Page 28

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

M aia shamelessly chose a spot on the bed where she could see into the bathroom, and with his back to her Bryon had no idea she obsessively watched the trickle of water over his broad shoulders, the way it clung to the muscle and power that enveloped his body. The play of muscle under his skin as he bathed himself had her blood boiling in her veins, her skin hot beneath the thin robe she wore. Yet her eyes stung as what he’d said echoed through her mind over and over.

Because you’re a good person, and your heart is gentle and full of light.

She’d spent days ripping herself apart for her selfishness, carelessness, and general fucking stupidity. She was naive, and thoughtless, and could never get a damn thing right. Saving Kheir from the prison had made everyone else she cared about a target and gotten the library burned down. Trying to save Vawn had got them all abducted by the saints. Even with good intentions, she fucked everything up. But Bryon wasn’t a liar. He was stubborn, and scowling, and unfriendly as fuck, but he was honest. Which meant she was… a good person.

Because you’re a good person, and your heart is gentle and full of light.

She held the words tight to her chest, a lump in her throat. And she doubted he even knew the impact he’d had on her, the shift he’d begun in her mind.

She couldn’t forget the compulsion that had gripped her, sending her into the saints' circle. She physically couldn’t stay away. There was no part of her that could have resisted that pull, and even now she didn’t understand it. She’d blamed herself entirely; if she hadn’t run towards the circle, Jaro never would have entered it and the others would have been safe, too. But it wasn’t something she could control. And if the saints could control her without a collar then, they could do it again at any time.

Maia’s head shot up at a loud splash from the bathroom, and her mouth filled with saliva at the sight of Bryon, completely naked. Fuck, he was huge. Even his thighs were like tree trunks. Maia stared a little too long at the flex of them as he climbed out. She wanted to sink her teeth into him.

“I can feel your eyes on me, princess,” he remarked, his voice all gruffness and gravel.

“Just admiring the view,” she replied with a slow smile, her eyes getting stuck on the sheer width of his shoulders, the appealing ripple of muscle over his shoulder blades, the grooves on either side of his spine. She groaned when he turned, giving her a perfect view of his chest. Her canines pressed to her bottom lip as her stare roved over him. He wasn’t carved with lithe muscle like some of her mates; Bryon was all brute strength earned in battle and war. The generous curves of his pecs made her fangs ache, and she swallowed hard as he strode from the bathroom, power in his stomach, his biceps, his hands, everywhere. She wanted his arms around her again, wanted to disappear into them.

“Fuck,” he groaned, a perfect arm bulging as he dragged a hand over his jaw. “The scent of you over there, dripping for me. You’re driving me insane.”

“Then get over here,” she urged, deeper and huskier than before. A sharp throb went through her when he strode towards her, the impressive cock she remembered bouncing, capturing all her attention. “I don’t know how that even fits inside me,” she said with a little laugh, her heart quickening.

“It fits so fucking exquisitely.”

“Saints, Bryon.” The lump in her throat was unwelcome, but the reverence in his voice played havoc with her emotions.

He reached the end of the bed and prowled onto the soft mattress, water from the bath making his skin shine, accentuating every arch and bulge of his body until she couldn’t hold back a groan. There was something about seeing a man as primal and masculine as Bryon among all this finery, framed by gauzy curtains as lust-darkened eyes fixed on her. She wanted them to destroy this pretty room, wanted to break the bed.

“I’m trying to focus on this divine body under me,” he said as he crawled over her, making her very conscious of the thin robe she wore, “but what put those tears in your pretty eyes?”

Maia made a sound in her throat. “I’m not sure I can handle all this… niceness. The compliments.”

“Tough shit,” he grunted, kissing her hip as he rose over her, then kissing her stomach, the swell of her breast, the slope of her neck, the arch of her jaw. “I have a dozen compliments on the tip of my tongue, so you’d better get used to it, princess.”

Her throat bobbed. “I swear I used to be better at accepting them. Before all this shit.”

“Forget about that for now,” he murmured, scorching a hot palm over her waist as another sank into her wet hair, his lips brushing her forehead. Maia’s chest caved in. “None of that exists in this room, right this moment.”

“Like I can just switch my brain off and forget,” she laughed, dismissive.

“You’re right.” Bryon tilted her face up using the hand moulded to her head and hot lips found her throat. With a sigh, Maia wrapped her arms around him, exploring the planes of his back with eager hands. God, he was so hot, in more than one sense. His skin burned against hers, so delicious that she groaned when he tugged the closure of the robe, pressing their chests skin to skin. “You can’t switch off your thoughts. But I can.”

Great, now Maia was smiling and crying at the same time. “Be honest. Do you think I’m completely mad for crying?”

“I think you’re traumatised, and your soul is starved for care, and I’ve been a piss poor excuse for a mate until now, so the excessive adoration you’re now experiencing is overwhelming your emotions.”

“Stop using big words, it makes me horny.”

“Princess, I’ve got you naked under me. Horny is my intention.”

Maia’s grin was swift. She tugged on his shoulders until he moved closer and then kissed him hard, dragging her nails lightly up his back as she took control of his tongue, sucking it into her mouth. His cock jumped against her hip, begging for attention. Everything inside her became hot and molten.

Maia began to ask him if he was sure about this, but before her mouth had even parted, she realised she trusted him. He wouldn’t shun her afterward, wouldn’t let his guilt push her away again. So she trailed her lips along his jaw, the roughness of his stubble giving her butterflies. She wanted to fear it against her thighs, wanted to feel it everywhere.

“We don’t need to rush,” she said instead, slowing her kisses even as her heart raced.

“Maia—” he began to argue, gruff and deep, bringing a smile to her face as she kissed the underside of his jaw.

“I’m serious. This isn’t a fling or a meaningless one night stand, so I know it can’t be easy. This is the only time I’ll ever speak about another woman while in bed with you, because I’m extremely possessive—” Maia shuddered at the deep growl of pleasure that shook him above her. “But are you sure you’re ready for this? I know it must—must feel like you’re cheating on your wife.”

“No,” he replied calmly enough that Maia dropped her head back, a frown tugging her brows together. “It doesn’t feel like I’m cheating on her. That’s not why I pushed you away last time, either.” His head lifted, forest-green eyes catching hers, sending another ripple through her belly, this time a mix of nerves and excitement. “I was afraid, plain and simple. I don’t like to admit that I’m a person capable of fear, so I’d rather never acknowledge it.”

“Sure,” she agreed with a smirk. “No fear at all. But, hypothetically speaking, if you were afraid… what would you be scared of?”

“Not being able to protect you like I couldn’t protect Nimara and Col. Watching you die like I was forced to watch their deaths.” He laughed bitterly. “Being captive doesn’t fucking help. You dying is ninety percent of what I think about now.”

Maia brushed a kiss to his cheek, then the corner of his mouth. “I’m too valuable to them to kill,” she whispered, a truth she’d known for a while but preferred not to think about. “You should worry about yourself. I worry about you.”

Dark forest eyes held hers, peering directly into her soul. “They’ve left me alive for a reason.”

“Because you’re deadly, and they can—use you against me. To get me to agree to whatever they command. It worked with Az. I slaughtered everyone at Eosantha.”

Bryon’s expression was unreadable, his eyes endless and dark. “You would do that to protect me? Decimate a whole town.”

“Bryon,” she laughed, swallowing the lump in her throat. “I would decimate the whole world if it kept you safe.”

His eyes flashed, nostrils flared, and then he moved so quickly she startled, her heart knocking into her ribs. In seconds he’d slid down her body, pushing the robe the rest of the way off, and parted her thighs so he could settle those huge shoulders between them.

“Fuck,” Maia gasped, her hand shooting down to curve around the back of his neck. His tongue dove into her, swirling around her entrance before dragging to where she was suddenly pulsing for him, her clit aching, pleading.

Hot hands settled on her thighs, keeping her spread for him as his mouth stroked every part of her, the wet sound of his tongue caressing her sensitive flesh so obscene, Maia’s face burned. She sank her other hand into her own hair, needing something to grip onto as his tongue obsessed over her clit, licking circles until she was panting and swollen and whining.

“I would end the world to protect you too, princess,” he said against her pussy, the low vibrations making her clench deep inside. “I would let it all burn and build you a throne from the rubble. And then I’d sit you on that throne of ruins and kneel before you, my mouth on your pretty fucking pussy just like this.”

Her eyes rolled back, her breathing turning choppy. Fucking saints, Bryon was deadly enough to her heart when he was promising to protect her, but those promises and the growling tone he spoke them in? Absolutely lethal to her body, too.

“Bryon,” she said on a hitching breath. His lips were wrapped around her clit, sucking with wicked pulses, but then his tongue circled and her fucking eyes crossed. She threw her head back, thrashing at how quickly pleasure built. His hands pressed fingerprints into her thighs; she scraped her canines over her bottom lip at the thought of him marking her body, leaving evidence that he was hers and she got to keep him.

“Mine,” she gasped, her chest rising and falling quickly, pleasure a tingling promise in her toes.

Dark eyes flicked up to meet hers, and possessiveness flared in the depths at whatever he beheld in her. She writhed more, restless, throbbing, her clit surrounded by stimulation on all sides. Say it, she begged wordlessly, gasping, her mouth hanging open. Please, please say it.

“Yours,” he promised, holding eye contact with a fierceness that took her higher. “And you’re all fucking mine, princess.”

Her hips snapped when his mouth returned to her clit, eating her with devotion and ferociousness. She came so hard she saw stars, her eyes rolled all the way back as he sucked and licked, dragging out every shuddering wave of climax. And he growled as he ate her, his hands dimpling her skin, motions frantic. When she realised he was growling the word mine over and over, Maia crashed right into a second orgasm.

Her whole body melted when her release finally ebbed, and it took herculean strength to push his head away, moaning, “Too sensitive.”

“Just how I like you,” he said with a very satisfied grin. Maia groaned, throwing an arm over her eyes, the sensation of him lapping up every last drop incredible. What was the word he used earlier? Exquisite. Saintsdamn, Bryon was exquisite.

When he’d finally had his fill, he kissed the seam of her thighs, one after the other, and tracked a winding path of open-mouthed kisses up her body, lingering on the edge of the cut across her ribs. It had begun to heal in Eosantha, but it was angry and sore again, painful every time she moved. She’d begun to get used to the pain, taking it into herself, making it a part of her like the way her lungs expanded with air and goosebumps covered her arms when she was cold. Just another feature of her body. It never lessened, but she could handle it.

“You had that lotion the healer gave you when we were taken,” he said against her skin, pressing his lips to her skin in feather-light strokes. “I wonder if Enryr still has it, if he might bargain for it. The Eversky was happy to heal your wings in exchange for my services.”

“Bryon,” she breathed, a pang twisting up her heart. The guilt of knowing he’d killed for her was like a broken tooth, gnawing and deep. Thrilling too but gnawing.

“I don’t regret it, princess,” he said, kissing up the other side of her ribs, leaving a tingling imprint of his mouth on each one. “I’d do it again. And with how infected and angry this cut is, not to mention this one—” He traced the very edge of where Jaro had stabbed her. Her fae healing had done what it could, and it no longer bled, but the damage went deep. “Something needs to be done. Better that a town of strangers die than you.”

She gave him a look, unable to quantify the mess of gratitude and awe and guilt and frustration knotted in her chest. He really would kill anyone if it kept her safe and alive; there wasn’t a flicker of doubt in his forest eyes.

“You’re a madman,” she told him, gliding her fingers along his bristly jaw, so happy to finally be allowed to touch him. Bryon’s eyes hooded, a deep sigh leaving his huge chest. “No one should be crazy enough to bargain with the saints.”

“Princess,” he said dryly, a smile clinging to his mouth. She brushed her thumb over the shape of it, committing it to memory, and urged him higher up her body, wanting to taste that smile.

“I know, I know. I made a deal with Enryr and did whatever he told me just to keep Az and Jaro safe. It’s different when I do it. I’m allowed.”

His snort sent warm air across her collarbone; he frustrated her by pausing to kiss her there, scattering adoration across the curve of her breasts. There was no missing the way he angled himself so his body only touched her uninjured side, and that blatant care made her weak all over again.

Maia wrapped her arms around his shoulders, tracing the curve of his spine with her knuckles. “I am grateful,” she admitted. “For what you did, for my wings being healed. I’m grateful, Bryon.”

“I know,” he murmured against her throat, the heat of his mouth making her body fluid again. “You’re just afraid of the depths of my feelings.”

He had feelings for her? Maia blinked fast, pushing back tears even as a smug little smile crossed her face.

“And my own,” she admitted. “I’m not accustomed to rejection.” Even after Az pushed her away, disgusted by everything she’d done while under Ismene’s thumb, she’d gotten used to being loved and accepted, used to the warmth and comfort of being wanted. Bryon not wanting her was like claws shredding that cosy feeling, leaving her exposed to the cold. “I guess I thought I could protect myself by pretending I didn’t care about you at all. But I do. You’re grumpy and annoying but you’re mine.”

He snorted, and Maia’s eyes slammed shut at the scrape of a sharp canine up her throat. She couldn’t keep the groan trapped. Bryon’s cock jumped against her hip at the noise.

“Princess, I’d rather my own arm be dismembered than reject you.”

“Always with the violence,” she teased, not admitting that it had started to warm her heart to hear him so viciously protective of her.

“I’m a grumpy old soldier as you like to remind me.” There was a smile in his voice as he flicked his tongue out to taste her throat. “Violence is my default state.”

“Don’t worry, old man,” she taunted, “I can make you feel young again.”

She reached between them and grasped his cock, giving it a slow stroke, emboldened by the loud groan of his response. She was still dripping wet when she guided him to her entrance, easing him inside.

“Fuck,” she whispered, dragging her bottom lip between her teeth at the burning stretch. “Forgot how fucking enormous you are.”

Bryon laughed, a low, rolling rumble that shook him inside her and made her eyes fall shut. Ohhhh holy fuck yes. “You okay there, princess?”

“Don’t get smug,” she said, the gasp that cut her voice not helping her retort. She dug her fingernails into his back, her eyes fluttering open when a calloused thumb pulled her lip from her teeth.

“That’s it, eyes on me,” he praised, one hand finding her hip while the other slid into her hair, sending pleasant tingles across her scalp. “So fucking pretty,” he groaned and kissed her, taking full advantage of her groan to plunge deep, every glide of his tongue sending her into a frenzy of need. How he could kiss her ravenously but fuck her with slow, undulating thrusts at the same time, she had no idea.

She wrapped her thighs around his hips, slipping a little lower, and the change in angle made her breath catch. Bryon’s low growl gave her nervous butterflies. The predatory gleam in his forest eyes deepened the feeling. He sank deeper, rolling his hips intentionally so her breath hitched again, the possessive hand on her waist keeping her right where he wanted her.

“I’m keeping you,” she blurted, pressing her nails deeper into his skin. “I can’t ever let you go when you feel this good inside me.”

“Not going anywhere, princess,” he grunted, his forehead pressing to hers. His next thrust was deeper, harder, and knowing that he was trying to be slow and gentle but couldn’t help fucking her harder was like a drug. He withdrew slowly, the long drag of his broad tip against her inner muscles making her hips jump off the mattress. And oh fuck, the thrust back in… Maia buried her head in his shoulder, her mouth filling with saliva, her canines aching.

“Bryon,” she rasped.

“I can feel you close, princess,” he groaned, his hand leaving her hip to graze her clit. The added sensation made her inner muscles squeeze tight, her breathing racing out of control.

“I want to bite you,” she whined, her teeth pulsing.

“Do it,” he growled instantly. “Mark me. Show everyone I’m yours.”

The cresting pleasure drove into her so hard that her back arched and her pussy clamped around his cock. As the first rush of her release hit, Maia sank her teeth into her mate and bit him so everyone would see, everyone would know. Hers. Now and forever hers.

Bryon tore his hand from her clit so he could crush her body to his, a long groan in the back of his throat as he ground deeper, spilling heat and cum inside her. “Right here,” he moaned, kissing a swirl of ruined ink on her shoulder, where it had once been a vine full of life but now was scarred. “This is where I’ll bite you, when we’re safe, when we’re free.”

They were the most beautiful words she’d ever heard.

Not if we’re free. When.