Page 36

ALARIC

I watch as Dahlia swallows hard but reaches over her head and grips the pillar behind her. I smile, the sight so damned sexy that I can barely stand it.

“Good girl,” I rasp and she whimpers quietly as I lean forward again and lift her left leg, resting it over my shoulder. I stare at her for a moment, marveling at the sight of my mate open and ready before me. My mate. I can’t quite believe that she finally knows the truth, but it’s as if a weight has been lifted from my chest. Of course, the whole of Braxhelm might very well know the truth as well, but that is a problem for another day.

Right now, I need to be with my mate. I need to touch and taste and convince myself that this is real. I’d been on the brink of death before she saved me, and then with her blood roiling in my veins like a great tempest, I’d ridden into battle. It had been a blur of screams and smoke and blood, and I’d felt like something bigger than myself, like a deity of war and death sent to earth to raze our enemies to dust for even daring to put my mate in danger. The battle fog and bloodlust had been almost too much to bear, and I’d been lost in some strange place between battle and life, knowing only that I needed Dahlia in a way I’ve never needed anything or anyone in my life. I’d somehow teleported us here to Ashcliff without thought, only knowing that I wanted her far away from the battlefield and safe in my arms.

Even still, once I knew we were safely away, I couldn’t quite come back to myself. It’s difficult to explain, but it was as if I were being carried away on the waves of bloodlust and the fever of battle. But Dahlia had been my tether, keeping me from losing myself completely and ever so slowly bringing me back.

Now, I want nothing but to worship her for hours upon hours, days upon days; to kiss and lick and touch every last inch of her; to make her feel more pleasure than any human could possibly hope to feel in a lifetime; to claim her as my own in all ways and try to communicate what this all truly means; to show her, by word and deed, how much I love her.

I dip my head and run my tongue along her opening, one long, slow lap that makes her shudder and moan. Over and over, I take my time, savoring every taste, every touch. The noises she makes drive me mad and I’m already hard as stone, desperate to sink so far inside her that our bodies become one. I groan against her pussy at the thought, speeding up the flicks of my tongue. I close my lips around her clit and quickly slide two fingers inside her, pumping as I lick and suck.

“Ah gods, Alaric…” she rasps, grinding her hips against my mouth, holding onto the pillar behind her for dear life as—as I promised—her legs tremble and threaten to give out. She’s close, I can tell, on the very cusp. I curl my fingers as I pump and she screams, coming apart beneath my ministrations. I can feel her come, clenching my fingers over and over. The leg not over my shoulder trembles so violently that I pick her up for fear that she’ll collapse, and ease her onto the bed. I slide her upward until her head rests on the pillows and I’m thankful that I have such competent staff. I haven’t visited Ashcliff in…fuck, it’s been decades, I think, but they keep it ready at all times on the chance that I should desire to come home. The sheets are clean and crisp, freshly laundered and smelling faintly of roses.

I follow Dahlia down and she reaches out for me immediately, circling her arms around my neck and kissing me deeply. I’m still aware of how easily I could hurt her, especially now—taking so much of her blood has made me stronger than ever before—but a deep sense of surety that I won’t settles over me.

This is right. This is necessary. This is fate.

“Need you, Alaric,” she pants against my lips, skating one hand down my chest and stomach. My eyes slide closed for a moment and I simply revel in the feel of her hands on me, her warm skin against mine, her touch burning me in ways I never could have imagined. It’s a burn that sears me to my soul, that renders me to ash and rebuilds me as something new, something wholly belonging to this woman alone. She is my reason for living now, my reason for existing. My entire world now centers on this perfect creature that the gods themselves deigned to be mine.

I hiss in a breath and my eyes snap open when her hand circles my cock. She wraps her palm around my shaft and begins to stroke, making me moan loudly, fingers digging into the bed on either side of her head. My claws rip into the sheets and I vaguely realize that Elias had been right about the fact that I’m physically incapable of harming her, that my body knows what to do even if my mind is lost to desire: my claws had retracted completely when I’d fingered Dahlia moments ago, without thought or command from me. The thought gives me solace and I give myself completely over to the needs tearing through me.

“ Fuck. ”

“So hard for me, your Highness,” she says, a little breathless, flashing me a sultry half-grin.

I choke out a quiet laugh before leaning down and resting my forehead against hers. She sighs as she continues to stroke and when she swipes her thumb across the head and spreads the bead of moisture already there, I can’t take it anymore. I kiss her then, hard and deep, beginning to burn with a frenzy I can’t control. I push myself up onto straightened arms and have barely enough control left to ask her. I have to ask her. I need her to choose this, fully.

“Are you sure? This…” I trail off and gnash my teeth as she continues to stroke. I clear my throat. I have to get this out, to explain to her. “This is more than just…Gods, be still , Dahlia,” I beg and she pouts. I lean down and nip gently at her bottom lip. “Once we do this, once I claim you…this is forever. There is no going back. Do you understand?”

She reaches out with her other hand and cups my cheek, holding my gaze. Before she even speaks, I know that this moment is one that will forever change the course of my eternal life, that will be seared into my memory for all time.

“Alaric, there is already no going back for me. I’m yours. I have been for…what feels like always,” she says, brow furrowing a bit. “I know that doesn’t make any kind of sense, but it’s true. I’m yours. I always have been. I always will be.”

I let out a ragged exhale and lean down to kiss her again.

“I’m ready, Alaric,” she breathes and positions the head of my cock at her entrance, settling her other hand on my hip. I hiss in a sharp breath as the head kisses her wet heat.

And then, I let go completely, giving myself over to what my body desperately wants. What it needs . What the bond between us is demanding.