Page 18 of Savage Sacrifice (The Savage Six #4)

POLARIS

I ’m not dead.

Despite the frenzied panic running through my veins, I know that much is true.

My hope of saving my blood kin, my best friend, worked. And even though it may have cost me my life as I knew it, it hasn’t taken it altogether.

Holy crap. It actually freaking worked. I was right about Krystal. I don’t know what it means beyond that, and any answers I might hope to get are back at the house, but right now, my mind is crashing, recalling memory after memory as I flail, trying not to sink further under the weight of it all.

Memories.

I have them.

Not just of Trinity Falls, but all of it, and it’s all because of Lincoln.

The piece of me that I felt was missing since I woke up is restored.

Belladora was the nurse guiding me here, too.

I shake my head, trying to let the facts settle, but all it does is open another door that requires a lot more answers to pass.

If that isn’t enough for me to try to catch up with, I finally, after eleven years, am faced with my parents. I never thought the day would come. I spent so many nights pondering over the what-ifs, but none of them led me down this path; my true path.

Everything I’ve experienced since the moment I was taken, Floretine’s, the pain, the chaos, the heartache, Trinity Falls… it was all because of them, and I clung to the loss of them like a lifeline when it was all their fault to begin with.

Floretine’s ingrained it into us that our parents were dead, but mine are very much alive and in my presence and I don’t know how I feel about it. It’s not the fairytale reunion I had anticipated or dreamed of, far from it.

I sigh, remembering the night I was taken vividly, and as I close my eyes, the scene unravels on the back of my eyelids. Despite all of my kicking and screaming, I was hauled into a black vehicle, where a man in a mask waited.

A shiver runs down my spine as I realize who it was.

The Crow.

His hand reached out, dusting over my cheek as he hummed. “Don’t cry, little one. You’ll have it all back soon enough. Once you pay for your parents’ debt, of course.”

The terror I felt that night, from the men storming my room and screaming in panic for my parents, and they knew it was coming. They fucking knew.

My head falls into my hands as that reality has no problem settling in my gut, claiming space I wish it couldn’t. And now I’ve run away, a trait I feel like I’m getting too good at. I needed the space, but I regret leaving Lincoln.

I don’t know how he’s here, but he is, and now I ache for him, for the others, for the consequences of my actions that brought me here. I don’t know where we go from here, but we’ll figure it out, I hope.

Recalling the moment my memories lifted, being in Lincoln’s arms… damn. He’s the safest place I feel right now.

My roommates, however… that’s an entirely other situation to deal with, and there’s already enough on my plate. Whoever said they’ll rest when they’re dead is lying because here I am, working harder than ever to try and dismantle the madness around me.

The strain in my chest eases with every breath I take as I finally manage to pry my eyes open and tilt my head back to take in my surroundings. The sun is already starting to fall, but the trees shield me from it. It’s darker in here, quieter too, but I found the perfect fallen tree to rest on.

It’s not quite the maze back at Trinity Falls Academy, but it’s close enough. I don’t know what it is about nature that settles me so much, but it’s a lifeline I reach for in times of need as it puts everything in perspective.

The soft humming of birds swoops around me, and I take another deep breath, encouraging the weight of the world off my back as I exhale, when the sound of a twig snapping in the distance catches my attention.

I inhale sharply, but there’s no time to panic before I feel his presence.

I don’t know how or why it’s possible, but I know it’s Lincoln. I feel it deep in my soul, but I’m not a witch anymore, so it doesn’t make sense. I don’t question it, though. Not when he steps from between the trees across from me.

Relief washes over his features as his eyes settle on me, and I offer him a small smile as I rush to my feet, cutting the distance between us as I launch myself at him.

With my arms wrapped around his neck, I breathe him in, relishing in the tightening around my waist as he clings to me just as tightly.

“I’m sorry for running,” I rasp, and he frowns.

“Don’t be.”

I exhale slowly, stroking my thumb over the back of his neck. “How did you find me?”

“Honestly?” he asks, and it’s my turn to frown in confusion this time.

“Why would you lie?”

“So I can take all of the credit,” he admits with a shrug, and I snicker.

“How very Lincoln of you,” I muse, and he winks. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so relaxed and carefree; it’s disarming.

“Tatum told me to look for the greenery,” he offers, and my eyes widen in surprise, but really, I shouldn’t be shocked.

A soft smile takes over my lips. “Is he okay?”

The crinkling of his nose is my answer before he even speaks. “After watching you die and then me not long after? No. I think he’s going to need some time to recover, even if we are still breathing,” he admits, and my heart aches, but I’m locked on the words he said.

“You died?” I breathe, and he grins.

“Heroic, right?” Amusement dances in his eyes as I shake my head in disbelief.

“Why would you do that?” I rasp, and he gives me a pointed look.

“For you.” He lifts a hand to stroke my cheek, and once again, I lean into his touch.

“That’s insane, Lincoln,” I mutter, and he raises his eyebrows at me.

“So is killing yourself to save my sister. At least I had someone else kill me,” he grunts, and my heart clenches at the reminder.

“Is Minnie okay?”

He holds me tighter somehow. “She will be, Midnight. We all will be,” he promises, and I nod, believing him wholeheartedly.

With a kiss to my forehead, he lowers me to my feet and I catch a glimpse of a mark on his arm. I grab his wrist before I even think, then blink up at him. “Your blood kin, who is it?” I ask, waiting with bated breath, watching as his eyebrows gather in confusion.

“That marking was gone when I woke up,” he breathes, twisting his arm from left to right before reaching for mine, but when he flips it over, it’s bare. His lips purse as he taps his foot before exhaling slowly. “Maybe it’s because I was tethered to the other side.”

“You’re what?” I ask in confusion, and he offers me a tight smile.

“A lot happened,” he admits, and I nod.

“It sounds like it.”

He grins again, draping his arm over my shoulders as he pulls me into his side, and I go willingly, desperate to breathe him in. “The guys are on their way, do you mind if we discuss it all together? I just want to bask in your presence first,” he asks, and I feel my cheeks heating as I nod.

“Sure.”

Without a word, he walks me over to the fallen tree and waves for me to take a seat before he drops down onto the spot beside me. His arm remains around my shoulders as we take a moment to sit with the peace and calmness that envelops us.

Every second that passes, I become more in tune with the man beside me. Every breath, every skim of his thumb over my shoulder, every flicker in his facial features, I document it all, determined to commit it all to memory in case I happen to decide to do something so careless again.

“I’m an asshole,” he blurts, cutting through the silence, and I immediately shake my head.

“You’re not,” I insist, and he scoffs.

“You’re delusional if you think I’m not when I know I am, and I’ve never been an ass more than when it comes to you,” he grunts, a tic fluttering in his jaw as he fails to contain his irritation with himself.

“Lincoln,” I breathe, and he grabs my chin, tilting my face so he has my full attention.

“I love you, you know,” he rasps, stealing my breath as I gape at him.

“That feeling, it’s been there for a long time, claiming me, no matter how much I tried to fight it,” he states, his pupils dilated as I feel tears well along my eyeline, but he’s not done there.

His grip on my chin tightens. “Then your blood kin was called, and it was my sister. My. Fucking. Sister. It left my heart shattering into a million pieces, but you didn’t blink.

Not once. You just moved, taking action to protect someone you care about.

It wasn’t for me, I know that’s selfish to even think, but it wasn’t for me, and it wasn’t for you, it was for Minnie.

You’re so fucking selfless, Polaris. Even when you were raised in a world that was anything but.

Despite the shadows that consume your past, you don’t let them block your light for the future.

I’m in awe of it, in awe of you, which is why I took the risk to find you; living without you wasn’t—and won’t ever be—an option. ”

Holy shit.

I gape at him, lightheaded from his speech. “You’re insane,” I breathe, but the intensity in his eyes doesn’t waver.

Reaching for the back of his neck, I draw him closer, looking deep into his eyes before I press my lips to his.

It’s sweet, it’s gentle, and it sends a shiver down my spine.

Our lips brush once, twice, three times before the pressure increases, desperation thickening between us, and before I can think better of it, I’m clambering onto his lap.

His hands tighten around my middle as I place my knees on either side of him, all without removing my lips from his as I deepen the kiss, and he lets me. Control is mine, something I never thought would happen when it came to the alpha beneath me, but he gives it to me willingly.

I can’t breathe him in quickly enough. I can’t tamp down the desire and need for him in my soul, and I can’t stop my hips from grinding down on the hard length nestled beneath me.

“Fuck, Polaris,” he grunts, his lips brushing against mine as he speaks, and I groan. “Take me out of my fucking pants right now,” he groans, raking his teeth over my bottom lip, and I shiver, shuffling back just enough to unzip him and reveal his cock.

No boxer shorts.

That’s hot.

Damn.

Reaching out, I run my fingertip over his length, his skin warm to the touch as I struggle to catch my breath.

“Climb on, Midnight.” He releases his hold on me, giving me the space I need to slip my panties to the side.

I’ve never been more thankful to be wearing a flowing summer dress than I am in this moment.

He presses his palms into the bark of the tree, nodding for me to do as he asked, and my eyebrows rise in surprise.

“Are you not going to manhandle me?”

“Not today,” he breathes.

“Huh?” I blink at him, one hand on his shoulder while the other holds my panties out of the way, but I’m still frozen in place.

“You deserve complete rein,” he offers, and I pout.

“And if I like it when you manhandle me?” I ask, and he groans, his eyelids falling to half-mast.

“Then I’ll be more than happy to appease you going forward, but right now, it’s all you.” He grabs his cock, aiming the tip in my direction, and I shiver again when I tease him through my folds, finding myself slicker than I anticipated as he pauses at my entrance.

I wait, my breath stolen once again as I anticipate him thrusting up into me, but the movement doesn’t come. Instead, he aims a cock-sure glance my way, forcing me to eliminate the remaining distance between us.

Rolling my hips, I grin as his head rolls back, and he peers up at the trees before I slam down on his cock.

He stretches me perfectly and I cry out with ecstasy.

My nails dig into his shoulders, still likely to leave marks beneath his t-shirt that separates us.

I flex my hips, rocking against him as my clit gains the perfect friction, before I shift directions and bounce on his cock like it’s a ritual.

His hands remain at his sides, clenched, knuckles whiter than white, but he stays true to his word and gives me control.

I get it, I do, but I don’t like it.

“Touch me,” I plead, digging my knees harder into the tree beneath me as I bounce on his cock.

He shakes his head with a grunt. “I’ll lose control.”

“That’s what I want.” It’s what I need, it’s going to make me feel alive.

“Not this time, Midnight,” he rasps, nostrils flaring as he barely holds it together, and I tug at the neckline of my dress, letting my breasts spill free between us as I shift direction again, grinding and rocking on his length with all the pent-up energy inside of me.

“Then call me your whore.”

“Are you trying to kill me?” he grunts, his pupils growing wider as I pout.

I reach for his arm, stroking from his shoulder to his elbow as I keep my rhythm. “I like it when you make your hand my necklace and call me your whore,” I say sweetly, feeling his cock flex inside of me as I ride him.

“Polaris,” he warns, his restraint wilting, and I know I’m close.

“Please, mark me as yours.”

His eyes drop to my throat, likely lingering on the mark he left behind when he made me his for real, but I don’t get to see the look of war in his eyes as he launches to his feet, pinning me to his chest as he swiftly drops to his knees, taking me with him.

I’m pinned to the ground a moment later, blades of grass brushing along my exposed skin as his hand lifts to my throat, flexing just how I want it. I can’t decide whether he takes control or loses it altogether, but he pounds into me with grim determination.

“That’s it, my little whore, milk my cock,” he snarls, and the tingles of my orgasm burn up my spine as I struggle to breathe.

My eyes roll to the back of my head as he keeps his unrelenting pace and I grab hold of his arm, clinging to him as his fingers flex at my throat. I writhe beneath him, riding wave after wave of euphoria, more than happy to fall apart in his grasp.

When my climax starts to wane, I look deep into his eyes and rasp. “I love you.”

I didn’t get a chance to say it earlier, my body took over, but I need him to hear it.

“Fuck!” he roars, his movements turning jagged as he thrusts into me, his fingers flexing at my throat as he pulses inside of me, chasing his own release before he lowers his forehead to mine.

Our breaths linger between us, a tangle of limbs, and a cell phone chimes. He grimaces before lifting his head to give me a soft smile. He releases my throat to brush a loose curl of hair back off my face before he speaks.

“I think the cavalry has arrived.”