My clarity after the fact forced me to recognize just how much trouble I was in, but even with that knowledge, I would not break our deal—mostly because I didn’t want to and a small part because I would not give Reece the satisfaction.
I would get through this without growing attached. I would use this as a cathartic exercise before I released him forever.
Turning away from the intense male, I tried to find some space in the tight bubble of sand. As I stood, a slow, hot drip of cum made its way down my inner thigh, and I wondered—despite his words from before—why he hadn’t cleaned us up.
This was his essence, his lifeforce, and usually, when eternal and powerful beings had sex, we did not allow the aftermath to remain for long, lest it be contained and used against us. Or so I’d heard.
But Reece was making no move to clean either of us. "Do you want me to use my energy to destroy what remains of our power?" I asked, breaking the silence as I waved my hand toward my slightly parted legs, in case he mistook my intentions.
His heavy gaze traced across and down the junction of my thighs. "No," he rasped, and then as he took a step toward me, the sands tightened even further before the mass started to move us. It was a quick jolt that sent me forward; Reece caught me before I could catch myself. I didn’t fight his hold since we had made this deal, and if nothing, I was a transcendent that kept my word.
"No?"
The hands on my arms tightened. "No. It remains until I say differently."
What in the…? "Are you out of your fuck—"
He all but lifted me into him, a deep rumbling sound in his chest. "I already told you: I want you to wear my essence. I will clean you when we reach the tent, but until then…”
I stared, unblinking, up at him, finally understanding why Mera called him Shadow the Second. The Desertlandians weren’t usually so animalistic and possessive in their claiming. What he was doing now—this marking of his territory—was a beastlike trait.
For a brief moment, I was tempted to challenge his hold, but the logical part of my brain reminded me that I had agreed to his rules. Rules which included allowing him to claim my body until we were done. It was counterproductive to be fighting him all of the way.
Come on, Melalekin. You want this.
And there was the other part of my mind, which wasn’t so logical. The less logical side was where I acknowledged that while this was a new experience for me, surprisingly… I did want it. The very possessiveness I’d always enviously watched between Mera and Shadow was front and center, claiming me in almost all ways. It appeared that I’d finally found a growling, demanding, sexually dominant asshole of a man.
I'd gotten my wish, even if it wasn't quite in the way I’d anticipated. But still, I'd take it for now, and as long as Reece didn't step over the line, maybe... just maybe, I'd even enjoy it.
He released my arms as the cloud of sand slowed its arc, descending for a few seconds before it came to a halt. I had no idea where we were until the barrier faded from around us, leaving only the platform below our feet. Familiar tent flaps came into view, and now it was clear how Reece planned on getting us cleaned up and unseen by our friends.
He stepped off the platform first, and I went to follow, only to have him reach out and wrap his hands around my waist, pulling me into him once more. "If you're naked, you're mine," he said near my ear, the hot brush of his breath over sensitive skin sending a shiver across my body.
He didn’t wait for my response, and I honestly had no idea what to say to that. As he walked us inside the empty tent, our bodies remained flush, and the friction of our movements against my naked flesh...
Two seconds ago I would have sworn that there was no way I could have sex again tonight, but right now, I could call myself a liar.
Reece entered his bedroom, which was the largest and most opulent in an already luxurious setup. When we reached his bathing area, the water started before he got to the glass tub, and by the time he stepped under with me still firmly in his arms, the warm water was at full stream.
My eyes closed as I tilted my head back; the dual pleasures of a shower and Reece’s skin had me existing in a perfect moment.
"Some things never change," he murmured, and my eyes flew open again so I could see the expression that went with that statement.
His eyes were hooded, features shadowed as his skin appeared even darker than usual, his power riding him. "You've always loved the liquid lifeforce of a world,” he murmured. “Even when your wings were a deterrent, you figured out how to swim, and you've never looked back."
My wings were designed for air, lacking the protective coat that winged creatures of the water had. For years I’d fought against them as they dragged me under the lakes and oceans of various worlds, until eventually they’d either adapted or grown strong enough to handle swimming.
"You remember so much," I noted, not sure how I felt about that. My voice lowered. "Sometimes I wish you didn’t. There are parts of our past I’d really like to forget."
Like my betrayal and his hatred toward me.
Reece crowded in, pushing us both under the steady stream until it coated my hair and face, which distorted my view of him when he said, "I wish that too, Lale, but what’s done is done. We cannot change the past, only the future."
For Reece, that was almost a positive statement, and before I could say another word, he cupped his hands and gathered the liforina. He rubbed the water between his hands, and I noted that there was a slight bubbling as if he was activating the cleansing properties.
As he moved that liquid toward me, I quickly said, “I can do it!”
He snorted out a laugh. "Not a fucking chance, Angel. As I said before, when you’re naked, you and your gorgeous body belong to me."
