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CHAPTER

TWENTY-SIX

Renwick

It did not matter that this was not Oralia’s true body in my arms. Her physical being was deep within the castle, nestled in our marriage bed, out of reach. This was her essence, her magic, her soul , here in my embrace, and I could not ask for anything greater in this moment.

She gave a soft little moan as I forced her mouth wider, taking control of the kiss and deepening it while I guided her to the ground. My body came alight with magic, skittering over my skin and settling deep in my belly. I could not touch enough of her. My hands ran over the planes of her face, sliding through the waves of her hair. The gown she wore in this realm was nondescript, merely a shift of fabric gathered at the waist and shoulders, like the clothing of old.

“Ren, please,” Oralia breathed against me, greedy fingers tugging at the laces of my tunic, diving beneath to caress my skin.

“I know, eshara, ” I hummed, pressing a kiss to the curve of her jaw, nipping at the skin beneath her ear. My cock throbbed at the knowledge of her aching the same as I, this insubstantial body reacted the same as the one scattered across the world would.

I seated myself between her knees, gazing down at her kiss-stung face. Her dark green eyes were wild. A shimmer of the panic from only moments ago lingered in the corners. Her chest heaved with each breath. Her fingers curled around the front of my tunic. Slowly, I dragged the skirts of her gown higher, exposing the smooth skin of her thighs and the constellation of freckles across her hips.

“I would never betray you.” Her words were deep in her throat as if the need to say them outweighed the need between her thighs. “I did not come to Infernis to destroy you. My allegiance is to you, to our people. I swear it.”

Sitting back on my heels, I allowed her to get the words out despite the urge to cover her lips with mine. Instead, I curled my hands around her knees, soothing with gentle touches, attention trained on her face. And when she finished, I cupped her cheek in my hand, thumb brushing over her lower lip.

“I know you would never do such a thing, Oralia.”

She frowned, pushing up onto her elbows. “But how could you know? How could you not wonder?”

I smoothed the hair back from her shoulder, fingertips sliding across her throat. “Because I saw the blood spilling from your skin as you tried to get to me. Because I felt your anguish here”—I touched my chest—“in our bond. And because I know the most important thing of all: you feel the same as I do for you.”

Blood blossomed through her cheeks, eyes turning glassy. “And what is that?”

Wrapping a hand around her nape, I dragged her to me, lips separated by mere moments. “That you are everything to me.”

Oralia surged forward, fingers tugging my hair, cementing her chest to mine. I groaned, my fabric covered cock finding the scorching apex of her thighs, and I could not resist the urge to thrust once against her heat, steadying her by the hip. The words unlocked some primal need inside my mate, her breaths heavy across my face as she kissed my cheeks, my brow, my throat. Delicate fingers tugged at the hem of my tunic, pulled it from my trousers, and cast it aside.

This was more than satiating a need for her. This was speaking with our bodies what our lips could not. The endless hunger, the scorching desire, the longing I could not bear even as one moment bled into the next. I trusted her with everything—she could take everything and I would be whole because I was already hers.

Reverently, I unclipped the fastenings at her shoulders, humming with appreciation as the fabric pooled at her waist. With the hand on her nape, I pulled away to gaze hungrily at her breasts, the rosy peaks of her nipples tightening under my attention.

“ Kalimayah ,” I breathed, slipping into the old language.

And she was beautiful—heartbreakingly so. The ancient word encompassed what the common tongue could not: the ethereal quality of her beauty, the wonder I experienced when I gazed at her. I lifted her wrist to my mouth, kissing the black scars across her skin, worshipping the marks which had forged a horrifying connection to my kingdom as I worshipped the power she had so fervently feared and now conquered. But Oralia was already reaching for the placket of my trousers, hand diving within the fabric to caress my aching cock, leaking with need for her.

“Do not make me wait.” Her voice was stern, commanding, only the barest shiver of desire breaking the firmness.

“I would make you beg if I could, merely to hear the sweetest need falling from your lips,” I countered, allowing her to draw me forward.

My hand replaced hers, and I groaned as I slid the head of my cock through her wetness. Her back arched, and I guided her down again on the thick grass, heavy with the scent of rain that would never fall in the in-between. Oralia’s knees opened while I braced myself beside her head, nestling the tip within her heat.

Strange how even here, her power could thread through mine. I shivered, a moan falling from my lips as I sheathed myself deep. Her answering noise of relief mirrored mine, dragging my face to hers. Slowly, I rocked my hips, savoring the squeeze around my cock, how with each drag she fluttered around me, already so close to the edge.

“I know you have been aching for me, eshara ,” I murmured against her skin, dipping low to capture the tip of one nipple between my teeth.

She gave a whimper, nails scratching across my scalp, holding me to her.

“But did you know here, in this realm where all is provided, where I do not need food or rest or shelter, there is one thing I need?”

Slipping my hand between us, I circled her clit with two fingers. Oralia’s cry was music to my ears, a balm on my aching soul. Tiny broken pieces of me, marred by the violence that had been wrought, knitted themselves together. Though my chest lightened, a weight on my shoulders grew. Our magic tangled around us, shadows and light and surprising, sparkling embers—a cocoon of power shutting out the world.

“W-what is it you need?” she cried, lids fluttering.

“You. You against me, your sweetness on my tongue, your cunt on my cock. Your body is the only place that has ever felt like home.”

I grinned, leaning back to churn my hips, slipping my fingers onto either side of her clit. A movement behind me rustled in the wind, the sound barely audible over the moans sliding between us, and though I wanted to turn, I was too enraptured by the sight of me disappearing into her slick heat.

Oralia’s eyes popped open, lips parting in surprise before her brows knitted, and her cunt squeezed around me. She rose onto one hand, reaching with the other behind my back. A shiver ran down my spine, pleasure coiling tight.

“That’s it,” I praised, kissing the sparkling wetness spilling across her cheeks. “Just like that.”

Her moan echoed off the mountain, sliding through my sternum to wrap around the space where my heart would be if it was not in her chest. And her pleasure drew mine with it until her name was falling from my lips, my hips jerking erratically, chasing her over the edge until I was spilling deep within her womb.

“Ren,” Oralia panted, hand sliding over my shoulder again, eyes fixed behind me. “ Stars, Ren. Can you not feel them?”

My brows furrowed, but I was not ready to be parted from her, so I drew back enough to read her face easier, the wonder in her eyes baffling. And with the movement, there was another rustle behind me. It was heavy, the weight, unfamiliar but not forgotten. The magic around us slowly dissipated, the last of the embers of her new power winking out into the dark.

“What is it?” I asked, sliding out of her with a sigh, wishing I could nestle myself within her and never let go.

Tucking myself back inside my trousers, I looked down between us, pleasure churning in my chest at the sight of silvery magic leaking from her swollen cunt. But she only drew her legs together, pushing up onto her knees to reach behind me.

Her hand caressed the curve of… something . The touch sent a shiver down my spine, heat flaring within my cock until I was ready to flip her over and drive into her again. It could not be what I thought—what I hoped. I could not allow myself to believe it, even if it was only temporary here within this realm.

But then she drew back, eyes bright with unshed tears, cupping my face in her hands.

“Your wings.”