Page 23 of Stolen By the Wraiths (Rift Wraiths #1)

I woke to soft lips trailing fire along my throat, finding the sensitive silver lines that pulsed with renewed life at Alix's touch.

"Good morning," she murmured against my collarbone, her voice husky with sleep and something more dangerous.

"I need more," I said, my voice still rough but carrying determination that made her eyes widen with anticipation. "It wasn't enough. It will never be enough."

Before she could respond, I had her in my arms, lifting her against me with enhanced strength while her legs wrapped around my waist on pure instinct. The feel of her naked body pressed against mine sent a jolt straight to my core that bypassed recent satisfaction and went straight to urgent need.

"What are you—" she started, then gasped as I pressed her back against the bulkhead with controlled force that spoke of barely restrained power.

"I'm going to fuck you until my name is the only one you know," I growled against her ear, letting the harmonics in my voice make her entire body shudder. "Going to claim you so thoroughly you'll feel me for days. Going to remind you what happens when you drive your mate to the edge of sanity."

Her response was a sound somewhere between a gasp and a moan, her scent spiking with arousal so fierce I could taste it.

"Yes," she breathed, her hands fisting in my hair as I positioned her against the wall. "Show me. Show me what I do to you."

The permission obliterated my control. I reached between us, finding her slick and ready despite—or because of—what she'd just done to me. The knowledge that pleasuring me had aroused her this intensely sent satisfaction racing through my system.

"You're so wet," I said, my voice low with need as I teased her entrance without giving her what she craved. "Getting me off made you need this, didn't it?"

"Please," she gasped, her hips seeking more contact while I held her pinned. "Stop teasing. I need you inside me."

"Beg properly," I commanded, letting just the head of my arousal breach her entrance before pulling back. "I want to hear you say it."

"I want you to take me," she said, her voice breaking with honesty that sent light cascading through my traceries. "Hard. Deep. Until I can't think about anything but how good you feel inside me."

The admission was my undoing. I thrust up into her in one powerful stroke that had her crying out as her back hit the wall, the force of my entry driving her up against the bulkhead while her legs tightened around my waist.

"Fuck, yes," she gasped, her head falling back as I filled her completely. "Like that. Perfect."

I began moving with primal force that came from being pushed beyond rational thought. This was claiming, pure and simple. Raw, urgent possession expressed through bodies already attuned to one another, but never unleashed with this level of need.

"You feel incredible," I snarled against her throat, my hips snapping up with force that made the bulkhead shake with each impact. "So tight around me. Like you were made for this."

"I was," she gasped, answering each of my thrusts with her own. "Made for you. Made to be claimed. Made to be yours."

Her words sent something wild through me, overwhelming enough to make rational thought impossible. I increased the pace until we were both gasping, her body taking everything I gave her and demanding more with each sound that escaped her throat.

"Harder," she commanded, her hips bucking against mine. Her nails dug into my shoulders, anchoring herself as if I were the only solid thing in the universe. "I want to feel this tomorrow. Want to remember exactly how good you make me feel."

Every thrust was a strike against the memory of her cell, every gasp she made a victory against the silence of our separation. I drove into her, erasing the pain with pleasure so fierce it bordered on violence.

"Mine," I snarled with each thrust, the word becoming a mantra. "Mine to claim, mine to possess."

"Yours," she agreed breathlessly, her voice catching as I found the angle that made her cry out. "Always yours."

The confirmation sent something wild loose in my chest. Her body's reaction to mine went beyond normal sensation—her inner muscles clenching around the ridges, a response so intense it was almost a vibration.

With each thrust, I watched her back arch and heard her breath catch, her sounds telling me my anatomy was hitting places she'd never felt before.

I changed position without withdrawing, bracing one hand against the wall while the other gripped her hip, using my enhanced strength to control the rhythm and depth.

The new angle let me go deeper, hit spots that made her scream my name with broken pleasure.

Her awareness fixed on the patterns of light flaring with each thrust—the silver lines pulsing against her inner walls, a constant, glowing reminder of the alien male claiming her so completely.

"That's it," I said, feeling her inner muscles begin to flutter as her climax approached. "Come for me. Give me your release while I fuck you against this wall."

She came apart with a cry that seemed to shake the ship's frame, her body convulsing around me while I continued driving into her through the waves of her release. But I wasn't finished—wasn't even close to satisfied.

"Again," I commanded, maintaining the pace even as she trembled with oversensitivity. "I want to feel you lose control again."

"I can't," she gasped, though her body was already answering the continued stimulation. "Too much."

"You can," I said with absolute conviction, adjusting my angle to find new sources of pleasure while she writhed in my grip. "You can take everything I give you and more. You're strong enough, perfect enough, and mine enough."

I pushed her over the edge again, this release deeper, more soul-shaking than the last. She went limp in my arms, supported only by my strength and the wall at her back, while I finally allowed myself to chase my own release.

When I came, it was with a roar of triumph that spoke of total possession. This was it. The final, unbreakable seal on our bond, a claiming so complete it left no room for doubt. For a timeless instant, we were a single entity lost in shared ecstasy.

In the aftermath, we stayed fused together, slick skin and shuddering breaths the only reality. My forehead rested against hers, the universe narrowed to the scent of her satisfaction and the faint thrum of the ship's engines.

"Holy hell," she whispered against my shoulder, her voice wrecked. "That was..."

"Perfect," I finished, carrying her to our bunk where I settled us both with careful tenderness that contrasted sharply with the fierce claiming we'd just shared.

As I looked down at her—flushed, satisfied, and marked with evidence of our joining—tenderness stirred in my chest. The urgent need was satisfied, but underneath was something deeper. A love that demanded expression through worship rather than conquest.

But even in her satisfaction, I caught the small tells. The way she didn't quite meet my eyes immediately—a lingering echo of the helplessness she'd fought through. The slight tension in her shoulders that spoke of someone who'd learned not to trust safety too quickly.

"Let me take care of you," I murmured, settling beside her with reverent care.

This time, when I touched her, it was with gentle reverence reserved for precious things. My hands mapped her body with patient thoroughness while my mouth followed, pressing soft kisses to skin that still carried the scent of our joining.

"You saved me," I murmured against her throat, my voice carrying absolute truth. "Not just from that facility, but from believing I was only valuable as a weapon. You taught me I could be loved for who I am rather than what I can do."

She made a soft sound, but I continued my worship, using touch and voice to convey everything I felt for this woman who'd chosen to love a broken soldier.

When I settled between her thighs, it was with patient devotion rather than urgent hunger. I used my mouth and hands to build her pleasure slowly, carefully, worshipping her with the kind of thorough attention she deserved.

"I love you," I said against her most sensitive places, feeling her body's reaction to both the physical stimulation and the emotional declaration. "I love how you see strength in me where everyone else saw a problem. I love how you cherish the parts of me I was taught to hide."

She came apart under my worship with soft sounds that spoke of emotional release as much as physical pleasure. When I moved up to hold her, she was shaking with more than satisfaction—tears streaming down her face as she processed everything we'd been through.

"I love you, too," she whispered.

I gathered her close, our bodies fitting seamlessly as our bond hummed with pure contentment. A quiet resonance between us, the rhythm of her certainty matching my own—deep, peaceful knowledge of our mutual belonging.

"No regrets?" I asked, echoing the question that had become our ritual.

"None," she said with absolute conviction. "This is exactly where I belong."

"What happens next?" she asked, though her contentment was palpable warmth between us.

"Whatever we choose," I said, pressing my lips to her temple as she settled against my chest. "New missions, new challenges, and new ways to prove that our bond is a strength, not a weakness."

Hours later, we finally emerged from our quarters, drawn by the scent of something that almost resembled actual food. The mess hall was warm with conversation and the kind of easy camaraderie that came from shared victory.

I paused in the doorway for just a moment before Ressh's hand found mine, grounding me. Safe. We were safe.

"Well, well," Malrik called out as we entered, his feather crest flaring with amusement. "Look who finally decided to rejoin the land of the living."

Heat flooded my cheeks, but Alix just smiled and settled into a seat beside me. "We were... debriefing," she said.