Page 32 of Caelum

THIRTY-ONE

STEFAN

Having her in my arms was a dream come true.

I knew that sounded pathetic, but I didn’t give a fuck.

The parties were pretty good at Caelum. The teachers, knowing we were stuck here until we were above the legal age in most countries, never reined us in and let us cut loose.

Music was as loud as we wanted, and we had as much beer as we needed. They even provided condoms. Talk about world-class treatment.

But this party?

It was the best I’d ever attended because Eve was here. She wasn’t happy about those pricks ignoring her, and I wasn’t happy either—I’d punish them in the ring tomorrow—but at least she’d calmed down some and was enjoying dancing with me. Well, I thought she was. She wasn’t pulling away, at least.

I pressed my face into her hair, loving her scent, loving her softness. She’d stiffened at my proximity at first, but after a while, had softened up and was swaying with me to a song that should have pumped us up, but we were ignoring it so we could move together.

That she even wanted to sent a thrill through me. She was so innocent in so many ways, but over the weeks I’d seen her spirit. Had been scorched by her fire.

It didn’t come in the same form as many of the girls here at Caelum, but it was there, and it was hotter than any that I’d ever been with.

I wasn’t just saying that either .

Eve set me alight by breathing, and that was the truth.

Eren had left the party. I’d felt him go and though I felt bad, I understood why. Being the third wheel sucked, and he hated these things unless Nestor was here. Nestor could be a dour SOB thanks to his gouille side, but he was also the life and soul of the party. He said that was because the Carnival had been bred into his very bones, a concept which always amused the hell out of me.

As I maneuvered Eve away from the center of the crowd and toward the outer limits of the dance floor, I reached for one of the hands she was resting against my chest. At first, I’d thought she’d positioned herself like that to put distance between us, until I’d realized where her hand was.

Above my heart.

Said organ had sped up at that.

She’d never shown any indication that her soul had selected me as her Chosen, except somewhere, deep down, the connection had been made, and I wasn’t going to take advantage of that tonight, but I did want to remind that soul of what the fuck was happening here.

I figured I’d been patient enough, and it seemed like Eve needed a little nudge before I explained everything to her. Her tension from that prick Frazer had dispersed by now, thank God, but I decided she needed more of a helping hand to chill out.

With her fingers in mine, I leaned into her and murmured, “Twirl around when I lift your hand in the air.” She frowned up at me, her golden eyes darker than usual in the low lighting, but her nod was all the indication I needed. Taking a step back, I raised her hand overhead and watched as she twirled.

It wasn’t half bad, but when I hauled her into me so that her back was to my front, she stiffened in surprise before settling into me with a sigh I felt in my bones—this just felt so goddamn right. That alone told me that her trust in me was absolute, and I didn’t intend on letting her down.

She was facing the wall by now, and my back was to the crowd. Whatever happened, no one would see, and that was exactly how I wanted it.

We were blanketed by the party that was going on around us, hidden from sight in our little nook, and I used that opportunity to reach around and unfasten the top two buttons of the shirt she was wearing—aka my shirt.

Her hands went to grab my wrist, but I leaned down and muttered in her ear, “Trust me some more?”

She froze for a second, but then her hands dropped away. When I could let the shirt drop down to bare her shoulders, I stopped unfastening the buttons. Almost every girl here wore a dress or a mini skirt and a top so tight every curve was delineated. My mate, on the other hand, was wearing menswear.

Figures.

With her shoulders exposed, I reached up and grabbed her hair, tucking it into a ponytail with my hand as the fastener. With that out of the way, I dropped my head and pressed a line of kisses down her shoulder.

The instant I did, she tensed and then sank into me. I knew this would take her by surprise, but I was patient when I had to be, and there was nothing more important in my life than this woman. Than this moment.

Not even the Alpha Unit beat this.

Whatever happened to me, whether I made it to Top Enforcer or if I crashed and burned and was injured in the line of duty, Eve would be there. For the peaks and troughs of my life, she’d be there through it all.

That meant she was my fucking everything.

I pressed more fluttering kisses to her silky skin, letting my lips tickle her, letting my warm breath wash over her. When I reached the ball of her shoulder, I used my tongue to trail a line back up to her neck, and I didn’t stop until I was suckling on her earlobe.

The soft whimper that escaped her nearly felled me. My cock hardened, and I knew she felt it because she stiffened once more before relaxing as I sucked on that tender piece of flesh. Nibbling on it, enjoying her sensitivity, I grabbed her hair tighter in my fist and tugged her head back.

With her positioned just so, I whispered in her ear, “You’re mine.”

I didn’t let her argue, instead I, once again, used my grip on her to twist her around slightly so I could connect my mouth with hers.

She was tense and uneasy as I pressed our lips together. I knew she was nervous, unsure about how to do this, so I coached her. Guided her. Showed her what I wanted, taught her what she needed.

After a few moments, her mouth opened and she let me thrust my tongue inside. When I did, she whimpered into my mouth, and I used my free hand to reach down and cup her breast. As I squeezed, she arched up onto her tiptoes, and I smiled through the kiss, loving how responsive she was.

I pulled back, enjoying the wetness of her lips before I ran my nose along her jawline, moving back to her shoulder and throat. Nipping and suckling here and there, leaving my mark for all to see, I teased her until she was writhing against me.

With one hand in her hair and the other on her breast, she was in my arms, but more than that, she was with me every step of the way .

The fire in her called to me, and it soothed the intense burn I’d been dealing with since she’d arrived here and set me ablaze with her unfinished Claiming.

I lifted her hair higher and pressed an open-mouthed kiss to her nape. When her knees wobbled, I clamped my arm against her belly and hauled her up while I pushed her forward, letting her cling to the wall for support.

Sucking harder on that sensitive knot of flesh, I almost wept at the sound of her moan. The pleasure-loaded sound had me clenching every muscle in my body as I urged myself to focus on her.

Moving her hair to the other side, I repeated my earlier moves, tracing kisses where I could until I tickled my tongue along the bony flesh before suckling her earlobe. This time, my hold on her hair was harder, firmer, and she yelped at my rough touch before she melted in my arms, her lips pressing into mine with such need that I burned with her.

I’d hoped if I had a Chosen that she’d be like this, and those hopes had wavered in the face of how innocent Eve was. I hadn’t anticipated this. Couldn’t have. But here she was. Surprising the hell out of me.

With her mouth on mine, I thrust my tongue into her, longing for the day when my cock would be inside her. When we’d be united in a way that would tie us forever.

Her body wriggled against mine in a sinuous wave that had her soft ass cheeks rubbing my cock with every jerk of her form. It was heaven and hell, and I wasn’t about to complain. A part of me wondered if I could get her to come, and another part wondered if that was taking shit too far.

As I thrust my tongue into her mouth, fucking her with it, her body seemed to spark in my arms, and it urged me to do something I hadn’t expected. Pushing her harder into the wall, I lodged one knee between hers and parted her legs a little wider.

Releasing my hold on her hair, I smoothed that hand down over her breast, along the curve of her waist, not stopping until I reached her pussy.

She tensed in my arms once more, sensing what I was doing, but even as she froze, deep inside, she was melting. I didn’t coerce her into more. Didn’t pressure her. I just held my hand to her hip, my fingers arching toward her sex, and I kissed her, holding her deep in my embrace where she was safe and, yes, loved.

Within seconds, her focus was back on the kiss. Her tongue thrust harder against mine and, for the first time, she began sparring back with me. My blood raced in my veins, loving that she wasn’t passive, loving that she was showing me everything she had to give.

I ran my fingers along the seam of her yoga pants. The tight fit wouldn’t let her feel as much as skin to skin would, but she wasn’t ready for that. Christ, she was barely ready for this, but I wasn’t about to put a halt to it. If she said no or stop, then I would. Until then, I was in this for the long haul.

The second I rubbed my fingers along that seam, she tensed so hard I wasn’t sure whether she was terrified or locked into a pleasure so deep she was frozen.

When her tongue stopped thrusting against mine, I paused, but I kept my fingers where they were, rubbing a circle over the top of her pussy where I knew her clit would be.

Her breath staggered from her chest in huge gulps, but she wasn’t pushing me away, she was sinking harder into my hold. I let her face forward, and instead, dropped my mouth to her shoulder where I began to kiss and nip at her once more.

Her movements were jerky now, not sinuous and rhythmic. I felt her intent. Felt her soul’s intent too.

They knew they were chasing something, but they weren’t sure what.

Though her innocence had given me blue balls, I was grateful for her confusion at that moment. I loved that I was teaching her this, loved that I was showing her the way we’d always be together with no one else muddying the waters between us.

When she began to rock into me, this time hard and fast, I knew she was close. Her breaths panted from between her lips, and when she tensed, releasing a deep moan that no one except me could hear, I felt her shudder before her legs began to buckle.

I held her up, held her tucked in my arms. My cock was nuzzled by her ass still, and even though I wasn’t about to come any time soon, it didn’t matter. I was happy she had, happier that she’d relaxed enough around me to let me do this, to let me give her this.

She was slack in my arms for endless moments, moments in which I carried on kissing her, carried on showing her my feelings for her.

When her chest stopped jittering with her panting breaths, I whispered in her ear, “Who am I?”

For a second, she was quiet, contemplative. Then she whispered, “Mine,” and my evening was complete.