Knowing exactly what I needed in that moment, he slammed into me without restraint. I didn’t want gentle. I didn’t want to be coddled. I didn’t want to be in control. I wanted to fall and to do so I needed to be fucked to within an inch of my life. I needed him to brand me inside and out. I needed the brutal sensations to quiet the noise in my mind. I wanted to be ravaged like it was the last time, because it was.
Demir slammed into me as I dug my shifted claws into his back, drawing blood that dripped down his sides and onto my stomach and chest. It was a marking.
Demir, feeling my need through the bond, bit down hard on my neck and sucked, branding my skin with a deep purple hue. He was just as uncontrolled as I was, giving himself to the pleasure of chasing away the fear. Pain was my comfort as I pushed him off and rolled onto my stomach.
Without skipping a beat, he was straddling my thighs and slamming into my wetness once more as he wrapped my hair around his hand and pulled. He pulled so hard my back archedtowards him and my core clenched at the mixture of pleasure and pain.
I needed more, and thanks to our bond, Demir knew without me having to utter a single word. His palm slapped my arse cheek as lightning struck through my body, straight to my raging core. With every slap I moaned louder as it took me higher. Viv and Cain and everyone else within a kilometer could undoubtedly hear our moaning and my screaming.
I felt like my skin was going to eat me alive as pleasure rocketed through me and I climaxed with my name on Demir’s lips. Blue flames shot from my skin until the bed was an inferno. I barely even noticed, and neither did Demir as he held me through his own ragged breaths as his stuttered and his body uncoiled.
‘I think you liked that a little too much, love.’ Demir chuckled as we both finally took in the scene around us. The roof of the tent had caught fire, and people were yelling outside, calling for water.
Quickly grabbing our armour and weapons, we dashed outside as Viv met my eyes with a wicked grin.
‘Rise and shine, soldiers. We have an army to slaughter,’ I bellowed as I pulled on the last of my gear. Cain silently chuckled to my right as more people emerged from their tents to see what the commotion was about.
Sex and war—my two favourite things in one day.Who would have thought?
Forty-Three
We found ourselves on the front lines as people slammed their shields and weapons on the ground while drums rang out over the open field before us, where our border met Morgad. Slightly behind us was the Ancient Forest, where I would need to slip away as Vivianna took my place on the front line to buy us time. But I would never let anyone else lead my people into war. Of course, Sebastian was not leading his people. To the right was the ocean and a fleet of ships belonging to Emory and Celeste—their cannons at the ready.
I looked at Demir to my right, and he met my gaze with a wink as I drew my sword. I screamed into the sky above me and charged. Demir was right beside me with his own sword, while Viv and Cain flanked me alongside Jasper and Geraldine. Acheron and Jade were on either side of our group as they led their own battalions. They all had the same enthralled look in their eyes. They wanted this. More than anything. Sienna, her mother Guinevere and Everett had been ordered to hang back. They had one job only: to heal the wounded and stem the death toll. Everett and Jasper had used his elemental magic to create gapping underground holes that would cave in under the weightof the Morgadian Army once they crossed onto our land in preparation.
We were now meters away from the first onslaught of bodies. Sienna’s wards in the sky had protected us from arrows as we approached, and luckily for us, the traitorous Wiccans had been preoccupied and had not bothered to protect the Morgadian army from our rain of poisoned arrows, not that it had much effect.
Right as we were about to smash into the army, every Skin Seeper that was worth a damn and could shift into a predator did. A giant wall of black smoke met the Morgad border, and in their moment of hesitation, my people ripped through with claws and all.
I preferred the feel and sound of my blade driving into flesh and bone, so I stayed as I was. As I cut through the crowd like softened butter, I kept a tight grip on the bond, feeling where Demir was and seeing the battle through his eyes. At the edge of the forest, a few errant Morgadians slipped through, only to be met by the rapid vines of the Forest Fae, strangling them and tossing them away.
I found myself back-to-back with Demir, our enemy surrounding us, and as if we were perfectly in sync, we performed the dance of death, slicing through everyone in our path. We mirrored each other’s steps with ease, without so much as having to look at one another—two halves of a deadly whole.
To the west, I saw large waves cresting, flooding the beach and surrounding land, pulling Morgadian soldiers out and under, never to surface again. Inch by inch, we were gaining ground, pushing them further back into their borders.
‘Viv, it’s on you now. Give them hell,’ I screamed over the slaughter and the sound of metal hitting metal. A wicked grin met my gaze.
Demir quickly flanked me as we made a break for the edge of the forest. Slicing through the oncoming bodies as we left a trail in our wake. It was easy and cathartic. I was so close to mymoment with Sebastian, and although I knew Demir and I would not walk away, I also knew the man I had dedicated my life to hunting down would not be walking away either, I would make sure of it. Pure joy radiated throughout my body.
It was abnormally quiet outside the forest, considering what we knew of Morgad’s plans, but our forces were holding strong, pushing them back. Cain flew by, dropping a note.
King Sebastian, the 4 enemy high Elder Wiccans and 3 soldiers.
That’s who had made it past our defences and was waiting inside the forest for us. More would come, but at least we knew what to expect. Clasping Demir’s hand, we stared at each other for a moment. This was the beginning of the end. He gave me a gentle squeeze before burying his face in my neck, breathing me in deeply.
‘I love you,’ he whispered.
And I you,I sent through the bond.
In one long stride, we stepped through the edge of the forest and found our way in; the barrier felt thick as it pushed us back ever so slightly. One more step, and we were through. A deathly silence fell over the air. One would never know that a war like no other, built upon generations of hate, was coming to a head behind us. It felt as though we had been transported to a whole other world. It was eerie, except for a slight thrum.
‘Do you feel that?’ Demir asked, shocked.
‘It’s the pull of the Mrak; it’s calling on my blood and the energy we share,’ I explained, stepping forward to follow it, my blood-covered sword drawn and ready. I could see Demir’s face show recognition as the strength of the call increased as we followed it.
We walked for five minutes until that slight thrum was so loud it drowned out any other sound. That is how three soldiers were able to catch us unaware. All I could feel as they came at us was a thrill—it meant that I was not long from executing the man who had tormented my dreams. Two converged on me as the third made a run at Demir. Without thinking, I stood infront of Demir, plunging my blade into the stomach of the woman that took aim at him.
The remaining two were on me in seconds, and just as I had done for Demir, he stepped forward to protect me. My sword sliced through the throat of the nearest enemy as I braced for the last one, who barrelled into me before I had time to react. He took me down onto the ground, pinning me, he raised his dagger, but I was faster. I flicked my wrist and watched as it shot out three steel stars—one catching him in the jugular, the second in his eye and the third deeply embedded in his forehead. Just as his limp body was about to crush me, Demir pulled him back by the shoulders, throwing his body to the ground.
