Chapter 19 Forever – Amara
FOREVER
AMARA
THE INTENSE, MAGNETIC pull between us has won the battle against my rational mind, and I’ve forgotten all sense of reason or self-preservation.
“What’s happening?” I ask, my voice breathy and unguarded.
His thumb ghosts over my lips before tracing the line of my jaw, sending bolts of euphoria dancing over my skin. “Our hearts made a choice,” he whispers. He follows the path of his thumb with his mouth, patiently kissing and licking down my neck until I’m out of breath and trembling.
Is it supposed to feel this good? I don’t remember anything ever feeling this good.
When his mouth returns to mine, the kiss is claiming and greedy and achingly familiar, like I’ve always known how he would taste, how his lips would feel on mine, or how the firm planes of his muscles would tighten and ripple against my body.
It’s like a dream I’ve already had, and it feels so … right.
He pulls me closer, tighter, harder. Every touch becomes a delicious promise, and I want it all. I want his gentle but deadly hands, his wild kiss, his impossible confidence, his steady calm.
I want him for as long as I can have him. Maybe that’s only an hour, or a day, but I want whatever I can get. I don’t want this to end. I don’t want to lose this feeling of wholeness.
My hands slide down his arms, and a deep rumble vibrates his chest. He tastes like my undoing. Like aching lust and hidden violence. I should want to take this slow, but I can’t. Not when I have no idea how much time we have.
Whatever’s happening between us is pure magic, and I can’t die before I’ve gotten a chance to sink into him and this overwhelming feeling of rightness.
As much as I wanted to deny it, now that I’m here, in his arms, it’s clear I can’t go back.
I can’t ever be without this. Without him.
In his grip, I feel freer than I have in years. Free and safe.
I know this is where I’m supposed to be.
I want this.
I press a hand to his chest, feeling the quick thud of my heart beneath his skin. We’re already so deeply entwined. Threaded together in a way that shouldn’t be possible.
What he called a “tether” isn’t a tether at all, it’s a thread. It’s not a trap, it’s a connection. It’s not binding, it’s … freeing. And as strange as that sounds, it’s exactly how this feels.
A singular word plays on repeat in my mind, “Yes,” and a surge of some indescribable sensation overtakes me.
I gasp. Emotions bubble up in its wake. Unfamiliar and beautiful.
They’re his emotions, but they’re stronger now, clearer.
Like bright pops of color in a landscape of gray.
And beneath the gratitude and excitement, there’s something raw and powerful.
Like the air before a storm. Crackling with potential energy. And it feels good. So. Fucking. Good.
I open my eyes and realize I’ve been crying. I didn’t even notice.
I move to wipe the tears away, but Vexar catches my hand.
“Leave them,” he says, “they are the messengers of fate.” With a look of pure reverence, he kisses the pads of my fingers before pressing his lips back to mine.
The thread of our connection flourishes and grows until he’s spilling into me. I feel him deeply. His confidence is like a salve to my fear. The clenching tightness in my chest loosens, the lingering headache dissipates, and I feel hope.
Maybe we can survive this.
I want to survive this.
I run my fingers along the contours of his jaw, over the coarse stubble of his beard, feeling the way his muscles move beneath his skin.
“I am so glad I found you,” he whispers before nudging my nose with his own.
He grabs my hips and lifts me easily, guiding my legs until I’m straddling his lap.
It feels so natural to let him pick me up—to give him control of my body like this.
Everything right now feels second-nature.
No fumbling limbs or awkward movements, just grace and certainty.
“You’re going to tear your stitches,” I say, running a thumb down the side of his neck, over a long scar that runs from the base of his ear to the top of his shoulder.
He has so many scars, and each one sparks a new curiosity.
He may have never killed before today, but it’s clear he’s experienced enough violence to last a lifetime.
“The stitches are fine,” he says, dragging his calloused hands over my bare thighs. “The pain is nearly gone. Besides, I needed to see your face.”
Sitting in his lap has brought me almost eye-level with him. Almost.
I hum. “You are freakishly tall.”
“Maybe you are just very short.”
Rude. “I’m above average height.”
“For a goblin.”
My eyes nearly burst out of my skull. “How do you even know what a gob—”
He silences me with a kiss, and by the time he pulls back, I’ve forgotten everything I was going to say.
“Gods, you are beautiful,” he says, gripping my chin and studying me as if he can read every tick of my face like words on a page. “The past few hours have been impossible. Every time your fingers brushed my skin—” He sucks in a breath. “I think I have found my greatest weakness.”
The past few hours? “How long have you known about this?”
He pushes my hair over my shoulder and stares curiously at my neck before dragging a finger down the side of it. “From the moment I dug my claws into my chest.”
“That’s why you did that?”
Still focused on my neck, he says, “It was a surprising experience, having a second heart suddenly beating in my chest.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
His eyes meet mine, and they narrow. “Would you have wanted to know sooner?”
I consider his question. “I guess not.” I would have likely pushed back a lot harder had he said all this a few hours ago. “So, just to confirm,” I say between little gasps as he starts to kiss my neck again, “you weren’t freaked out because you realized you were bonded to me, right?”
He leans back, brow furrowed, and takes my face in both hands. “Amara, if I could have chosen anyone in the universe, I would still have chosen you. You are the most astonishing creature I have ever met.”
I swallow around the lump in my throat, suddenly feeling far more vulnerable than I did a moment ago. The urge to run starts to grow in my gut, but the urge to stay overpowers it.
“What are you thinking?” he asks.
I blow out a breath between pinched lips. “It’s just really hard to believe you when you say things like that,” I admit. “It freaks me out.”
He nods slowly, clearly trying to wrap his head around what I’m saying. “It makes you uncomfortable when I admit that I am entranced by you?”
I rub my thumbs down the sides of his thick neck, trying to formulate a response. “It freaks me out because you don’t know anything about me. When you’re making these big claims, I can’t help but think you must be lying or trying to manipulate me.”
His shock lights up the back of my mind.
“I do not say these things lightly. Who you are is as clear to me as the brown of your eyes.” His hands hold my face, keeping my eyes trained on him.
“You are a fearless protector and warrior. You would willingly walk into death for a chance to save others from the fate you have suffered. That is your essence, and that is why I respect you the way I do.” His voice is rough with emotion, and I feel my walls starting to crack again.
The honesty in our connection is unmistakable, and there’s no way for me to deny he’s speaking his truth.
For a moment, I just sit there, shocked. Then my mouth collides with his in a desperate, hungry kiss. Somehow, he sees me. This entire time I thought I had shown him nothing but my worst parts—my anger, fear, avoidance, and frustration—but that isn’t what he saw.
A clarity washes over me. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. If we survive this, and if he keeps his promise to me, I will have gained a future I never thought possible. I will live to fight another day, and I won’t be alone.
His hands slide to my waist, fingers digging into the fabric of my dress as I sink deeper in his lap, sliding forward until the bulge in his pants presses between my legs.
Fuck I need this.
He groans, rocking his hips up into me. But a second later, he’s lifting me and pushing me back. “You do crazy things to me,” he rasps, “and I do not want to lose control.”
“Just let go,” I beg, knowing how desperate I sound and not caring. I’m done policing myself and trying to be reasonable. The hottest man—alien?—I’ve ever seen is between my thighs, and his desire is boiling through the back of my mind, blending with my own.
“I do not want to lose control … yet,” he says. Then he winks.
I groan, letting my head fall back. “If you don’t plan on losing control, then you can’t wink like that. It does things.”
He growls. He fucking growls. And goosebumps break out over my skin. “Now I know two of your weaknesses,” he whispers before dragging his teeth down my neck.
My entire body is buzzing. Alive with a thousand bees. I press my hands against his chest, trying to get some space. “You can’t tease me like this,” I pant. “I’ll combust, or have a heart attack or something.”
“I am not teasing, I am taking my time.” His fingers dig into my hips, holding me close and ratcheting up my need even higher.
The strength in those hands is too much to ignore, and my horny brain conjures images of riding them a thousand different ways.
This poor alien has no idea what sort of Pandora’s box he’s opened.
“This feels a lot like teasing,” I say, even as I try to remind myself that he’s never done any of this. He might be a quick learner, but this is all new to him. He might not even know what he’s doing to me right now. I just need to calm down and let him set the pace.
A cool breeze filters in through the window, brushing over my sweat-damp skin, and I sigh at the sensation.
Vexar’s eyes soften, as if he’s just remembered something. “I never thought I would find you.”
My stomach tightens with the anticipation of another heavy confession.
“You are the only one who could have done this.” He taps his chest with one hand, and I feel a sudden, deep ache that scares me. The way he’s looking at me feels like he’s memorizing my face, like he doesn’t plan on sticking around.
After all of this, if he leaves me here, I will fucking shatter.
I press my forehead to his and whisper, “Don’t leave me here.” It’s a silly wish. More of a prayer than anything. A prayer that he will keep his promise and get us out of here alive.
“I will never leave you,” he whispers.
“Please—” I start, before his thumb lands on my lips. I feel desperate. Terrified. And so vulnerable. I’ve just given Vexar the keys to my own destruction, and I hardly know him.
“I am yours,” he says in that commanding tone that makes my heart skip. “Forever.” I can feel his vulnerability even though his expression is hard and nearly regal. “Are you mine?” he asks.
Without thought, I nod and immediately think, ‘Fuck, why did I do that?’ But my heart is thrumming louder than it ever has before.
Forever. He said, “forever”.
Instead of overthinking, I grab onto the ‘now’. Our hands become frantic and shameless, roaming over each other with abandon.
He feels like the embodiment of power itself, and it’s intoxicating. I trace the contours of his chest until I graze a nipple and gasp. Looking down, I expect to find Vexar’s hand doing the same to me, but his hands are nowhere near my breasts.
What did I just feel?
Confused, I run my finger over his nipple again and … there it is. An unmistakable jolt of pleasure.
“Holy shit,” I whisper, before flicking my finger one more time and shivering at the sensation that I don’t feel on my skin, but somewhere … else. “I can feel that.” I shake my head, trying to find the right words. “It’s like I can feel your pleasure.”
Vexar quirks a brow, and in a motion that tells me he doesn’t plan on teasing forever, he pulls my hips forward until the hard contour of his erection presses between my legs. Shockwaves of pleasure roll through me, and he lets out a deep, guttural, “Vok.”
Pure. Alien. Wizardry.