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“Don’t get smug,” she said, the gasp that cut her voice not helping her retort. She dug her fingernails into his back, her eyes fluttering open when a calloused thumb pulled her lip from her teeth.

“That’s it, eyes on me,” he praised, one hand finding her hip while the other slid into her hair, sending pleasant tingles across her scalp. “So fucking pretty,” he groaned and kissed her, taking full advantage of her groan to plunge deep, every glide of his tongue sending her into a frenzy of need. How he could kiss her ravenously but fuck her with slow, undulating thrusts at the same time, she had no idea.

She wrapped her thighs around his hips, slipping a little lower, and the change in angle made her breath catch. Bryon’s low growl gave her nervous butterflies. The predatory gleam in his forest eyes deepened the feeling. He sank deeper, rolling his hips intentionally so her breath hitched again, the possessive hand on her waist keeping her right where he wanted her.

“I’m keeping you,” she blurted, pressing her nails deeper into his skin. “I can’t ever let you go when you feel this good inside me.”

“Not going anywhere, princess,” he grunted, his forehead pressing to hers. His next thrust was deeper, harder, and knowing that he was trying to be slow and gentle but couldn’t help fucking her harder was like a drug. He withdrew slowly, the long drag of his broad tip against her inner muscles making her hips jump off the mattress. And oh fuck, the thrust back in… Maia buried her head in his shoulder, her mouth filling with saliva, her canines aching.

“Bryon,” she rasped.

“I can feel you close, princess,” he groaned, his hand leaving her hip to graze her clit. The added sensation made her inner muscles squeeze tight, her breathing racing out of control.

“I want to bite you,” she whined, her teethpulsing.

“Do it,” he growled instantly. “Mark me. Show everyone I’m yours.”

The cresting pleasure drove into her so hard that her back arched and her pussy clamped around his cock. As the first rush of her release hit, Maia sank her teeth into her mate and bit him so everyone would see, everyone would know.Hers.Now and forever hers.

Bryon tore his hand from her clit so he could crush her body to his, a long groan in the back of his throat as he ground deeper, spilling heat and cum inside her. “Right here,” he moaned, kissing a swirl of ruined ink on her shoulder, where it had once been a vine full of life but now was scarred. “This is where I’ll bite you, when we’re safe, when we’re free.”

They were the most beautiful words she’d ever heard.

Notifwe’re free. When.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Jaro ignored the chiding voice of the saint inside his head as he closed his eyes and reached into the frozen lake of his magic, his fur becoming stiflingly hot as he extracted a needle-thin shred of magic.

Slower,Kaial instructed.You’re going to burn out.

I can do this,Jaro snapped, one comment away from telling the saint to mind his own damn business. But the saint of vengeance had been reborn in Jaro; it was hardly like they could be separated. This power had belonged to Kaial, and he was determined that Jaro used it exactly as intended, down to extreme precision.

You can’t do it if you’re dead,was Kaial’s abrupt response.

Jaro sighed and released the needle of magic he’d summoned, letting it fall back into the frozen lake at his core. The fact that he could use magic at all was a miracle. As far as either of them could guess, it was only because of the brackish blood he’d swallowed when fighting the valkor. Before that, his power had been locked down tight, non-existent.

He’d managed a single fracture in his collar in the time Azrail had been gone. One fucking fracture.

Patience,Kaial muttered.

Jaro ignored that remark. He needed to get this fucking collar off, find a way out of this cell, and get to Maia. He’dfelther. A bolt of panic speared his soul like lightning hours ago, and he’d been frantic since. Someone had scared her. No,terrifiedher. And he was stuck here, trapped in beast form, locked in four stone walls, unable to get to her.

Take your time, pull a thread but slowly, Kaial instructed.You’re no use to anyone if you burn out.

Thank you for the glowing confidence,Jaro sniped, his temper shorter with every failed attempt. Kaial wasn’t much better after hours of trying to work magic. It was a wonder they were still talking to each other.

Jaro dragged a slow, whistling breath through his nose, and he supposed he should be grateful the collar allowed him to even do that. It was the only thing hecoulddo. He couldn’t howl or scream his rage, couldn’t move even to scratch the itch that had burned his back for what must have been an hour. But compared to what the torturer had done to Azrail, he’d been lucky. Even being forced into the arena to slaughter monsters, to kill their own rebel ally…

Jaro tried hard not to think about Merian, but her eyes haunted him. He never slept, hadn’t been allowed to, so he’d had plenty of time to torture himself with the memory of taking her life. She was kind, and bright, and good, and he’d killed her as viciously as he’d killed the valkor.

You did what was necessary to survive,Kaial cut into the destructive spiral of Jaro’s thoughts, sympathy entering his rough voice.She fought as viciously as you did.

She didn’t have a choice.

Neither did you. Now reach into the lake and pull up a single drop.

Jaro sighed and sank back into the lake, repeating the attempt he’d been making for hours.