Page 26

Draven

S he smells like earth and defiance and everything I fought to come back to.

“I thought I lost you,” she whispers, shivering slightly.

“You did,” I breathe, voice low. “But you called me back.”

We shatter into the sky, the earth falling away, the clouds parting like silk. She’s cradled against my chest, arms wrapped around my neck, her heartbeat steady.

The higher we go, the more the world fades.

I level us out, coasting high above the forest and the mountains in the distance. The wind whips around us, but the heat from my wings keeps her warm. All the events of today — of the last few days, of the last years — fade away. It’s only her that matters. Only this moment.

My hand slides behind her neck, pulling her forehead to mine. “You saved me. You brought me back when even I didn’t believe I could come back. You’re mine, Kassira. I’m never letting you go,” I say, voice rough.

Her breath catches.

I press my lips to hers — soft at first, then deeper, until her fingers are fisting my hair, her body melting into mine midair. My wings flare wide, the fire pulsing with each beat of my heart.

Her scent is tangled in my skin now, woven into every breath I take. Her mark sings through my veins, each beat of my heart screaming her name. And yet I’m still starving for her.

I draw back just enough, mouth brushing her jaw. The second I pull back slightly and our eyes lock, I snap. I can’t hold myself back anymore.

She marked me to save my life. Now I’ll mark her to claim hers.

She knows what’s coming. I can see it in her eyes. The raw, wild need that matches mine.

I tilt her head with one hand and bare her throat with the other.

She doesn’t resist.

Her pupils are blown wide, her lips parted, chest rising fast as her body presses harder into mine.

There’s no thought left.

I lower my head to the curve of her neck and feel her pulse against my mouth.

The bond thrums between us, tense, bright and desperate.

I bare my fangs. Her pulse flutters against my lips.

I bite hard, maybe harder than I need to. Her blood floods my mouth and it’s so intoxicating that I close my eyes in pleasure.

As my fangs sink in, her soul flares like sunlight, her body arching in my arms. Her cry splits the wind. My fire responds, flames from my wings snapping outward in a blaze of gold and red and pure light.

The bond slams into place. Complete and unbreakable.

Magic erupts from us — mine and hers — melding like molten steel, searing across her skin in glowing sigils only I can read. They shine for a heartbeat, etched into her flesh like a vow.

Her mark forms across the base of her neck and shoulder. My name, forever on her skin.

And then I feel hers. I couldn’t feel it when she marked me, I was lost to the curse. But now it tears through me like lightning. Her soul claims me back, a silken chain of starlight wrapping around my heart.

I groan against her skin, holding her tighter than I thought I ever could.

We’re falling — weightless, slow, not down, but into each other.

Into forever.

I pull back, lips brushing her ear.

“You’re mine now,” I whisper.

She smiles.

“That doesn’t mean you’re off the hook for all these mate problems you brought into my life.”

We laugh as hellfire dances behind us, lighting the night sky like a second sun.

I kiss her like she’s the air I need to breathe. Like if I stop, I’ll forget how to exist.

She moans against my mouth, grinding into me with a hunger that sends a dangerous spark shooting down my spine. Her scent wraps around me like silk.

“I need you, Your Majesty,” she whispers, her voice low, a plea masked as a challenge.

My grip tightens on her hips, dragging her closer, chest to chest, her warmth burning through every layer of me.

“Call me ‘Your Majesty’ again,” I growl against her throat, kissing a trail down her skin. “And I’ll ruin you, right here, midair.”

She arches back, smug and sinful. “Your Majesty,” she breathes, and the sound of it — sweet and sharp and teasing — makes something primal inside me rise to the surface.

I growl deep in my chest, shifting her effortlessly, her legs wrapping tighter around my waist. My mouth finds hers again, slower now, deeper. The kind of kiss that tastes like forever.

Her shirt comes apart with just one swipe of my claw, and she gasps, startled. But there’s laughter in it, and raw need in her eyes. Her breasts spill into the open, nipples pebbling instantly from the wind. She leans into me, daring me to lose control.

She trembles in my arms, breath catching as I bring my hand down her back, dragging my fingers along her spine. The sounds she makes drive me half-mad. I tilt her hips against mine and she gasps again, arching into me, lips parting in anticipation.

Our magic hums between us, the bond flaring wild in the space where our skin meets.

The need for her grows impossibly higher inside of me. I kiss her again and she groans against my lips, lost to the moment.

The last shred of control that I was still clinging to starts cracking, fraying at the edges.

One second, she’s kissing me — taunting me with that wicked mouth, grinding against me like sin incarnate — and the next, her pants are gone. Torn by my claws clean through the middle. No hesitation. No mercy.

She gasps, breathless and smiling. That maddening, beautiful smile of hers that always makes me forget everything.

“That was my favorite pair,” she tries, voice mock-wounded, even as her fingers dig deeper into my shoulders.

I growl low in my chest, the sound dark and possessive. “I’ll buy you a thousand more,” I promise, voice rough and filled with desire.

I lean her back, her spine arching like a bow, her perfect breasts completely exposed to me.

Her fingers slide into my hair, grip tightening at the back of my head as she pulls me forward — letting me know exactly what she needs.

I tease one of her hardened nipples with the tip of a claw before bringing my mouth down and catching it between my teeth, biting hard enough to make her yelp, then soothe it with my tongue.

A groan filled with pleasure slips from her lips and a full-body shiver ripples through her.

I grip the curves of her ass with both hands, dragging her hard against me, grinding her soaked heat along the length of my cock.

She's drenched — her need slick and desperate, leaving no question about what she wants.

I bite her nipple and suck, a growl vibrating in my chest, and tighten my hold, fingers digging deep into her flesh.

I slide a hand up her spine, anchoring her to me, pressing her chest to mine until I can feel the frantic beat of her heart against my ribs.

Then I sink two fingers into her pussy from behind — slow, deep and unrelenting.

She whimpers, grinding harder against me, her breath catching on a moan.

I smile against her throat and drag my fangs over the mark I carved into her skin, biting down just enough to make her shiver.

But the moment her teeth sink into my own fresh mark, a jolt of brutal, blinding pleasure rips through me.

And that’s it. The last thread of restraint snaps.

My cock aches to be inside of her, to push deep into her wet core.

I thrust into her in one savage, fluid motion, my wings flaring wide, sending the clouds around us scattering like smoke.

She cries out my name, head thrown back, voice wrecked with pleasure.

I don’t wait. I don’t ease her in. I fuck her like I’ve been dying to — hard, fast, desperate.

My hands grip her hips, guiding her along my cock, her body stretching around me like she was made for this.

She’s perfection — falling apart in my arms, breathless, gasping, begging without words.

Each time I drive into her, her walls clamp down tighter, slick and pulsing, milking me for everything I’ve got.

My balls tighten and pleasure licks up my spine, white hot lightning blazing at the base.

It’s building like a storm that’s about to crack the sky wide open. Fast, furious and inevitable.

Her pussy tightens around my cock, gripping me in a way that makes my breath hitch. I know she’s close to the edge. I can see it. Every roll of my hips makes her tremble harder, her nails dragging across my skin, leaving scratches that vanish the second they’re made.

I feel the exact moment when she breaks.

Her breath catches. Her whole body seizes.

Her eyes lock on mine — wide, silent, undone.

I don’t stop. I can’t. I move her faster, needing to feel every inch of her wrapped around me.

I crush my mouth to hers, devouring her lips with feral hunger and when I bite down, it’s just shy of breaking skin.

I bury my cock to the hilt inside of her, over and over again until I feel her breaking for a second time and I shatter with her, a deafening roar ripping out of my chest. My cum coats her pussy, dripping down her thighs, branding my scent into her.

I groan softly against her lips and drop my forehead to her shoulder, locking my arms around her. Her heartbeat drums wild and fast against my chest. It’s a sound I never want to stop hearing.

“I want this to be at least a weekly thing,” she whispers, her breath brushing against the shell of my ear.

I huff a laugh, amused. “That’s a no from me. We’re definitely doing this several times a day.”

She chuckles — warm and smug — and the sound goes straight to my cock, igniting the hunger all over again.

“I meant the ‘in the air’ part, you Royal Pain in the Ass.”

I grin, teeth flashing, voice dipping lower. “I’ll show you pain in the ass one of these days,” I growl against her skin, dragging my lips along the curve of her neck. “But for now,” I say and start moving inside her again, “it seems that we’re not done.”

Her sigh filled with need curls through me like sin brought to life.