Chapter 7 The Gathering Storm #2
“I am no goddess, Damon,” I whispered, my hands sliding up his chest, feeling the frantic, powerful beat of his heart beneath his shirt. “I am just a woman who found her strength. And I found it with you.”
“You had it all along,” he said, his gaze dropping to my lips. “I only helped you see it. But tonight, I do not want to think about the Council. I do not want to think about the war, or the throne, or the blood we will have to spill tomorrow. I only want you.”
“Then take me,” I breathed. “No claims, Damon. No ancient bonds forcing our hands. Choose me.”
“I choose you,” he growled, his voice thick with emotion. “Every second of every day, in this life and the next. I choose you, Aria.”
He bent his head and captured my mouth in a kiss that was fierce, possessive, and utterly consuming.
I gasped into his mouth, and he took advantage of the movement, his tongue sweeping inside to claim mine.
A low, needy moan escaped my throat as I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer, wanting to dissolve the very boundary between our skins.
The fated mate bond exploded between us, a wild, raging fire that demanded absolute surrender.
Damon’s hands moved down to my hips, lifting me effortlessly. I wrapped my legs around his waist, clinging to him as he carried me toward the geothermal pool. He didn’t stop until he stepped down into the warm, soothing water, clothes and all.
The hot water soaked through our garments, making them cling to our skin like a second layer.
Damon set me down on a shallow stone ledge inside the pool, his hands immediately working on the buttons of my shirt.
His fingers were trembling, a testament to the restraint he was desperately trying to maintain.
“You are so beautiful,” he murmured, parting the wet fabric to expose my collarbone.
He leaned down, pressing hot, open-mouthed kisses along the sensitive column of my neck, finding the sweet spot where my shoulder met my throat.
He bit down gently, teasing the skin, and I arched my back, a gasp of pure pleasure escaping my lips.
My hands scrambled to rid him of his shirt, my fingers digging into the hard, sculpted muscles of his back once the wet fabric was discarded.
His skin was burning hot, a perfect match for the fever consuming me.
I pushed his trousers down, and he kicked them off, quickly doing the same for my remaining clothes until we were both completely naked in the steaming water.
The contrast of the cool air above and the hot, swirling water below only heightened the intensity of every touch. Damon’s gaze swept over my body, his eyes darkening to a shade of amber that was almost black.
“You are my mate,” he growled, his hand sliding down my stomach, his fingers tracing the faint, golden light that still flickered beneath my skin. “My equal. My queen.”
He slid his hand lower, parting my thighs in the warm water. When his fingers found my wet, aching center, I cried out, my fingers tangling in his dark hair. He stroked me with a agonizingly slow, deliberate rhythm, watching my face as the pleasure began to build.
“Damon, please,” I whimpered, my hips arching off the stone ledge, seeking more. “I need you. Now.”
“Look at me, Aria,” he commanded softly.
I opened my eyes, my vision hazy with desire. He hovered over me, his massive body a protective shield against the world, his face raw with an emotion so deep it terrified me. There was no dominance in his gaze, only a beautiful, terrifying vulnerability.
He positioned himself at my entrance, his length thick and heavy against my aching flesh. He paused, his forehead resting against mine, his breath mingling with mine in the steam.
“With this, we are bound,” he whispered. “Not just by blood, but by choice.”
“Yes,” I gasped. “Yes.”
With a slow, powerful thrust, he buried himself inside me.
The sensation was so intense, so overwhelmingly perfect, that a sob tore from my throat.
My magic flared, a brilliant wave of golden light rippling outward, illuminating the entire cavern and reflecting off the dark obsidian walls.
Damon groaned, a deep, guttural sound of pure ecstasy as he began to move inside me.
He moved with a slow, agonizingly deep rhythm at first, matching the steady hum of the earth beneath us. But as the heat of our connection intensified, his pace quickened. The water splashed around us, our bodies slick with sweat and moisture, sliding together in a perfect, desperate dance.
Every touch was electric. Every thrust drove me closer to the edge of sanity.
I clung to his shoulders, my nails digging into his skin, leaving shallow red marks that healed almost instantly.
I was consumed by him, by the scent of him, the feel of his hard body driving into mine, the absolute certainty that we were one.
“Aria,” he gasped, his voice strained as he reached his limit. He pulled my hips tighter against him, his thrusts becoming faster, harder, driving deeper than I thought possible.
The pleasure coiled tight in my abdomen, a golden thread pulling tauter and tauter until it finally snapped.
I shattered. A brilliant, blinding orgasm crashed over me, my vision turning completely gold as my magic erupted in a dazzling display of light.
Damon let out a raw, echoing roar as my walls clamped around him, pushing him over the edge.
He gave one final, deep thrust and poured himself into me, his entire body shuddering as he claimed me, and I claimed him in return.
We clung to each other in the steaming pool, our chests heaving, our hearts beating in a frantic, synchronized rhythm.
Damon wrapped his arms around me, pulling me against his chest as he sank back against the stone ledge.
He buried his face in my wet hair, his body still trembling from the intensity of our release.
“I love you,” he whispered, the words raw and fierce against my skin. “No matter what happens tomorrow, Aria. I love you.”
“I love you too, Damon,” I murmured, pressing a kiss to his wet chest. “We are going to win. We have to.”
For hours, we stayed in the warm water, talking in quiet whispers about the future we wanted to build, a future free of the Council, free of fear.
We eventually crawled out of the pool and collapsed onto the bed of thick furs, our bodies tangled together, exhausted but completely at peace.
For the first time in my life, I felt safe. I felt whole.
But peace in our world was always a fleeting illusion.
I woke up abruptly, my eyes snapping open in the darkness. The golden light in my veins was not humming; it was screaming. A cold, dread-filled shiver washed over my skin, making my wolf stir in absolute terror.
Damon was already awake, sitting bolt upright beside me. His amber eyes were glowing in the dim light of the dying embers, his nostrils flaring as he caught a scent in the air.
“Damon?” I whispered, sitting up and pulling a fur over my chest. “What is it?”
Before he could answer, the heavy obsidian door to our chamber was thrown open. Mae stood in the doorway, her face pale, her breathing shallow and panicked.
“Damon, Aria, you need to get up,” Mae gasped, clutching the doorframe. “The outer wards have been breached. The Council trackers did not wait for dawn. They are here.”
Damon was out of bed in a flash, pulling on his trousers with rapid, efficient movements. “How did they find us so quickly? The volcanic ash should have masked our scent.”
“They didn’t track our scent,” Mae said, her voice trembling. She looked at me, her eyes wide with a deep, ancient fear. “They brought something with them. A beast, Damon. It tore through our sentries like they were paper. It is not a wolf.”
My blood ran cold. The image of the creature from the Deadlands flashed in my mind: the massive, shadow-like form, the terrifying speed, and those horrific, glowing red eyes.
The creature that was hunting me.
A deafening, unnatural howl echoed through the stone corridors, a sound that made the very foundations of the subterranean sanctuary tremble. It was a sound of pure malice, of ancient hunger.
And it was coming straight for us.