Page 46 of Exquisite Monster (Dragons of Viria #2)

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

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KATALENA

I was throwing more darts with Varí , Sirrus, and Zovai when I felt him. My hand flew to my chest, savoring the completeness of having Endre back. Even at this distance, he felt the same. Just quieter. He still felt like mine.

More than that. He needed me. To see me. Touch me. Hold me.

Sirrus chuckled softly. “ Varí , let’s go find something to eat. Endre is almost here and he needs to speak with Lena.”

If that’s what we’re calling it , Zovai added silently.

I glanced at him, and he grinned, leaning in to kiss me briefly.

“He’ll probably have things to tell all of us.”

“He most definitely will. But he won’t be able to focus on them. Not while he feels like that.” He pointed to the western side of the island. “That’s the closest beach.”

They didn’t wait, heading back to the main house. I blinked. Endre did feel intense, but something they sensed must have been deeper than I understood. Or perhaps I simply hadn’t known him long enough yet.

Belleo and Erryn had joined us earlier during the training, and Belleo had lobbed balls of water at us—both to avoid and to hit.

I’d barely seen Sotai and Karadi since we arrived, but I was told that was normal for them.

They preferred to keep to themselves. Which worked to our advantage in many ways.

Even the dragons in Doro Eche didn’t know their faces well.

I wore the ill-fitting dress that had come with the bundle of clothes. The ones fitted to my body hadn’t been retrieved yet.

The sand on the beach squished between my toes, and I sat, letting the sun warm my face as I waited and felt him come closer. He was fast. It felt like no time at all before I saw him as a dark spot in the distance.

Not for the first time, I wished I could reach out with my voice in my mind. Instead, I did it through the bond in my chest, pulling him toward me just as I had after our rescue.

Endre arrowed downward, coming so fast and steep I scrambled backwards. He slammed into the sand, tail making the water spray. Then he was human and striding toward me with blazing fire in his eyes.

One swift movement hauled me against him, mouth crashing down on mine without a word. Wild urgency lived in the way he held me. The speed at which he pulled at my clothes, needing to feel my skin under his.

“Are you all right?” I managed when he moved his mouth to my shoulder.

He didn’t speak. Couldn’t speak. I understood every emotion through our bond, and Endre’s beast needed me more than he needed words. An instinct so deep he couldn’t pull himself out of it.

It was easy to surrender.

My bare knees hit the sand, Endre’s body surrounding mine from behind. He pushed into me with a single thrust, both of us crying out with the sudden relief.

If it’s too much, tell me . Even his voice in my head was rough and raw.

“Yes.”

Endre wrapped his arms around me, one banding across my chest, the other my stomach, holding me so tight it felt like we might merge. And he took me.

Every bit of aggression and ruining I’d wanted him to unleash that very first night in my cell.

I let myself fade into the comfort of our bond. Like it was more than just Endre’s body curled around mine. His soul was there too, holding me. Cradling me. Keeping me close.

Fierce pleasure sliced through us both, echoing between us and building until it burst. Endre buried his face in my neck, releasing one arm to brace against the sand.

Pure fire filled my mind.

Like they promised, every physical sensation kept getting better and more intense as we learned each other, and this was no exception. My limbs shook and breaths came in gasps. I could do nothing but cling to my mate and feel . It was glorious. Perfect.

Endre roared as he finished, the sound ringing through the trees. I didn’t care who might hear. Whatever had happened, he needed this. He’d followed me and pushed me to the point of unleashing my pain, and it was the same for him now.

We came to stillness together. My lungs burned with ragged, heaving breaths, and Endre did too. His heart pounded against my back. The way he held me, his fear that I would disappear once more was clear.

I wasn’t the only one with scars from our separation.

Slowly, Endre softened and moved, pulling away and turning me to my back before entering me once more. Keeping me close. He pulled my legs to wrap around his body and slowly lowered his weight onto me. Still, he said nothing, resting his head over my heart as he held me .

“Are you all right?” I asked again. My words were soft. Nearly lost in the sound of the waves.

I’m holding my mate. How could I be anything but all right?

“Barely two days ago you forced me to let my pain out, even though I didn’t want to. If you think I will not do the same for you?—”

He raised his head and kissed me silent. I felt him finding his way to the words, and the aching pain that seemed to radiate from his chest.

“You should never have been there,” he said in a broken whisper. “It hurts so much more knowing what it was like. How you must have felt.”

He pressed his cheek against mine. Though he held me, I still felt him shake. “Your scent still hangs in the air there. I saw… I saw where you slept. Where you trained. Where you said you—” he swallowed, “where you tried to use the sheyten to reach us. It was so fucking dark.”

The emotions all rose once more. I closed my eyes. He had believed me. All of them had. It wasn’t that he suddenly knew I was telling the truth. It was that he now knew that it was so much more than I could describe.

“I am so sorry, Lena.” Endre murmured the words against the corner of my lips, each one laced with pain. “You’ll never be in the dark like that again. I swear it.”

I pushed my hands into his hair and gripped it, holding him tighter. “I would do it again to come back to you.”

“ Never . Again .” He growled.

We slipped into silence, letting our fears and pain flow over the other until we could both breathe easier.

But before he could move, I spoke again. “Please don’t leave again without saying goodbye. When I woke and couldn’t feel you…”

“Fuck. I’m sorry. I worried about that, but my only thought was to get there and back as soon as possible.”

“Sirrus explained. I just don’t want us to skip over it. You know why.”

A soft smile. “I do. And I’m glad I’m back.”

Back from Evrítha. “So you saw Gleym?”

“I did.”

“I should have told you she couldn’t help you.”

He stroked a hand over my hair, brushing the strays away. “I guessed that she couldn’t. It still hurt to know the truth. They never intended to free me. But it wasn’t the only reason I went. I wanted to see where you’d been, and Gleym has more knowledge than just my unbinding. ”

“Did you learn anything?”

His smile strengthened as he slid out of me and lifted me to stand. “I did. Let’s find the others and I’ll tell you all together.”

I leaned my head on his shoulder. “Do you think it will help?”

Brand new hope stole through our bond and lit it up. “Yes. I do.”