Chapter 10
Chapter ten
Aimee sprinted through the jagged boulder field that stretched behind the crevice concealing the Hearth.
Her boots scraped against gravel as she wove between the massive stones, breath tearing from her lungs.
The pounding in her chest drowned out the night wind until she ducked low, sliding behind a slab of rock twice her height.
Pressing her spine to the cool surface, she froze, straining to hear over the ragged hiss of air through her teeth.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she reached inward, tugging along the thread that tied her to him.
He’s close.
The presence of his mind wound toward hers, coarse and serpentine, scales teasing along her thoughts in a slow caress.
Too close.
She pushed off the stone, bursting into the open. Small rocks scattered under her feet as she charged up the slope before diving behind another boulder.
Since that sparring match in the amphitheater a couple of days ago, they’d been testing the strange tether between them.
Hours spent probing its limits, seeing how far it could stretch.
Kazuma had wanted to lace Mana through it, too, to see what would happen if he flooded the link with raw force, but Aimee had refused.
Whatever this was between them, the thought of Mana touching it… wouldn’t be right.
Citrus. With a splash of copper. His voice slithered into her thoughts. That’s what you smell like, pet.
Her pulse stumbled, then thundered harder as a scrape of pebbles loosening whispered nearby.
I can’t wait to taste you again.
Heat seeped low, moisture slick between her thighs. Her back arched into the stone, pressing until the rough surface scratched through the weave of her tunic.
Fucking snake. Her head tipped back, eyes catching the spill of moonlight pooling over the jagged rise ahead, silver bleeding down the slope.
She was nearly there. Her mouth pulled into a smirk even as her heart drummed against her ribs. The moon was climbing fast, and he had yet to find her.
He’d beaten her the last two nights, hunting her trail as if every shift of air carried her scent, turning her own focus against her just long enough to close in and bring her down.
Not tonight.
Then—sensation slid along her neck, heat and chill tangled in one wicked stroke of a phantom tongue.
“Ahhh.” The sound slipped out before she could stop it, her skin shivering under the tease of touch.
Got you. His laughter rumbled close behind, the sound almost brushing her ear.
Aimee lunged sideways, twisting low before exploding into a sprint, gravel scattering in her wake. All pretense of stealth evaporated as she drove herself faster, heart thumping in rhythm with her feet.
The moon rose higher, throwing their shadows long across the stone as she dashed away from where she’d heard him last. Muscles burned, blood surged, and every stride left her wanting more.
Ahead, a dark gash split the earth nearly twenty feet across. The crevice yawned wide, black, and bottomless.
Aimee drove her legs harder, closing the last stretch, then hurled herself into the air.
And for one suspended moment, her body sailed weightless over the void, arms spread wide as the world dropped away beneath her.
Wind tossed her hair, stinging her cheeks, as she twisted mid-flight, glancing back.
Kazuma had leapt after her, his body cutting through the air, black hair streaming wild behind him. But he was too late. A feral smile carved across her lips as her body arched higher, cresting the peak of her leap just as the moon crested the ridge of the mountain.
She blinked—and as her body soared, her perspective tilted. Time almost seemed to slow as she felt his heart hammer and saw through his eyes.
“Kaz.” The breath escaped her lips at the vision.
She was burning against the night, red sleeves and trousers whipping around her, yellow hair flaring like fire, her form haloed in silver moonlight.
It was…she was the most beautiful thing in the world. To him.
Then time jumped forward again, and he slammed into her midair, arms locking as he twisted. The ground hit an instant later. His back struck first, her body crushing down on his as air burst from his lungs beneath her.
Momentum dragged them across the stone, grit biting into her knees while dust clawed at her throat. His arm cinched her waist as they clipped hard against a jag of rock, knocking them sideways into a roll.
The world spun end over end, sending her stomach lurching as the arms around her locked in place.
The solid wall of his chest pressed into her, driving his mouth to hers in a raw, devouring kiss.
Tumbling, every turn crushed her closer, lips stinging, pulse ricocheting against the steady thud of his heart.
Slower. Slower. The roll bled off until the spin gave way to stillness. She struck earth one final time as his weight ground her down. Then, strong hands clasped around her wrists, pinning them wide on either side of her as dark strands of hair swayed over her face.
“Caught you.” His knee shoved between her thighs, prying them apart before a frown carved his face, dark eyes narrowing. “I’m starting to think you’re letting me win, pet.”
“No…” Her head swam, wrists straining as his hips tilted, forcing the thick ridge of him into her lower stomach.
Air punched ragged from her lungs, and her cunt clenched so hard it hurt as wet heat spread slick and fast.
“I’m starting to think you like getting caught.” He bore down.
“No…” Her body jerked up into him as he gave a single thrust, a crude grind of his cock against her belly.
“You caught me,” she panted. And, with a wrench of effort, she tore one hand free, clamping his chin in her palm and forcing his face toward the sky. “But not in time.”
He looked up to the sky, and she felt his body freeze. The moon hung high above them now, pale and full. The frown that broke over his face deepened as he pushed back, easing off her hips, settling upright on his heels.
When his eyes returned to hers, the pout was gone. His lips turned up instead, tongue flicking out to curl around the wrist holding his face. The wet stroke circled her skin, jolting a fresh pulse of heat pounding in her core before he released her back into the cool air.
“Very well.” His voice was a rumble as he took her hand in his, pulling it from his face and guiding it down to his chest. “Tonight’s victory is yours.
” The hand kept moving, lower, until she found the hard length straining in his pants, his fingers folding hers snug around the member. “What would you have of me?”
Her head spun, flashing back to the moment suspended above the crevice—when she had seen herself through his eyes, blazing against the moon.
The plan had been simple. She would have him bound, wrists and ankles tied so she could take her time, do whatever she pleased with him. The thought of Kazuma helpless beneath her, reduced to trembling jelly under her touch…
She would wring him out, keep him moaning until he begged—and then she’d finally pry some answers loose.
His refusal to tell her what he had been searching for that day of the attack continued. Every attempt to corner him ended the same way: deflection and redirection into questions she wasn’t ready to answer.
But—
“Aimee?” His voice slipped under her skin as he let her hand go, palm sliding beneath her tunic, fingers grazing up the slope of her stomach until they found the swell of her breast. “Why the hesitation?”
Her back arched in a violent shiver when his fingers closed on her nipple, pinching until it ached.
“You know I will gladly give whatever you ask.” He pushed himself upright, fingers tracing down her spine.
“I can see the outlines of…restraints? In your mind.” One canine sank into his lower lip, and a bead of red welled bright against the white of his teeth. “The idea is…not something I’d be opposed to.”
Her pulse roared in her ears, eyes locking on that glistening drop.
“Not fair, Kaz.” The words tore out in a gasp, her body strung taut between his hands on her back, the hard line of his cock beneath her, and that tempting shine of crimson hovering just beyond reach.
“So tell me what you want.” His tongue flicked out, swiping the drop away, the wound gone as quickly as it had appeared. “Let me give it to you.”
“I…” Her gaze clung to his mouth, lips parting. “I…”
What did she want? Was it really answers—truths that would break her confusion and pin her to the duties on this world? She still had no idea why she was here.
Her lips trembled as she finally looked up, eyes burning into his. “Will you stay with me? Whatever is happening out there—whyever you are here to begin with…”
“Aimee…” The sound came out rough as he tore his eyes away, head turning from her.
“I’m not asking you to tell me why. Or your Haven secrets.” Her voice shook. “I’m asking you to stay.”
She reached across the bond, unable to voice the next words. For as long as I’m here. Please—stay with me.
Kazuma turned back to her slowly, brows furrowing. “You thought I would leave?” His forehead dropped to hers. “H… how? How would that even be possible?”
I don’t understand. Her thoughts fractured beneath the Pattern’s demand for clarity, for distance. Attachment was forbidden. Dangerous. She couldn’t afford it, couldn’t let herself need—
“How could I leave when there is nothing out there? That wider world? It doesn’t even exist. Not while you’re here.”
Her whole body buzzed, every nerve lit. Fingers dug into the solid muscle of his forearms, trying to ground herself against the spiral. What was he saying?
Aimee. His voice rang inside her head now, deep and sure. I haven’t answered your questions, not because I wish to hide anything from you…but because none of that matters anymore. It doesn’t even exist for me. I…
He exhaled, and the sound punched through her ribcage.
Panic welled up inside her, and her stomach lurched as nausea blurred her vision, the edges narrowing until only his face remained.
It was impossible—terrifying, unattainable. If he said it, if the word left his mouth, it would unmake her.
“Aimee. I l—”
Her fingers clawed into his tunic, mouth crushing against his, hauling him down in a desperate collision that swallowed the confession whole.
No more words. Her fangs dropped as his tongue crashed into her mouth.
This is what I want now. Her hand shoved into his pants, tugging the fabric down his hips until her fingers closed around the hot, thick length of him.
Catching his lower lip between her teeth, she sucked until another bead of blood burst free, the copper rush pouring over her tongue and drowning out the fear raging within her.
A snarl ripped from his throat as his hands tore at the knots of her trousers, yanking the ties loose until the fabric jerked down. Cool air hit her bare skin, sharp against the molten ache building low in her belly.
Her hips lifted, hovering just long enough for the blunt head of him to nudge and slide against her entrance. The contact made her whole body seize…for just a moment…before his fingers stiffened into her hips and yanked her down.
“Kazuma!” The cry tore loose as he speared into her, long and thick, splitting her wide, forcing every shuddering inch to stretch around him.
The burn shot deep, delicious and raw, until he bottomed out, her cunt clamping down around him. And still, his palms flattened against her back to bring her closer, deeper, his cock easing out, pulsing and wet, before driving back in.
More. She moaned into him, fingers tangling in his hair, yanking until his head snapped back, throat bared.
“Do it.” His groan tore through the night, hips bucking up into her. “Take it.”
Her mouth hovered, tongue flicking out against the steady pulse beating beneath his skin. And the throb under her lips grew frantic as his grasp constricted, hauling her body down onto him again and again, punching into her so hard her vision spotted.
She bit, teeth sinking deep—
“Ahh—fuck.” The snarl ripped out of him as his body arched beneath hers.
The taste hit like lightning, flooding through her, erasing panic, erasing fear, until all that remained was the delicious mass of him wedged inside her, filling her, and the endless rush of copper heat coating her tongue.
Kazuma’s snarl broke into a guttural moan as her body convulsed around him, the orgasm tearing through her, blood and sex tangling until she couldn’t separate one from the other.
Grounding down, she refused to let go, teeth still buried, cock still buried, until he finally collapsed back onto the gravel beneath them.
Only then did she lift her head, lips smeared red, chest heaving.
Her focus trailed down, drinking him in, until it landed on the mark she’d left, then climbed to meet the purple fire in his eyes as he stared back at her, undone, claimed.
And beneath the pounding in her veins came the terrifying, staggering truth—she had taken him, made him hers, and there was no turning back.