Chapter 89 Thor
Thor
My mate tasted like freedom. Like safety.
She felt like an entirely new world, one without pain and the bars of a cage.
And just her presence alone calmed the terrifying pain forever burned into my being.
With her, I no longer felt the whispers of my scars.
With her, the time in the cage felt like a memory I could one day escape.
She was the one I wanted most if this was the life I was now to have. It would mean nothing without her.
And I hoped she felt that with each moment I kissed her. I hoped she understood how desperately I needed her to survive this new world.
Ivy leaned into my touch, though she never pushed for more.
She allowed me to explore her on my own.
As I swiped my tongue against the seam of her lips, she opened to me freely.
I pulled my hand from hers and brought our bodies closer, feeling the soft, delicate planes of her body against mine.
Just the simplicity of holding her close and kissing her had a new feeling rising within me.
This feeling was different, throbbing. It had my cock swelling in my pants, pressing hard against her soft stomach.
Against my lips, Ivy moaned. Desperation had me holding firm to her hip, keeping her lips pressed against mine. All I wanted was to know what it felt like to belong to her in the same way the others did.
I wanted to mark her. Make her mine.
In the back of my mind, my beast yearned for it. Mate, mine, claim, repeated in my head, the only command I wanted to listen to ever again.
Let me claim you, I pleaded, swiping my tongue against hers and tasting what the future might look like: sweet and free, warm and perfect. Complete the bond with me.
For a moment, she stiffened, but the next swipe of my tongue had her melting into my embrace. Yes, she said. I’ll complete the bond with you.
If it were possible for my heart to crash out of my chest, I was almost certain it would be breaking through my ribs now from her words. They were powerful, everything I never thought I would ever hear.
Mate, mine claim, my beast said, whispering the words with reverence in the back of my head.
He’d protected me for decades from the worst of our punishments. He’d given me back full control during the shift.
If this was the only thing he asked of me, the only thing we would ever agree on again, then finally having our mate and claiming her was exactly what I needed to do.
I backed Ivy into the wall behind her, earning another soft sound from my mate. I curled my fingers through her soft, thick hair, enjoying the feeling of the strands between my fingers more than I thought possible. The hand on her hip moved to skim her waist, while her hands moved to my chest.
You’re in control, she whispered, bringing her hands around my neck. We go at your pace.
A shudder rolled down my spine, uncertainty playing in the back of my mind.
I had no experience, and the only times I’d been exposed to mating had been in the form of soldiers taking one another outside the cages in the shadows where they wouldn’t get caught.
Teach me, I replied honestly, pulling back with a groan. Her lips were red and swollen, eyes burning with desire. When I breathed in, it wasn’t just her warm, comforting scent that filled my lungs. There was something else perfuming the air, something that had my cock twitching.
Show me what I should do.
She blinked up at me in surprise, lips parting. Are you sure? she asked silently, cocking her head.
I nodded once. Do you really trust my knowledge when the only thing I know was taught to me by soldiers?
A deep, red flush darkened her round cheeks. “You’re right,” she said, tugging her bottom lip between her teeth. “Completing a bond is a little different than simply…fucking.”
Then teach me how to complete the bond, I said. Show me how much better it is.
Her eyes darkened as they searched mine. Not here, she said with a small shake of her head. “Let’s go to the bedroom.”
My heart raced with anticipation. The swell of my cock didn’t go down, either. Instead, it seemed to be pulsing in time with my heart, and each step out of the unused room towards her bedroom had it growing.
I sucked in a breath when we reached the doors. Within, I sensed no one, though the others were scattered around the house.
That left me completely alone with my mate.
I licked my lips as she pulled me into the bedroom. Her heart pounded, her arousal thick in the air. And when she turned to me with those wide, hauntingly beautiful eyes, I knew that I would not regret completing the bond with her.
I pulled her into me for another kiss, this one brief. It had none of the same hesitancy as the last one, purely a kiss because I could. And when I pulled away, she drew in a sharp breath.
“I’m going to need you to undress for me,” she said, stepping away and gently tugging her hand out of mine. “Take everything off.”
My skin prickled, but I pulled the t-shirt off, letting it fall to the ground. Her eyes raked over my chest, taking me in with a hunger that had me stiffening even more.
Without her touch, I couldn’t ask what came next. My hands went to my pants, but before I could shove them off, Ivy removed her own shirt.
The sight of her took my breath away. Full breasts bounced against her chest, marked with silver lines that moved up the flesh. Naked, the swell of her stomach was more pronounced, with the same silver scars trailing up her sides.
“Now,” she said, forcing my attention back to her flushed face. “Your pants.”
I swallowed thickly, but I listened to my mate.
The pants came down, and my cock sprung free, achingly hard and weeping.
Her eyes followed my movements, taking me in with the same hunger I knew existed in my own stare.
Again, she tugged her bottom lip between her teeth, the flush of her cheeks darkening even more.
I took pride in the way she appeared to like my appearance.
My beast especially enjoyed it. I was larger than some of her mates in the chest and stomach, broader too.
Shifted, I’d been the largest bear in the false king’s army, towering over all those who came into contact with me.
And although the demon stood far taller than me, not even he was as large as me.
I wasn’t soft, not like my mate, delicate and gentle.
I was firm, thick muscle and power that came from needing to be strong.
Where she was all gentle, soft slopes like the clouds on a sunny day, I was hard like those that came with a storm.
Even though I wanted to ask her if she liked what she saw, I didn’t need to. The way her body reacted did it for her.
The sweet, deep scent of her arousal became thicker, especially as she tugged her own pants down and kicked them off. She was all milky, smooth skin I wanted to run my hands over. Her thighs pressed together looked like pillows, and her belly was undeniably soft—even with the babies she carried.
Just as she’d taken me in, I couldn’t stop myself from drinking her in, either.
Compared to me, she was small, despite the fullness of her body. I could still cover her entirely with my own body if I wanted to, and that brought not just me, but my beast, a lot of comfort. Being larger than her was good—it meant we could protect her.
When Ivy held out a hand, I moved towards her without any hesitancy.
Entwining our fingers, I could finally speak again.
You are breathtaking, I said, my other hand hovering over her naked body.
I wanted to touch her everywhere—but I had no idea where to start.
Should I take one of her breasts into my hand?
It would so easily fill my palm, and yet I ached to feel its weight.
Or did I want to know how soft her thighs were? To have them circled around my hips—my head…
“Touch me if you want,” she said, voice low.
My mouth watered, but I kept my eyes on hers as I palmed her breast. Just as I’d imagined, it weighed heavy in my hand, almost completely spilling from my fingers. And like I knew she would be, the skin was as soft as the finest material, so delicate as I ran my thumb over her.
I released her hand, but instead of palming her other breast, I skimmed my fingers down her chest to the swell of her stomach.
Every inch of her was exactly as I knew it would be: delicately supple and pliable beneath my touch.
There were no harsh or rigid lines about her, only the gentle slopes I so desperately craved to taste.
Running my knuckles down her chest, I watched her skin pucker with a shiver. Ivy held herself still, allowing me to explore her silently, but I didn’t want to be the only one enjoying this.
Touch me, I said, spreading my fingers over her stomach. I want to feel you, mate.
Again, she shivered, drawing in a sharp breath. With steady fingers, she traced one of the scars running down my chest. I couldn’t remember which punishment it was for, though most scars I was too weak to remember. And yet, that simple, reverent touch had me trembling.
Her dark eyes locked on mine as she leaned forward and kissed another on my upper arm.
I remembered that one specifically, the burning of my fur as a fire mage lit a torch and shoved it into my cage.
The mark on my arm was old, healed enough now that it barely bothered me, and yet as soon as she touched it with her warm lips, it felt like something else.
Like acceptance.
Mate, I said, the word guttural and rough inside my own head. Claim.
Ivy pulled away with a soft smile and moved to the bed, beckoning me with a hand to join her. As she climbed atop it, I crawled above her, drawing in a deep breath at the sight of her beneath me.
Spread out on the blanket, she somehow looked smaller. One of her hands skimmed my chest to cup the back of my neck, drawing me towards her, while the other went between us.
Her legs shifted, allowing me to slip between them, and I felt my cock against her wet, warm heat. That’s where you need to be, she whispered as she kissed me, pulling me against her hard. Are you ready?
I would always be ready for her. Instinctively, I knew what would come next. And yet I responded with desperation, with need. Yes, I said. Please.
Ivy made a pleased sound in the back of her throat as she wrapped her fingers around my cock. I’m going to guide you through this, she promised. You’ll know when to mark me.
I could already feel my incisors growing, the ache in my jaw dull compared to the way she held me.
Her hand barely wrapped around my length, but she stroked me as if I weren’t already close to finishing.
Before I could tell her that, warn her I would explode, she slid me through her wet core.
My entire body went hot at the feel of her, stiffening when she notched me inside her.
Gently, she whispered. Move your hips into mine.
I shuddered, almost afraid. She was tight, small. Would I hurt her?
And yet, I inched inside her with slow precision, pushing deeper without resistance. Ivy gasped against my lips, fingers digging into my shoulder until our hips met.
My breaths came hard as I pulled my mouth from hers and looked down. Something flared in her eyes, like a small flicker of light that was easy to miss. In my chest, I felt my beast clawing at me, pressure building in my lower belly as well as in my jaw as I thought about marking her.
One shoulder had been claimed by her wolf mate.
And I would take the other.
But not yet. First, I had to bring her to completion, just like the others had. I’d heard her before; the whimpers as she found pleasure, her cries of ecstasy. I wanted to hear it all for myself. I wanted to feel it just as the others had.
Instinctively, I rolled my hips, pulling out of her. “That’s it,” she whispered, fingers digging into my shoulder again, her other twisting in my hair. “Thrust into me. Gentle, even strokes.”
I did as she instructed. Her hips met mine with each thrust, somehow taking me deeper every time. With each stroke, her entire body moved, and I grew more confident in what I was doing at the soft sounds she made.
I braced my hands either side of her head and moved with more intention, picking up my pace and thrusting harder into her warmth. Ivy’s eyes fluttered, her back arching off the bed, and her thoughts inside my head urged me to keep going, telling me she was close.
I didn’t need her thoughts to know she liked it. Around me, she fluttered, the walls of her core clamping hard around me. It pushed me closer to the edge of my own release, dragging me along with her.
“So close,” she whispered, her burning stare finding mine once more. “Just a little longer.”
I grunted, unable to stop my incisors from popping free. The pressure to mark her, to sink my teeth into her shoulder, became a pounding thought in the back of my head.
“Make me yours,” she whispered, guiding my face to her shoulder. “Claim me.”
It happened in an explosion of heat; my mouth covered her shoulder, teeth breaking through the tender flesh.
Her blood filled my mouth for a moment as my mark burned into her skin, and around my cock, she clamped hard, her entire body going rigid beneath me.
A cry left her lips as I exploded within her, my movements coming to a stuttering halt as I finished.
My beast rose within me for a moment, almost taking control as she whispered inside my mind, Mate, mine, over and over again.
But I felt the moment she slipped away, too.
I tore my mouth from her shoulder and watched as her eyes rolled into the back of her skull and her head lulled to the side. In an instant, she went from speaking inside my mind to eerily silent, her words cutting off and turning dark.
My breaths came panicked as I pulled out of her. The mark on her shoulder was already healing, the scars of my bite a dark red. As I sat back, my release spilled from between her thighs. But she didn’t move.
Why isn’t she moving?
“She’ll be okay,” a voice said, coming from somewhere behind me. “It was only a matter of time.”
Before I could turn, shadows edged at the corners of my vision. My body lurched to the side as I slipped into an unending darkness, the world falling apart around me.