“Because I know those stories never said how the world tilts when I’m inside you. They never described how everything else disappears when we touch. How the pleasure between us is so consuming, it becomes its own language.” My lips trail over hers in soft, desperate kisses. “No prophecy could predict that. Only we get to feel it.”
She starts to speak. “But-.”
“But nothing.” I silence her with a look. “Let me show you.” My hands slide to the buttons of her shirt, undoing them slowly, one by one, my gaze never leaving hers. “You’re mine because I chose you. My mind chose you. My body chose you. Destiny might’ve put you in front of me, but claiming you was all me.”
“Lucian,” she breathes, my name breaking from her like a plea.
“I’ve got you, petal,” I murmur. “And I’m never letting you go.” I shift, lifting her by the waist and settling back on the bed, guiding her to straddle my face. Her shirt hangs open now, barely covering her breasts. She looks down at me, dark hair spilling around her like a veil. I grip her thighs and drag my tongue through her centre, her lips parting instantly. Her scent floods me as I circle her slowly, deliberately, until a soft cry slips from her throat. I don’t look away as I devour her, claiming her with my mouth, memorising her taste. She coats my tongue, intoxicating and helpless beneath me.
“Lucian, please.” Her cheeks are flushed, her eyes burning into mine with devotion and want. I slide two fingers inside her, curling them just right while my tongue works her clit. Her body tightens, her back arching as she comes apart over my mouth, riding myface and fingers. “Fuck!” she cries. I take every drop of her climax, like I need it to survive.
“Destiny might’ve placed you in my path,” I rumble, kissing her inner thigh, “but destiny doesn’t decide what’s mine. I do. And every single part of you belongs to me.” She moves, climbing down my body, undoing my jeans. I watch her free me, inch by torturous inch. Her eyes flick to mine as she takes just the tip into her mouth. A low growl rolls from my chest as she sinks lower, watching me while her tongue swirls, taking me deeper until she’s stretched around me, hair falling forward like a curtain. I fist her hair and guide her rhythm, breathing in her arousal, my control fraying. She moans around me, obedient and so fucking beautiful. I pull her up suddenly, lifting her onto my lap. She lowers herself onto me with a broken sound, her head falling back. My hands lock around her waist as she rides me, breasts moving with every roll of her hips. I take one nipple into my mouth, nip gently, then soothe it with my tongue. She gasps. “Look at me,” I demand. “I want to see you shatter.” Her eyes open slowly, and I feel her tightening. “You’re mine,” I growl. “I chose you. Now come for me.”
“Lucian. I-.”
“I know,” I snarl. “Give it to me.”
Her body goes rigid as she breaks, walls clampingaround me so tight it nearly undoes me. “Fuck,” I roar, thrusting up as release tears through me, spilling into her. The pleasure is blinding, primal, and overwhelming. I hold her against me afterwards, chest to chest, heart to undead heart. Marked. Claimed. Not by fate, but by choice.
Ididn’t think it would go down well when they realized I was bringing Evelynn with me to court. She sits in my chair at the head of the table while I stand behind her, daring every one of my brothers to protest. They don’t. Meanwhile, Cain sits at the back, a smirk on his arrogant face.
“I know this is unheard of, but these aren’t our average circumstances.” I pause, looking to Hex and Viktor. “You have the book to transcribe. What have you found so far?” I ask, my hand tracing along Evelynn’s shoulder to her neck, my fingertips resting on her pulse. My comfort.
Viktor shakes his head. “Nothing but a bunch of kids’ stories.” I feel Evelynn tense immediately beneath me.
“May I see her book?” she asks, her voice quiet and delicate.
Viktor looks to me for approval. I nod. “There are to be no more secrets regarding this. If I had confided in Evelynn sooner, maybe we could have had some answers days ago.” He slides Sister Mary Joan’s book across the table to her.
She traces the outline of the tatty old leather-bound book. “This is the book she used to read to me from,” she breathes, emotion thick in her throat. She opens it and traces the writing with her fingertips. “And you say you can’t read this?” Evelynn asks Viktor and Hex.
They both shake their heads. I peer over her shoulder and look down at the text, seeing a bunch of words that make no sense. “It’s nonsense,” I clarify.
Evelynn tilts her head back to look up at me. “It’s just written in English,” she states.
My brothers grumble, a lot of what the fucks and murmurs circling the table. “Read it,” I demand, puzzled at how she can read it.
“In lands swallowed by ancient forests, there stands a hidden castle. A castle unlike any other. And within it lives a king.” Her voice trembles. “The King of Darkness.” She swallows. “His eyes burn so bright they see into your soul. His hair is black as midnight. To the world, he is a monster, feared, hunted, despised. He lives without warmth, without mercy, without love.”Her voice fractures. “An elder from a forgotten age is granted a vision of the monster’s future; a fate so terrible they know it must be warned.” She pauses, drawing a shaky breath. The room holds still. “Days turn to weeks. Weeks into months. Over mountains, through caverns, across endless seas, the elder searches for the dark-haired king with the burning eyes.” Her fingers tighten around the book. “But magic fails them. Spells fall silent. The monster cannot be found.” She swallows again. “And just as hope begins to die, it arrives on their doorstep.” Her voice softens. “A human child. With trusting eyes and a heart untouched by darkness.” She lifts her gaze, tears shining. “They were destined to find the monster. To stand before him with courage and kindness. To deliver the warning the elder could not.” Her voice breaks. “I didn’t know,” she whispers. “I thought it was just a story. I?—”
“Continue,” I murmur.
She nods, wiping at her cheeks before looking back down. “A message soaked in sorrow. A warning meant for the heart.” Her breathing becomes uneven. “For centuries, entire lives have been erased in the hunt for him. He is the only one of his kind. The only one who can end it all.” Her hands shake. “But to do so, he must endure pain beyond imagining. A sufferingthat will never truly fade.” Her voice drops to a whisper. “To sacrifice his own monstrous heart.” Tears spill freely now. “And through his sacrifice, his kind will finally be free.” The room feels hollow.
“Shit,” Silas breathes.
I don’t look at him. My eyes are locked on the woman with a beating heart; the mortal I marked, the one bound to me until death. Because I won’t be sacrificing only myself. I will be sacrificing her, too.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
EVELYNN
The room stays silent,the words of the story hitting us all like a two-ton truck. “Is there nothing else in that book?” Viktor asks, his voice hoarse.
I shake my head, flicking through empty pages until, on the final page, something catches my eye.
Evelynn,
This is for you only. This must not be shared, or all will be lost.
