Page 27 of A Crown So Cursed (The Goldenchild Prophecy #5)

Her words strike me like a spell. She trembles, but her gaze is iron, as though two eternities might merge in a single breath.

“You understand that once done, it may never be undone? We are bound for eternity, through this life and the next?” I draw her close, eager to begin.

“My brave, beautiful queen,” I whisper. “You never cease to amaze me.” I brush her lips with mine—a feather-light kiss, reverent with the knowledge of all we have been, and all we have lost.

My hands tremble as I map the contours of her face—the sweep of her cheekbones.

She meets my gaze. “Yes,” she says again, barely more than a breath.

“Do you remember the night in the Druid village when we…”

“Yes,” she says, smiling, and it is all I need.

“We started, but never finished,” I say. And then slowly, I untie her robe, baring the curves of her breasts. Her nipples harden in the cool air, and my fingers trace the line of her neck. “Ready?” I ask, voice thick with hunger.

Gwendolyn nods, her heart thundering in time with mine. I lean in, lips at her ear, fangs teasing her lobe. “It may hurt, mo chroí ,” I warn, savoring the endearment.

Her pulse stutters, and she nods, eyes locked with mine—a trust so deep it shames me.

My fangs graze her flesh, and she closes her eyes, bracing.

I bite, sinking my teeth into the space above her heart.

The taste of her—sweet, wild, absolute—floods my senses.

This is communion beyond blood; it is the mingling of our very selves.

I feel the moment pain surrenders to pleasure, as the Aether of my life pours into her.

My cock hardens to agony, if it were not already so. I know what she feels. I crave it for myself—that wild surge, ancient and pure, burning through her.

She gasps, her nails biting into my shoulders. “I feel… you,” she breathes, awash in sensation.

I withdraw. “Your turn,” I say, drawing her mouth to my chest. Her hands shake as she pulls me close, hesitating only a moment before her newly won fangs pierce the flesh above my heart.

For a beat, she drinks, and it is a different pleasure—one that unmans me, her need pulling at my very soul, swallowing my essence as a star swallows light.

We gasp together, the hunger ancient and immediate, joy and grief entwined for all we have lost. She does not merely drink; she marks me, her mouth a brand, and for an instant I regret nothing—not the centuries of loneliness, not the pain.

The taste of my blood is thick with memory, and the boundaries between us blur.

But that is not enough.

“Don’t suck,” I rasp, and when she tries to pull away, I draw her back. She understands somehow, and reverses the flow, sending her own essence—her battered, indomitable soul—into me.

My body convulses, rocked by sensation—her spirit, molten and bright, pouring through my veins. Lightning arcs through me, lava seeping through my bones, and in a flash, I see every moment we have ever shared. My breath shudders; desire—white, liquid, devouring—burns through me.

Now, filled with a need sharper than hunger, I meet her gaze. Her storm-gray eyes, luminous and wild, reflect a love so raw it nearly undoes me.

Majesty, I think, and it is hers, not mine.

It sends a pulse of want through me, and I wrench her mouth from my skin to stare into her Aether-drunk eyes.

She nips her lower lip, and the echo of her teeth in my chest stokes my hunger. I want her—her body, her scent, her scars, and her sorrow, every secret place within her.

She falls back, dizzy, her hair spilling gold across our bed—our bed, at last. The thought fills me with savage joy.

I reach for her. All the years of longing and loss focus on the trembling of my hand.

With care, I gather her hair, twist it about my fist, and draw her to me.

Her breath is hot and ragged. My blood is on her lips, and beneath it, the taste of her.

Our mouths meet, greedy and desperate, as though the world might end if we do not consume each other now.

My fangs prick her lip—accident or intent, I do not know—and she gasps, shuddering as a bead of crimson wells at the corner of her mouth. She laps it away, eyes locked to mine, and the sight nearly undoes me.

We lose ourselves then, tumbling into the bedclothes, tearing away the last barriers, a tangle of flesh and need.

Her hands in my hair, my palms at her back, her thighs caging my hips.

Nothing in this world, or any other, could keep me from her now.

I claim her mouth, addicted to the taste, the salt of her skin.

Her hands are never idle, scoring my back.

Another heartbeat, and we are joined—slick, hot, perfect—her hips rising to meet me, our breaths tangled. The first thrust is a homecoming, bodies aligned as they were always meant to be.

She moans my name—my true name—and clings to me, nails raking my spine. Every muscle strains, desperate to prolong the moment, but helpless before the hunger that drives us. She holds me so fiercely I fear she will break me, but I crave it.

Her scent is dizzying, more potent than wine.

When I lower my lips to her throat, she bares it, sighing my name as though it is the only word left in her.

My teeth graze her pulse, and she trembles.

But I do not bite—not yet. I want the tension to build, to drive us both to the edge.

By the time I taste her, the world has shrunk to this bed, this room, this moment.

The stone walls vanish; only the heat between us remains.

I bite gently, drawing her blood, and the taste is ecstasy—memory, emotion, power, all at once.

Gwendolyn moans, low and shuddering, pain and pleasure inseparable, her nails locking me to her.

And in that instant, I find my completion with a howl that rips from my chest, wild and unrestrained. She matches me, pulse for pulse, until we are both spent, shattered, and remade.

Together, we collapse, tangled in sweat and linen and joy. Only our softly panting breaths break the silence, slowing, settling into the easy cadence of lovers at peace.

Her heart beats in my ear as I rest against her, and if I could remain here for a thousand years, I would.

The sense of wholeness is overwhelming. For too long, I have borne the weight of my blood—son of the Dark One, heir to shadows—but now, with her light woven through mine, the burden is lighter.

“What are you thinking?” Gwendolyn asks, sensing the shift.

I draw a long, shuddering breath. “I… am thinking of all we have endured to reach this moment. The Shadow Court, the divide between our worlds…” I trail off, brow furrowing. “And yet, here we are, united. At last…”

“A victory for us,” Gwendolyn finishes, her voice fierce. “One of many to come, my love.”

I turn to her, finding my resolve mirrored in her stormy eyes. I cup her face, thumb stroking her cheekbone.

“A victory indeed, mo ghrá ,” I whisper, voice thick.

She leans into my hand, golden hair spilling over my fingers, and a swell of emotion threatens to drown me—love, pride, determination.

“You have always been my light,” I confess.

“Even in darkness, your spirit has carried me. Now, with our essences joined, I am invincible.”

She smiles, mischief in her eyes. “Invincible… but not inexhaustible,” she purrs, and then she is upon me, pinning me beneath her, smile predatory.

Her knees trap my arms, thighs strong as iron. Her hair falls about us, a golden veil, and I say, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

I am transfixed by the sight of her above me—warrior, queen, goddess incarnate. I reach up, and she lets me tangle my fingers in her hair, lets me draw her down for another kiss. Desire surges, white-hot, obliterating all but her, this, and the eternity of our bond.

The taste of her is new again, and I am consumed by the animal joy of surrender, of belonging wholly to her.

My love for her is beyond measure.

“Once more,” she whispers, and then bends, her teeth at my throat, and I swear she means to devour me.

I cry out, not in pain, but in the savage joy of being unmade and remade by her hands.

And when at last we collapse, entwined in the afterglow, peace settles over us.

The world outside fades to nothing as I close my eyes, and together we drift into a shared dream, ready to face whatever tomorrow brings—certain that, together, we are unstoppable.