The rhythm builds between us, natural as breathing. The Ether swirls around us, growing brighter with each movement, each soft sound she makes. It doesn't feel like magic responding to emotion—it feels like recognition. Like coming home.
I lose myself in her warmth, her scent, the way she says my name when I hit that perfect spot inside her. For the first time in centuries, the hunger quiets. Not because I'm feeding, but because I'm being fed. Being chosen. Being seen as more than just a weapon or a monster.
She's close—I can feel it in the way she trembles, the way her breath comes in short gasps against my ear. I reach between us, finding the spot that makes her arch and cry out.
"Let go," I whisper against her lips. "I've got you."
"I don't know if I can," she breathes, vulnerable and trusting all at once.
"Anything you need," I murmur, meaning it completely. "Whatever you need."
I shift the angle, the pressure, watching her face until I find what breaks her open. She shatters around me with a sound that's half-sob, half-prayer, my name falling from her lips again and again. Her body clenches around mine, waves of pleasure pulling me deeper.
The sight of her, lost in ecstasy and glowing with power, pushes me over the edge. I follow her into release with a groan that comes from somewhere deep in my chest, somewhere that's been empty for too long.
But as the pleasure peaks, as I pour myself into her, the hunger stirs. Not the cold, calculating need I've carried for centuries—something warmer. Deeper. A craving for connection that goes beyond blood.
My fangs extend without my permission.
"Bree," I gasp, trying to pull back. "I can't—I don't want to hurt—"
She tangles her fingers in my hair and tilts her head, exposing the long line of her throat. "Now," she breathes. "Please."
The trust in those two words breaks me.
I strike swift and clean, fangs sinking into the soft skin just below her pulse point just as the last waves of climax wash through us both. Her blood hits my tongue like liquid starlight—warm and bright and tasting of power, of choice, of gift freely given.
She cries out, her body arching against mine as the bite sends another wave of pleasure crashing through her. I feel her clench around me again, her nails digging into my shoulders as the sensation overwhelms her. The feeding doesn't just nourish me—it ignites her, sends her spiraling into a second peak that leaves her trembling and breathless in my arms.
The connection that blooms between us is unlike anything I've ever experienced. Not just her blood feeding my hunger, but something more. A tethering of souls that goes both ways. I feel her pleasure mixing with mine, her trust wrapping around my heart like armor.
And then I feel it lock into place.
The bond that began weeks ago in the attic—when her Ether first curled around my boots, reaching for something it somehow recognized—finally completes itself. The Ether doesn't just respond to the bite with silver light. It shifts and becomes something richer. Not just her power—our power. Connected. Chosen.
Somewhere beneath her skin, I sense rather than see a scar warming. Glowing. The physical mark of what we've just sealed.
She doesn't notice. But I do.
I withdraw my fangs carefully, sealing the small wounds with my tongue. The taste of her lingers, sweet and perfect and mine.
We stay joined as the intensity fades, my forehead now pressed against hers, both of us breathing hard.
"I didn't mean for that to happen," I whisper, because it's true. I'd planned to wait. To prove I could choose restraint over hunger.
She laughs softly, the sound vibrating through both our chests. "Yes, you did. And so did I."
Her fingers trace the line of my jaw, gentle and sure. "I felt what you felt. The hunger wasn't just for blood, was it?"
I close my eyes, overwhelmed by how completely she sees me. "No. It was for this. For connection. For someone to choose me not because they had to, but because they wanted to."
"Then you have it." She tilts my chin up until I meet her gaze. "You have me."
The words settle into my chest like warmth, like home, like everything I never dared to hope for. I kiss her again, soft and grateful and full of promises I'm not sure I know how to keep but desperately want to try.
We're quiet for a long moment, just holding each other as the garden settles around us. The Ether has calmed to a gentle silver glow that pools around our feet like moonlight. Everything feels possible. Perfect.
That's when I hear it.
