He rolled onto his side, pulling me against his chest. I settled against him, resting my head over his heart, listening to the steady rhythm beneath my ear. It grounded me.
"You’re marked now," he murmured, his voice rough with fatigue. His large hand moved slowly along my back, soothing and steady.
"You too," I replied softly. "Everyone will see tomorrow."
A low laugh rumbled through his chest. "Let them see and know the Ruk’hai of the Oksha no longer belongs only to war."
I closed my eyes, the weight of his arm wrapped securely around me. The wound on my neck throbbed faintly, but exhaustion pulled me under before I could think further.
For the first time in a century, my mind fell silent.
I drifted to sleep listening to the steady beat of his heart, certain that I was exactly where I was meant to be.
Chapter 22
Waking up with Malek by my side was a unique experience. His arm encircled my waist, and his large hand rested between my legs, covering my pussy in a possessive way that, strangely, didn’t bother me. He breathed peacefully, his face buried in my hair, and for a moment, the cabin seemed to be the only safe place in the entire world.
The brightness leaking through the cracks indicated that the day had already broken. I thought of Kalisha and the missed training session, of Leone and his recovery. But the comfort of Malek’s arms was a delicious trap. I watched his relaxed face, his features softened by deep sleep. The intensity of the Ruk’hai gave way to a rare stillness, revealing the male beneath, who, to my dismay, had begun to claim a dangerous place in my heart.
I leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his shoulder, exactly over my bite mark. The skin was sensitive, and the muscle twitched slightly beneath my lips, but he didn’t wake. When I tried to slide out of bed, the absence of his warmth hit me like a cold wind.
“Where are you going?” Malek’s voice, hoarse and heavy with sleep, cut through the silence.
I smiled at the sight of his half-closed eyes and the slight pout on his lips. He might have looked almost boyish, if not for the broad expanse of his chest revealed as he sat up, the furs slipping away.
“I have commitments, Malek,” I said, but my determination faltered when he pulled me into his lap.
Feeling his member already pulsing beneath me stirred that wild side of mine. An overwhelming urge to lick my own bite mark took hold of me, but I held back.
“Don’t go.”
“I have to see Leone and—”
He ignored my protests about Leone and Kalisha, sealing my mouth in a hungry kiss. His large hands abandoned my waist and slid up into my hair, pulling it slightly as he devoured my lips.
“The world can wait, krash'uk,” he growled without pulling away, his hot breath sending waves of desire all the way down my spine. “But I cannot.”
He eased me back onto the furs, settling over me. His lips found my neck, right over the mark he had left the night before, and he lingered there, drawing a soft moan from me. My hands slid up to him, pulling him closer.
“Malek...” I tried to say, but my words died when I felt his tongue trace a path of fire down to my breasts.
He enveloped one of my nipples with his hot mouth. The contrast between the rough stubble scratching my sensitive skin and the damp caress of his tongue was all it took. Kalisha, Leone, and the rest of the world turned to smoke before Malek’s touch.
My nails dug into his tense muscles as he trailed kisses down my belly. He continued to descend, his hot breath sending shivers across my naked skin, until his lips reached my belly button. Malek paused at the curve of my hip, his large, rough hands sliding beneath my thighs to open me to him.
“Beautiful,” he murmured.
He dove his face between my legs. The shock of his hot tongue against my center, still sensitive from the night before,made my vision darken. I felt the pressure that expanded my senses until I was nothing but exposed nerves. Just when I felt the beginnings of an orgasm, Malek pulled back quickly, his eyes shining with predatory lust.
He positioned himself, the tip of his length, with those golden pearls I now craved like an addict, grazing my entrance. With a single thrust, he buried himself deep within me. My legs locked around his waist, pulling him close so that not an inch of distance remained between us. He let out a guttural growl, his hands digging under my hips to dictate a savage rhythm.
Pleasure coiled tight, an unbearable pressure that made me arch my neck. Malek saw the bite mark and bit my lower lip with such possessiveness that I saw stars.
We were on the brink of collapse, our breaths mingling into a single gasp, the knot at his base already pulsing, ready to seal us together once more—
“Ruk’hai, Drak and I need you now! It’s urgent!”
The voice was like a bucket of cold water.
