CHAPTER 6
Ash
Sage trembled in my arms, both blankets now wrapped tightly around her slight frame, though it did little to ease her shivering. Her long, dark red hair hung limp and damp, and my heart clenched as I looked down at her tear-stained face.
Her usually vibrant emerald eyes were dull with shock. I couldn’t believe she hadn’t been repulsed by my scars. Every woman and half of the men who’d seen me since that horrible night had been. And yet all Sage wanted was for me to hold her.
It had to be shock, not to mention the compulsion burning in her too-bright mating marks. Once she calmed down, she’d act like everyone else.
The thought made me want to scream at Wells for hurting her and at myself for getting attached. I shouldn’t have gone ahead with my ridiculous plan to spend time with her without her seeing me. I shouldn’t have searched her out again and again.
I knew eventually everything would come crashing down, and now it had.
Except if I hadn’t been compelled to look for her, I would have never known what had happened. I wouldn’t have been there to protect her.
Goddess above! I couldn’t get the image of Sage hanging half under the small waterfall that fed the sacred pool out of my head.
I shouldn’t have wasted time getting the other guys. I should have jumped Wells and Crane the minute I saw Crane use his magic to drain Sage’s strength and make her pass out.
But while Wells’s and Crane’s magic wasn’t as strong as Quill’s or Rider’s — or even mine given the right situation — it was strong enough that I wasn’t certain I’d win a two against one fight with them. And if something had happened to me, no one would have known what they’d done.
As much as I hated it, getting backup was the better call. I’d thought because she was a precious female, they’d just keep her captive. I certainly hadn’t expected them to torture her.
My anger boiled hot and fierce. She was so shy to begin with, so uncertain about her place in the Garden.
Now she was going to be terrified of everyone. It didn’t matter that she’d somehow become an amazing fierce survivor and killed Wells. From our conversation on the balcony above the courtyard, I knew stabbing Wells to death would haunt her… even if he deserved it.
I drew her closer and tightened my embrace. The movement shifted the blanket a bit, exposing some of the brilliant red marks encircling her neck and trailing into her cleavage.
Her mating marks had been fully awakened when we’d first met, and her desire had seemed overwhelming. It was one of the many reasons I should have stayed far away from her.
But the connection when we joined had been addictive. Seeing her shy uncertainty, her need… it had compelled me to be with her.
Now her mating marks blazed bright against her pale skin, so much brighter than before, telling me in no uncertain terms, that even if she wasn’t repulsed by me, I couldn’t continue to be with her. The chance that the Goddess would bond our souls together was too strong.
My traitorous cock hardened, and I shifted to hide my obvious desire. I had to focus on comforting her, not on how her marks would drive her to desperation and how much I wanted to feel the connection we formed when I was inside her again and again.
“I just,” she said with a hiccupping sob as she nuzzled her face into my neck. “I just need to stay strong. Stay strong.”
“You are strong,” I murmured against her temple.
Each sob tore at my heart. Sage was sweet, gentle, and brave. She deserved protection, not the chaos that had been thrust upon her. I wanted to shield her from the world, cradle her like this forever, but I knew I wasn’t enough. I was broken, scarred both inside and out.
I stroked her hair, my emotions churning as she started to rub against me like a cat. Every fiber of my being craved her, ached to give her the release she needed. But if I gave in now, with her marks so bright…
No.
She wouldn’t want to be bonded with someone like me. Once the shock wore off, she’d realize how hideous I truly was. She’d want nothing to do with me.
“I tried so hard,” Sage whimpered. “But I-I can’t. I’m not strong enough. I don’t belong here.”
“You do. You are strong enough. And you’re safe now,” I said, cupping her face in my hands to meet her gaze. “No one will hurt you again.”
Her eyes finally focused on mine, brimming with fresh tears. “You can’t promise that. You don’t know, you— I can’t be here. I can’t?—”
My chest tightened at the pain and fear in her voice. But the harsh truth was that it didn’t matter what she wanted. Sage couldn’t avoid the Garden. It was the only place fae women could find their mates and conceive. No matter how much she might want to run, this was her destiny.
I opened my mouth to offer more reassurances, but the words died on my tongue as Sage squirmed closer. Her hips rocked against my leg, seeking friction, and I bit back a groan. The pressure from her mating marks was clearly building, and I was hard as steel.
She pressed lingering kisses up my throat and across my jaw, seeking my mouth. The mating marks on her skin blazed brighter, bathing the room in a red ethereal glow, their compulsion growing stronger by the second.
A breathy moan escaped her lips and she turned in my arms and straddled me. Her hot core pressed against my cock, the heat blazing through my pants, and red hot need shot through my veins. I grabbed her by the hips to stop their movement and clenched my jaw.
“You don’t want this,” I gritted out, trying to gently nudge her off me and back onto the bed.
“I know,” Sage whispered. Shock no longer dulled her eyes, now they were glazed with need.
“We could end up mated,” I warned, desperately clinging to the last shreds of my self-control.
“I don’t want a mate.” The words were barely out of her mouth before she ground down on my hardened length.
My eyes rolled back and I bit back a moan. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
My hands slid to her shoulders of their own accord, and my fingers slipped inside the neckline of her dress, brushing against her feverish skin.
She moaned, the sound vibrating against my cheek, sweet and raw. Then she rolled her hips again, and the heat of her core threatened to unravel what little restraint I had left.
“We can’t do this,” I growled, even as my body screamed for more.
A whimper escaped her lips and she stilled, her entire body trembling with the effort. Strain etched her expression, and her breathing turned into short, sharp gasps. She wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer. The compulsion from the mating marks was too strong.
I had to take control of the situation before we did something she’d regret. Even without intercourse, there was still a chance we could end up mated. But I had to do something to ease her suffering.
With a growl of frustration, I rolled us over, pressing Sage into the mattress. I hovered above her, our faces inches apart. My gaze searched hers, looking for any sign of revulsion at my appearance. But all I saw was an aching, desperate hunger that matched my own.
My heart raced as I dipped my gaze down to her soft lips, slightly parted, as if inviting me in. This might be the only chance I’d ever get to kiss her face to face.
We’d shared hard, needy kisses before when I’d been able to control which of my cheeks brushed against hers. But there was something more intimate about being able to fully see each other, to look her in the eyes and show her how I felt. Kissing face to face for us was about more than playing together and having sex.
It was, at least for me, a confession.
Slowly, giving her every opportunity to push me away, I lowered my mouth to hers.
The first brush of our lips was soft, tender. Just the barest whisper of contact, and Sage’s moan of pleasure sent a shiver down my spine.
I deepened the kiss, urgency taking over, her taste intoxicating, soft and sweet. With a low groan, I teased the seam of her lips with my tongue until she opened for me.
I raked my tongue against hers, and, as if that gave her permission, she let go. She kissed me back with fervent need, her hands grasping at my hair and pulling me closer, deeper, as if she were afraid I might pull away.
The heat radiating from her was almost unbearable, her need lighting the conception room as if we were outside in the middle of a sunny day.
I slid my hand down the inside of her dress, teasing my fingers across her breast, deliberately avoiding her nipple and drawing a whimper. Her fingers dug into my scalp and her hips bucked forward, dragging her heat over my rock-hard cock.
Oh, fuck me.
I wanted to give her everything, to unleash the need driving both of us crazy. But even in this moment, when my instincts screamed for me to take her, I had to stay in control.
With my jaw clenched tight against my screaming desires, I brushed her nipple with my thumb. I had to drive her crazy, get her to the edge and make her crash over it again and again if I had any hope of easing the pressure from her mating marks.
Sage gasped and arched her back, thrusting her breasts up.
“More. Please. Harder.”
She tipped her head back, exposing her pale throat, and I trailed my lips along her jaw and down to her neck, savoring the way she shivered beneath my touch.
“Please,” she begged, her voice breaking with need.
I had to give her relief. Even if I couldn’t be inside her, I could still help her reach the release she so desperately craved until Quill returned.
Without magic, he was the only one who could safely have sex with her without risking a mating bond… or at least he was the only one she might actually want to be with. She could have sex with any of the men she was afraid of and a bond wouldn’t form, but that would just be cruel.
No, it had to be Quill. When we’d talked on the balcony overlooking the courtyard, she’d said Quill had looked kind, and he was. He was exactly what she needed right now: someone kind and caring who wouldn’t bond with her. She deserved to choose who she mated with, not end up with someone because her marks had gone crazy and she didn’t know what she was doing.
And I needed to give her enough relief for her to hold on for his return. No matter how much it killed me to not connect with her.
Determined to maintain my control, I pulled down the shoulders of her dress, exposing her breasts to the cool air. My pulse pounded, my need screaming inside me, as I leaned closer and flicked my tongue across her nipple while kneading her other breast with my hand.
I watched her reaction, captivated and smugly satisfied by the way she responded to my touch. Unlike anyone else, she’d gifted me her trust. It was a heady thing, and even though I wasn’t buried inside her, I could feel the tingling heat of the magical connection I made with a fae woman teasing along my veins.
Every noise she made shot straight to my cock. But I couldn’t keep both of us on the edge. It would be too easy to lose control, and I forced myself to keep my focus, to remind myself why I was doing this.
I released her breast and shifted down the bed, shoving the damp blankets out of the way. Sage’s confused whimper quickly turned to a gasp as I kissed her inner thigh, urging her legs further apart.
With a groan, I settled between her thighs, dropping kisses up her sensitive skin and inching her damp dress higher and higher until I reached her center.
Her hips rocked faster, driven by need. The light from her mating marks blazed so bright it was hard to look at her.
“Please.” She grabbed handfuls of my hair and tugged, urging me closer to where she needed me most.
The heat of my magical connection flared stronger, overwhelming me, and I dove in to taste her with broad sweeps of my tongue, unable to stop myself.
I licked and sucked with a frenzy, barely clinging to any kind of control. Sage gasped and moaned, her hips rocking faster and faster.
With a cry, she arched off the bed, her muscles contracting and sweet release flooded over my tongue. Her moans sang through me, entwining with the tingling heat of my impossible magical connection with her.
But I couldn’t let up. Not now. One orgasm wasn’t enough with the kind of light and heat radiating from her marks. The only way to ease the pressure was to completely exhaust her.
I lapped at her cum, relentlessly driving her through her orgasm and building another one. My cock screamed for release, desperate to be buried inside her.
With a strength of will I didn’t know I possessed, I shoved my hand down my pants and quickly jerked myself off, hard and fast, coming with her second, gasping orgasm. Then I grabbed her hips and doubled my assault, determined to make her marks and her body succumb to my will.