The pressure was almost too much. Vael chased his orgasm as hers began to crest, his hips pistoning up and down with more power than finesse. Worrying that she would simply bounce off if she didn’t hold on, he untangled their fingers to clasp her nape. He dragged her down, forcing her weight onto her palms by his ears, and sucked her tongue into his mouth as he finally came.
It took them both a while to come down. He panted against her lips as the stars finally began to clear from his eyes.
Hele’s mouth formed a soft moue. A quiet sound of discontent escaped her, piercing the haze of his orgasm.
Pulling back to look her in the eye, he asked, “What? What’s wrong? Are you in pain?”
Her brow crinkled and her lower lip thrust out. “No.”
Relief came with confusion. He stroked strands of white hair back from her damp forehead. “Then why the face, my mate? I thought we did pretty damn good.”
“It was good,” she agreed, tilting her head into his hand. “But I didn’t get to see you come.Again.”
Vael gasped out a husky laugh. “Ah, my greedy mate. We have plenty of time to try again.”
Her pale brows lifted. “You’re right.” He felt her slowly,deliberatelyclench around his softening cock. “We will try again.”
“Now?”
Those black eyes, as dark and deep as the space between stars, stared down at him with a wicked sort of hunger. “Yes, now. I want to knoweverything.”
Vael groaned. Flipping her over so that she lay sprawled on the nest below him, he rasped against her lips, “I amsofucking lucky.”
ChapterTwenty
They spentthree days together in the nest. Vael couldn’t remember the last time he’d rested so thoroughly or had so much fun as he did with his Chosen.
They watched entertainment feeds, splashed in the pool, and when she got restless, they flew together. He loved flying with her, and not just because she’d discovered that she could toy with him mid-flight when he was in his bipedal form. For reasons that both baffled and delighted him, she was determined to see if she could coax him into making lovemid-air.
Hele thought it was a grand game, and the more he disagreed with her, the more determined she became. This resulted in more than a few spontaneous materializations mid-air, forcing him to catch her and give her sneaky hands ample opportunity to wander while he tried to keep them from falling to their deaths even as he laughed.
Vael couldn’t honestly say he minded, since it usually ended with them landing somewhere remote and ravishing one another. He didn’t think he could ever complain about how greedy his little mate was for him.
If he’d ever had any doubts about them, they would have evaporated after day one. They laughed constantly, even when they bickered. He loved waking up to her in his arms and listening to her tell him everything she’d thought of while he slept. He couldn’t imagine not watching her delicately nibble on fruit as they both lay naked and exhausted in the nest, her rare hunger roused by an orgasm or three, or feeling her next to him, content with a book, as he watched sports feeds.
He hadn’t taken time off in… ever, but as his five days away from his duties drew to a close, Vael understood that his life was now entirely different. Things had to change.
They hadn’t spoken much more about her opportunity in the Collective mostly because he did everything he could to avoid it. Whenever it did come up, neither would give an inch, leaving the argument in a permanent stalemate until finally he informed her that he intended to resign whether she agreed or not.
Hele had given him the silent treatment for all of two hours before she admitted, in her blunt way,“You did not want me to hate you for Choosing too soon. I am worried you will hate me for giving up something so important.”
“My Hele,”he had whispered,“you are the most important thing in my life now. You will just have to trust me when I say this is the right thing to do.”
Vael had served his Isand for over one hundred years. It hurt to give that place up, but for Hele, it was worth it.
For his Chosen, a dragon would doanything.
So on the final day of his forced vacation, he encouraged Hele to meet with the witches again. They had sent her a number of follow-up questions after their first meeting, and he had watched his mate glow with enthusiasm as she answered them.
Even if she did not choose to go to school in the Collective, she belonged in their world, making a difference, and he flatly refused to hold her back. To give her what she deserved, his whole life could no longer revolve around his incredibly time-consuming duties. It had to revolve aroundthem.
He loved being in the Wing, but after a stretch of uninterrupted days with her, he knew that he loved being with her more.
Hele knew he intended to resign, but she didn’t know when. He preferred it that way. His mate would worry, and if he could avoid that, he would. While he felt guilty for not telling her what he planned to do, Vael knew that it was necessary. His mate would forgive him.
Eventually.
After dropping her off at the research facility just after it opened for the day, Vael went directly to the Roost — Taevas’s home and the center of the ‘Riik’s government.
