With a gentle movement, he slipped free, a gush of his seed flowing over both their thighs as he pulled out.
Kiera whimpered at the sudden emptiness, but Brux was there instantly. He gathered her in his arms and lowered his head between her thighs. Tenderly, he licked her clean—long, loving strokes of his tongue lapping up the creamy flood from her swollen pussy. He loved the taste of them together and even though she hadn’t gotten pregnant from this breeding–she couldn’t since they weren’t Bonded yet–he knew how much it had cost her to give herself so fully.
“Thank you for giving yourself to me,” he murmured, his voice thick with emotion. “My heart… my mate.”
She carded trembling fingers through his hair, tears making her eyes bright.
“You’re welcome. Just don’t do that to me again–you scared me, almost going primal for good like that.”
“Never,” he promised, sealing his vow with a final, possessive kiss to her clit. “You’ve found the way to keep me with you–even if you don’t want to Bond yet. I swear I’ll never leave you if you keep me by your side.”
“I will,” she whispered, stroking his cheek. “Never going to let you go, my big, bad wolf.”
In her words, Brux found pleasure and reassurance. Every touch of her skin to his reminded him he was still here–still himself–still sentient and humanoid.
And Kiera was with him every step of the way.
His beautiful mate lay back against the warm stone edge of the bathing room, flushed and drowsy and looking at him with that same softness that had been in her eyes ever since he came back to himself.
“You’re very sweet for a big scary wolf—man, you know,” she murmured, her voice half teasing and half sleepy.
Brux smiled against her skin.
“I’m only sweet for you. Most of the other Monstrum are scared of Lykans, you know.”
That made her laugh softly, and the sound tugged at his heart and filled him with an emotion he couldn’t name.
Later, after they had washed and dried and made their slow way back to the bedroom, both boneless with exhaustion, Brux finally understood the feeling. The day had been long and frightening and difficult, and what had passed between them afterward had left him wrung out in the best possible way.
But more than tired, he felt…anchored.
For the first time since losing his first mate—perhaps for the first time since the Darklings destroyed his world—he felt truly grounded in himself.
Not perfectly and not permanently. He and Kiera were still un—Bonded and he knew better than to trust too quickly in his own stability.
But for now it was enough…enough that hope, which had been only a fragile flicker inside him for so long, now burned a little steadier.
In the bedroom, Kiera climbed under the coverlet with a sigh and held out her arms to him without a word.
Brux went to her at once, just as he used to in his primal form. But now, he could hold her and it was the best feeling in the world.
He gathered her close, curling around her with all the instinctive care of his species, one arm under her shoulders and the other around her waist. She tucked herself against him as though she belonged there, fitting her soft curves to his harder, larger body with a sleepy little sound of contentment.
The living mattress adjusted beneath them and the dome lights dimmed to their nighttime glow. Outside, the sanctuary settled into evening quiet.
Brux pressed a kiss to the top of Kiera’s head and breathed in the sweet scent of her hair.
She hadn’t Bonded with him–not yet. But she had given him trust as well as warmth and comfort and a glimpse of what a future with her might be if the Goddess was kind and Kiera, in time, chose him fully.
It was enough to make Brux dare hope.
And so he held her all night in his arms, listening to her breathe and letting the steady warmth of her body soothe all the ragged places inside him that had once seemed beyond healing.
For the first time in far too long, he slept with hope in his heart.
25
KIERA
