Page 27 of The Never List (Never List #1)

Axl

“Axl.” Rylee gasps my name as I dock the ship. “I…I’ve never…”

After we disembark, I interlace our fingers, guiding her along the shoreline toward a bank of pristine marble steps that rest on a plateau ahead.

“I’ve never brought anyone here,” I say when she can’t finish her sentence. “It’s open to the public, of course.” I motion to the few people who climb the stairs and enter the wide-open building held up by smooth stone pillars evenly spaced around the entire rectangular structure. “But I’ve never brought a potential here.”

Rylee’s blue eyes glisten beneath the torches that flicker from sconces lining the building. The sun has fully set behind the horizon, leaving the sky an inky shade of black with the moon high enough to coat everything in silver.

We clear the stairs and walk between the pillars that are so tall and wide, they seem to touch the sky. I guide her across the sleek marble floors, the salty air crisp and warm in a way that shouldn’t be possible with an open-air structure.

The few of my people visiting dip their heads low and casually leave us alone, heading down the steps and out of the building with ease.

“She’s magnificent,” Rylee says, swallowing hard as she tips her head back to fully survey the structure before her.

The giant statue is made of nonporous stone. It’s a smooth, polished sapphire color with veins of the richest, deepest greens. A woman stands in a tall, proud position. One hand holds the folds of a long gown that has movement even among the stone, and the other hand is outstretched toward the high ceiling. The strands of her hair flow all around her heart-shaped face like she’s submerged in water, and a necklace of leaves hugs her bare neck.

A low power radiates from the statue, one that’s the same as mine—all earth and water and tangible connections to the world around us. It dances with mine, the soft humming like a lullaby I can’t quite remember. The old familiar longing pricks my chest, and I take a deep breath to soothe it as I look up at where my mother sleeps. Instinct beckons me to give a drop of my power, but I’ve given this year’s offering already.

“I come here when I feel lost,” I explain, cracking myself wide open for Rylee. We only have a week left, and I’ve made my decision. I want her in a way I’ve never wanted anyone before. It goes beyond the fundamental need for it… I love this woman, even though it’s way too early to say as much.

“Are you feeling lost now?” she asks gently, tearing her eyes from my mother’s likeness to me.

“I actually feel a lot clearer than I have in months. This place is sacred to me, special in a way I can’t put words to, and I wanted you to be a part of it.”

She opens her lips a few times but fails to respond.

I grin down at her, holding up our intertwined fingers to my mother’s statue. “Mom,” I say, my voice raw. “This is Rylee Gray.” Rylee’s eyes go wide, her smile bright. I continue, “She means a lot to me, and I wanted you to meet her.”

Rylee scrambles for a second but quickly bows deep at the waist. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Goddess Tareena.”

“Please.” I urge her to stand up. “Call her Tareena. She wouldn’t mind.” The few recollections I have of my mother play across my memory—a caring, untamable woman who loved to play games. A fearless woman who taught me about nature and power and how to work with it instead of trying to control it. I remember her being a constant warmth and source of unconditional love before she was ripped from my life.

Rylee shakes her head, leaning into me when I release her hand and wrap an arm around her shoulders instead.

“Can you feel her?” I ask, looking down at Rylee.

She closes her eyes. “Yes.”

Anticipation tightens my chest. I’ve seen my people here before. I’ve spoken to many on separate occasions, and there are few who can sense the power like I can. I’m not testing Rylee, but I’m not wasting this moment, either. Maybe here, she’ll open up to me more.

“Describe it to me,” I gently push, my voice softening.

Rylee keeps her eyes closed, her brow furrowed slightly. “She’s warm,” she says, taking a deep breath before smiling wide. “And…mischievous.” Rylee opens her eyes, nudging her body against mine. “She feels like you. All games and constant movement, like the ocean you love so much.”

Emotion clogs my throat, my senses soaring with her accurate description. Another piece of the puzzle—Rylee is something different than the norm. What, exactly? I’m not sure, but I’m dying to find out.

“You’re fucking amazing, you know that?” I ask.

“You just cursed in front of your mother,” she whispers, like Mom can really hear me.

Another sting pricks my chest as I look up at her statue. “I don’t think she can hear me.”

“Why not?” Rylee asks.

“My father told me she made the choice to go into stasis after the war with the demis and when Erithmore became a greater threat,” I explain, waving my hand to the statue she supposedly created around herself. Rylee tenses beneath my arm, but I give her a comforting touch to assure her that I’m okay to talk about this. “He told me she’d awaken and return to us when she felt the world was at peace.” I swallow around the rock in my throat. “But that can’t be true, can it? Just a bedtime story to appease me when I was young and grieving.” I turn to Rylee like she’ll have all the answers. “If my mother was really sleeping in there, wouldn’t she hear me? Wouldn’t she have felt the peace Lumathyst has held for the last few decades? Wouldn’t she…come back?”

Rylee blinks up at me, sympathy ringing from her features. She splays a hand over the center of my chest before glancing back up at my mother’s statue. “Maybe she isn’t ready yet,” she says softly. “Maybe she’s waiting for her son to be on one of the four thrones before she awakens.”

Hope splinters the tension gripping my heart. “You really believe that?”

“Why not?” she asks. “Anything is possible.”

There is something in her tone with the last statement that makes a whole new wave of doubt crash over me…something that makes her sound more like she’s trying to convince herself than me.

I shift my arm from her shoulders, reaching into my pocket to withdraw a long wooden box made from driftwood before handing it to her.

She cracks it open, smiling as she trails her fingers over the bracelet I placed inside. I hold it up before her. “This band is made of the strongest platinum Lumathyst has to offer,” I say, sliding my finger over the silver waves that comprise the bracelet. “And these sapphires represent not only my city but the ocean that holds my heart.”

Rylee presses her lips together.

“I had this made for you,” I explain. “It won’t break or shatter. I knew from the moment you dove into the ocean with me that you needed something that would withstand your adventurous side, because once you put it on, Rylee, I don’t want you to take it off.”

I eye Kal’s ruby ring on her right hand, pride swelling in my heart that she’s worn his token since the day he gave it to her.

“This means I’m choosing you, kitten,” I say, holding it before her. “It means that no matter what happens…” I take a breath, hesitating. “No matter what secrets come to light, I’m with you.” Her bottom lip trembles slightly, but I press on. “Kal might’ve told you to wear that ring without making anything official, but I’m not him. You put this on, it marks you as mine . I don’t take that lightly, and neither should you.” I grimace. “I know I’m a handful. Know I’m a cocky bastard who likes to push the limits, not to mention the weight of obligation that comes with being a Legend. If that’s too much, then—”

“It’s not,” she cuts over me, reaching for the bracelet. “You’re not.” She slides it onto her right wrist, her eyes shuddering like she’s just stepped off the edge of a cliff with no bottom in sight. “I love it,” she says, eyeing the bracelet with silver lining her eyes.

The sight of my token secure around her wrist has a low growl rumbling from my chest, instincts roaring at me while she wears my mark.

One second. That’s all it takes for me to scoop her up and throw her over my shoulder, hurrying out of the building and down the stairs, her laughter chasing me all the way to the beach.

“What are you doing?” she asks through her laughter, not once trying to fight me as I carry her back to the ship.

“What I want to do to you can’t be done in front of my mother,” I grumble, hauling us up the stairs of my ship.

I lay her out on the nearest available surface, not wasting one second to descend to the primary room below deck. The small table on the deck, fully open to the elements, will do.

“Axl,” she says as I practically rip her pants off and toss them over my shoulder.

Goddess help me, she’s not wearing any underwear.

“Look at you,” I say, gliding my fingers through her heat. “All pink and glistening for me.” I shift to my knees, dragging her ass to the edge of the table before I set my mouth on her. “Mine.”

Fuck, she tastes like caramel and salt and everything good in this fucking world. I drag my tongue through her without preamble, relishing the light scrape of her nails on my scalp as she tangles her fingers in my hair.

I look up at her from between her legs, gripping her delicious thighs as I lap and suck and thrust my tongue inside her. “I need you, kitten,” I say, my words guttural in a way I almost don’t recognize.

Fire courses through my veins, all my instincts narrowing to one base truth—Rylee is mine . My mate in every way that matters.

Rylee looks down her body, her eyes glazed with lust and need.

“You understand?” I spear my tongue into her heat. She arches against my mouth, chasing her pleasure without a hint of shame. “You put that on,” I say, eyeing the bracelet. “And I need you more than I’ve ever needed you before. Need you to understand…” I flick my tongue over her swollen flesh, and she moans.

“I understand,” she says, her breaths ragged as she rocks against me. “Axl, I…I…” Her words get lost as I suck her clit into my mouth. “Axl!” Her flavor bursts against my tongue as she comes. I lick her down quickly, rising to my feet and dropping my pants to my ankles.

There’s no time to remove my boots. No time to undress completely. I need her right fucking now.

“I understand,” she says again as I seat myself at her entrance. She reaches up, cupping my cheeks and dragging her lips over mine in the barest of kisses. “Take what you need from me,” she says.

I go still against her.

“I can handle it. I can handle you.”

Her words are my undoing.

I glide into her wetness, sinking to the hilt only to pull out and do it all over again. She locks her ankles behind me, clinging to me as I pound into her hard and fast.

Mine, mine, mine.

My soul shouts the chant as I pump into her, every connection igniting a fire that consumes me. She’s the flame, the conduit to everything I’ve ever wanted. A partner who understands me, a match that challenges me, a true pairing I never thought possible.

I snake my arm underneath her ass, hefting her so I can fuck her at a deeper angle. I want to claim every single piece of her, even those parts she keeps buried and hidden. I want all of her. No matter what. And I try to convey that with our bodies clashing together in the most perfect way.

This time is different than all the others.

This time, she’s admitted she’s mine, and there is no going back.

“Axl,” she groans, her nails digging into the muscles of my back as I drive into her over and over again.

She flutters around me, and I grin down at her. “Already?”

She nods, barely coherent as I continue to hold her ass up, sinking into her until I bottom out, devouring the way her eyes roll back in her head with every stroke.

“Fuck, kitten.” My orgasm is rising to the cusp. “See what you do to me?” I pound into her for emphasis. I groan, trying to hold out as long as I can, but she feels so fucking good, so fucking mine. “Come on,” I say, using my free hand to push on one of her knees, shifting the angle enough that I can see where we connect. “You need to drench me. Now .”

I roll my hips, ensuring I brush against her sensitive spot just as I bottom out in her again—

“Axl!” She cries my name, her heat clamping down around me, pulsing with her orgasm and drawing mine right along with her. “Axl,” she says over and over again, catching her breath as I slow my thrusts, spilling inside her so deep and hot I know I’ve claimed her forever.

I shift and hold her against me, realizing she’s it for me.

But she still has to choose me…choose us all in the end.

Terror streaks through me. She may wear my bracelet, wear my mark, but that doesn’t mean she’ll say yes to us all when it matters most.

And I hate that I won’t know until the end.