I crawl between her knees. “How do you take care of yourself, Zoe? What do you do when you think of me?”
Her smile fades and her eyes grow hot, and then her hand sinks between her legs.
Chapter Thirty
ZOE
My wish tonight was to be enough for Seb, and based on the way he’s looking at me, that wish has already come true. I didn’t plan for this to happen, but when I walked into the house and saw him waiting for me—saw him suffering—I felt it deep in my soul. It felt like we were two trees whose roots had grown tangled together and that, somehow, I was choking him off.
I guess I didn’t realize before just how much I’ve come to need Seb. I was reminded tonight how much of a burden I’ve been to my parents and to my coven, but also that they still love me and believe in me. But Seb doesn’t just believe in me; he’s betting his life on me. He needs what only I can provide. And I need to be needed like that. I need to feel like someone in the world thinks of me, not just as a recovering addict but as a true partner and potential savior.
Yes, our relationship has moved fast, but only because we’ve fit together so easily. I need someone who believes in me, who believes I can overcome anything the world throws at me. And he needs to be loved so badly it hurts him. He needs physical affection, for sure, but I see more in what he wants from me. Seb needs a home, not in the sense of a building but in the sense of a heart. Right now, as he kneels on the bed between my thighs, I believe with all my heart that I can be a temple of peace for him. I can be a home and hearth.
He watches me reverently as I shamelessly start to play with myself. I’m soaking wet already. The feel of him only moments ago in my mouth has left me so achy with need that this isn’t going to take long. I circle my clit until that beautiful purr of his rumbles against my skin again.
“I love the sound of your purr.”
“Let’s find out if you love the feel of it.” He lowers his head between my legs and replaces my fingers with his tongue. And I do feel the purr. His tongue is a little rough, like a cat’s, but also vibrating with the sound. It takes seconds for an orgasm to rip through me like wildfire.
And then he’s over me and pushing into me, even as I come down from my first orgasm. The feel of him full and hard inside me is enough to have me climbing again. I wrap my arms and legs around him and draw him close, breathing in his smoky sandalwood scent.
This is more than sex. It’s as if he’s sinking into me, as if our souls are entwining. And that purr is enough to have my eyes rolling back in my head, even though he’s holding still.
“You’re the only one who can hear my mating trill. The only one who will ever hear it. It’s a song just for you.”
I run my nose along his. “You say that. But you don’t know me. Not really. You haven’t seen me at my worst. You don’t know how cruel I can be or how selfish. You don’t know how little I deserve someone like you.” My voice cracks, and tears run from the corners of my eyes as emotion floods into me.
He bends his neck and kisses them away. “You really don’t get this mate concept, do you?” he says as he starts to move again. “I’ve chosen you. You’re mine. All the cruel parts and the ugly parts and the parts you wish didn’t exist. Your checkered past. Your unknown future. It’s all part of you, Zoe, and I want it all.”
His fingers thread into mine over my head. Like this, I’m spread wide, and we’re as close as two people can get. “I want that too,” I whisper.
His thrusts come harder, more urgent. “Then say you’re mine. Accept me fully as your mate.”
“I’m yours.”
“Say you’re my mate.”
“I’m your mate.”
His smile grows above me like he’s won an incredible prize. He kisses up my neck to my ear, his thrusts coming short and fast now. “Then let me feel you come.”
An orgasm rockets through me out of nowhere, and this one takes my breath away. It’s blinding white light and weightless pleasure. I throw my head back and cry out from the intensity. And then he’s so deep it almost hurts, and he’s coming too. My inner thighs are slick and hot with him.
We stay like that for some time, breathing together, breathing each other in. Every part of him touching every part of me. When he finally rolls off me, I say, “Now that we’re mates, what does that mean exactly?”
It means we’re connected, he says into my head. It takes me a minute to realize he never opened his mouth. I heard his thoughts. As much as that should freak me out, it doesn’t. It’s just additional evidence of this bond between us born of chemistry, mutual respect, and magic.
“Holy fuck.”
“Yeah, it was.” He glances down our bodies. “Do you want a shower before bed? I’ve made a mess of you.”
“Yes, but I need to tell you something first. Tonight, I did some research in my parents’ library. I think I have an answer to how to defend your people against that ring.”
“You have a way to neutralize the Order rings?”
I shake my head. “Not exactly.” I sit up in bed and take his hands. “I think I can create a sister ring, one that directly opposes every element of the Order’s rings. It would be infused with celestial energy by the creator and capable of alerting you when its opposition is near and transforming into a weapon or a shield. It would effectively be a countercurse, an opposing ring that is everything theirs is, but is born of light instead of darkness.”
His eyes sparkle with the possibilities. He studies me for a minute and then hauls me up and out of bed and into his arms. “That’s it. We’re cleaning you up and changing the sheets so you can get some rest. If all this is true, you’re going to need it.”
