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CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Ryker

Unable to resist the call of her mouth anymore, I pulled her closer and claimed her lips. With that kiss, I sought to brand myself onto her and etch myself into the very fabric of her being.

She was mine, and while I couldn’t shout it out to all the realms like I longed to, I could make sure she knew it. I deepened the kiss as I lost myself to the taste and feel of her.

Ellery was everything right in this realm… maybe the only thing still right. She was the missing piece that, when connected to me, soothed all the ragged edges of my battered soul.

With her, my father’s beatings, the torture of those half-snake monsters, the ophidians, and the loss of Leo faded from memory. She became my everything .

When her arms encircled my neck, her fingers threaded through my hair, and she pulled me closer. She smelled of apples and tasted of honey and champagne as she melded against my chest.

I wanted to savor her while I spent the night undressing her, touching her, and staking my claim on every fucking inch of her, but we didn’t have time for that.

We would soon have a night when I would spend the entire evening losing myself to her, but not tonight. If we weren’t careful, my father would realize we were both missing, and while I intended to have her tonight, I wouldn’t take that risk with her.

My hands grasped her skirt and pulled it upward as my cock strained against my pants. I’d spent a lot of time trying to get an erection with other women and failing, yet she stirred me with a simple look or touch. I’d never get enough of her or how she made me feel.

Breaking the kiss, I went to my knees, lifted her skirt further, and found her underwear. I pulled them down, over her shoes, and tossed them aside.

The enticing scent of her arousal was too much to resist as I draped her dress around me, gripped her thighs, and pulled them further apart. When I lifted my mouth to her already wet core, her hands fell on my back.

Her hips arched toward me as I gripped her ass, pulling her firmly against my tongue so I could relish her further. She was as delicious as she was tempting.

Ellery had always enchanted me, but now she’d ensnared me in a web of desire and love that had me careening out of control. My entire body ached to be inside her and fucking her until I found the release I craved, but I couldn’t tear myself away.

I felt the tension coiling inside her as she pulled me closer. When she came, the sound she released caused something primal to rip free inside me.

I made her feel that good; I made her lose complete control, and I was going to do it again, but this time, I would be inside her. Lifting her skirt, I moved out from under it and rose.

Ellery leaned against the wall, her lips swollen from my kisses, her breaths coming in small pants, and her eyes glazed with passion. I had to be inside her. I’d waited too long, and it was time to take what was mine.

Unbuttoning my pants, I shoved them down my hips to free my cock. I didn’t bother taking my pants all the way off before grasping her hips and lifting her.

With jerky movements, I pushed up the dress and pressed her against the wall. The head of my shaft slid across her wet center before I thrust into her.

Her eyes held mine as I entered her. The joy and… something more… something deeper… something like pure love shone from her eyes.

The answering emotion tugged at my heart as I lifted my hand to stroke her cheek. I’d been desperate to be inside her and find my release, but when she turned into my touch, I was sure my heart might explode from the emotions swelling it while I remained unmoving within her.

“You’re beautiful,” I told her.

She smiled as she leaned closer. “And you feel so right.”

Unable to resist, I reclaimed her mouth as I moved within her. Whenever Ellery was near, I was home, but inside her, I was in heaven. Her hands grasped my neck as our tongues entwined, and she rode me with wild abandon.

When she came again, my mouth muffled her cry as her muscles clenched around my shaft. Unable to resist, I drove into her one more time and came with a shout that our kiss suppressed.

A tingle ran up my spine, and my dick pulsed as I gave myself over to everything that was Ellery. Gasping in air, I broke our kiss to rest my head in the hollow of her shoulder.

The muscles of her sheath continued to contract around my cock as she came down from her high, and the scent of her filled my nostrils. Everything about her was so right.

“You’re mine. Always and forever,” I told her.

“I’m yours. And you’re mine.”

“I’m yours.”

And I would protect her from everything that was soon to come. Ellery was an anomaly among amsirah, the first female lightning bearer and the first to control all five weathers. When that came out, and it would, everyone with a thirst for power would seek to use her… or destroy her.

I’d burn them to the ground for daring to try.

“I’m going to keep you safe,” I vowed.

She bent her head to nuzzle my cheek before kissing me. “I know. I’m going to keep you safe too.”

My hands tensed on her ass. “ You’re the bigger concern. Don’t worry about me.”

Leaning back, she gazed at me with a wonder and love that stole my heart again. “I have to worry about you; I love you.”

I smiled as I kissed the tip of her nose. “I love you too, and one day, everyone in all the realms will know you belong to me.”

“I can’t wait.”