no fear staring at him.
“You are tiny like this, fated,” he said, voice deep. He planted one large hand-shaped paw on the tree above my head and leaned down, snout brushing my nose.
I shuddered, pressing further into the tree. “Not something normally said about me,” I replied, taking in his giant form again—and the space where his penis should have been.
Again, he chuckled, the sound rushing through me. He brought his free hand to my chin, holding my face all too gently. “There is no rush,” he said, though each word sounded strained. “No matter how badly my Primal wants to finally lay claim to you.”
A shiver rolled down my spine. Those final words came out as another guttural growl, reverberating right through me. I squeezed my thighs together as another wave of arousal rushed through me, sucking in a breath at the flare of his nostrils, the groaning sound making the feeling worse.
“Your body says you want me,” he growled, the hand beneath my chin disappearing to skim the length of my body. “But what does your heart say?”
I couldn’t hold back from moaning as he held firm to my hip, giant hand somehow engulfing my side. My breaths came hard as my heart pounded, racing with anticipation.
What did my heart want? Logically, this was what we needed. The bond had to be completed. We only had five days until the eclipse in Avalon. Five days to get ready for war.
But in this moment, I didn’t want to think logically about war and survival. Staring into the dark eyes of my mate, the Primal beast and the male who saved me in the compound, I only wanted to think about the future.
And he had to be part of it. Deep in my soul, I knew. Even though we barely knew each other, even though there was so much left to learn about him—his people, his history—he was giving me a part of himself now, sacrificing a future in his world.
He wanted me.
And I wanted him in return.
“My body and heart are in agreement,” I replied. “I want this. I want the bond with you.”
He growled, snout skimming my throat, the hand on my hip slipping beneath the hem of my shirt. “This will hurt,” he warned, eyes softening. “And I don’t want to hurt you.”
Swallowing hard, I shook my head. “It won’t,” I replied quietly. “If there’s one thing I’m certain of, it’s this: we’re made for one another.”
The Primal made a strangled sound in the back of his throat before pulling my shirt up. Much to my surprise, he didn’t tear it off. Instead, he tossed it to the side and gazed down at me.
“You are the finest female I have ever laid eyes on,” he growled, tracing a claw over the swell of my left breast, cupping it gently. “And these…” He wouldn’t meet my eye, staring hungrily at my chest as he thumbed my tit, circling the hardened nub softly. “So soft. So heavy.”
My skin prickled with another shiver as a cold breeze tickled my heated flesh.
“And very, very sensitive,” I replied, arching into his touch.
I thought I’d been sensitive before to my mates toying with my nipples, but this was something else.
Each brush of his skin against mine and the rough pad of his thumb elicited an entirely different reaction within me.
Xerxes hummed under his breath, still playing with my breast. To my surprise, he dipped his head and licked it.
I sucked in a breath, the touch making me buck. Xerxes did it again, this time with more force, the scrape of his tongue making my belly flutter.
I had to use his arm to hold myself up as he tasted and licked my tit. If he wanted to, I was almost certain he could fit the whole thing in his mouth.
Each flick of his tongue had me breathing harder, heart racing faster. I gripped him, bunching the fur between my fingers as he continued to lap at just my nipple alone. The constant attention had need pooling between my thighs, my panties damp from it.
Before I could explode with desire, he pulled back with a groan. “Your scent. It—”
He stopped, growling as he stepped back. When I glanced down, where there had been no sign of a penis before, there was what I could only describe as a monster cock now on full display, hard and weeping.
It was so unlike the dick I’d seen on naked male Xerxes. He’d appeared very human, except for the swell at the base for his knot.
But not this one. This one was long, black, and it glistened—shiny almost—the tip a deep red. Veins bulged along the shaft, prominent and pulsating as he sucked in deep breaths, and just like his normal penis, there was a bulge near the base for his knot.
I swallowed hard, mouth watering as I dragged my eyes up to his. There was a dangerous shift in his gaze, like he was seeing me once again as his prey.
The Primal was in complete control now. And a girl needed to keep her pants.
There should at least be a tickle of fear in my chest, especially as I hooked my thumbs in my tights and pulled them down. The way he watched each movement, tracking me like the predator he was, should not have turned me on the way it was.
And yet, I kicked my pants off, slumping into the tree. I tried to keep my eyes on his, but noticed each twitch of his cock, how it throbbed.
Xerxes moved closer, cock brushing my chest. He was almost at the perfect height for me to take him in my mouth, but I had a feeling that wasn’t what the Primal wanted.
He wanted to mate me. And by the look in his eyes, he was trying to figure out the best way to do it with how small I was.
And compared to him, it was an issue. One I could solve.
“Pick me up and hold me against the tree,” I stated, meeting his dark eyes.
It didn’t take much convincing; Xerxes grabbed me by the ass and hoisted me into his arms, nestling me against his warm chest and the tree.
“See?” I whispered, pressing one hand against his racing heart, trailing the other down his chest. “Not so bad.”
He was so gentle, so unlike what I expected. Then again, I wasn’t surprised. Xerxes and his beast might have been a terrifying sight—well, the Primal was, the male not so much—but he was always careful with me. Never tested limits.
Xerxes met all expectations, yet defied them, too.
And I couldn’t wait to see what that would look like later. In one year, in ten.
The Primal made a sound deep in the back of his throat. “Hurry, fated. I need you. Now.”
I shivered, reaching for his cock. It was hot in my hand, throbbing and hard, yet soft in a way I didn’t have words for. Not like a normal cock, but like something else.
Like something totally out of this world.
Palming him, I didn’t need to do much to prepare him—or myself—for the next part. Without taking my eyes off his, I guided him to my pussy, sliding his tip through my arousal. Xerxes went completely still, yet vibrated with how…excited he was?
“Xerxes?” I asked, notching him at my entrance. “Is this your first time?”
The male shifted slightly, the movement pushing him inside me. I bit down on a gasp at the pressure of his invasion, breaths coming faster. “Yes,” he purred after a moment, thrusting his hips again, this time filling me more. I couldn’t stop the cry of surprise at how thick he was.
“You will be my first and my last, fated,” he said, before sinking into me.
Stars danced behind my eyes. The pressure turned into an explosion of pleasure as he went from almost tearing me open to filling me. His size had me sucking in a breath, but when I looked down, it took me a moment to realise he wasn’t done. Not fully inside me at all.
There was still the knot.
While I watched, he pulled out. “You need to be accustomed to me before you can take my knot,” he explained, as if sensing my question. “Before you can have it, you must at least be soaked. Prepared. Pliable.”
A shiver rolled down my spine as he began a gentle pace; each thrust was long, teasing, and I felt every inch of him. Felt the swell of his knot against my thrumming clit, could feel myself opening up more and more.
It was a fucking miracle my body could do this.
“That’s it,” he cooed, picking up his pace, entire body coiled and tense. “You take me perfectly, fated.”
“I do,” I moaned, clutching his shoulder tighter. “I feel you. Your knot is going to be inside me soon.”
“It is.” He brought his snout to my neck, the subtle change of his body making each thrust of his hips harder. Claws dug into my ass, and with each slamming thrust the bark of the tree scraped my back, but I didn’t feel the pain.
Only a building pressure low in my belly, and a burning sensation rising in my chest. That familiar ache that came with my magic trying to come out and claim a mate filled me for a painful moment before settling in my chest.
I was already mentally prepared for the aftermath of this bond. For the darkness and the dreams. But this time, I wouldn’t let Nyx or Sable hold me for long.
As Xerxes nuzzled my throat, I reached between us and rubbed slow, gentle circles around my clit. If he needed my body prepared and pliable, then I could do that.
The wetter I became, the more he slipped inside me. The pressure of his knot became less and less, and soon, I was taking all of him without struggle. As soon as his hips met mine, I couldn’t stop myself from crying out. Dark spots danced behind my eyes as he stretched me so entirely around him.
I whimpered when he pulled out. “So close,” he said in my ear. “A little more. Then you’ll have me, fated.”
“Fuck,” I cried out as he started his fast thrusts again. Each one kept me ready for his knot.
And I wasn’t sure why, but I really, really wanted it.
Xerxes pulled back so his eyes were on mine. “We will have you,” he grunted, teeth gritted. “You will be ours.”
I wasn’t sure if I could respond, but I thought I heard myself agree with him. The pressure was building, and then I felt it.
He filled me in one last stroke and swelled.
My orgasm hit a moment later, exploding like a flash of lighting.
What would have been my magic claiming our bond pulsated in my chest, snapping at the collar around my neck, yet not breaking free.
My entire body tensed, muscles coiling tight.
The once soft swell at the base of his cock grew and hardened, locking inside me as he expelled his release.
Xerxes howled as he came, hips twitching as he pressed me hard into the tree. His release was endless and hot, but just like with Damon and Hawk, darkness crawled at the edges of my vision.
“Xerxes,” I whispered, before slumping into his chest. I felt him try to reach for me. Felt the brush of something in my chest.
Instead, I allowed the darkness to pull me under.
There was no escape—not this time.