Page 49 of Awakened Destiny (The Dark Ascendant #3)

Brigid

I feel Callen tense against me before he chuckles and rolls away. The mattress dips as Marius approaches, and when I open my eyes, the sight of him steals what little breath I've regained.

His tattoos seem more alive now, black ink shifting across his skin like living shadows, like before. His shadow magic is gaining strength again. His dark eyes devour me, possessive and hungry. The others commanded my body, but Marius—Marius claims my soul.

"Did you think I'd let them have all of you?" His voice drops lower, rougher. "When we both know who you truly belong to?"

His fingers trace my collarbone, following the path where shadow once marked me. "The shadows inside you call to mine, little bird. They've always known what you were too afraid to admit."

"And what's that?" I whisper, my voice betraying more vulnerability than I intended.

Marius leans closer, his lips brushing my ear. "That you were made for me. For this. For the darkness we share."

My body responds to his words, nipples tightening, a fresh wave of wetness between my thighs. I should be spent, exhausted from the others, but with Marius, my desire rekindles instantly.

"You think you've experienced pleasure?" He smiles, cruel and beautiful. "You haven't begun to understand what I can do to you."

He doesn't touch me—not with his hands. Instead, he stands back, his eyes narrowing in concentration. The surrounding shadows thicken, respond to his silent command. I feel them first at my ankles—cool, silken tendrils wrapping around my legs, sliding up my calves.

"Marius..." I gasp, half in warning, half in plea.

"Relax," he commands. "Let the darkness take you. It knows what you need better than you do."

I should resist. The rational part of my brain screams danger. But the shadow magic inside me recognizes its kin, welcomes it, surges to meet it. The dark tendrils climb higher, caressing my inner thighs with a touch that's both there and not there—physical yet otherworldly.

"What are you doing to me?" My back arches as shadow brushes across my still-sensitive clit.

"Showing you what it means to be claimed by the Raven King's descendant." His eyes never leave mine, even as his magic works between my legs. "Showing you what no one else can give you."

The shadows form more substantial shapes now—fingers, tongues, pressing and stroking everywhere at once. One tendril circles my nipple while another slides between my folds. The sensation is unlike anything I've felt before—cooler than skin yet somehow burning, less solid than flesh, yet impossibly more intense.

"Oh god," I moan as shadow penetrates me, filling me in a way that feels both invasive and perfect. It's like being touched from the inside out, the magic seeking out every hidden, sensitive spot.

"Not god," Marius corrects, his voice strained with effort and arousal. "Just me. Say my name."

"Marius," I gasp, as the shadow inside me pulses, changes shape, strokes places I didn't know could feel such pleasure.

"Again." His command comes sharper as the shadow between my legs forms a tight, perfect rhythm against my clit.

"Marius!" I cry out louder, my hips bucking against nothing and everything. The sensation builds faster than should be possible, my body trembling on the edge of something enormous.

"That's it," he growls, and I realize his hand has moved to his own erection, stroking in time with the shadows pleasuring me. "Let go, Brigid. Let the darkness take you."

The shadows quicken, intensify, impossibly precise in their stimulation. I'm being touched everywhere at once—filled, stroked, pinched, caressed by darkness itself. My shadow magic rises to meet his, and where they touch, the pleasure multiplies exponentially.

"I can't—it's too much—" My voice breaks as the pressure builds beyond what I thought possible. I ’ m vaguely aware of the others watching every second of this erotic show.

"You can," he insists, his own breathing ragged. "Come for me, Brigid. Come for the shadows. Show me you accept what we are together."

His words break the last of my resistance. I surrender completely to the darkness, to him, to us. The orgasm tears through me like nothing I've ever experienced—not just physical but magical, my shadow magic exploding outward to meet his as my body convulses in pleasure so intense it borders on pain.

I hear Marius groan, see him shudder as he finds his own release, our magic intertwining in the air between us. For a moment, I swear I see wings of shadow spread from his back, encompassing us both in darkness.

As the pleasure slowly subsides, the shadows retreat, leaving my skin tingling and hypersensitive. Marius watches me with something like wonder in his typically guarded expression.

"Now you understand," he says quietly, sitting beside me on the bed. His fingers brush damp hair from my forehead with unexpected tenderness.

I can only nod, words beyond me. The shadows have shown me something I can no longer deny—that the darkness in me isn't something to fear, but a power to embrace. And that Marius, for all his dangerous edges, might be the only one who truly sees me for what I am.

A warm laugh draws my attention as Rory steps forward, his golden-brown eyes sparkling with mischief. The contrast between him and Marius couldn't be more stark—where Marius is shadow, Rory is pure sunlight. The air in the room shifts, lightens.

"Look at her," Rory says, his Irish accent thickening with desire. "Our girl's absolutely fucking glowing."

He sits beside me on the bed, his large hand cupping my cheek. His thumb traces my lower lip, and I instinctively part my lips, wanting to taste him.

"Seems someone's still hungry," he teases, leaning down to brush his lips against mine. "Aren't you, love?"

"Yes," I whisper against his mouth. Despite the intensity of what just happened with Marius, I find myself craving more—craving him.

Rory's grin widens. "That's my girl. Always so eager." His hand slides down my neck, my collarbone, tracing a path to my breast, where he rolls my nipple between his fingers. The casual confidence in his touch makes me gasp.

"How do you want me?" I ask, my voice breathier than I intended.

He chuckles, the sound vibrating through me. "Just like this. On your back, legs spread for me." His words are crude but spoken with such warmth and affection that they make me feel cherished rather than used. "Want to taste every inch of you."

I comply willingly, spreading my thighs as he positions himself between them. Where the others exude dominance through intensity or control, Rory's dominance comes wrapped in playfulness—no less powerful, just differently expressed.

"Gods, look at you," he murmurs, eyes drinking me in. "So wet and ready. Did the shadows leave you wanting more, or are you just that greedy for all of us?"

Heat floods my face. "Both."

"Honest girl." He rewards me with a kiss on my inner thigh, then another higher up. "Going to make you feel so good, Brigid. Going to make you come on my tongue while they all watch."

The thought of the others watching—of Marius, Lochan, and Callen seeing me surrender to Rory—sends another pulse of arousal through me. I'm beyond shame now, want overtaking everything else.

Rory's mouth hovers over my center, his breath hot against my sensitive flesh. "Tell me what you want, love."

"Your mouth," I manage, fingers tangling in his shaggy blond hair. "Please."

"Since you asked so nicely..."

The first stroke of his tongue makes my back arch off the bed. Unlike Marius's controlled precision or Lochan's aggressive intensity, Rory approaches this with the same enthusiasm he brings to everything—whole-hearted and joyful. His tongue laps at me in broad strokes, gathering my wetness, his approving moans vibrating against my flesh.

"Fuck, you taste amazing," he growls against me.

I can't form words, can only gasp and writhe as he works me with his mouth. His large hands grip my thighs, holding me wide open and in place as he devours me. The wet sounds of his mouth against me fill the room along with my increasingly desperate moans.

When he seals his lips around my clit and sucks, I cry out, my hands tightening in his hair. "Rory—"

He looks up at me, chin glistening with my arousal, eyes dark with lust but still holding that spark of playfulness. "That's it, love. Let me hear you. Let them all hear who's making you feel this good."

The possessiveness in his voice, so at odds with his usually carefree demeanor, sends another rush of heat through me. I realize then that for all his easy charm, Rory is just as dominant, just as determined to claim me as the others.

He returns to his task with renewed vigor, tongue circling my clit before dipping lower to thrust inside me. The sensation of being penetrated by his tongue while his nose bumps against my clit has me seeing stars.

"You going to come for me?" he asks, voice husky. "Going to flood my mouth with how good I make you feel?"

"Yes," I gasp, hips rocking against his face now. "Yes, please, don't stop—"

"Wasn't planning on it." He grins wickedly before diving back in, adding a finger alongside his tongue, curling it inside me to hit a spot that makes my vision blur.

I'm climbing again already, the pleasure building impossibly fast after what Marius did to me. Rory seems to sense it, doubling his efforts, his finger working in and out while his tongue focuses on my clit.

"Rory," I warn, feeling the tension coiling tighter. "I'm going to—"

"Come for me, Brigid," he commands, his playfulness momentarily giving way to desire. "Let go, love."

And I do, shattering against his mouth, my thighs trembling around his head as he works me through it, lapping up everything I give him like it's the finest delicacy. Unlike with Marius, there's no explosion of magic, just pure physical pleasure washing through me in waves.

As I come down, panting and boneless, Rory places one last kiss against my inner thigh before rising up to lie beside me. He pulls me against his chest, dropping kisses on my forehead, my temple, the tip of my nose.

"Beautiful," he murmurs, and I can taste myself on his lips when he kisses me. "Absolutely fucking beautiful." His hand wanders to my breast, and he casually thumbs the nipple, making me tremble.

I curl into him, savoring the warmth and solidity of him after the ethereal experience with Marius. Where Marius showed me the power and darkness within me, Rory reminds me that pleasure can also be simple.

"You make me feel safe," I confess quietly.

His arms tighten around me. "Always will, love. That's a promise."