A part of me was resentful of it—resentful that even Skaros, who couldn’t truly claim a bride, had the right to enter the market. But I couldn’t cling to that anger, not with Medea in my arms.
Medea must have agreed with me, because she shot me a tremulous smile. “We have a chance now, Aion. I admit I was afraid of today, of Skaros, of the market. But I realize now… This is a good thing. This is our own personal miracle.”
Her strength humbled me. If I’d been human, I might have staggered, lost my balance, and fallen over under the weight of her fierceness. Instead, I lowered her slowly until her bare feet touched the rugs, keeping my hands on her waist. An unbearable hunger settled into my center, and I couldn’t bear to be separated from her.
Medea tipped her head back. Her gaze dropped to my mouth, then lifted to my eyes. Tangling my fingers in the silk of her hair, I slid one hand up her spine and gently tilted her face up to mine.
She let out a soft, shuddering breath as I brought my mouth down to hers.
The first touch was hesitant. A quiet, reverent testing of a boundary she had never been allowed to cross. We’d almost kissed on the docks before Phix’s arrival. There was no one to interrupt us now.
Her lips were soft, yielding, and searing hot. I tasted the sharp, stinging edge of her curse—the raw power that withered flowers and stopped hearts. But it merely washed over my skin, harmlessly absorbed by the eternal nature of my existence.
Medea made a desperate, broken sound in the back of her throat. Realizing she was safe, she rose sharply onto her toes, pressed her body against mine, and opened her mouth.
I kissed her more deeply, stealing her breath. I tasted the bitter trace of her tears and the intoxicating heat of her mouth. She swept her tongue against mine, her hands slipping to the back ofmy neck. Every point of contact between her soft flesh and my hard skin burned with a bright, consuming heat.
I didn’t have a thread the Moirae could bind, but the soul bond recognition was still there. Every fiber of my being still screamed,“Mate.”I hadn’t doubted it, not really, but tasting the confirmation still brought me so much relief.
We broke apart, breathing heavily. Medea’s eyes were dark, blown wide with a hunger that mirrored the aching need in my own core. She took a slow step back. Her trembling hands moved to the front of her robes, catching the simple cloth ties.
“I want this.” She undid the knot, refusing to let me look away. “All of me. All of you. No more barriers. No more roles.”
The fabric slipped from her shoulders, pooling in a dark heap at her feet. She stood before me in the dim light, completely bare. Her skin was flushed, her chest rising and falling rapidly. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, and she was all mine.
I had no garments to shed. I was a vessel forged by my father, meant to remain static, built to contain the crushing weight of our city. But the fragile soul that had awakened inside me demanded a connection my current body lacked.
The thrumming warmth in my chest began to sink, pooling lower in my body with a desperate ache. I understood the biological mechanics of desire. My soul needed her, and myliving metal obeyed. I could forge myself anew. To claim her, as she deserved.
For Medea,I thought, and the bronze between my thighs grew impossibly hot.
For Medea,I repeated to myself as the metal reshaped itself into a thick, heavy cock.
The shaft expanded and lengthened until I was fully, painfully erect. It pulsed with a dense ache, the newly etched veins glowing as my body responded to my mate’s closeness.
Medea gasped softly. She looked down at my massive, fully formed erection, her dark eyes widening in the shadows. She didn’t retreat. She didn’t show a single ounce of fear at the sight of a colossal monster reshaping his anatomy for her. She looked utterly starving.
Stepping closer, she sank to her knees on the rugs. Her silver hair spilled over her bare shoulders. First, she traced the heated length of my shaft with her fingertips.
“Aion,” she murmured, her breath ghosting hot across my cock.
She wrapped her small hand firmly around my heavy girth.
I stiffened instantly. A rough groan tore from my throat, vibrating through the quiet room. The sensation struck all the way into my marrow. I’d never felt my own spine, not like this.With her touching me, it was as if I truly had the nerve endings of a human.
Her palm was a furnace, and the slick friction of her hand ripped a violent shudder from my frame. Leaning forward, Medea parted her lips and took the broad head of my cock into her mouth.
I reached blindly for the edge of a nearby bookshelf. The wood splintered in my hand as my vision completely fractured. Every swirl of her tongue, every sucking glide of her lips sent a ringing hum through my body. She drew me down her throat, the slapping sounds echoing loudly in the quiet den.
I tipped my head back against the cold stone wall, letting out a harsh, broken breath. The intoxicating vacuum of her lips drew the molten pleasure straight down from my chest. I pumped my hips forward instinctively, sliding my shaft deeper into the wet heat of her mouth. She took the massive length of me eagerly, humming as she swallowed me down.
That small, dirty, incredibly human sound completely unraveled my control. The pressure in my body was building far too fast. I ached with a heavy, throbbing weight that demanded to be buried completely inside her.
Reaching down, I gently gripped her bare, sweat-slicked shoulders and pulled her up from her knees. A shimmering string of saliva connected her lips to the head of my shaft.
She stood before me, panting heavily. Her lips were swollen and slick with my arousal. And in the end, I was still a monster of Asphodelia, because I could no longer hold back. “Medea… I want to claim you.”
I hadn’t bought her at the bride market. By Asphodelia’s laws, she belonged to Skaros. But in our hearts, that didn’t matter.
