51. Chapter Fifty-One #2
I leapt into the water, submerging myself completely before I broke the surface and looked back to where he had stood on the edge. But he was gone, likely already in the water, coming for me. I made myself invisible and dunked back under, swimming behind the waterfall.
A little game of hunter and hunted.
I resurfaced behind the waterfall and pressed my back against the cave. My heavy breaths were drowned out by the roar of the water. Adrenaline coursed through my veins from the primal play.
Ryker’s dark frame emerged in front of me, the water beating against his body as he prowled forward with glowing eyes. Excitement bubbled in my stomach.
My shadow had come for me.
I knew he couldn’t see me, but through our bond, he could sense me, just as I could with him. Never again would either of us not know exactly where the other was.
His silver eyes cut right to mine. His darkness seeped from him, swirling over the water toward me, licking at my wet skin. Ryker’s lips curled.
“You can’t escape your shadow, little gem. No matter what, I’ll always find you,” he said, his tone much softer than the features on his face.
“Good.”
I let go of my magic, appearing right in front of him, and his mouth was on mine in an instant.
He pressed his body against me, pushing me harder into the wall, his arms braced against the cave around my head to cage me in.
My arms circled his neck and I tilted my head back to deepen the kiss, opening my mouth for him to invade.
Our tongues were desperate and vicious, clashing against each other.
His hand reached down to grab my thigh and hiked it up over his hip. My breath caught when the tip of his hard cock touched just where I wanted it to.
“Say it,” he growled against my lips. And I knew. I would always know.
“I belong to you.” He pounded into me hard and fast. “You belong to me,” I cried out, the pressure in my lower stomach building higher and higher with each thrust.
“ Fuck , Kya,” he groaned. And Gods, hearing him say my name nearly sent me over the edge.
His hand left my thigh and came up to cup the back of my head.
I could feel his pleasure building through the bond, and it mixed with mine.
My stomach tightened and with the next thrust, I threw my head back, protected from the wall by Ryker’s hand.
I clenched around him with each wave of pleasure washing through me.
My mate’s body tensed, his cock pulsing inside me.
His moan was swallowed by the roar of the water, and he buried his face in the crook of my neck.
We remained there, trembling in each other’s arms, while we came down from our sated state, our hunger for each other quenched—temporarily.
Afterward, Ryker brought over the soaps that he kept in the cavern, where he would bathe whilst here.
He began to wash me, lathering the soap through my hair and dipping me back to rinse it.
We grabbed our discarded clothes, and he carried me from the watery cavern back to the alcove with the bed where I put on one of his clean shirts.
Ryker and I spent the rest of the evening talking and laughing, sharing memories and past adventures. Just being with each other with none of the worries of the world outside our cave.
But our blessed time away was nearing its end.
I laid my head on Rykers chest while flipping through one of his books on history.
He traced his fingers in slow circles on my back, reading a book of his own.
That moment was just as perfect as the rest of them during our stay here and it made me fantasize about a simple life with him away from the rest of the world.
“Your book selection is terrible,” I grumbled humorously.
A low chuckle rumbled in his chest. “You don’t approve of what I read? ”
“I don’t care what you read, but we’re going to have to make some serious changes to our collection. There’s nothing in here that I care for.”
He stilled beneath me, and I glanced up at him. The corners of his mouth were turned up. The bond purred with adoration.
“What?” I said with a smile.
“I just love hearing you say our .” He kissed my forehead. “We’ll get you whatever you want, little gem.”
I nestled into him further and continued to read the horribly dry history text. A few minutes later, Ryker cleared his throat.
“I wanted to ask you something.”
“Hmm,” I hummed without looking up.
“I’ve mentioned before about…about you becoming my wife.”
My stomach fluttered. I tilted my head back to look at him, meeting his gaze. “You have,” I said quietly.
He kissed my temple lightly. “Kya, would you do me the honor of being my wife and allow me to bind myself to you through the Spirits?”
My heart skipped a beat, pure love pouring down the bond between us. “Yes, Ryker.”
He released the breath he had been holding in a shuddering exhale. His hand came up to cup my face. “And will you, Worthy of the Goddess Kleio, lead and protect our people, by my side as Lady of Oryn?”
I searched his eyes, unsure what I was looking for. Being Lady of a Nation, under a God that didn’t choose me… Uncertainty flooded through me. And Ryker felt it. A pang of hurt crossed his features and came down the bond.
“If you don’t want to—” He shook his head.
“No. That’s not it.” I closed the book and set it aside, then turned to face him. “I don’t think I should. Xareus didn’t choose me to lead Oryn. He chose you .”
I couldn’t be Lady of a Nation by a God that didn’t choose me. The Nation I was deemed Worthy to protect didn’t exist anymore.
He smiled brightly which caused me to bunch my eyebrows in confusion.
“ They chose us ,” he breathed. “We are two Worthy. Mated. And we love each other. I think that they, Xareus and Kleio, want both of us to lead. Together.”
I sat up and grabbed both sides of his face. “Do you really mean this?” I whispered.
“Yes.” His voice was sure and steady.
He reached down and grabbed something from the floor, then grabbed the wrist of my arm with our mating mark. He brushed his lips in a feather-light touch against the unmarked skin of my wrist, and unfolded a cloth to reveal four half circles.
Marriage bands—an unbreakable band of metal, forged around the arm between the mating mark and the palm of the hand, a representation of the spiritual coupling.
I picked up the two smaller ones and studied them.
They wouldn’t be secured together around my wrist until a Sage performed the ritual. The other two were for Ryker.
“You will be bound to me through the divine and the Spirits and the Nation, where even death will not break them,” I whispered.
“Until the stars die out.” He leaned forward and kissed me deeply. “I will have you in every way. My mate. My wife. My Lady. For eternity.”
I stared into those irises of swirling silver. “Yes. My mate. My husband. My Lord.”
He claimed me again. And I lay there in blissful contentedness, heart full, and bond fully sealed, feeling the rise and fall of Ryker’s even and heavy breaths while he slept.
Relishing these last few hours of the night alone with my mate.
I soaked in the short time of isolation with him, knowing that come morning, it would be time to return.