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Chapter Fifty-Eight

A elia

A desperate tangle of nerves, excitement and anticipation quickened my breaths. As if Reign had sensed the turmoil, his hand found my cheek, the roughness of his palm grounding me, pulling me deeper into his orbit. “We’ll go slowly. I need to make sure you’re ready for me.”

Again, I nodded, trapping my bottom lip between my teeth.

“Relax, starlight. We were made for each other, destined by the gods. It should only hurt for a moment, but if you tense up, it will only make it worse.”

Right. That was what all my female Kin friends had told me. I heaved in a breath. If they could endure it, then surely, so could I, especially for Reign, so that I could finally claim my cuoré.

Reign’s thumb and forefinger gripped my chin, freeing my swollen lip. “Just look at me, my love.” His free hand slid between us, brushing down my torso and setting my nerves aflame.

When his fingers found my aching center, I melted into his touch, my hips lifting to meet his palm. A breathy sigh escaped between us as I arched against him. Every sweep of his fingers had me aching for more, desperate desire unfurling faster and faster.

“Reign,” I groaned. Fiery heat rushed my veins, pushing me closer to the edge. I wasn’t certain how much more I could take before the pleasure erupted. “I’m going to?—”

“No, not yet.” He slowed his movements, his leisurely caresses still steadily stoking the building inferno. “I want this to be as pleasurable as possible for you.” He grinned, the smile lighting up those dark orbs with starlight. “Almost…”

He kissed me harder, returning my attention to his tongue as the fire continued to blossom at his fingertips. Every nerve-ending pulsed with pleasure as his lips devoured me, his body moving over mine, silky shadows caressing my skin. Between the tantalizing strokes of his tongue, his dexterous fingers, and his frosty shadows, I was at his utter mercy.

What felt like a lifetime later, his mouth released my swollen lips, and stormy orbs pinned to mine. “Do you trust me?” he whispered.

“With everything I am.”

A slow smile, dark and devastating, curved his lips. “I’m fairly certain you’re ready.”

I nodded as he removed his hand and his arousal took its place, prodding at my entrance. My breath hitched, a whisper of nerves making me tense. “I am,” I whispered all the same.

“You’re certain?”

“Yes, Reign, please!”

“Gods, I love you.” His smile grew wider, until the sight of it had my heart staggering. His head dipped so his gaze was locked to mine, and his hips slowly tilted to meet my own. A sharp pang of pleasure and pain raced through my core, and Reign froze over me as if he’d sensed every second of it.

“Are you alright?” A stream of icy shadows slid between us, frosty tendrils icing over the sore spot between my legs. The pleasant numbness spread, instantly quelling the burn. “Better?”

“So much better.” My hands curled around his waist, dropping down to his muscled behind, urging him into motion.

Worried eyes latched onto mine, his body not giving in to my silent demand. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, please, don’t stop.” That burgeoning need ignited again, and I lifted my hips to meet his.

A hiss split his lips as he buried himself deeper, followed by a satisfying groan. “Oh, princess.”

He thrust slowly until my body stretched around him, fitting perfectly, the final confirmation that we truly were made for each other. Soon, nothing but pleasure rushed my veins. It built and expanded, waves of frenzy crashing over me until Reign was all I knew. He was everywhere, and I could no longer tell where he ended and I began. There was only him, only us, intertwined in the purest, most primal connection, as if the universe itself had aligned to bring us together in this perfect, earth-shattering moment.

An endless moment later, he slowed his languid pace, star-flecked eyes intent on me. “It’s time.” His voice was rough, filled with the same longing bloating my chest.

“I’m ready,” I rasped.

“Then take my soul, starlight. And I will take yours.”

With our bodies still securely entangled, he raised his hand, offering his palm. A tendril of darkness peeled off the enormous wings curling over us, morphing into an umbral blade and slicing the flesh across his palm.

“It’s only a slight pinch,” he whispered, ticking his head to my hand which was pressed against his chest.

Oh, right, now it was my turn. Slowly lifting it, I waited for the shadow turned weapon to pierce my skin. It moved so quickly, I barely felt it. Like a tiny, icy bite across my palm. My flesh parted, revealing a line of crimson. Then the blade disappeared, and the shadow softened, gently brushing over my skin as if in apology.

“Now press your hand to mine.” His voice was rough, laced with a mix of desire and awe.

I did as instructed, our hands joining and blood mixing in a sacred embrace. Sparks of energy ignited between us, stealing the remaining air from my lungs.

“By blood and breath, shadow and night, I vow myself to you, Aelia. In this life and the next, in light and in darkness, I am yours. My strength is yours to wield, my heart yours to carry. I bind my soul to yours, freely and forever. Wherever you go, I will follow—not only as your shield or sword, but as your mate. As your cuorè .”

Tears pricked at my eyes as the force of his words pummeled into me. Following his lead, I whispered, “By starlight and storm, ether and flames, I vow myself to you, Reign. I choose you—heart, body and soul. In every breath I take, in every future I behold, I carry your name within me. You are my anchor in the chaos, my peace in the storm. I bind my soul to yours, not because I must, but because I cannot imagine a world without you.”

The slow smile that crept across Reign’s face was altogether breathtaking.

The cuorem bond rushed to life, as if awakened by the ritualistic exchange of blood. A glittering energy surged between us, a clash of light and shadow, spiraling around our bodies in ethereal tendrils. I could feel the nox in him, coiling like living smoke, brushing against the embers of my rais , daring it to burn, then the cool nox and wild zar zipped by.

Instinctively, my power emerged, the light glowing from my fingertips, seeping into my skin, into my very blood. The golden luminescence of rais intertwined with the deep onyx of his nox , sparks erupting where they touched. My breath caught as our powers tangled together, dancing, warring, merging.

“I love you, Prince Reign of Umbra,” I whispered, the bond summoning the vow from the depths of my core.

A violent tremor rocked the earth beneath us.

Reign’s pupils dilated, his hands tightening around me as though I had stolen the breath from his lungs. His name hung between us, resonating like an unbreakable pledge.

He exhaled sharply, and then his lips parted, the words sliding from them in a whisper that shattered everything I was.

“I love you Princess Aelia of Ether and Inferna.”

Energy exploded across our tangled forms.

The bond ignited, a force stronger than anything I had ever known. His lips crashed into mine, claiming, devouring, and the glittering strands of the cuorem seared together as one overpowering stream. The energy surged through my veins, fire and darkness entwined, bursting from our bodies in a violent, swirling vortex.

I felt everything.

Reign’s hunger. His devotion. His unwavering love. His soul wrapping around mine, fusing, claiming, surrendering all at once.

Brilliant light flared, not just golden, but something new—something deeper, a celestial glow of power neither light nor dark, but both.

Reign groaned into my mouth, and I felt his nox flooding through me, wrapping around my ribs, lacing into my bones. The heat of my rais pushed back, then softened, then melted into his shadows.

Through the skylight above, streaks of gold and midnight surged across the split sky, a perfect mirror of the chaos inside me.

The moment our souls fused, a searing pain shot across my chest, right over my heart.

I gasped against his lips, and Reign jerked back, his own hand flying to the same spot on his chest. A pulse of raw magic lashed out, crackling through the air.

I looked down. There, glowing just over my heart, beside the symbol Raysa had engraved, was a dazzling mark. A permanent brand of the cuorem, two interwoven threads of light and shadow, forming an infinite loop.

Reign’s gaze was wild as his head dipped to the matching radiant symbol beneath his collarbone, glowing over his heart, over the mark of the banished. His chest heaved, his wings flexing behind him as he dragged his gaze up to meet mine.

“We’re bound,” he rasped, voice thick with reverence. “In all realms. In all lives.”

A tear slipped down my cheek as I placed my palm over his mark. Over our mark. The one that had obliterated the terrible one his father had inflicted all those years ago.

“Forever.”

His arms crushed me against him, and when he kissed me again, it was not to bind. It was not to claim, because I was already his in every way that mattered.

It was a promise.

And this time, nothing in existence could ever tear us apart.