Chapter Fifty-Six
Saphyra
M y mind was a cloud of heat and lust and sensation. Every ripple of water was like wildfire licking against my skin. Every sigh of wind was like hot breath stoking an inferno.
The stars burned overhead, but the dark of night pressed in on all sides. There was a hollow place behind my ribs. It was as if nothing could fill the emptiness lurking in the deepest part of myself. Something was breaking and there was no way to stop it.
I was an unfamiliar shell of myself.
Was my last heat like this? I didn’t think it was.
My belly clenched, and I let out a whimper. Grey’s eyes studied me, and his quiet calm flowed through our connection. I clung to that feeling as I slid from Lex’s lap to get to my beta mate and followed that bond like a lifeline.
His arms coiled around my naked body, and strong fingers traced the sore muscles of my back. I buried my face in his neck, and he held me as I breathed his citrus scent into my lungs. The empty ache faded, only to return in a wave of desolation.
I rubbed up against his warm skin, trying to ease the hollowness that ate at me, but it wasn’t helping. The comfort of his embrace was like sand through my fingers. I knew it was there, soft and sweet, but I couldn’t hold on to it. Nothing was working.
Frustration tightened its grip and dragged a defeated whimper from my throat.
My center fluttered again, intensifying the pain.
Grey murmured soothing words against my throat. “Don’t worry, little one. You’re going to feel better soon.” His lips brushed over his mate mark, sending tingles of relief radiating across my skin.
I arched my neck, giving him easier access to the most sensitive spot, and breathed out a moan when his teeth scraped over the healed blemish.
This! This was what I wanted. My mate.
His closeness eased some of the emptiness, but the others were still too far away. I started to wonder if this deep hollow I battled was because they were not here with us.
“I need…” I struggled. My throat was so dry I couldn’t get the words out.
Shadow came up behind me. “Hush, little omega. We’ll take care of you, always.” His hands slid over my hips and his fingers trailed through my slick folds, scuffing over my clit.
I moaned and rocked against the thick ridge pressing against my back.
Grey took my lips, drinking the sound while his tongue coaxed mine into a sinuous dance.
Water swished in the darkness and shadows closed in on either side. Ghost and Lex moved in, surrounding us. Having them closer eased the gnawing hunger, but it wasn’t enough.
Their hands fell on my skin, stroking maddening paths of teasing flame. Every connection point, a small reprieve. But still my body burned.
I didn’t know what I needed, but I needed something. Something that was so close, but just out of reach.
All I could manage was a pathetic plea that was swallowed by the night.
“Please.”
Greylan
Her whimpered moans clawed at my heart. Her skin was sweat slicked under my fingers. I couldn’t understand it. This should be helping. My mind raced, grappling with what she needed. What it was that could be done.
This wasn’t symptomatic of a normal estrus cycle. Her desperation, maybe, but she’d been seen to recently. It shouldn’t be this intense. Her fever should’ve gone down and her symptoms should have stabilized with the alphas here, but she was getting worse, even with the tonic.
There was some aspect that we must be missing.
Her mouth was greedy on mine, and I did my best to concentrate. Her lust swelled through the bond and I leaned closer to her molten flesh. My cock nudged up against her soft belly and I couldn’t stop the groan that passed between my lips. I didn’t want to. Not even with our audience. They loved her just as I did.
Logic was turning to steam inside my brain. I’d tried to puzzle through the symptoms, but my training hadn’t prepared me for this.
Her silky hand slipped between our slick bodies and wrapped around my cock. That was the moment all rational thought fled, and I decided to give in to my mate’s demands. We would figure it out, but right now, she needed me.
I lifted one of her thighs up over my hip and she guided my length to her entrance. Slowly, I pushed into her and felt her wet heat engulf me, inch by inch. Her hot breath hitched against my mouth, and she stilled as I thrust up into her quivering sheath.
Every flawless curve clung to me, gripping me, bringing me to the edge so fast my head spun. My chest swelled, and I breathed in her honeyed sweetness. My lust-drunk mind told me there could never be another moment as perfect as this. But I knew it would always be like this, every day rivaling the one before. Every day, better than the last, with the omega that stole my heart. The woman I loved.
Our bodies joined, and the night sang. The shield shimmered overhead in a hypnotic pattern, as if blessing this union. This was how it should have been, out under the sky with the Stars as our witnesses.
My lips dropped to her throat, finding the mark that bound us together and my teeth pressed down over that shimmering crescent as if by instinct.
The copper flavor of her blood flooded my mouth and her body tensed, clenching around me. The primal nature of it was foreign but thrilling and filled me with emotion.
Her nails dug into my shoulders where they’d come to rest. My back arched, and her climax flowed through me like a lightning strike. Every part of me lit from within by her hold over me, which shoved me over the edge right after her. Her velvet channel fluttered along my length, milking the cum from me, and her cries filled the air. The bond throbbed with satisfaction and I staggered under the weight of it.
Shadow caught Saphyra holding her while I steadied myself, our connection purring happily for the moment.
Her thighs slid from my hips and she panted, leaning against my chest where I held her to me.
I tipped my head back, catching my breath.
I knew what needed to be done. The thing that would appease her voracious heat. The only thing that had quieted her raging emotions all night. And the one thing I’d never been trained for.
It was time to complete the rest of her bonds.