A growl fell from his lips as he released my breast and circled the table, stopping at my legs. His eyes dipped to the messthey kept teasing me about, a deep flush forming on his cheeks as his eyes flickered back to mine.
“Ours,” he said aloud, the sound of his voice taking me by surprise. “Mate.”
With that, he fully sheathed himself inside me in one stroke. That alone had stars dancing behind my eyes. Each thrust had me trembling, but I held on to him—to all of them. There were hands all over me; on my breasts, on my stomach, cupping my face. Maeve’s fingers worked me for Thor, and over the distinct hum of my mates’ voices as they cooed and talked me through this final orgasm, she told Thor I liked it when my mates touched me, that it made me feel good.
And there was something about the simplicity of her teaching him how to please me that had me falling over the edge for the ninth time.
Nine claims.
Nine bonds.
Nine mates showing me that I belonged to them—and they belonged tome.
And just like that, it was unlocked. Nine sharp bolts of lightning struck me. Over and over again. Painful, overwhelming, right.
I cried, tears spilling down my cheeks as waves upon waves of pleasure and pain rolled through me. My mates were quick to wipe them away, to come around me as I completely fell apart.
I physically might have been a mess. Totally and utterly destroyed.
But I felt like different pieces of me were finally falling backinto place. Like the threads of my bonds, which had been hidden now for weeks, were finally within reach.
And my magic…it thrummed within me, pushing against the weight of metal around my throat.
Once the collar was off, I knew my power would truly be unleashed.
93
Ivy
Iawoke to the sound of thunder rumbling through the air. It pulled me out of my dreams and had me sitting up straight, taking in the deep darkness that’d settled in around the room. The open curtains revealed the storm raging outside; rolling black clouds and a furious rain hitting the balcony and closed door; a strong wind bending the trees beyond as lightning struck the sky.
Another crack of thunder filled the air, startling and loud, pulling Thor from his slumber at the end of the bed. He was on his feet in an instant, eyes wide and unseeing as he stumbled. I shoved off the mattress, ignoring the fact that both of us were still naked, and grabbed his hand.
You’re safe,I said, feeling a familiar heat rise in my chest. The barrier between me and my bonds was weaker than it had been before, and for the first time in weeks, I felt a hint of my mates.You’re okay.
Thor turned to me, breathing hard, but as soon as our eyes met, the tension seemed to completely disappear. I barely had a chance to move before I was in his arms, naked bodies completely flush as he buried his face in my messy hair.
The doors to the bedroom slammed open as lightning lit up the sky again. “Ah, shit,” Rowan muttered. “My eyes.”
Thor stiffened, but he didn’t let go of me, agrowl rumbling through his chest in response. “We passed out once the bond completed, remember?” I asked.
With each appearance of my other mates, I could finallyfeelthem again. Maeve’s quiet strength; Orion’s possessiveness; Elias’s determined resolve. And for the first time, I felt my new mates; like the ancient strength that came from Damon, the curious insight of Xerxes, the power of Hawk.
It both overwhelmed and relieved me to at least have some connection to them again. Weak as it was, it still brought tears to my eyes.
“Let’s get changed,” I said once the bedroom was filled. “Then we need to talk about what Sable said.”
“I think we need to talk about whatNyxsaid before she abandoned us in that place,” Adrian said, voice dark. “Because she was right.”
My skin prickled with a shiver as I pulled away from Thor long enough to take in my mates. “What?”
Bile rose in my throat as Maeve revealed her tablet. Red ringed her eyes as they met mine. “Dante set fire to the forest outside the academy,” she said. “They won’t last long if it’s an ever-burning spell. The wards will only hold out for so long before it destroys them.”
My stomach sank, heart pounding. “But that’s not all, is it?” I asked, taking in their grim expressions and dark eyes. “What else has he done?”
“It’s not what he’s done,” Elias said, “it’s what Nyx did to us while we were out.”
“What? What did she do?” I looked around again, eyes catching on the dark storm. On the rolling black clouds and raging winds beyond.
