Page 22 of Shifting Hearts

EIGHT

Raven

I grab his shirt and toss it away then crush my mouth to his, pouring everything I’ve been holding back into the kiss.

Fear, fury, longing, disbelief. It’s messy, desperate, and perfect.

His arms wrap around me like he’s afraid I’ll evaporate, and for the first time in my life, I feel wanted. Not tolerated. Not hidden. Claimed .

The bond pulses between us, alive and electric, and I swear the room shifts around us. The walls hum. The air thickens. Magic coils through my veins like wildfire.

I press into him, needing more, needing him more than I’ve ever needed anything. There’s no time to find a bed. No space for hesitation. I want him here, now, in this room where the prophecy woke and the truth cracked open.

He lifts me like I weigh nothing, and I feel the difference between us; his body all muscle and heat, mine soft, curvy, and trembling.

I’ve always hated that. Always feared being too much, not enough, wrong in every way.

But when he looks at me, it’s like I’m sacred.

Like every inch of me was carved for him.

“Don’t stop,” I whisper. He doesn’t.

His mouth trails fire down my neck, and I arch into him, gasping.

My thoughts scatter. All I can feel is him; his hands, his breath, the way he touches me like I’m something holy.

I’ve never known this kind of connection.

I’ve never imagined it could feel like this, like the world is ending and being reborn inside my skin.

I was cast out. Branded unworthy. Left to rot in exile.

Now I’m here, in the arms of a man who says he would burn the world for me.

"I need you, Raven. My fire burns so deep for you," he whispers into my ear, eliciting goosebumps to prickle over my fevered skin. “Tell me to stop, Raven. Tell me you don’t want this.”

His touch ignites a heat deep within my core, and I can feel his energy surging, the dragon in him calling to me. Every bone in my body is screaming yes.

"No! I need this," I whimper. "I want you." My heart is beating out of my chest, and the feral look in Kieran’s eyes burns me from the inside out.

There are no more words between us, no hesitation.

His mouth meets mine in a kiss that's fierce, primal, and everything I didn't know I needed. With swift and powerful movements, my clothes lie in tatters on the floor.

His touch is electric, his warmth is overwhelming, and when his hands slide up the curve of my back, I forget every moment that came before.

His kiss sears down my collarbone, and his mouth finds my breast, his tongue swirling over my aching nipple.

I cry out, digging my nails into his skin.

His hand slides up my inner thigh, and my body clenches, wanting him, needing him.

"Please," I whimper.

Kieran teases my entrance, drawing out the overwhelming pleasure.

Finally, when I’m a sopping, trembling mess, he gives me mercy and plunges his fingers into my aching core.

He thrusts in and out, curling his fingers, stretching me, hitting just the right spot.

My back arches as my nails dig deeper into his shoulders, cutting his flesh.

Kieran growls, a sound so feral and possessive that I nearly climax from the sheer intensity. His thumb moves over my clit, and it's all I need to push me over the edge.

I scream, my body shattering around his fingers.

“Now you’re going to take all of me.” He presses me more firmly against the wall, his body covering mine, the heat between us so intense that I swear it's going to burn me alive.

He presses his tip against my pussy, teasing me.

I feel him, hot and hard, pulsing between my thighs. When he lowers me down, I can't stop the cry that breaks from my lips. The burn from my innocence being ripped away is quickly replaced by something else, a pleasure so intense I can barely breathe.

"You're mine," he whispers as he continues thrusting inside me. "Mine to claim, mine to protect, mine to breed."

My eyes fly open at his last words. "Wh-what?"

He stills deep inside me, and my body is begging him to move again.

"You'll see," he says, his voice low and gravelly. "You'll understand when the time comes." He cups my cheek, pulling my bottom lip down with his thumb.

"Now, though... just know you're mine, through this life and the next."

My heart stutters. "I think I was always destined to be yours," I murmur.

He groans. "I've never felt anything like this, Mo Lasair ." He looks at me like he's seeing something in a new light.

Then he thrusts into me harder, and I forget everything but the feeling of him deep inside me.

His voice is rough, reverent, like he’s speaking a spell instead of a sentence.

“My queen, my mate, Mo Lasair ,” he groans, brushing the hair from my face with a tenderness that makes my chest ache.

The words settle over me like smoke. Thick, warm, and ancient. I know what queen means. I know what mate means. But Mo Lasair , that’s something else. Something older. It curls in my ears like fire, like a name I’ve never heard but somehow recognize.

“What does that mean?” I whisper, breath catching.

He leans in, forehead resting against mine, and the bond pulses between us, hot, alive, undeniable.

“It’s Old Tongue,” he murmurs. “It means my flame.”

My heart stutters.

My flame.

I’ve spent years hiding the parts of me that burned too brightly, too loudly. Now this man, this warrior, this protector, this dragon calls me his flame like I'm somehow worthy. Like I’m not something to fear, but something to worship.

I blink up at him, overwhelmed. He’s so tall, so solid, carved from heat and shadow. I’ve never felt beautiful in my own skin. Never felt safe in it.

His hands don’t hesitate, his eyes don’t flinch.

He sees me. All of me, and he chooses me anyway.

Kieran slides his hand between us and brushes his fingers along my clit, circling and circling until I’m a panting mess. He keeps going, not relenting.

I grip his arms. "Kieran," I gasp.

He doesn't stop.

I don't know how long we go like that. His body pinning mine, his cock moving inside me while his hand works its magic, but I'm right on the edge when he finally kisses me again, swallowing my cries as I break apart.

This time, the room doesn't shift, the walls don't hum.

The only magic is between us, and I'm not sure which one of us is controlling it.

He thrusts into me a few more times, then his own release follows. He doesn't move his hand, his fingers still teasing me, and the combination is enough to send another jolt of pleasure through my body. My eyes roll back, my back arches, and another moan breaks through.

"Fuck, Raven. You're perfect," Kieran groans, his fingers still swirling over my sensitive skin.

After a few moments, he grabs my waist and pulls me even closer. He buries his face in my hair and inhales, breathing me in.

I relax into him, letting my head rest on his chest, his unique scent of cedar and smoke filling the air. I've never felt safer.

His heartbeat is steady beneath my cheek, a low thrum like distant thunder. I close my eyes and let it anchor me, each beat a promise that I’m not alone anymore.

His arms tighten around me, protective, possessive. Not in a way that cages, but in a way that shields.

“You smell like stormlight,” he murmurs into my hair, voice thick with reverence. “Like the moment before lightning strikes.”

I don’t know what that means. Not exactly. But it makes something inside me flicker, a memory, maybe, or a prophecy I haven’t yet lived.

I tilt my head, just enough to meet his gaze. His eyes glow faintly, ember-bright, like the fire inside him is waking up. For me.

“I’ve waited lifetimes for you,” he whispers, stroking my cheek. “And I’d wait a thousand more.”

I don’t know where I end and he begins.

His breath is still warm against my skin, his arms wrapped around me like armor, like sanctuary. The bond pulses between us—no longer a whisper, but a roar. I feel it in my blood, in my bones, in the space between heartbeats. Something ancient has shifted. Something inside me.

It starts low, a flicker in my spine, then spreads like wildfire. My skin tingles, my vision sharpens, and the air around me thickens. I gasp, pulling back just enough to look at him, and his eyes widen.

“Raven,” he breathes, voice reverent. “You’re glowing.”

I glance down. My skin shimmers faintly, veins lit with silver and gold. The mark on his shoulder pulses in time with mine, and the chamber responds, sigils flaring, shadows retreating, the stone itself humming with recognition.

It’s happening.

The power I was never supposed to have. The truth they buried. The prophecy they feared.

I feel it rising, not like a weapon, but like a birthright.

Memories I’ve never lived flicker behind my eyes. A woman cloaked in moonlight. A dragon curled around a crescent. A voice whispering Mo Lasair as the world burned and was reborn.

I was cast out. Rejected. Told I was too much, too dangerous, too broken.

But now I know the truth.

I wasn’t meant to be hidden.

I was meant to awaken.

And with Kieran beside me, I finally am.