Chapter 46
Twisting around, Bridger pulled Vega into a kiss, lighting every fiber of her being on fire.
She had no idea if the door closed, had no idea if it locked… all she knew was Bridger was kissing her like she was the oxygen he needed.
You’re the air that I breathe—my life. The words Bridger spoke to her the night of the summoning, the night their lives changed forever had more meaning now than they ever had.
Death slipped into the pit, giving Vega the privacy it knew she wanted.
She reached her hands down to the hem of Bridger’s black T-shirt and tugged it up his body until he got the hint. She needed him shirtless… Now.
He didn’t protest, and Vega knew, fucking knew, if he was letting her have control now, he’d be taking it from her later.
In the bedroom was about the only place Vega was willing to give up without a fight.
She didn’t care. Whatever needed to happen for her to get her hands on his skin.
The zap of their touch had warmth spreading between Vega’s thighs.
It was her favorite buzz, a drug she could never get enough of—a high not even her own electricity could touch.
Death might be the only thing that had ever come close to making Vega feel as alive as Bridger did.
That should scare her, make her skin crawl with disgust, but it didn’t. Death had settled in, finding its home inside her quicker than Vega could have anticipated.
Their lips were apart for no longer than a few seconds. As soon as Bridger pulled his shirt over his arms and tossed it to the corner, his tongue slid across her bottom lip and her body reacted without her brain needing to.
Bridger slipped his tongue through her parted lips, kissing her slowly, taking his time moving her to his bed.
He kissed her like they had all the time in the world… like there weren’t only ten gods standing between her and whatever happened when her job here was done.
The backs of Vega’s legs touched the plush bed Bridger had fawned over while in the caves.
If Vega had limited time, the least she could do now was enjoy what bit of sanity she had left. She sighed against his lips, sitting down and wrapping her legs around his waist.
Much to Vega’s dismay, Bridger grabbed her by the ankles and pried free of her hold. She whimpered as his lips slid down her jaw, to her neck, and then settled on her collarbone. “Slow. Let me go slow. Let me show you how badly I want you. How sorry I am.”
Every kiss formed another set of chills ravaging Vega’s body. Her head rolled back, giving Bridger all the space he needed to pepper her neck and chest with his soft kisses.
He dropped to his knees by the bed and pressed his palms together, resting his elbows between her legs while closing the dark eyes Vega couldn’t believe she’d been able to forget.
His nose rested on the tips of his fingers, the light curls of his freshly washed hair sweeping over his forehead. “Goddess of Death, my bonded soul.”
“What are you doing?” Vega asked, looking down her nose at him with a brow raised in confusion.
Bridger opened one eye, peering up at her. “Shhh, I’m praying. Don’t interrupt.” He closed his eye and continued on. “I come to you tonight, begging for your forgiveness.”
Holy shit… he’s praying… to me.
“I sit at your feet, ready to devote my life to you, to remind you of the eternal tie my life has to yours.”
Vega’s heart bloomed to life at his prayer, rushing blood directly to her head. It should have made her dizzy, but it actually did the opposite. It grounded her, becoming a reminder of the god she was… the gods they all were.
“I summon your heart, your mind, your body, and our souls.”
Vega floated, like the stars miles above in the sky called to them, and they could soar away into oblivion together.
“Vega Caelum, I am yours from now until the end of time. Let me prove my loyalty tonight and every other night. Forever. I live for you.”
Her heart answered, contracting in her chest when his eyes fluttered open. She searched and searched and searched, looking for any sign of deceit… but none came. Vega reached out her hand and pressed it against Bridger’s cheek.
He nuzzled into her touch like he’d been longing for it, placing a kiss in the center of her palm.
Vega wasn’t sure if she was breathing. “From now until the end of time.”
A thread of something she couldn’t place slipped around her heart, pulling tight.
Out of his pocket, Bridger pulled the ring she’d been wearing every day since Arlet returned it to her. She’d taken it off while washing up this morning, completely forgetting to grab it off the counter.
Taking her hand in his, Bridger kissed the finger it belonged on before sliding it back in place. “Everything I do, everything I will do, is for you. I plan to spend the rest of our immortal lives reminding you exactly how much you deserve to be worshipped.”
“What if my life isn’t meant to be eternal?” she whispered, afraid to ruin the moment.
Bridger never hesitated. “Then I’ll find a way to go with you. There’s not a realm in existence I want to be in without you there beside me.” He dragged his hands up her thighs, the material of the lounge pants soft against his hands.
The three words she’d been fighting over in her mind seemed to get lost when she tried to choke them out. She bit her lip and grabbed Bridger by his bicep with one hand. “Come here.” She guided him up, sliding back to the center of the massive bed as Bridger crawled his way over her body.
“I know you feel it too,” he whispered, pressing a soft kiss to her lips.
“But you can say it when you’re ready.” Another sweet kiss, this time on her jaw.
“I, on the other hand, don’t plan on letting another day go by where you don’t know how undeniably, irrevocably fucking gone I am for you.
” Bridger raised her shirt up to underneath her breasts, exposing her stomach to the cool air.
He trailed kisses down her body as she propped herself up on her elbows, watching him work his way down her torso. “I love you.”
Electricity exploded inside, and Vega let out a moan of pleasure. Nothing but his words had her ready to topple over the edge and sink into the sweet bliss of his touch.
Another kiss, another confession. “I love you.”
“Bridger,” she moaned inside, because words felt too hard right now.
“I was so fucking stupid.” The vibration of his words against her skin sent goosebumps dancing across her body. “I’m going to make sure you know just how sorry I am.”
His fingers slid into the waistband of her pants, pulling them down her body until she was bare in front of him.
The hunger on his face was the same she’d seen on the table in Vates…
the same she’d seen in a coat closet in Fortis fifty-six years ago.
“Gods, fucking gods, Vega. I’m so in love with you. ”
Vega watched him lick his lips, spreading her open with one hand to get a look at how absolutely drenched she was for him already.
He ran his thumb over Vega’s clit, and her hips lurched forward, fighting for friction. “Baby, please.”
Bridger’s eyes snapped to hers, and a look she could only describe as feral washed over him. Every muscle in his body tightened, his jaw flexing from the force of his bite.
Vega had never called Bridger anything other than his name, be it his first or last. Bridger had never seemed like a nickname kind of person, but boy, oh fucking boy, had Vega been wrong!
“I’m going to make you come so hard you’ll wish you never called me that.” The gravel in his voice had Vega panting, readying herself for him as he lowered between her spread legs, flattened his tongue, and ran it from her entrance to the mound of nerves he eagerly sucked between his lips.
Vega gripped the sheets like they’d keep her body from writhing in pleasure. “Oh fuck.” She looked down at him with hooded eyes, watching as he devoured her and slid two fingers inside.
Her mouth watered at the thought of him in her mouth, craving the taste. In her daze, Vega must have said so down the bond, because Bridger chuckled, the vibration against her clit making her hips buck. “Not tonight, my beautiful girl. Tonight I worship you.”
Vega stifled her moan, biting down on her bottom lip until she tasted the familiar tang of blood.
Stars exploded across her vision as he flicked his tongue over her in a slow, languid motion, and his fingers massaged the soft spot inside her. “Don’t hold back. Let me hear you. No one else can.”
Vega plopped back, a hand shooting down to her hips where one of Bridger’s arms looped through her leg and held her down.
She couldn’t sit still while having him between her legs—ever.
Her nails dug into his wrist. “Fuck,” she moaned as Bridger loosened his grip only enough to let Vega roll her hips against his tongue.
He said he was going to take his time, but Vega’s body hadn’t gotten the memo. She shattered under his mouth, her body releasing the hold on her sanity.
It had taken him seconds to get Vega to come after all the verbal worshipping and praise he’d given. Her body quivered, abdomen flexing tight as she rode out the hardest and quickest orgasm of her entire life.
She couldn’t form a coherent thought and barely recognized her own voice when she cried out Bridger’s name.
Vega had been with other men—the curse forcing her into relationships she never would have sought out. In some of them, she’d been happy, at least for a moment until something traumatic happened and ruined whatever semblance of peace Vega had found in that life.
But no one, not a single one of the men placed into her life by her curse, had ever made Vega feel the way Bridger had… The way he does.
Not emotionally or physically.
Vega had loved him since the night she met him, even before they’d been bonded. Bridger had always been her person, and when he’d left, she lost a piece of herself. One she had to learn to live without—but now she didn’t have to.
She could let herself love him again.