Chapter 24

Haden

I don’t know how she did it, but I was feeling things while void. And all of them had to do with that fucking kiss. I didn’t speak as I watched her stare at Kira’s dead body lying at her feet. The men scattered at Della’s threat. I watched her back as her shoulders rose and fell in angry breaths. She had been angry as soon as she got here, and I wondered what was wrong.

“Was that you with composure, Storm?” My lips twitched. She turned to me, and her eyes were pure white. Fuck, she was hauntingly beautiful when she showed her wrath. “I’d love to see you lose your composure.”?

Thunder shook the ground beneath us as my words had their intended impact. Come on, Storm. You’ve been holding back, and I want to see you take these walls down. I could see her struggling with something as she watched me. So, I took her hesitation as a chance to admire her more thoroughly. My eyes drifted down the black dress she had on. It was different from what she normally wore. It was casual and stopped above her knees.

I dragged my eyes up, past her chest that was heaving, and focused on those perfect lips. Her mouth parted, and images of her losing herself while using me to find pleasure flashed in my mind. As much as I wanted to close my eyes and savor those thoughts, I knew that now was not the time. I finally glanced up at her eyes.?

I needed to know what she knew about me. She seemed suspicious, and I didn’t know why.

All I could think about, though, was Della’s lips against mine. I couldn’t control myself. My thoughts wandered to everything I wanted to do to her. I fisted my hands at my sides so I wouldn’t reach out and grab her. Fuck, I would beg her if I needed to, just to feel her mouth against mine again. My eyes were changing colors, and I closed them to try and control myself. But all that did was make the longing worse because images of Della and me together were running through my mind like a wildfire.

“What are you waiting for, Storm?”?

She let out a long, worried breath before walking toward my house, leaving the bodies behind without a backward glance. Damn it. Della refused to look at me as she hurried away.?

“Della?”

She ignored me all the way to my home. Once we were back in my yard, she turned to me with a pained expression on her face. Her eyes finally met mine, and I felt like I could breathe for the first time since she looked away from me.

Fuck.

“Why are you so upset?”?I asked.

I could see her mind warring with itself as she opened her mouth and shut it several times. A moment later she blushed brightly. Fuck, she was going to be the death of me. The thought had my frost creeping from me, freezing the ground where my feet stepped.

“Is what she said true?” she asked.

“What? Who?”

“Kira.” Her voice was filled with rage. “About going to her to feel good.”

Oh.

This wasn’t just rage. She was fucking jealous. My mate didn’t want me with anyone else.

“You really think I would touch her?”

She frowned, and I realized she did think that I might, which kind of pissed me off. I took a step toward her.

“Wait, don’t answer that. I would go mad if you told me that you actually touched that terrible woman.” She stared at me, and I realized that I liked seeing her like this. Possessive. Jealous. Mine. “Actually, fuck that. Tell me right now everyone that you have been intimate with.”

I laughed, and her eyes turned white. I stopped laughing. She was pissed.

“Storm.”

“Tell me.”

“I just did.”

Confusion made her eyes slowly lose their white color before her face turned bright red.

“Oh.” She cleared her throat. Della took a deep breath and looked anywhere but at me. I could feel her embarrassment through our bond. “I might have lost my composure,” she whispered as her eyes found mine.

“Just a bit.” I smiled. “But to be honest, I kind of liked it.”

She swallowed hard as her eyes traveled over my face. I moved toward her again and pulled her to me. Her body melted against mine as soon as I touched her, and I didn’t think I would ever get enough of that.

Her eyes flashed pure white for a moment before she leaned forward and pressed her full lips against mine. I tilted her head so I could deepen the kiss, my tongue tangling with hers. Della moaned into my mouth, and the sound sent a jolt of life through me. It pumped into my veins and made me feel… feral. I kept her against me tightly as I walked her backward until her back hit the side of my home.

Della wrapped her arms around my shoulders before running her hands through my hair, tugging as she went.

“Fuck,” I muttered as I pulled back to see her. Her eyes were filled with desire as her chest rose and fell quickly.

“Don’t stop,” she whispered.

So, I didn’t. I slammed my mouth against hers and rolled my hard length against her, making her gasp. Her hands snaked up my shirt as she ran her fingernails over my bare back. Fuck. My hand ran up her body and cupped her full breast as my hips rolled into hers.

“Haden,” she pleaded as I kissed down her neck.

“Della,” I breathed as I pulled back so I could see her face. This felt like a dream. It almost didn’t feel real. “Did you mean it when you said you were mine?”

“Fuck,” she whispered as her eyes glazed over. “Yes.”

“Good, because I meant it when I said I was yours, but you already knew that, didn’t you?” My hand snaked down her body and rubbed her through her thin dress.

“Yes.”

Her needy moan had me rubbing against her harder. Della grabbed me by the collar and dominated my lips with hers as she rolled her hips into me.

I glanced around, not caring if we were caught, but she might. My parents were gone until tomorrow, and Remy had been gone since this morning with Mikel.

“Do you want to go inside?” I asked.

She shook her head.

“No.”

“Fuck, you’re perfect.” I moaned as I slipped my hand up her dress and slowly rubbed it up her thigh, hesitating for only a moment before I gently stroked her most sensitive spot. “Gods, Della, you’re so fucking wet.”

My fingers slid across her, making her hips surge forward. I smiled at her when she made one of those soft whimpers that I liked so much. That noise would be on repeat in my mind until the day I died. I slowly rubbed her clit, making her eyes close tightly, her fingers digging into my shoulders. The feeling of her all hot and ready for me had me shaking with desire and harder than I had ever been before.

“Let me see those pretty eyes, Storm.”

She opened her eyes immediately, and I breathed heavily as she looked into my eyes as my fingers slid into her. Fuck, this might be the most perfect moment to ever exist. I sank them into her as far as they could go, then pulled them out and did it over again and again, each time her eyes going delirious with pleasure.

“Haden,” she whispered. “More, please don’t stop.”

I glanced down and growled when I couldn’t see her. I used my free hand to yank her dress up so I could see my fingers disappearing into her tight, wet pussy.

My mouth fell open at the sight. I pulled my fingers out and across her clit, making her whimper loudly.

“Open.” I grabbed her jaw. She opened her mouth, and I shoved my fingers against her tongue. “Suck.”

She moaned around my fingers as she did exactly what I demanded from her. My eyes watched her plump lips circle around my fingers as her greedy tongue swirled around them. I couldn’t take it anymore. My lips crashed into hers, and I swirled my tongue around in her mouth, tasting her arousal.

My fingers sank into her again without warning as my tongue circled in tandem with them, making Della clench tightly around me.

Her noises were driving me fucking mad. I needed to hear more of what I did to her. I pulled back and watched her greedy hips roll into my fingers.

“Look at you, so fucking greedy, taking what you want from me.”

Della’s eyes glanced down to where my fingers fucked her, and she moaned loudly.

“Haden…”

“Tell me what you want,” I said.

“I want you inside of me.” Her voice was confident.

“Fuck.”

I undid my trousers with frantic hands and pulled them down just enough so that I could lift her by the back of the legs and slam her into the side of the empty house. Della gripped me tightly with her thighs as I tugged her down on me.

Della cried loudly into the darkening sky as I entered her completely.

Her hands gripped my hair as her hips rolled against me. It should be a crime that I had not buried myself inside of her in hundreds of years. She was the closest to heaven I was ever going to feel. I slammed up into her as I watched her mouth fall open.

Then Della took control. She gripped my shoulders, lifting herself up and slamming harder down on my cock.

“That’s my girl, Storm. Fucking use me.”

“Haden.” She was watching my face closely, like she knew that this was always meant to happen between us. “You feel so good.”

Thunder echoed in the sky, and I wondered if she did that so no one would hear her coming apart on me. Her pussy clenched tightly as I gripped her jaw tightly before moving my hand to her throat, squeezing tightly as I watched where I pushed inside of her.

“Fucking hell.” I was going to fucking cum if I watched that perfect sight for too long.

“Look at me,” she demanded.

And I did because we both knew who was in control here, and it wasn’t me.

“You might need to create more thunder, Storm, so the realm does not hear you calling my name to the heavens as you cum.” She nodded, and I slammed into her as my name fell from her perfect mouth. “Actually, fuck it, let them hear.”

“You want them to know who I belong to.” She smiled as I drove into her. I leaned forward and kissed her, my hand snaking back up to her jaw before running my thumb along her lips. Della kissed my thumb before opening her mouth and sucking it.

“Della,” I warned. My gaze could not look away from the sight.

“Kiss me.” I went to kiss her mouth, and she turned so her neck was exposed to me. My lips traveled over her flawless skin. “I’m close, Haden.”

I could see the flush creeping up. I pulled back.

“Tell the stars who you belong to.” Then I slammed into her as I bit into her shoulder.

A moment later, Della called my name into the heavens, and I swore the ground shook beneath us. Her heavy breathing turned into a moan as I chased my own release. I stared at her, fucking delirious with desire. I had done that to her, and it made me feel fucking possessive now that I had seen it again. No other man would get to see her pleasure. It was mine and mine alone.

“Della,” I breathed as her eyes locked onto mine like I was her prey.

“Cum for me, Haden,” she purred, and I groaned at how husky her voice sounded. “I will be the only woman who gets you like this.”

Fuck, she was possessive, and it only turned me on more.

My hips surged forward, making her moan as I forced my way deeper inside her. Della was heaven and hell wrapped up in one phenomenal woman.

“Della…” I moaned her name as her mouth kissed up my neck. My hands twisted in her hair as my hips moved quicker, desperate for a release. Della knew exactly what I needed.?

“Fuck, I will have to start thanking the heavens that they created you and this perfect fucking mouth. It was made to both torture me and give me salvation at the same time.”

Della moaned loudly at my words.

“Keep your mouth on me until I cum,” I demanded. She listened to me as I shoved my cock deep into her until I felt my orgasm teetering. I held her tightly as I called her name to the stars. My orgasm paralyzed me with pleasure.

After a moment, my hands released her, and we slipped onto the ground, spent and out of breath. Della crawled up my body, straddling my hips before leaning over me. Her lips were swollen and pink as I leaned up and kissed her softly.

“I might die,” I breathed. Emotions slammed into me as I looked at her.

Della chuckled softly as she moved her fingers to trace my face.

“You feel like the stars and heavens,” she whispered softly.

There was a strong tugging in my chest when I looked at her. I brushed the hair from her face and pulled her to me for a kiss.

“Stay with me?” I asked.

She nodded as we both stood up and fixed our clothing. I grabbed her hand in mine as we went inside my home and headed to the bedroom. I closed the door, locked it, and pushed the dresser in front of it, even though my parents were not supposed to be back until tomorrow. Della sat on the edge of the bed, watching me with a look I could not decipher.

“What are you thinking about so hard over there?” I smiled.

Her cheeks reddened.

“All of the years I waited to meet you were worth it. I would have waited hundreds more if you were who I would get at the end of it.”

I walked to her and sank to my knees between her legs. My hands traced over her face. I understood the deeper meaning of her words.

“I feel as though I’ve known you my whole life,” I confessed.

Something about my words made tears fill her eyes. Her hand lifted and brushed through my hair.

“I like you.”

I smiled brightly.

“I like you, too.”

“Do you believe in fate?” she asked. When she saw the confusion in my eyes, she continued. “That something greater than us decided who we would belong to—who we would love.”

“Maybe.” What Della and I had felt like it was written by the stars, but I knew better. We had both changed fate for one another. From the moment I saw Della, she had consumed me. My thoughts were hers; every breath I took was for her; my life was hers. She made me daydream of things that I once thought were impossible: love and happiness.

“Well, I believe in it, and I can’t imagine the heavens picking someone other than you for me.” Her eyes held mine as she said it. “But, I am scared that I will get attached, and then you will be taken from me,” she whispered.

Guilt filled me when I saw the hurt I had caused her. I grabbed her face in my hands and looked at her. Images of her smiling at me flashed through my mind. Memories of our first life together made me smile. I needed to get out of here. I was making this too complicated, like last time. I needed to remember that she was part of the plan, not someone I could keep.

I forced myself back, deep in the depths of our mind, and forced the other side of me out. As the change took hold, I closed my eyes and felt their color shift back to normal as the void faded back into the darkness. I was confused for just a moment before the images of what Della and I just did hit me like an arrow.

I instantly felt unworthy of her attention. “If you want me, I am yours. But I would not blame you if you wanted someone more worthy.” Even as I said it, I knew I would get rid of any man that tried to take her. If I were her last choice for a male, I would kill every male in the realm so that I was her only choice.?

"Actually, that's not true." I was feeling a surge of confidence. "I will never let another man have you. I'll spend my entire life making sure I am worthy of you. You're mine."

Della's mouth parted with surprise.

I leaned forward and kissed her. She hummed against me as she pulled me closer. I deepened the kiss only for a pounding on my door to startle me and cause me to jump back, fear in my eyes.

“Haden?” It was Remy.

Della stood up, eyes wide and filled with fear.

“I should go,” she said quickly, but before I could tell her to stay, she was gone.

I moved the dresser from in front of my door and opened it. Remy was smiling brightly at me. Her blue eyes looked into the room and frowned.

“I thought you were talking to someone?”

“She left.” I smiled.

“Are you smiling?” she asked.

I rolled my eyes as she let herself into my room.

“Sorry I interrupted.”

“It’s fine. How was your day?”

“How is Della today?” she asked, ignoring my question completely.

“Fine,” I replied sheepishly. Remy gasped dramatically and sat on my bed with me, her legs crossed as she looked at me like I was going to keep talking.

“Well?” She waved her hands to urge me to speak.

“What?”?

“Have you told her you love her yet?” Her face broke into a contagious smile. Gods, I loved seeing my sister happy. Remy clapped quietly as I rolled my eyes to avoid the question. “I remember when Mikel started talking to me. It was like we had known each other forever.” She smiled. “You feel the same way too?”

“Yes.”

“Gods, this makes me so happy, Haden. We deserve to be happy.”

I couldn’t help smiling at her excitement.

Remy fidgeted for a moment before holding up her finger to get me to hold on for a second as she disappeared out of the room. When she came back, she had a small black box. She carried it as if it was the most important thing she had ever touched. Her blue eyes met mine, and something on her face made me keep my mouth shut.

Slowly she opened it and pulled out a necklace with the most beautiful stone hanging from it. It glowed brightly like a star, but something dark purple swirled in the center. Her eyes filled with tears as she gazed at it.

“Mikel gave it to me,” she whispered. “He loves me.”

My eyes glanced up at her.

“I love him so much, Haden. It is like we are destined for each other.”

My sister was in love. She waited for me to say something. I opened my mouth and then shut it several times, not knowing how to reply.

I smiled. “What’s the pendant on the necklace made of?”

“He said he would tell me in a few days, when he comes back, and then it would all make sense why I can see him and why I feel so complete when he’s near me.”

She touched the stone gently before putting it back carefully. I leaned forward and hugged her.

“I’m happy for you, Rem.”

“Thank you.” She smiled as she pulled back. “Do you love her?”

My face heated at my sister's nosy questions.

“I hardly know her.” Yes, I did.

Remy waved her hand and gave me a pointed look.

“That doesn’t matter. You’re just scared.”

“I feel like I loved her before I ever saw her; how does that make any sense?” I looked at Remiah. I didn’t mean that figuratively; I literally felt like I had known and loved Della for years.?

“I loved Mikel after talking to him only once. He was so scared and kept saying the wrong things and tripping over his words. Love does not know time, Haden. If you love her, you love her. It’s as simple as that. Maybe this is what we get for enduring a life of pain and suffering… happiness and true love.”

Her words ran through my mind. Did the gods think our pain and suffering should be rewarded with true happiness? I had already seen a life I wanted with Della—married, maybe with some children, and a house nestled deep in the woods where no one would hear her screaming my name every night.

“I’m exhausted. I’m going to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Remy gave me a quick hug and headed out of the room. I laid down and stared at the ceiling. Maybe Della was my fate, and if she was, I would spend our existence loving the fuck out of her. I would make myself worthy of her because the heavens knew I would never be able to stay away.

Just as I went to lie down, I felt the cold shiver of the void crawling up my spine even though I had only been present for a short amount of time. I closed my eyes when the shift happened and then glanced around confused for a moment, wondering why I wasn’t in my bedroom.

After a moment, I remembered that this was my home in this life, not my last one. What a shithole. I looked around and sighed heavily before making sure no one could get in my bedroom. Then I summoned my black starlight and went to see an old friend.