Page 32

LILLITH

T he battle was over.

Thaloryn was gone, dust scattered in the wake of magic older than names, and Celestial Pines had held. Bruised, battered—but not broken.

Lillith barely remembered the walk back to the cottage.

Her legs had moved on their own, like her soul was already pulling toward home. Dominic’s fingers had brushed hers the entire way, never letting go. His grip was warm. Steady. Real. She hadn’t looked back once.

And now… they were here.

The cottage stood as it always had—nestled between ivy-cloaked trees, moonlight tangled in the mossy shingles, the smell of cedar and rosewood curling out of the stone chimney. The hearth inside still burned with slow embers. Familiar. Inviting.

Home.

Lillith stood just inside the threshold, watching as Dominic moved through the front room, barefoot and shirtless, bandages half-wrapped around his side where the last of his wounds were still knitting closed. She hated the bruises. Hated the reminder that she’d nearly lost him—again.

He glanced at her over his shoulder. “You okay?”

She nodded slowly. “Yeah. I just…” She stepped closer, her fingers brushing the wall as if to ground herself. “I keep waiting to feel different. Like the curse is gone, the bond broken, and now we’re just… normal.”

Dominic set the mug he was drying on the counter and turned to face her fully. “You think this feels normal?”

“No.” She exhaled a soft laugh. “Not even close.”

He stepped toward her. “Then what does it feel like?”

“Like we survived something that should’ve ruined us. Like fate handed us a tangle and we made a home out of it.” Her eyes searched his face. “You still want this? Now that you’re not forced to be near me every second?”

He stilled. And then—very slowly—he walked the rest of the way to her, cupped her jaw in his calloused hand, and said, “I was never forced, Lil. Not really. The bond didn’t make me love you.”

Her heart seemed to stop in her throat.

Dominic leaned in, brow brushing hers. “I want all of it. Your weird tea collection, your runes scattered across every surface, the way you hoard books like they’re dragon treasure.

I want the sigh you make when you read something beautiful.

The way you hum when you cook and don’t even know it.

I want the you without curses and kingdoms and war. ”

Her throat tightened. “Then stay.”

He blinked.

She took his hand in hers. “Move in. Live here. With me. Not because of the tether. Because of us.”

He kissed her without hesitation.

Not the kind born of desperation or fear.

This one was full of reverence. The kind that whispered home.

His lips brushed hers, and she answered with a sigh, curling her arms around his neck and rising to meet him. Her fingers threaded into the thick waves of his tawny hair, tugging until a low, hungry sound rumbled from deep in his chest.

It made something primal stir inside her.

They barely made it to the bedroom—half-dressed and completely consumed. Her back hit the wall, his hand sliding up her thigh, pushing the fabric of her pants down in a gentle glide. The brush of his fingers over her bare skin sent a tremor down her spine.

“Fuck, you’re already soaked,” he groaned, dragging his thumb over her slit through her panties. “You want me that bad?”

“Take them off and find out,” she dared, breath hitching.

He did by ripping the lace down her legs, then dropping to his knees. His tongue flicked out, and she nearly came undone on the spot.

“Dominic—fuck—” Her head hit the wall behind her as his mouth sealed over her pussy, tongue lapping at her like he was starving. “Gods, don’t stop. Don’t you dare?—”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he growled, voice muffled by her folds. “You taste like moonlight and fucking magic. Like you were made for my mouth.”

Her thighs trembled around his head as he devoured her—slow, thorough, possessive. His tongue slid over her clit, then plunged into her pussy, licking up every bit of slick she gave him. He moaned when she grabbed his hair, tugging hard enough to make his cock throb against his waistband.

“Get up here,” she gasped, breathless. “I want your cock inside me now.”

Dominic stood, eyes burning gold, lips wet with her. She shoved his pants down and his cock sprang free—thick, hard, perfect. Her mouth watered at the sight of it.

He leaned in, hand gripping her hip, voice rough. “Tell me what you want.”

“I want you to fuck me like I’m the only thing keeping you alive,” she whispered, grabbing his shaft and stroking it. “I want to feel you everywhere . I want you to fill me so deep I forget where I end and you begin.”

That wild glint flared in his eyes as he pushed her back onto the bed and climbed over her, the heat of his body sinking into hers. She wrapped her legs around his waist, guiding him to her entrance, and when he finally thrust in—it was blissful devastation .

Her mouth fell open in a silent scream as he filled her, thick and slow, stretching her until she could barely breathe.

“Fuck, Lil…” His voice was raw. “You’re so tight. So fucking wet for me.”

She bit her lip as he drew back, then slammed in again. Her body arched, the rhythm stealing her breath and giving it back as fire.

“Just like that,” she moaned, nails dragging down his back. “Yes. Gods, you feel so good. ”

Each thrust was a claiming. His cock drove into her with wild, hungry precision, grinding against her clit with every roll of his hips. The bed creaked beneath them. Her name spilled from his lips like worship between gritted teeth.

“You’re mine,” he snarled. “Say it.”

“I’m yours,” she gasped, meeting his thrusts with wild, desperate need. “I’ve always been yours.”

“And this pussy?” He pulled out, just to the tip, then shoved back in hard enough to punch the air from her lungs. “This is mine too, isn’t it?”

“All of it,” she moaned, legs locking tighter around him. “It’s always been yours.”

Magic began to stir around them—thick and electric. It crackled in her fingertips, in the sweat on his skin, in the air between their mouths.

The tether between them wasn’t just emotional—it was elemental . His essence brushed hers like flame kissing oil, and her magic answered back, wild and bright and blinding.

“Hold still,” she breathed, reaching between them.

She pressed the rune—etched in her own blood—into his palm. The moment their skin connected, everything changed.

Light flared, golden and warm, wrapping around them in a rush of power. The rune burned into his skin like a brand, not of ownership—but of soul-deep union.

Dominic’s eyes widened as his body jolted with the surge.

“Lillith—what the fuck—” His voice cracked as the pulse of her magic merged with his, sliding down his spine, into his bones, lacing into his cock inside her.

“It’s a soul-bind,” she whispered, hips lifting to take him deeper. “Not a curse. Not a leash. Just a promise. A fucking bond , Dominic. One we choose. A way of me saying I’m yours now and always because I want to be.”

His jaw clenched, body trembling. “I can feel you. Gods, I can feel everything now.”

She tightened around him, dragging him into her with every pull of her muscles, every roll of her hips. The soul-bind flared again—an echo of their pleasure amplifying through the magic. Every stroke of his cock inside her lit a matching fire in her chest.

Their hearts beat as one.

“I want to come with you,” she whispered, voice shaking. “Inside you. Through you. As you.”

His rhythm broke, hips stuttering.

“You’re gonna make me lose it,” he groaned. “Fuck, you’re squeezing me so tight. Are you gonna come for me?”

“Yes,” she cried, fingers gripping his shoulders. “I’m so fucking close—don’t stop, please?—”

He drove into her harder, deeper, the slap of skin on skin echoing through the room.

“Come with me, baby,” he growled against her lips. “Let me feel you fall apart.”

Her orgasm hit like a spell detonated. Stars burst behind her eyes, and her whole body shattered beneath the weight of it. Her pussy clamped down on him, milking every inch, and that was all he needed.

Dominic roared as he came, cock pulsing deep inside her. His release flooded her, warm and thick, and the magical bond blazed , searing the sensation into both their cores. Power rushed between them, cyclical and alive, threading their life forces tighter than fate ever had.

They collapsed together, breathless, bodies slick with sweat and stardust.

She cradled his face in her hands as he lay half on top of her, still buried inside.

“I love you,” she whispered. “And now? There’s no tether but this. Us. What we chose.”

He kissed her, softer now. Hushed. Holy. “Then I’m yours forever. And next time, it’s my turn to mark you.”

Finally, when sleep took them, it was under the pulse of joined magic, two souls no longer just entwined, but fused.