"I know what you need." I ran my wrists through her hair, and she shuddered, her whole body swaying into mine. "I'm not done." I pulled back, and before she could protest, I was weaving my scent into her hair. The braid Vale had made yesterday was still there—shells and pearl intact—but I threaded my scent through the strands around it, making sure every part of her smelled likeus.
"You're so beautiful like this." The words fell from my lips without permission, my voice rough with awe. "Covered in my scent. Trembling for me. So desperate to be claimed that you can barely stand."
"Riven." My name was a plea on her lips, her eyes still closed, her body swaying.
"I'm here." I pressed a kiss to her temple, gentle despite the violence still thrumming through my veins. "I've got you. I'm not going anywhere." The others were watching. I could feel their eyes on me, their hunger, their desperate need to touch her, too. They held back and let me have this. Let me replace the marks of the alpha who had dared to lay hands on what was ours.
I saved her wrist for last. I lifted it to my mouth, pressing my lips to the red fingerprints that marred her perfect skin. She shivered. I could feel her pulse racing under my mouth, could smell the spike of arousal mixing with her natural scent.
"I'm going to erase him." I pressed my scent gland to her wrist, rubbing firmly, my eyes never leaving her face. "Every trace of him. Every mark he left. Gone."
"Yes." The word came out as a moan, her head falling back. I rubbed until the red marks were covered in my scent. Until there was nothing left of him. Until she smelled likeme—likeus—so strongly that no creature in the ocean could miss it.
Only then did I pull back. She was a mess. Flushed and trembling, her eyes glazed, her lips parted. Her hair was wild from my hands running through it, and she was swaying slightly, like she couldn't quite remember how to stand.
"How do you feel?" I asked, my voice rough, my hands still steadying her waist.
"I—" She blinked, trying to focus. Her eyes slowly found mine. "I feel... I feel like I'm yours." Something in my chest cracked open. Something raw and tender and terrifying.
"You are." I cupped her face in my hands, tilting it up until she had no choice but to look at me. "You're ours, Lily. You've been ours since the moment you gave Kaelan that pearl. And we areneverletting you go."
"Tomorrow." She said softly, her voice still hazy but with a hint of something mischievous underneath. "Kaelan said tomorrow."
I went still again. "What?"
"Your kiss." A faint smile curved her lips despite her glazed eyes. Her fingers traced along my jaw, feather-light. "He said tomorrow, you could have your kiss. It's tomorrow now."
My heart stopped. Actually stopped, for one long, endless moment.
"You remember that?" my voice came out strangled.
"I remember everything." Her eyes were soft. Open. Trusting in a way that made me want to wrap her in my arms and never let go. "You said you would be gentle. That you would worship me."
"I would." The words came out ragged. Desperate. My hands tightened on her face. "I will. If you'll let me."
"I'm letting you." She leaned into my touch, her eyes fluttering half-closed.
I looked at Kaelan. Asking permission. Begging for it. He held my gaze for a long moment, and I saw the struggle there—the possessive part of him that wanted to keep her kisses for himself, warring with the part that understood we were a pack, that she wasours, not just his. Finally, he nodded, a single sharp motion.
I turned back to Lily. My hands were shaking—actually shaking, like a fledgling on his first hunt. I had killed countless humans. Had dragged ships to the bottom of the ocean. Had done things that would make her scream if she knew the details. And I was trembling at the thought of kissing her.
"I've never—" I stopped. Started again. "I've wanted this for so long. Wantedyoufor so long. I'm afraid I'll?—"
"You won't hurt me." Her hand covered mine where it cupped her face, steadying it. Her eyes were clear now, focused, certain. "You could never hurt me."
"You don't know that." My voice cracked.
"I do." Simple. Certain. The same way I had saidkill themyesterday. The same absolute conviction. "I know it the same way I know the sun will rise and the tide will turn. You could never hurt me, Riven. It's not in you."
I made a sound I didn't recognize. Something that had been locked inside me for centuries, finally breaking free. And then I kissed her. I had meant to be gentle. Had meant to worship her, like I'd promised. But the moment my lips touched hers, something snapped. Something primal and desperate and completely beyond my control. I kissed her like I was drowning and she was air. Like I had been starving for centuries and she was the first real food I'd ever tasted. My hands fisted in her hair, tilting her head back, deepening the kiss until she whimpered against my mouth.
She tasted like salvation.
Like hope.
Likehome.
"Mine," the word growled out of me, pressed against her lips between desperate kisses. "Say it. Say you're mine."
