She's close—I can feel it in the way her walls are fluttering around me, in the breathless sounds pouring from her throat. I increase the pressure on her clit, angle my hips just right, and?—
She shatters.
Her entire body convulses, inner muscles clamping down on me so hard I nearly black out. She screams my name—exactly like I wanted—and the sound of it combined with the sensation of her coming around me obliterates what's left of my control.
I bury myself deep inside her and let go, my own orgasm tearing through me with an intensity that steals my breath. I pulse into her—filling her, marking her from the inside—while the bond sings in triumph.
Mine. Mine. MINE.
We collapse together, both of us shaking and gasping for air. I manage to roll us onto our sides so I'm not crushingher, keeping myself buried inside her because I'm not ready to separate yet.
May never be ready.
She's trembling in my arms, face pressed against my chest, and for a moment I worry that it was too much. That I pushed her too far too fast.
But then she tilts her head back to look at me, and the smile on her face—soft and sated and genuinelyhappy—makes everything else fade away.
"That was..." She trails off with a breathless laugh. "I didn't know it could be like that."
I brush my lips against her forehead, something fierce and protective swelling in my chest. "It's always going to be like that with us."
14
SENNA
Iwake to warmth.
Not the oppressive heat of summer or the suffocating weight of Darian's presence, but something gentle. Safe. Arms wrapped around me, a steady heartbeat under my ear, the soft brush of breath against my hair.
For a moment, I don't move. Just lie there, soaking it in. The unfamiliar comfort of being held without fear. Of waking without already calculating how to avoid setting him off today.
Lorenth's chest rises and falls beneath my cheek, slow and even. One of his hands rests on my lower back, fingers splayed possessively across my skin. His wings—those beautiful gray wings with their cobalt shimmer—are draped over us like a blanket, cocooning us in our own private world.
My body aches in the most delicious way. A reminder of last night. Ofthis morning, technically, since we didn't stop until exhaustion finally claimed us both. He'd made love to me over and over, each time slower and more reverent than the last. Learning what made me gasp, what made me beg, what made me forget my own name.
That tight, gnawing ache in my chest—the one he said was our bond—has finally quieted. Not gone, exactly, but satisfied. Like something essential finally clicked into place after being misaligned for too long.
And the years of hurt... gods, I hadn't realized how much I was carrying until he'd eased it away with his hands, his mouth, his body. Until he'd shown me what it felt like to be touched with care instead of cruelty.
I shift slightly, tilting my head back to look at him.
His eyes are already open. Storm-blue and ringed with gold, watching me with an intensity that should probably frighten me but doesn't. A slow smile curves his lips—genuine and warm and so different from Darian's sharp-edged smirks.
"How do you feel?" His voice is rough from sleep, but gentle.
I consider the question. Really consider it.
"Sore," I admit, and his smile turns slightly wicked. "But... good. Really good." A pause. "Still a little mad about the kidnapping, though."
He huffs a quiet laugh, the sound rumbling through his chest. "Fair enough."
I grin then, something light and almost giddy bubbling up in my chest. Because it's absurd, isn't it? I spentyearsconvincing myself I couldn't leave. That I was trapped. That Darian would hunt me down if I ran, that I'd never be safe, that there was no point in even trying.
But it was simple. So stupidly simple.
I left with a xaphan. A powerful, noble xaphan who could snap Darian in half without breaking a sweat. Darian's not going to come after me here. He's not that stupid. He's a coward who only hits people who can't hit back, and Lorenth... Lorenth would destroy him.
Which means I'm safe.
