Page 14 of Beyond the Winter Kingdom (Faeted Seasons #2)

“I may have two left feet, but I like being outside. And exploring nature. It’s quiet. Peaceful. Away from everyone.” Her fingers traced circles on the surface of the pool. “I didn’t realize how much I missed it until now.”

She didn’t have to say it, but I heard the longing in her voice. For Sadie. For normalcy. For a time before hell realms and complicated feelings.

Uncrossing her left foot, she peeled off her boots and socks, hissing softly as she dipped her sore feet into the water. “That feels divine,” she said, her eyes meeting mine. “I’m getting in.”

“Are you ...” My words died off as Meera reached for her sweat-soaked shirt and lifted it over her head. My mouth went dry.

Meera raised a brow. “We’re in a glowing magic lagoon, that looks like a picture from a fairytale I might add, in the middle of a cursed forest. One, if we don’t take the opportunity to soak in the magical spring, I feel like the universe will be personally offended.

” She pointed to herself. “It’s me. I’m the universe.

” My tension from earlier lessened, watching her so at ease.

“Two, we don’t know when the next bath will be, or if it will be warm. ”

She pulled her feet out of the water and laid back on the forest ground. Meera ran a hand down her abdomen gently. I tracked the movement in slow motion as she reached for the button on her pants.

“Vareck?” She unclasped them and drew down her zipper.

I swallowed, moving my gaze back to her face. She lifted her hips and pushed the fabric down. “Yes?”

“Get in the water with me.”

I unfastened the straps on my boots, not able to tear my eyes away from the vixen in front of me.

Meera removed her jeans without issue, then moved to her bra.

This one had a front clasp. With a twist of her fingers the cups fell sideways, revealing my mate’s rosy nipples, pebbled despite the warm air.

She sat up, letting the rest of the garment slide from her arms. Light from the twin moons caught her skin and turned every pale inch of her silver. Freckles dotted her shoulders and collarbone, and I felt every last ounce of resolve burn away as she slid into the pool.

She didn’t look back. Didn’t tease or flirt or ask me to join her again.

She simply sank into the glowing warmth with a soft sigh and rested her arms along the edge. Her breasts were wet and wanting. She tilted her head back to expose the long curve of her neck.

And fuck me, I followed.

The harness on my chest took but a second to undo. The dual swords at my back hit the ground with a light thud. Next came my shift, then the rest. The damp air clung to my skin as I entered the water, the warmth wrapping around me with a familiarity that should be unsettling.

I forced the thought from my mind to focus on the woman in front of me.

Meera opened one eye, her lips curling into the barest smirk. “Took you long enough.”

I stopped just shy of reaching her. “You’ve been pulling away all day. I didn’t want to cross a line.”

Her expression softened, the smirk fading into something quieter. “If I didn’t want you here, I wouldn’t have asked.”

I moved closer, slow and careful, until our legs brushed beneath the water. “You don’t have to pretend with me, Meera. Not here. Not now.”

She looked away, her throat working as she swallowed. “It’s not pretending,” she said, voice quieter now. “It’s protecting. I’ve spent most of my life building walls. It’s not easy to let someone past them. Even you.”

I reached out, letting my fingers skim her shoulder. She didn’t flinch, just breathed in a little deeper.

“That’s not going to work for me,” I said, and her eyes snapped back to mine.

“What?”

“I won’t be just another person who gets the watered-down version of you. The edited one. I want all of you, Meera. The sharp edges, the stubborn pride, the fear, the fire. I won’t take pieces.”

“That’s a lot to ask.”

“It’s everything,” I said simply. “But I won’t settle for anything less. You shouldn’t either. No one should.”

She didn’t speak for a long moment. Her gaze drifted down to the space between us, then back up. Something fragile and fierce flickered in her eyes.

“And if I can’t give you that?” she whispered.

“Then I’ll wait,” I said, stepping even closer, “but I won’t settle. Not for scraps. Not for silence. And definitely not for just tonight.”

Silence stretched between us, heavy and sacred.

Finally, she reached for me.

“Then don’t settle,” she said softly, placing my hand over her heart. “Because I’m trying. And if you’re patient with me, I think I can get there.”

My thumb brushed against her collarbone, feeling the quickening of her pulse beneath her skin. “That’s all I need to hear.”

She exhaled slowly, then leaned in, pressing her forehead to mine.

“I’m scared,” she admitted.

“So am I,” I whispered back, anchoring her to me with both hands now. “But I’m not going anywhere.”

Then she kissed me, not with hesitation, but with trembling truth.

And for the first time, I felt her choose me.

Her mouth found mine with a hunger that didn’t surprise me so much as it consumed me. This wasn’t about slow discovery or tentative touches. It was about connection. Raw and real. A reclaiming of something fragile and new before it could be buried again beneath fear.

The water lapped around us as I pressed her gently against the smooth stone wall of the pool, my hand trailing from her hip to the small of her back. Her fingers dug into my shoulders, her legs parting to pull me closer.

She whispered my name against my lips, and the ardency in her voice made something in me snap.

My control.

My restraint.

All of it.

I lifted her easily, her legs wrapping around my waist, our bodies aligning as if molded for this. And maybe they were.

True mates weren’t supposed to exist anymore.

But gods help me, this didn’t feel like fiction.

It felt like fate.

Meera’s breath hitched as I lifted her higher, her back pressing against the slick stone.

Water cascaded in soft rivulets down her skin, pooling where our bodies met.

Her thighs tightened around my waist, grounding me in the present moment—one where there was nothing but her.

No forest. No thread. No cursed realm with too many eyes.

Just Meera.

My mate.

I kissed her again, this time with no restraint.

Her mouth opened under mine, hungry, hot, tasting of want and something dangerously close to surrender.

My hands roamed her body like I was memorizing it by touch; over her ribcage, up her sides, cupping the generous curve of her breasts.

She gasped into my mouth when my thumbs brushed her nipples, already sensitive from exposure and desire.

“Vareck…” she whispered, arching into my touch.

The sound of her voice—needy, breathless—tore a groan from my throat. I kissed my way down her neck, nipping just beneath her ear where her pulse fluttered like wings. “Say it again,” I murmured against her skin.

“Vareck.”

I slid a hand between us, cupping the heat between her thighs. Her hips bucked into my hand, a soft moan spilling from her lips as I slid a finger inside her. She was hot, tight, and so damn ready.

“Gods, Meera,” I breathed, watching her grind against my palm. “You feel so damn good.”

“More,” she gasped, fingers digging into my shoulders. “I want more, and I don’t want it slow.”

I pulled my hand away and lined myself up in one fluid motion. “I can give you more,” I growled, voice thick. I angled my hips, grasping my cock in hand to notch it at her entrance. In one hard thrust I pushed inside her, burying myself to the hilt.

Her head fell back, a sound that was half gasp, half curse escaping her lips. She clenched around me, tight and perfect and fucking mine. I hissed, holding still. For a second, I couldn’t move. I was too far gone just from the feel of her wrapped around me.

“Fuck me, Vareck,” she said, voice ragged.

I set a punishing rhythm, driving into her with a force that sent water splashing around us.

Meera met me thrust for thrust, her legs locked around my waist, her nails scoring down my back in open challenge.

Her moans turned desperate, wrecked, as I pounded into her, the slap of skin on skin making the water start to wave.

“Harder,” she begged, breathless. “Don’t hold back.”

So I didn’t.

I gripped her ass with both hands as I angled my hips just right. She cried out, her whole body trembling as I hit the spot that made her legs quake. “Right there,” she choked. “Gods—right there. Please ...”

“I’ve got you,” I growled, thrusting harder as the telltale flutters of her inner walls began to quicken. “Come for me, Meera.”

Within moments, her orgasm ripped through her like a storm, her body clenching tight around me, drawing a snarl from deep in my chest. I followed her over the edge seconds later, burying myself one final time as I spilled inside her, stars bursting behind my eyes.

And everything in me screamed to mark her.

My fangs lengthened, a flash of pain behind my gums as the beast in me surged forward. My mouth found the spot where her neck met her shoulder—the space where instinct said here . My body begged. My soul howled.

She tilted her head back, exposing her throat to me, trusting and wrecked and glowing with the aftermath of pleasure. Her lips were parted, her breath shaky.

I hovered there, teeth grazing skin. Her pulse thundered beneath my tongue.

“Vareck,” she whispered, dazed but steady. “Are you going to…?”

My voice was hoarse when I answered, teeth trembling with restraint. “I want to. Every part of me is screaming for it.”

She hesitated—just a breath. Barely a shift in her heartbeat.

But I felt it.

And I pulled back.

Not away—never that. But I dragged my lips down her neck instead, slow and deliberate, letting my fangs retract. With a growl of frustration I bit down, not hard enough to break skin, but hard enough to bruise. Hard enough to claim without crossing her line.

Her body jolted, a strangled moan ripping from her throat as I sucked. Her thighs clamped tighter around my waist, her hands fisting in my hair as I slowly pumped into her again.

“Vareck—fuck,” she gasped, eyes flying open, pupils blown wide. Her whole body trembled as her second orgasm overtook her, unexpected and raw.

I held her through it, teeth still latched to the new bruise blooming across her neck. Her nails raked my back, her hips twitching with aftershocks.

When I finally pulled back, breathless, I looked down at the mark I’d left; red, angry, and shaped by my need.

Not a bite.

But it was a promise.

“I’ll wait,” I murmured against her skin, voice low and reverent. “But make no mistake, Meera. That spot is mine.”

She turned her head, eyes heavy-lidded and shining with something deeper than lust. “I know,” she whispered. “And when I’m ready, you’ll be the only one I give it to.”