“You’re so blood-damned perfect. Look at you. From the first moment I saw you on the battlefield, I knew there was nothing in this universe that could ever compare to you. I’ve known no other deities beside those of death, but you must be some dark goddess from the deep stars. Beautiful and dangerous. I’m not worthy,” he breathed, “but I will worship all the same.”
Vessa’s body reacted to his praise, to his reverence as he dropped to his knees. “Roll over for me,” he said, his voice rough.
Vessa obeyed immediately.
When he pulled her up by her hips, she spread her legs wider, arched her back. Showed herself to him. She couldn’t see much of him with her face pressed into the soft fabric of the bed, but she could feel his gaze on her.
He brought his face to her center. Her hips moved toward him of their own accord as his hot breath hit her thighs.
“Fuck, you’re so wet for me, Ves. I have to taste you. Have to—”
He cut himself off as he licked her from clit to hole. Growling against her in satisfaction, he licked her again. She moaned atthe sensation, her eyes squeezing shut. No one had ever done this. Had ever tasted her.
“So damn good,” he muttered. His tongue circled her clit, plunged into her hole. Again and again. He drew soft whimpers and breathy moans from her as he sucked and probed. Then he spread the globes of her ass and, before she could protest, his tongue was there, too.
“Kedar, don’t,” she gasped. She tried to move away from him, bat at him with her hands, but he held her in place.
“I told you. I wantall of you,” he growled.
Her cheeks heated with embarrassment even as she shook with pleasure through his ministrations. She was on the verge of orgasm, legs shaking, when he suddenly stopped.
Vessa was pliant in his hold as he positioned her once more on her back. Her arousal glistened around his mouth. He licked his lips sensually. Wickedly. Something primal and possessive filled her at the sight. No one else could have him. No one else could ever see his face.
“You’re mine,” she said.
“I’ve been yours for a long time.” Kedar moved between her legs. His cock pulsed on her stomach as he took in her body. “You own all of me. My hearts, my soul.”
She wrapped her hand around as much of his cock as she could, spread the precum over his broad head with her thumb. “And this?” she asked, delighting in the way his bulges strained.
He swallowed hard, his lips parted on words he couldn’t quite get out.
“It’s mine,” she answered for him as she stroked his shaft. “You don’t know how much I need it right now. How much I need you to knot inside of me.”
His eyes closed, and he tipped his head back as if in prayer. His hands tightened on her thighs. “Say it for me again, Ves. I want to hear you say it.”
She moved back, just enough that she could fit his head to her center. “I need your knot, need you to pump your seed inside of me. I need you to make me yours. All of me. All of you.”
He let out a harsh breath, his muscles tightening as he pressed into her. “Vessa,” he groaned.
“Yes,” she murmured as he opened her up. He moved slower this time, and she felt every delicious inch of him. Every raised ridge. She took every throbbing bulge until he was deep within her, filling her.
This was more than a carnal act. There was no more lying to themselves, to each other. It was anguish to anguish. Scars to scars. Confession and sacrifice.
Surrender.
Tears came to her eyes, spilled into her hair.
“I know,” Kedar soothed. He wiped her tears away with his rough-padded thumb. “I know.”
She wrapped her fingers around his wrist, holding his hand in place against her cheek, but the tears only intensified. He gathered her up, and she threw her arms around his shoulders. Heart to hearts.
“I told you that all we could ever be was ruin to each other,” she said with her face buried in his neck. “But we’re also the only ones who can fix each other. You’re both my damnation and my salvation. And I’m yours.”
“Look at me,” he commanded. They were face to face, foreheads pressed together. Sharing breath. Vessa fisted his hair as he kissed her softly.
“Never again, I swear it,” he vowed as he rocked into her shallowly. “And you know I keep my word. You’re my mate, Ves. I’m not going anywhere. Even if you try to push me away or lash out with all that fire you have burning inside of you. I can handle you.”
She swore she felt her heart healing from his words alone. The timeline repairing itself. Past and present connecting. “Show me,” she murmured.
