Page 3

Chapter 3

After the Battle - Mori and River

RIVER

“W ell, that’s not how I saw today ending,” Mori mused as he unlocked our front door.

“You mean you didn’t wake up today thinking we’d end up in Hell participating in an epic battle? Come on, Mori, you’ve got to be more prepared for these things.”

“Brat,” Mori said, nipping the tender skin between my neck and shoulder. “Don’t pretend you’re okay. I know you’re not.”

Stupid fucking mating bond. “I’m…fine.”

Mori grunted. “Mm-hmm.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Come on, lumbersnack. Let’s get into the shower. I feel like I’ve got the blood of a hundred demons covering me.”

“Probably because you have.”

I glared over my shoulder at him as we went up the stairs. “About that—do you really have to use a scythe during battle? It gets blood literally everywhere.”

My big demon pouted. “But it’s so fun.”

That was true. Even with everything else going on, Mori had enjoyed himself during the battle. He spent so much time keeping everything bottled up that it was good for him to let loose once in a while.

And a battle with some of Hell’s most dangerous denizens? That was definitely a place for him to do that.

I stripped off and turned on the shower. I was distantly aware of Mori getting us towels, but I was too keyed up to wait. Ducking my head under the water, I breathed a sigh of relief as the first layer of the day’s horrors was cleansed from my skin.

To be honest, I would usually have enjoyed the chance to unleash myself too. But it had been hard to get into the right headspace given what had happened leading up to the battle. Not only had all the mates except me been killed and taken to Hell, but my twin had gone down defending them.

Yes, he’d been okay in the end, but I still couldn’t shake the lingering sickness that dogged me. I’d come close to losing him before; I hadn’t expected to have to go through it again quite so soon.

Then there was the complication of whatever curse had been on the sword he’d been stabbed with. Toby had pulled me aside at the portal to assure me that neither he nor Blaise was in any danger. Given his knowledge of both curses and health far surpassed my own, I trusted that they’d both be okay.

Mori joined me under the spray. I leaned back into him, letting his solid frame ground me.

My ever-stoic mate was quiet as he washed me. Mori had never been one for much conversation. Some people believed that was because he didn’t feel a lot, or didn’t have many opinions. Even before we’d had the luxury of the bond sharing all our feelings, I’d known that wasn’t true. Mori felt more deeply than most people were able to. He carried his emotions deep, not wanting to burden anyone else with them.

I loved that I could help him carry that burden now. He wasn’t alone anymore.

And he never would be again.

“You scared me tonight,” he rumbled finally, pressing a kiss between my shoulder blades. “I forgot about the ghasts. I never would’ve let you come with me if I’d remembered.”

I scoffed, turning to face him. “Like that would’ve stopped me. I’ve told you before—if you’re fighting, I’m fighting. Besides, we both know I’m more than capable of handling myself.”

Mori huffed, leaning against my forehead. “Still hate that you were that close to them.”

“Well now they won’t be a problem again,” I said. No, after closing all the gaps in the portals, no more ghasts could be created. “Now we can just focus on each other.”

Even as I said it, the image of Blaise skewered to the wall flitted through my mind. I winced, shoving it away. Blaise was fine. I’d seen him with Toby after the battle. The two of them had managed to keep the single portal clear, dispatching countless demons while the rest of us battled downstairs.

The bond I shared with my twin wasn’t like the one I shared with Mori. I couldn’t feel his emotions, just whether he was in danger or not.

Right now, all was calm with him. Still, I worried. Was he with Toby? What was going on with them anyway?

“Hey.” Mori tugged on my hair gently, pulling me back to the present. “You okay?”

I took a shaky breath, starting to nod before realising lying was pointless. “No, not really. I know Blaise is fine, but…”

“I get it. It’s hard to see someone you love hurt.”

Another image. Another sword through the chest of someone I loved.

This time, it was Mori.

“Shh.” Mori gathered me against his chest. There was a weird keening noise in the air. Huh. It was coming from me. “It’s okay, Riv. I’ve got you. I’m here.”

“Get me out of my head,” I begged him. “I fucking hate feeling like this. Make me feel grounded. Please.”

Mori smiled down at me sweetly. “I’ve got you, brat.”

* * *

“W hen I asked you to get me out of my head, this wasn’t really what I had in mind.”

Mori snickered somewhere to my left. Thanks to the blindfold over my eyes, I was relying on sound to tell me where he was. For such a big bloke, he was light on his feet. The sneaky fucker was tiptoeing around me, keeping me guessing.

“Is it working?”

“Hmm, let me think,” I said sarcastically, the words turning into a whine as the vibrating prostate massager kicked up another notch. “Fuck, Mori.”

“Sounds like it’s working to me.”

After our shower, Mori had wasted no time in getting out the ropes. If I’d been human, I absolutely would’ve thrown my back out with the speed at which I’d jumped onto the bed.

I’d even been keen on the blindfold. Something about having my senses restricted really did help me get out of my head.

What I hadn’t been expecting was for Mori to break out our extensive collection of toys too. It was all Harlow’s fault. He’d shown me a new website he’d found. Apparently toys were a big part of his and Bailey’s sex life. That was information I could’ve lived without, but it hadn’t stopped me bookmarking the website. Later that night I’d placed an order so large it had come in three different boxes.

Thank fuck we didn’t need to worry about things like credit card bills. That would’ve been fun to try and explain to Mori.

Not that he would’ve complained. Not with the amount of orgasms he’d gotten out of my little shopping spree.

Mori had gone for variety tonight. Along with the prostate massager filling my arse, I was also sporting a cock ring and nipple clamps. If that weren’t enough, Mori was running different objects all over my body. So far we’d had a feather, a roller covered in squared-off spikes, and an ice cube.

Needless to say, I was definitely out of my head.

“Colour?”

I smirked at how gruff my mate’s voice was. I wasn’t the only one being edged right now. “You fucking know I’m green.”

Mori’s lips ghosted over mine. “Brat.”

“You love it.”

He did. Just as much as I loved winding him up. I might’ve been giving him a hard time, but we both knew how much I was enjoying this. There was something about surrendering total control to him that quieted my mind like nothing else.

The bastard ice cube was back again. I shivered as he ran it down the side of my aching cock. Just when I couldn’t stand it any longer, the cold was taken away, to be replaced by the heat of his mouth.

“Fuck, Mori!” My arms and legs tugged uselessly against the ropes as I tried to thrust into his mouth. “More. Please.”

But no. My mate pulled off with a chuckle, leaving me panting and whining.

The massager in my arse suddenly started vibrating in a different pattern. My head fell back as waves of pleasure crashed through me.

It was too much. It was not enough.

Nothing else existed except for my mate and what he was doing to my body.

“That’s it, Riv.” His deep voice washed over me. “No thinking. Just feel .”

Mori tugged on the chain between the nipple clamps and I swore I blacked out for a second.

When I came around, I felt like I was floating. I knew I hadn’t come, but that wasn’t what Mori was trying to do. Not yet, anyway.

“Thank you,” I murmured, the welcome fogginess filling my head. It wasn’t quite subspace, but it was close enough for me. “Love you, Mori.”

His lips touched my forehead. My cheeks. My lips. “Love you more, Riv.”

He touched the edges of the blindfold. “Off?”

“Yes, and the ropes off my ankles. But not my wrists.”

I blinked against the light as Mori did as I asked. My gorgeous mate had pulled his hair back in a bun, no doubt so it didn’t get in his way as he worked me over. Fuck. I couldn’t wait to get my hands in it. Later though.

First, I wanted him to fuck me like this. Tied up and unable to move.

Well, technically I could get out of the ropes if I wanted to. But it wasn’t about whether I could or not, it was the trust I was showing by giving up my control to Mori.

Ropes didn’t always feature in our sex life, and when they did, Mori was the one tied up more often than I was. But tonight, I needed it. The ropes were another way for Mori to remind me that he cared. That he would fulfil me however I needed him to. That I could surrender control and he’d keep me safe.

Just as I would for him.

When my ankles were free, Mori slid between my knees. His own cock looked as hard and angry as my own. I bit my lip, already imagining how well it was going to fill me up.

He turned off the massager, sliding it slowly out and putting it on the side. “Ready?”

I answered him by lifting my hips. “Like, thirty minutes ago. Get inside me Mori.”

He gave me that little half smile I loved so much before pushing deep inside. Like always, he hadn’t bothered with much lube. We’d been together long enough to know what we liked, and what I liked was to feel the burn. I wanted Mori to fuck me so hard that I’d still feel it the next day. Given we were both supes, that was hard to achieve. My healing tended to kick in faster than I liked.

That didn’t stop us trying though.

Using the massager first had prepped me more than we usually bothered with. To make up for that, Mori didn’t give me any time to adjust to his size. He immediately set a punishing pace, fucking me hard into the mattress.

“Yes, yes, yes !” I was pulling on the ropes. I didn’t know whether I was trying to get out of them or using them to just hold the fuck on. “That’s it. Harder, Mori. Harder. ”

Mori grunted, his big hands lifting my arse off the mattress so he could get even deeper.

I lost track of how long he pounded me in that position. There was a lot to be said for your mate being a super strong supe with amazing stamina.

When my orgasm stopped knocking on the door and started trying to kick it down instead, I knew it was time. “Ropes.”

Mori knew instantly what I needed. Lowering me to the bed, he worked quickly on the knots holding my wrists in place.

Shoving myself up, I scrambled into Mori’s lap. He caught me with a grunt, his lips fixing on mine as he slid his cock back deep inside me.

“Come with me,” I said breathlessly, yanking his hair from its bun and winding it around my hands. “I need you to come with me.”

Mori grunted in agreement, a small furrow of concentration between his brows as he fucked up into me in deep, steady strokes.

My cock was caught between our bodies. My orgasm was right there. All I had to do was let go.

But I waited for Mori. Waited for that final punch of his hips, the one that seemed to hit me deeper than any other.

When it happened, he caught my mouth with a fierce growl. I let myself go as he filled me, hot white jets covering both our chests.

We didn’t stop kissing as we came down. As our desire cooled, so did the ferocity with which we attacked each other. Our kisses became sweet—the kind you gave your partner when you knew you had plenty of time for deeper ones.

Time was something we had lots of, but not something that was guaranteed. Today had proved that. It had been a painful reminder of just how fragile our existence was.

At least we’d never be parted. Mori and I would be together, no matter what.

And I couldn’t have been fucking happier about that.

I pulled back from his kiss, leaning my forehead against his and just breathing him in. “Love you, lumbersnack.”

His smile was as warm as his love thrumming through the bond. “Love you too, brat.”