He thought on it but finally nodded. “Okay.”
I tried to contain my grin. “How do you want me?”
He gawked for a moment. “What, right here? In the kitchen?”
Glancing around, I didn’t see the problem. “Is there a better place to do it?”
“Literally anywhere else.” He was stalling, but I wanted him to be comfortable, so I took him by the hand and led him to the living room.
“Better?”
He nodded, sitting on the couch, and patted the cushion beside him. I joined him, adjusting myself discreetly; he didn’t need to know how hot I found this. “You don’t need to do anything but sit there andlook pretty. I’ll do all the work,” he teased awkwardly, trying to lighten the mood, but there was a building tension between us.
The height difference between us, even sitting, made the positioning a bit awkward. “Should I lie down?” I asked as he fidgeted beside me, trying to get a good angle.
“No, no. I think I can make this work…” And then he crawled into my lap, straddling me. Well, no hiding my hard-on now. “There. Much better,” he said, wiggling against me in a borderline obscene way. I was 100% certain this wasn’t anything like how his purges usually went.
I thought of all the so-called sins I was guilty of recently. Wrath, certainly. And when it came to Uly alone, I’d never known such greed or gluttony. And ohhh, how I’d lusted for him. “Forgive me, for I have sinned…” I drawled, my voice deepening as he placed his open mouth over mine.
Nothing happened right away. I held my breath, expecting pain maybe, some noise or lights? But then he set his palm flat over my chest, and somethingunlockedinside me. It felt like a knot untying, the slither of rope or ribbon, and then Uly began topull. It was as simple as breathing, his inhale to match my exhale, and a blue-gray-tinted vapor seemed to billow up from between my lips, and for the first time, I could taste what he’d explained to me. Chocolate and strawberries, champagne and roses, the familiar warm burn of whiskey on my tongue.
It didn’t hurt. In fact, it was actually quite pleasant. It was… an unburdening, like he was lifting a weight off my body that I had unknowingly been carrying around for centuries. A bubbly light sensation began in my chest, spiraling outward, and as Uly took my sins into his lungs, his eyes drifted shut, almost in bliss. I wasn’t sure how much time passed, but slowly, something began to shift between us. He moaned, raw and desperate. His knees clamped down on my hips, his hand that had been on my chest sliding up to hold my jaw in place, possessive and controlling in a way that was so unlike the mate I was still getting to know—and it was so incredibly hot to see him take ownership of me.
And I knew I was his, irrevocably, now and forever.
Even as the vapor tapered off, the purge complete, Uly was still far from done with me. He rose up on his knees, his tongue plunging through my mouth as his fingers tangled in my hair. His cock was hard against my stomach. “Gods, I could taste your lust for me,” he panted against my lips. “Your sins aredelicious.”
With one of his hungers satisfied, it was time to sate the rest of him. I flipped us around so he was sitting on the couch, and then I dropped to my knees on the floor between his spread legs, ready to worship him properly like he deserved. “What are you—” he began to ask, though it became clear when I undid his pants and reached inside. “Oh, fuck.” He gasped as I sheathed him straight into my mouth.
He was halfway there already, so all it took were a few long sucks, hollowing my cheeks. His hips lifted off the couch, thrusting into my mouth as he came down my throat, warm and salty. I couldn’t take my eyes off him as he came apart. Watching his face as he came was the truest form of bliss. My fated mate, the father of my child. My future.
Once I swallowed all he had to give me, I licked his softening dick clean then tucked him carefully back into his pants. He looked positively wrecked, in the best possible way.
He blinked down at me, trying to process everything that had just happened. It was a lot. “So… about that pregnancy test.”
I laughed, standing from the floor and heading to grab my keys. “I’ll be back in 15 minutes.” And then, we could start to plan our future for real.
Chapter 20
Ulysses
Theclockread4:52am,just eight minutes later than the last time I looked. It was time to admit defeat.
Careful not to wake Ruadan, I slipped out of bed and tiptoed out of the bedroom across the cold floor, closing the door softly behind me. The house was still unfamiliar to me, so it was impossible to dodge the creaky spots, but I was learning its rhythm. My own scent had already begun to mesh with Rue’s, a comforting feeling of home sinking into the wood and glass and metal that made up the structure around me.
I’d barely slept an hour since we crawled into bed. You’d think I would be exhausted after the emotional rollercoaster of finding out I was pregnant, not to mention our celebratory marathon sex. But there were still so many what-ifs spiraling through me. Would we live here together? What kind of father would I be? When would Apate come for us—because there was no question in my mind that she would one day—and how would I protect a child from her? All thesepossibilities were tugging me in all directions, until it felt like being caught in the eye of a raging storm, just waiting for the wind to pick up and tear me apart.
I tried to remain focused on the things I had control over. I found my feet carrying me down the hall to the spare bedroom—the nursery, a tiny voice in my head suggested. At this moment, it was as bland as the rest of the house, almost entirely devoid of personality. I’d asked Rue why he hadn’t decorated, and he’d frowned, looked around, and said, “I thought I did.” I wouldn’t changeeverything, I told him, but he’d simply kissed me and told me to have at it.
Clover green, I thought, imagining the color on the nursery walls,like Rue’s eyes. The nursery furniture in a bright, crisp white. I had some trinkets back at my apartment that would look lovely in here, as long as Rue didn’t object to the priceless artifacts. He probably thought they were cursed.
Chuckling, I stepped over to the window that looked out over the moon-drenched backyard, a fenced-in square of trimmed grass that I decided would look perfect with a swing set and a sandbox. And maybe a dog…
As much as I tried to keep my thoughts focused on the here and now, half my brain was still lingering on Rue’s purge. Gods, I probably shouldn’t have found that so sexy. His lustful sins were still swirling inside me, leaving me flushed and horny. It was no wonder sleep evaded me. I could easily go another ten rounds with him right now.
I’d never purged a living soul before, hadn’t seen the point. There was a certain sense of danger, the way it had felt so tenuous, as if it wouldn’t have taken much to just… snip those threads holding his soul in place, but Rue hadn’t even hesitated to place his life in my hands. My abilities had always been entwined with death, but this… was so fulloflife! It was so different—better, obviously—but maybe that had to do with it being my mate.
My feet took me back out to the hallway, on an unplanned nighttime expedition to the parts of the house I hadn’t yet explored. Without intending to, my nose naturally followed my mate’s scent to the concentration of it coming from his office.
