Chapter Thirty-Nine #3
He holds me so tight to his body I don’t even touch the cold stone floor.
Those silver eyes that haunted me across continents stare into mine with the brilliance of a million galaxies, luminous in the darkness.
Each long thrust drags against every nerve ending that is on fire.
Each slam of his hips into mine rubs his thick textured curls over my clit in a delicious counter point.
A low growl starts, vibrating from his chest against my skin. It picks up in volume until his whole body is consumed with it, vibrating against me. I am surrounded and filled by his heat, his touch. His love. I feel it in every movement, every breath, every beat of my heart. And I know, I am ready.
On instinct, I let my head fall back, exposing my throat in both offer and surrender. I hold his stare and watch as his body shudders. His rhythm falters. I watch the icy grey of his eyes turn to molten quicksilver.
And then—he breaks.
Eryon
She gives herself to me, completely, irrevocably. When she drops her head to expose the creamy column of her throat to me, I come undone.
She is everything. The spring to my eternal winter. The sunrise in my endless night. My salvation. My mate.
As I am overwhelmed with love, with her, my knot grows and pulses, locking us together, ensuring my seed stays deep where it belongs.
Branding my claim into her flesh. I sink my sharp teeth deep into my lip until copper floods my mouth, then quickly seal my mouth around her neck and bite down, mingling her lifeblood with mine to marry our souls, sealing the bond, and claiming her as mine for eternity.
She convulses around me and screams my name, her body milking mine, her pleasure wringing me dry. I spill inside her, filling her with everything I have, everything I am. I do not let her go. I will never let her go. Wave after hot wave pulses into her, liquid fire.
My mate. My Winter Star.
As the last of our mingled cries fade, I roll onto my back, cradling her close as our bodies remain joined.
She is soft and pliant, still trembling from the force of our mating with aftershocks that run through her body like tiny earthquakes. A deep peace sinks into my soul at the weight of her in my arms, the curve of her small body against mine. I press my lips to her hair, inhaling deeply.
My mate. My forever.
Dahlia
I burrow into his fur and warmth, filled with his seed and sealed with his knot.
His scent is everywhere—pine, winter, mine.
My skin is coated in him, his seed locked deep, his bite still throbbing at my throat.
I press my fingers to his mark, feeling the slow, steady thrum of our bond beneath my skin.
I will wear him proudly for the rest of my life.
“Eryon,” I whisper into his velvet skin.
“Mhm,” he mumbles in reply.
“The tea you gave me—,” I start, but he lays his finger across my lips, silencing my question before I can voice it.
He gently pushes my shoulders up so that I am straddling him, staring down at his great silver eyes reflecting the crystal cavern back at me like the night sky.
“I knew you were my mate from the first time I saw you looking for that plant. The way you were bent over, that sweet ass on display for me,” he quips as he grabs a double handful of that same body part and chuckles.
Voice turning serious, he says, “Then the sun caught your hair and lit your curls up like the most beautiful sunset, and all I could think about was sinking my hands deep into your hair and sliding my cock between your lips.”
I feel him begin to harden again inside of me, my insides turning molten as he slowly slides his hands up over my curves to bury them deep in my hair.
His voice turns soft but insistent, and he says, “But when I saw your eyes, shimmering like the petals of the winter star in the moonlight, I knew you were a gift from the gods of creation, and I loved you from that moment.”
I bite my lip as tears prick the back of my eyes at his confession of the heart.
“The flower was always meant to be yours.” He thrusts inside of me, reflecting the intensity of his words as he continues. “So yes, I hid it in your bag even when it broke my heart to send you away.”
Another powerful stroke fills me, pulling a gasp from my lips as he declares, “I was a fool. A hurt one, but a fool nonetheless. So, when you swept back into my life like the North winds and then tried to sacrifice yourself for me, you’re damn right I poured its healing elixir down your throat to save your life. ”
His hips pick up a punishing pace, thrusting up into me as he stares deep into my soul. He gives a small shake of my head as his hands tremble with intensity
“I will never—” thrust “—never be separated from you again.”
It’s all I can do to keep my eyes open and focused on his great silver ones.
“You are my mate, Sruhnar.”
I know this, but to hear the declaration fall from his lips with such intensity, such reverence, has the tears that threatened moments ago spilling over.
“And nothing, not even death, will take you from me.”
His words slam into me, raw and absolute, carving themselves into the long lines of my bones. I cling to him, my body shaking, my heart splitting wide open.
I don’t just hear his vow—I feel it. I believe it.
I detonate around him, overflowing with his love and the intensity of knowing—I love him just as fiercely.