Page 10

CHAPTER 10

ZAIDE

B aelen’s body was what artisans pictured when they created nude sculptures of warriors. As he straddled me, his muscles were hard and tense yet lay under skin soft to the touch, unblemished and beautiful.

His cock was no exception. Tall and proud, it stood to attention, pulsating with want. It jumped when I gripped it firmly, and when I pumped, although dry and unpracticed, Baelen’s breath hitched.

I smiled, recognizing the reward.

My jerking hand nudged my cock as it strained against my trousers, further fueling my desire. I stared at the reddened head as it wept. My thumb grazed the liquid, and my mouth watered.

“Hands off my cock. Hold the headboard, and don’t touch me again unless I allow it.”

Baelen’s command sliced through the charged air. His voice was deep, a growled whisper, and I shivered with anticipation and need.

From the moment I’d met Baelen, he tested my newly awakened sexual desire. He challenged my fears and prejudices and changed my perspective on strength. My feelings for him were complicated, yet touching him, kissing him, felt like I’d won a battle I hadn’t realized I was fighting.

Past victories in the fighting pits were tinged with regret, but I couldn’t regret this.

As he roamed my chest, leaving trails of fire in his wake, I stared up at him, watching his heavy-lidded red eyes as they admired me. I wanted to hear what he was thinking. I wanted to feel his emotions through our bond. I wanted to know him entirely.

More than anything, I wanted to make him feel more in control than he did after Clawdia’s confession. He needed that.

Reluctantly, I released my grip on his hardness and lifted my hands to press my palms flat against the cool wood of the headboard. The restraint was symbolic more than anything—no bindings held me, as I expected he knew that would be a trigger for me. Yet the act of submission, of giving myself over to the experience of him, was both thrilling and terrifying.

His hands raked over my chest, and he pinched my nipple, causing me to gasp. My hips bucked involuntarily, and my clothed cock ground against his freed one.

“So responsive,” he murmured approvingly.

Then his mouth was on mine, hot and demanding, and all thoughts fled. I melted into the kiss, letting him take control, surrendering to the force that was my soul mate. His mouth trailed from my lips to my jaw and then my neck. His fangs grazed my skin as he moved down my body, but for the first time, that didn’t concern me, I was too lost in sensation to fear.

Baelen’s gaze flickered with something primal as he deftly unbuttoned my trousers. The fabric scraped over my legs, and the sound of our uneven breathing seemed to fill the room with tension. As the trousers fell away, leaving me exposed, my cock sprang to attention and trembled under Baelen’s intense scrutiny.

I want him … so much.

I didn’t get around to reading a book on male sexual experience. I felt underprepared and wasn’t sure exactly how far our desire would take us, but regardless of the how, I wanted it.

“Perfect,” he murmured, his eyes reflecting the red hues of passion and power while he kneeled before me. His touch was light but assured as he wrapped his hand around my considerable size.

His praise warmed my cheeks. He’d seen me naked before, of course, but having his attention concentrated on me, his gaze fixed and his expression hungry, made everything more intimate and meaningful.

“Forgive me if this isn’t as skilled as you expect. I haven’t done this before.”

I gasped when he kissed the tip of my cock. As he licked and sucked the shaft, I trembled, but he was careful that his fangs didn’t graze the sensitive and fragile flesh.

Every movement he made was deliberate, his eyes watching my every tremor, and he adjusted accordingly. My eyes were narrowed to slits, my fists clenched around the slats of the headboard, my breathing hard and my muscles quivering with the effort to remain still, to not thrust into the heat of his mouth.

Gods. It was torturous … yet my pleasure only grew with the tension.

He lifted his naked body like a statue towering over me, then gripped my cock in one hand, his in the other, lazily tugging both.

“Do you want more, Sunset? Do you want our bond?” Do you want me? was left unspoken, but I heard it nonetheless.

Did I want another bond which cemented my family, which made us more powerful, which gave me the future with children? More importantly, did I want to show how much I cared for this male? Someone who was patient with my trauma, protective, and vengeful so I didn’t need to be?

I’d be a foolish male to not want that for eternity.

“Yes.”

Something flickered in his red eyes, and without warning, he changed position, straddling my face, and the view he presented made me gasp. His cock leaked onto my neck, heavy balls rested on my chin, and his puckered hole winked at me in the fading light.

“Lick my hole,” Baelen commanded. “Get me wet and ready for your cock, because I’m going to ride you.”

The image he created made me moan as he dipped back to my cock and swallowed me deep. Then I choked. Lust overwhelmed me, pulling me close to the edge of climax, but I dug my nails into my hands, and the pain distracted me enough that I could begin my own attack.

With a reverence that bordered on worship, I traced my tongue around the sensitive skin before daring to venture further. Baelen’s breath hitched, and his cock twitched, but he didn’t falter as he continued to suck and tug on my cock.

I wanted to run my hands over his body, feel his skin, and part his cheeks, but touching him when he told me not to, especially when he felt powerless, wouldn’t be received well.

Yet he surprised me.

“That’s right, Sunset,” he groaned as I plunged my tongue deep. His breath caressed my cock as he whispered, “Now use your fingers.”

I did as instructed, releasing my grip on the headboard to smooth my hands over his bronze skin. I pressed a finger gently against his hole to find it wet and stroked the textured skin in awe.

When I pressed more firmly, my finger was welcomed easily into his body, and Baelen let out a long moan and rested his head on my thigh.

A buzz of exhilaration darted under my skin, and although he was on top, was the one with the experience, I had my own power here. The power to please.

After a few thrusts with one finger, I added another, and his hole stretched as though made for me. Focused on making him lose control even for a moment, I twisted and pumped my fingers until Baelen let out a whimper and his cock jumped. Curious, I repeated the movements and found that pressing on a particular spot made him shudder and cry out.

I wanted to continue playing with this new discovery, but Baelen, panting and with eyes almost black with desire, climbed off my head and shoulders and straddled my legs. “Sneaky mate, but I don’t want to come before I have you inside me,” he panted.

“Can you take me?” I asked.

Although na?ve to the workings of male sex, I knew his hole wasn’t as flexible or wet as it should be to take me comfortably. I didn’t want to hurt him with my size and ruin our first time.

Why hadn’t Charlie given me a book to study this?

Baelen smirked down at me. “You are the largest male I’ve ever been with, but I don’t mind if it hurts a little.”

He placed my cock at his entrance, and I bit my lip as, with deliberate slowness, he sank down onto my cock and his body stretched to accommodate me. He hissed a little, and a flicker of pleasure-pain danced across his features. I almost stopped him despite being so overwhelmed with pleasure that I couldn’t breathe.

But then our bond triggered, and I could feel him. And he could feel me. Our pleasure combined, and we groaned as he took the last few inches of my cock. He paused, breathing hard, before leaning down to kiss me softly.

I wrapped my arms around his back and tangled my fingers in his curls as our kiss intensified and our bodies moved together in small, slow movements. He lifted from my lips long enough to whisper, “You’re mine now. Forever.”

“I’m yours, and you’re mine. Mates. For all eternity.” I smiled widely, allowing him to feel all the affection, all the happiness and the excitement beating in my heart, and although his emotions didn’t feel as clear as Clawdia’s, I could sense appreciation and desire pouring back.

He kissed me once more and then moved. The tightness of his hole around my cock made my vision blur at the edges, the exquisite friction sending tremors through my frame.

I tried to ignore the bond echoing with our pleasure because I wanted this to last, but as I stared down my body to see Baelen’s cock weeping on my stomach and my cock thrusting in and out of his hole, the flexing of his muscles and the bliss on his face, I knew I wouldn’t last much longer. The sight was so erotic that it pushed me to the edge of climax.

The room seemed charged with energy as our shared ecstasy built to a crescendo. With one last thrust and a roar, we spiraled into climax together. My mind went white as pleasure consumed me, and Baelen’s own orgasm burst from his cock onto my chest in white spurts.

It was then that I pictured how Clawdia could join us in the future. It seemed a waste for his life-giving liquid to sit useless on my chest when she could be on his cock and taking it into her body.

I smiled to myself, excited to suggest it ... once she and Baelen set aside their differences.

Baelen winced as he unseated himself.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

“I’ll heal with some sleep.” He waved a hand.

Again, I heard what was unsaid. Perhaps it was louder now that we were bonded. “You would heal faster with blood.”

“I’m fed.”

I translated again. “You could have more.” I tilted my head, baring my neck to him. “Take it.”

He shook his head, looking at the bedsheets. “I need to clean up.”

“Stay there.” I told him firmly and left the room to grasp a wet cloth and returned to wipe him down. I settled myself back on the bed and pulled Baelen to lie across me. “I will clean you as you drink.”

His eyes assessed mine. “You’re sure?”

“We are bonded.” I whispered and then kissed his forehead. “I can feel your emotions, and your bite is pleasurable. I’ll be more than fine.”

He sank his teeth into my neck, and I sighed with the pleasure of it, relieved I didn’t feel any anxiety and, therefore, neither did Baelen. As he lapped at my skin and pulled at the blood beneath the surface, I could feel what he experienced. The pride, gratitude, desire, and hunger sated with every pull.

I found joy in providing for my mate as he fed on my blood and I mopped up our mess.

When I found Clawdia and our bond gave me peace within my soul that I’d prayed for my entire existence, I thought it couldn’t get any better than that. But Fate had always been on my side and gifted me her only child. A soul mate. And while our path had been rocky, our journey not as simple as when I reunited with the other half of my soul, I was so grateful.

This bond was everything.

I tossed the washcloth and closed my eyes, exploring the bond with my mind’s eye. It was bronze, like his skin, and just as dazzling to behold. Power raced along it, and I could sense Clawdia’s bond on the other side of it. Not my bond with her, but his. Our bonds formed a triangle together, sharing power, emotions, and thoughts. It was beautiful. And when Clawdia unblocked her bonds, we’d be much stronger for it.

“Are you crying?” Baelen asked. I hadn’t felt him release me, but when I opened my eyes to meet his concerned gaze, he asked, “Did I hurt you?”

I laughed, feeling light and unashamed as I wiped the lone tear from my cheek. “No. I’m not hurt. You can feel that. I’m overwhelmed with joy. We are as we’ve always meant to be.”

His cheek twitched, and his mood soured, making the beautiful new bond between us sag with weight. I rolled onto my side and cupped his face. “I know the idea of destiny feels wrong to you, but for me, having our bond feels like a sign from the great forces that we are on the right path and are going to be looked after.”

“Your faith is admirable.”

It was getting easier to untangle the truth from his words. I smiled to lessen the sting. “You don’t admire it.”

He huffed and pursed his lips before eventually saying, “I admire your strength of mind to continue positively and hopefully despite all the despair. But you’re right. I find the idea of faith ridiculous.”

“Your fathers are gods. Your mother is Fate. They are great powers within our realms, and you’ve seen the worst of them. You’ve seen the humanity behind the masks, so of course faith is something you struggle with.” I stroked a curl away from his face, tucking it behind his ear. “But you believed in your mother’s gift enough to follow her instructions to not seek her out and to save the titans.”

I felt his mood darken even further. “I did, but it was a lie. A manipulation. I was never supposed to be the savior of the titans. I held that space for you, and my mother abandoning me to my father’s only left me with…” He clenched his fist over his heart.

My mate struggles to express himself, so I’ll do it for him.

“You were left with anger, betrayal, lack of self-worth, and a desire to please for attention, positive or negative. Trauma,” I told him softly. “And I can see why you’d conflate the trauma of your childhood with your mother’s visions and Fate. But you are the savior of titans because you have been saving them. You’ll never see the future your mother did, which caused her to make such a decision, and therefore, you’ll never know if you would have made the same one with that knowledge. You were a child, Baelen, and she was your mother, balancing your wellbeing with the future of the realms. I’m sure it wasn’t easy.”

“Understanding that doesn’t stop me feeling…”

He paused again, and I nodded. “Your feelings are valid, logical ones, but I want you to let them go because anger doesn’t serve you. Or us. We need to be united if we are to do as we need to.”

“You take pleasure in knowing our future is planned for us? By our love?”

I shrugged. “I trust her. You stopped trusting your mother to make decisions for you once they hurt you. But Clawdia is going to talk to us. She’ll want our help and support, and she’s going to do her best for us and our children.”

Knowing they would also have such enormous fates didn’t lessen my desire for them, but I understood that raising them wouldn’t always be easy.

“It might not always feel like love to be forced to thrive under pressure, but I promise you it is.”

“You are very wise.”

“But you disagree.” I laughed. “You often say neutral things when you mean something negative.”

He huffed and tried to roll away. “I clearly don’t need to speak anymore.”

I kept him trapped in my arms, my gaze locked on his. “I’m your slave. Yours to command. I’ll be your mouthpiece if you need me to be.”

His gaze darkened, and he cupped my jaw as he leaned over me on an elbow. “While I appreciate you letting me sate my need for control, you are no slave, Sunset. You are a king in the making.”

He kissed me, full-bodied and ravenous, and my cock threatened to make a second showing, but he pulled away and tucked his head into the crook of my neck, our breathing uneven as the sky beyond the curtained window turned dark.

“I won’t be your king. Just your mate, your sunset.” I kissed his forehead. “Get to sleep, my mate. Things will seem better in the morning, and we will face our problems together. As a family.”

I couldn’t sleep, but Baelen soon drifted off into a blissful slumber, his soft snores moving hair across my chest back and forth. Eventually, I gently moved my mate so I could leave the room and headed to the bathroom to wash up. I showered, hoping to feel better, but under the water, my thoughts swirled. My anxiety heightened as I reflected on the day.

Clawdia having the power of Fate could be the power that helps us win this battle against Fafnir, and also with our mission to save titans. But what would the cost be?

Now that I felt more settled with a bond to our soul mate, I was suddenly more aware of the silence from her. What is she hiding from us? Does it hurt her to see visions? Is that what she is keeping from us?

If it were only that she is trying to keep her secret, then there should be no more reason to keep the bond blocked. No reason not to contact us or see where we are … unless she saw us leave?

Have they even returned? What if something happened to them while I was too busy with Baelen to notice?

Guilt turned my stomach, and I rinsed quickly, resolving to find them and check they were well before going back to bed. Thankfully, as I shut off the water and rubbed a towel over my body to dry, the front door slammed shut. I hurried out to greet them.

“Zaide,” Charlie cheered as I peered over the stairs to see him in the living room. Clawdia wasn’t with him. “You made it back, then. We were wondering where you went.”

“Where’s Clawdia? I thought she might have seen us since she didn’t contact us.”

“Clawdia’s gone to bed.” He nodded toward the office. “She didn’t know where you guys went, and we spent hours walking around the shops looking for you both until we concluded you portaled back.”

“I’m sorry, my friend. I didn’t realize.” I paused. “How is she?”

He raised a brow. “Spent the car ride crying like the world was ending. Can barely see her eyes, they are so swollen. Baelen’s got a lot of making up to do.”

“Should I…” I wanted to check on her, to see her with my own eyes and assure myself she was okay, but I didn’t want to cause her more distress if I woke her up.

“She’s probably asleep. Don’t worry about her tonight. I think your soul mate needs a bit of TLC.” I frowned and tilted my head at the unfamiliar term. He clarified, “Tender loving care.”

“Ah. Yes. Well.” I rubbed my neck, and heat rose to my cheeks.

“Are you blushing, Zaide?” I glared, and he laughed. “Don’t be like that. It’s kind of cute. I take it you’re all bonded now?”

“Yes.” I nodded.

“Congratulations.” He smiled softly, and I responded in kind, glad to hear his honest support for our union.

Then a thought struck me. “If Clawdia is already in bed, where have you come from?”

He pointed his thumb to indicate the house next door. “I’ve just updated the task team leaders and Elizabeth on everything that happened and Clawdia’s update. We’re going to discuss it all tomorrow, but it’s clear they are making plans since they’ve dragged Lydia here.” He made a disgusted face, which forced a laugh from me. He continued with a sneer. “And after how helpful they were at finding you, I have no hope for whatever they are planning.”