Page 54

Chapter Thirty

His kiss was raw and demanding, his tongue instantly parting her lips and driving into her mouth. His hand came to the back of her head, grabbing her hair and holding her in place. She kissed him back with the same ferocity, her arms looping around his neck and pulling him closer to her.

Ty nipped at her lips and sucked on her tongue, so frantic, as if he wanted to do everything all at once.

Ena could barely keep up as he lowered his hands to her backside, squeezing it through her dress and lifting her up.

She looped her legs around his waist, pulling at his hair and arching further into him.

Her breasts pushed against his chest as she sucked on his lower lip, making him groan loudly.

She was dimly aware that he was supposed to be leaving, but fuck it all. If this was goodbye, if this was all they would ever have, then she wanted everything.

She grabbed at him like her life depended on it as he took two long strides to the side of the room, forcing her back against the door.

Her hands came to his shirt, lifting it up so she could feel his skin.

She stroked her fingers down his chest, the sensation of hard muscles and soft hairs driving her absolutely wild.

Leaning her weight back against the door, she looked down and started to undo his pants.

She could feel his cock already hard underneath, begging to be released.

She couldn’t get his pants all the way down in this position, but she stroked him through the fabric, swirling her thumb around the tip that was exposed.

“Fucking Iblis, Ena,” Ty gasped. Then, still holding on to her rear, he walked them over to the small bed and threw her down on it.

As she stared up at him, he looked like some sort of dark, vengeful god.

His shirt disheveled and his pants halfway undone, his hair unkempt from her hands working into it—she took it all in and relished the view, committing it to memory.

He stared down at her with an intensity that made her heart skip.

“Get that dress off,” he commanded.

Ena did as he asked and undid the laces on her bodice. She quickly kicked off her boots and shimmied out of her dress and shift until she was kneeling naked on the bed before him.

His eyes roamed over her breasts, her stomach, and down between her legs. “I can’t tell you how often I regretted not getting you fully naked before me all those years ago. You are fucking stunning, Ena.”

If Ena wasn’t quite so mad with lust, she would have blushed, but as it were, she just shook her head and said, “No time for that,” as she reached for him and yanked his shirt over his head before she moved to pull his pants down too.

As he stepped out of them, his hands came up to cup her breasts.

He groaned as he squeezed them gently, his thumbs stroking lightly over her nipples.

He lowered to his knees before her so his head was at their level, and he took one nipple into his mouth, swirling his tongue over it before biting it gently between his teeth.

Ena instantly felt her core fill with wetness. Her clit began to ache, begging to be touched as he fondled her breasts more and more.

Her hands came to his shoulders, his neck, his hair, then lowered down his chest to stroke his cock.

It was silky smooth and yet absolutely rock hard.

She felt him shudder as she touched it, and she knew it felt as good for him as it did for her.

She stroked him several times, up and down, pumping him with her hand as she kissed him.

Imagining what it would feel like in her mouth, in her pussy. Then she couldn’t wait anymore.

“Ty, fuck. Please fuck me,” she begged, squeezing him tightly in her hand.

He straightened up to look at her, his eyes mirroring the frantic desire she felt in her body. “Lay down,” he said, his voice rough.

She did as she was told and lay back on the bed. She expected him to come on top of her, but instead, he tugged her legs to the edge of the bed. As she lifted her head to ask what he was doing, she felt his hand part the lips of her sex as his tongue lightly licked up her center.

She threw her head back instantly in ecstasy.

No coherent words came from her mouth as he continued to tease her clit with his tongue, lightly at first, then harder and harder.

Then she felt one of his long fingers enter her, pumping in and out slowly, tortuously.

She squirmed under him, running her hands along the shaved sides of his head as she felt her body tighten, her pleasure ramping higher and higher until he slid a second finger inside her and she exploded.

Her orgasm tore through her body instantly, making her cry out.

She felt her muscles clench around his fingers as he worked them in and out, still licking and sucking at her clit.

When the shocks left her body, she was shaking and limp.

Only then did he stop and climb on top of her.

They locked eyes as he cupped her cheek gently. The look in them stilled her heart for a second. So reverent, so filled with tenderness.

“Are you ready for me, Ena?” he asked gently.

“Yes,” she replied, her voice still shaky from her orgasm.

Slowly, he reached between them to grasp himself and line his cock to her entrance. As he did, she suddenly got nervous, and he must have sensed her tension, because he stopped and looked at her once again.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing. It’s just…I just haven’t been with anyone…like that…in a while.” In over nine years, to be exact.

“Do you want me to stop?” he asked.

“No, no. It’s just…” she spoke quietly, as if hesitant to admit this. But she needed him to know. She needed him to know what this meant to her. “There’s only been you, Ty. I haven’t been with anyone since the night we were together.”

Ty was silent for a second as his eyes filled with emotion. “Oh, Ena,” he said gently. Relief filled his voice as he cupped her cheek again, stroking it with his thumb before lowering his brow to hers. “You really are mine, aren’t you?” he whispered.

Not able to speak for fear that he’d hear how true that statement was, she simply nodded in return.

He sighed into her, and then kissed her, tenderly, lovingly. When he pulled away, she had to ask. She had to know.

“And you?” she asked quietly. “Are you mine?”

He pulled back to look into her eyes, and the look of adoration in them brought a twisting feeling to her chest. “I’ve always been yours, since the moment we met, and I always will be.”

Bringing up her hand, she traced his cheek with her finger. She gently skimmed it down his face, along his bearded jaw, and over his lower lip. She traced his face as if to memorize it—memorize the way he was looking at her, and the way he felt on top of her.

“I’m ready, Ty,” she said.

He took himself in his hand again and slowly pushed inside her. Her eyes went wide as she felt her body stretch around his. There was some pain, but somehow, it felt right. Just like the first time, it felt like she was home.

Once he was fully seated inside her, he stopped moving, giving her body a chance to adjust to the size of him. Ty brought his head down and kissed her again, sweetly this time, as if he wanted to savor every part of her.

Feeling the burning start to lessen, Ena began to rock her hips cautiously up against him. He moved with her, slowly, deeply at first, then faster and faster. Their breathing turned ragged as sweat began to cover their bodies.

With every push of his pelvis, she felt her muscles get tighter and tighter as he pounded against her clit.

She clutched at his back, dragging her nails down so hard she had to have left marks.

She felt a feral wildness come over her.

Driven by some instinct she couldn’t name, she urged him to go faster, harder.

She wanted her body to remember this tomorrow.

She wanted to feel him inside her even after he’d left.

She wanted him to mark her. She thrust up into him as he reached down with one hand, grabbing her hip hard enough to bruise as he lost control entirely, driving into her with wild abandon.

She felt her orgasm rip through her body as he spilled inside her.

The waves that rippled through her were duller this second time, but all the more satisfying with him inside her.

Ty bent over top of her, keeping his weight on his forearms. For a while, the only sounds were their ragged breaths, and the incessant beating of their hearts.

Slowly, slowly, the world came back. Ty rolled off her to lay beside her, squished close together on the small bed.

All at once, Ena felt her heart break. This man beside her, he was…

everything. Everything she’d ever wanted.

Everything she’d been waiting for. She was his, even though she’d denied it for years.

And now, after all this time, he was hers too.

How could she say goodbye? She had barely been able to do it the first time, all those years ago, and yet here they were in the same situation again.

She got up and dressed silently and automatically as she felt tears roll down her cheeks. Ty dressed himself beside her, then picked up the saddlebag she’d brought. Wordlessly, he extended his hand to Ena, and she took it.

They walked out of the door, passing the witch lying on the floor of the landing, and down the stairs.

Through the hallway, Ena saw the witch in the sitting room obediently reading his book, none the wiser to their presence.

All had gone according to her plan, so they slipped out the front door, and into the cool night air.

Ena guided Ty towards the stables that she’d scoped out earlier that day.

They kept to the shadows of the houses, but they didn’t see anyone else out.

The stalls were dark and warm, filled with the sounds of resting horses.

They approached one of the larger horses, better for a man of Ty’s size, and Ena watched him as he located a saddle and put it expertly on the horse.

She knew she should go. He had this in hand now. He didn’t need her anymore to get away. If anything, having both of them here would draw more attention. She should go back to her room, where Greya and Heran slept. She should be with her family, with her Coven, where she belonged.

He had his job to do. He needed a chance to break the bond and make things better for his people. And she’d done her part by letting him go, and giving him that chance. Now it was time to return to her path.

Ty looked back at her as he led the saddled horse out into the night.

She kept telling herself she should turn back now.

He was far enough away, he was safe. They walked into the dark woods behind the village, and started heading deeper into it.

Soon, she could barely make out the houses in the dark.

She could still hear the ocean, but it was getting fainter. And yet she walked, and she walked.

She couldn’t stop. She couldn’t say goodbye.

And Ty, sensing this, didn’t mount his horse.

He simply walked beside her, just as afraid to let her go.

And in that moment, Ena realized what that draw to him was, the one she’d always felt, because she realized how much they’d always fit .

Like when she looked at the vastness of the mountains, or the endlessness of the oceans, and knew she was a tiny piece of a bigger whole.

Just like those, it was as if she and Ty were a part of each other, ebbing and flowing together like one being, one whole.

Realizing this, she stopped in her tracks, and Ty stopped too.

Turning to look at her, his eyes were filled with sorrow. “So this is it then?” he asked. Steeling himself, he looked at her and said, “Ena, I—”

“You’ll need a witch.”

“What?” he said, his brow furrowing in confusion.

“You’ll need a witch. Likely more than one, to break the bond.”

“Ena, what are you saying?” His face lightened with hope.

Ena took a deep breath, and dredged up her courage.

She looked into the face of the man who’d always made her feel powerful and alive.

A man who felt like home, and who was, and always would be, hers .

And although she knew she should return to her path, standing beside him in the dark of the woods, she was suddenly filled with a sense of clarity.

She didn’t want to return to that path. She didn’t know if she fit there anymore, not like this, not after everything she’d done and learned. Maybe she’d never really fit there. And she wanted to help him break the bond. Wanted to right this wrong. Maybe that was why Gaia had given her the vision.

So she would follow a different path. An unknown one.

“You’ll need me to help break the bond,” she said. “So I’m coming with you. To the Underworld.”

END OF BOOK ONE