“That sounds dangerous.”
“It is.”
She studies my face, as though weighing the meaning behind my words. Then the smile fades into something warmer, something far more certain. She leans closer again, but this time there is no hesitation in the movement. Her hand slides along the back of my neck as she pulls me toward her and kisses me again.
The second kiss is different from the first.
Hungrier.
Whatever uncertainty lingered between us dissolves the moment her lips meet mine again, and the quiet restraint she carried since the village begins to melt into something far more deliberate. The warmth in the cave deepens around us as the bond stirs in answer, fiendish energy gathering softly in the air without spilling beyond the stone walls.
The power is listening to her.
Her confidence grows with every heartbeat, bright instead of volatile. The flame that once answered panic now curls gently through the cave like living light, responding to the quiet certainty in her touch.
My own hands go to her clothes, but they are careful, even as need claws at my insides. The ties at her waist come loose. I push the fabric from her shoulders, baring her inch by agonizing inch to the firelight.
She doesn’t flinch. She helps me, shifting until the last of the cloth pools around her hips and then is kicked aside. She is naked before me, pale skin glowing, her breasts full and tipped with pink that tightens in the cool air. My gaze sweeps over her. She is gorgeous and mine.
“Say it,” I demand, my voice a graveled scrape. My hand slides from her shoulder down her arm, feeling her tremble. “Say you accept the bond. All of it.”
Elowen’s breath hitches as my other hand cups her breast, my thumb stroking over her nipple. A soft gasp escapes her. “I accept it,” she whispers. Then louder, her eyes blazing into mine. “I acceptyou. The bond, the fire, the mating. All of it. I claim you as mine, Threx.”
Fuck.
Her words are a key turning in a lock deep in my soul. The bond doesn’t just ignite, it detonates. Abyssal energy surges up from the stone beneath us, a wave of pure, golden heat that doesn’t burn but cocoons. It wraps around us, sealing us in a private, shimmering world within the cave. The light dances over her skin, and I watch, mesmerized, as a faint, graceful sigil, a mirror to my own, blooms over her heart, binding her to me in a mark that would reveal itself whenever the bond stirred strongly between us or we decide.
“Look how perfect you are,” I murmur, awed despite myself. I trace the new mark with a reverent fingertip. It’s warm, like sunlight.
“So are you,” she adds, her hands sliding over my shoulders, down the hard planes of my back. Her touch is curious, hungry. “Now stop being gentle.”
A feral grin touches my lips. “As my lady commands.”
I don’t give her time to reconsider. I lower her back onto the soft bed of moss, coming over her, caging her with my body. My skin against hers is a revelation, the smooth heat of her, the softness yielding to my hardness. I kiss her again, deep and consuming, my tongue sweeping into her mouth, tasting her resolve, her fear, her courage. She tastes of smoke and wildflowers and home.
Her legs part for me instinctively, and I settle between them. The thick, hard length of my cock presses against her belly, leaving a damp trail. She gasps into my mouth, her hips lifting in a silent, desperate plea.
“Tell me what you want,” I grind out, nipping at her lower lip.
“You,” she pants, her hands clutching at my back, her nails scraping lightly. “I want you inside me. I want to feel the bond… there.”
Gods and demons... I have to squeeze my eyes shut for a second against the onslaught of pure, undiluted need. When I open them, I see my own desperate hunger reflected in her eyes.
I reach between us, my fingers finding her slick, hot center. She’s drenched, ready for me, her body arching off the moss as I stroke her. “You are always so wet for me,” I groan, circling her clit, watching her face contort with pleasure. “All this for your demon?”
“Yes,” she sobs, her back bowing. “Please.”
I can’t wait another second. I guide myself to her entrance, the broad head nudging against her. I lock my eyes with hers. “This seals it, Elowen. Forever. No going back.”
Her answer is to wrap her legs around my hips and pull me down.
I sink into her in one long, relentless stroke.
She cries out, a sharp, beautiful sound that echoes off the stone, and her inner muscles clamp around me like a vise. She’stight, impossibly so, and so fucking hot it steals my breath. I bury my face in the curve of her neck, breathing in her scent, letting her adjust. The bond is screaming now, a feedback loop of sensation, her stretching fullness, my aching possession.
“Move,” she begs, her voice ragged. “Threx, move.”
I obey. I pull back almost all the way, then drive into her again, deeper this time, setting a rhythm that is both punishing and reverent. The slap of skin, our ragged breaths, her soft moans, they fill the cave. Each thrust pushes her higher on the moss, and I hook my arms under her knees, spreading her wider, opening her completely to my possession.
