Here I am, back in all my glory, standing as the God Orion with the female I love, and all I want is for her to want me back. It’s in her, deep, pushed down because she doesn’t think she could ever deserve a Goddess.
I’m here to tell her that she deserves more than me. I’m the one who isn’t worthy.
I know Dove won’t listen to me. It’s written all over her face, all over her heart. She felt it—I know she did—when I was completely open to her, gifting her as much of my power as I could without completely losing myself in the process.
Making up my mind quickly without giving Dove’s two protectors space to think, I’m in front of her, my powers allowing me to movefreely without consequence. With my body before her, those light green eyes look on with surprise, her pert pink lips open just a touch,my hand perfectly poised to cup the delicate bones of her jaw.
In the blink of an eye, I steal her away.
She’s mine, and they will eventually see that. My heart is awash in shadows. I no longer care for right or wrong. I will have her.
“Fury.” Dove’s voice is breathless, her hands gripping me by the chest, the sensation a thrill to my rock-hard cock. She is going to be my first. Dove was my first kiss. Now she will have everything else my tangible form can spare. Fates, I never knew what the creatures beyond this island meant when they talked of obsession.
I know it now. I feel it to my core.
A howl comes from outside the high-reaching walls of my tower. I didn’t take her very far. The prince and the shifter will be here in movements. I just need the rhythms to stop momentarily so I can open up to her. To let down these barriers. Once she sees there’s no one else for me, Dove won’t be able to deny this.
Grasping the edges of her soft cheeks, I see her green eyes glitter, a well of tears ready to fall, gaps filling. My forehead goes to rest against hers. “You are everything I have dreamt of. You are mine. I am yours. You may think yourself unworthy, but in truth, I am unworthy of your strength, your courage. I face this world with extreme power. You have only faced adversity, and it has only made you stronger. I am in awe of you.”
The smell of saccharine-sweet tears falling from Dove’s eyes grips me. Grasping her chin in my fingers, I guide her face up so I can see everything I can feel—the desire,the need.
Licking a line from her jaw to the soft pockets of her eyelids, I lap up her tears while assuaging her fears. “You say you hate me. You’re angry. I feel it. I see it. But don’t ever think that’s the end of this. Of us. I promise you, Dove, it’s just the beginning.”
A pounding comes from the stone stairs, my wolf coming to save her. He has done well. I feel his pain. I feel all of my creations’ pain when they lose their mates. I’m glad his wolf bound itself to her. I had a notion it could happen, my bonded and my wolf working in such close proximity.
“Get your hands off her, Fury,” Rivern, the fae, breathes hard as he stands in all his fae beauty next to Gideon’s wolf form.
The woman in my arms has closed her eyes, a soft, peaceful expression on her face. “Go to your bonded, Pet.” I shut down our connection. Her eyes fly open, small creases on her forehead. “Go, and be ready to leave for Haven. We have a king to crush.”
forty-three
Dove
Leavinghishandsseemslike a chore. One my body is unwilling to comply with. He so easily shuts parts of himself on and off . Parts he doesn’t let himself linger within for too long. We have that in common, except I don’t know how to stop the memories that have slowly been working themselves past the dragon that now lies in slumber at my heart’s gates.
It’s as if the more I’m opening myself up to the bonds and Gideon, the more within me is making itself known.
It’s overwhelming in the most heartbreaking way. Fury is letting me see a side no one else will get. The shadows of his soul meet mine, dancing together—a harmony I’ve always felt within him.
Not only does he open up his heart to me, but also his power. It is a physical force that zings down our bond. I could drown it in. I don’t know how Fury is standing before me without combusting.
That’s where we are different. My human body is no match for everything he possesses.I can’t be what he needs.
It’s a fleeting thought. He catches it, my eyes unable to leave him. “Don’t you ever think that again. Do you hear me, Dove? You areeverythingI need. You areallI need. And nothing will stand in my way of having you—not even you.”
I’m a mouse, caught, the prey of a bird swooping down to steal me away. I haven’t moved away from his body yet, even though he told me to. My eyes move down the smooth, grey lines of his face until I get to his lips. They part, a black tongue poking out to wet dark lips. Heat pools within my stomach. My body aches to touch those lips to mine.
“Do it,”he goads in my mind.“Claim what is yours, Pet.”The prick of his clawed fingers glides up my neck, across my scar—the part of me that once had me wallowing in regret. Now, all I see is the fire underneath my skin. My eyes close involuntarily as I sway towards him. Sparks fly in the cells of my body, our bond weaving me closer to him with every moment.“My black, shadowed heart is yours. You are my first and my last.”
Our connection consumes every part of me. Fury’s claws draw my head up so I’m standing on my toes, angling my face his way. His lips are the only destination I’m interested in.
He has to meet me halfway, his head moving down to brush against my lips. A soft moan leaves my lips. I try to push the pads of my toes off the ground to claim him fully. Fury chuckles, rubbing his nose against mine. “I think I quite like you desperate like this, Pet.”
He nips my lower lip, smacking my arse before coming up to his full height, a smirk plastering his face. I puff out all the air I am holding, my body still a torrent of emotions, desperate to feel him.
“I’m not…” I look towards the two males watching us warily, my body wobbling back to the base of my feet.
“You’re not desperate for me?” he asks, my eyes once again drawn to him.
