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I smile. That’s our girl right there, despite the mating heat she’s in. She’s in there, and that’s all I needed to know. “No, beautiful, I think you’re magnificent.” She seems shocked as I slide my hands up her thighs and over her tight abs. “Now, tell me what you want from me.”

Unlike with Torrin or Raiden, she lets vulnerability enter her eyes as she watches me. “It hurts.” I know it cost her to admit that. Ferol is strong and unbreakable, so she would never admit to being in pain, even if she were dying, not unless she trusted you. She had to be that way to survive, but right now, she’s depending on me, and I like that. “Make it stop, please.”

“With pleasure.”

I’m soft as I touch her, and her arms drape around my neck as I come down across her. She’s struggling with the mate bond, pain, shame, and embarrassment. I feel it all, so I go slowly, kissing her skin and stroking it. When she relaxes, I pull my cock out and press it to her entrance, my mouth brushing her ear. “I’ve got you, little beastie,” I promise as I sink inside her, giving her time to adjust to my size. When I start to move, she sighs happily into my skin, lifting her hips to meet my lazy thrusts. Despite my need and desire, I hold back, even as she comes apart for me, crying my name, her channel clenching around my cock. When she lifts her head, her burning eyes meeting mine, I stiffen.

“I won’t break,” she whispers.

“What if I do?” I retort as I feel the bond wrapping around us, made of time and different versions of us. It presses down on us as I struggle. My heart beats rapidly in my chest as I stare into her bright eyes and realise what I have been trying to fight all along.

I love her. If that is past, present, or future her, it doesn’t matter. I do, and I know she is going to break my heart.

Swallowing, she presses her lips to mine in a chaste kiss. “I’m sorry.” It’s all she can say, and honestly, I understand. She will always choose revenge, and I will always choose my brothers. We are without choices, but right now, we have one—each other.

I hold back the words that want to spill off my tongue, and instead, I bite her throat, leaving gentle marks before licking them clean. She clamps around me with a whine, and I speed up, giving into my desire.

“Bram,” she whispers into my ear, shuddering below me as she wraps her legs around my waist. The new angle has us both groaning as I avoid her lips, feeling my teeth sharpen as the change tugs at me. New strength comes with it, and when I slam inside her, she cries out, arching up, so I do it again, handing myself over to the frustration, hunger, and hate burning in me for everything I want and love and can’t have. My movements become cruel, but I can’t stop, and when she kicks me on with her feet, I know she doesn’t want me to. The pleasure warps me, changing me, and only Kitt’s warning keeps me in check as I take what is mine—her.

Keeping my mouth from hers despite her searching lips, I try to staunch my venom. She might not die, and even if she did, she would be reborn, but I’m not risking it. I won’t risk her life on a whim, even if I want to kiss her more than anything at this moment. Instead, I press my face to her neck, breathing in her scent, wrapping her in my embrace so tight, she groans as the bond finally seals and sends us flying together.

My groan is loud as I fill her with my release, and she sags in happiness and relief as we lie together, struggling through the aftermath, but it’s not long before her hips move again. Through the bond strengthening between us, I feel the fire she experiences and it makes me hiss.

I have no idea how she fought it for so long. She’s so strong, our mate.

Rolling us, I spread out on the seats, watching in ecstasy as she gasps above me, her breasts jiggling with the movement. Her scarred hands press against my chest as she starts to move, my cock hardening inside her greedy pussy. That slow, seductive roll of her hips has me swallowing my venom, my nostrils flaring in need, but I let her use me. I’m hers.

Sweat drips down our skin as we come together, time muddling as my powers flare, skip, and change. I feel my cum drip from her and know we’ve fucked more than once, but everything moves so fast, my powers acting up. I try to slow them down, wanting to experience all of this. My muscles burn as she cries out, her head rolling in ecstasy as she speeds up once more. Her hands slide down my chest until she can rub her clit. Reaching through visions of time in my peripheral, I find what I need and blink them away, focusing entirely on her.

My hands change to pincers from the past. Knocking her hand aside, I close one of them around her clit, tightening with each roll of her hips until she screams for me. The threat and promise of violence are even more heady than pleasure, and right now, we are both riding that edge.

When my tail slides up and presses against her other entrance, her eyes widen, and she lowers her head to see me as a bead of sweat rolls between her perfect breasts. “Bram.”

“Trust me, little beastie,” I murmur as I push it into her. The tip is deadly, as is my venom, but I would never harm her. I stretch her wide, filling her until she cries out my name, riding every part of me I have.

When our bond slams our souls together, we are helpless against it, crying out each other’s names as it steals our independence, transforming us into one and shattering us with an ecstasy so forceful, I lose all sense of time and space. I finally come back to myself, spent and used below her.

Slumping into my chest, she gasps as I struggle to breathe, exhaustion consuming me. It feels like I’m dehydrated and nothing more than an empty skeleton, drained of everything inside me.

Despite the darkness clawing at my vision, I reach for her as she whines in pain.

“Shit,” Kitt whispers out loud. “She’s going to seal the mate bond.” He looks at Emrys. “Go, run, and hide. Do not let her find you. You’re our only hope of keeping our sanity and freedom.” He wades towards her to sacrifice himself to her mating heat.

I finally allow the darkness to claim me, knowing she’s safe in his hands.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-FIVE

When will the pain stop? My embarrassment fled hours ago, as did my need to remain quiet and strong. I hate that it’s reduced me into a dripping, pleading mess, but when heaven is right in front of you and you know it can make it stop, then nothing can prevent you from doing what it takes. Rational thinking isn’t possible, not right now. Flickers of thoughts, like knowing this is wrong, cross my mind, but they are soon consumed by flickering flames that scorch me alive.

Then he appears, my salvation and damnation. Kitt stands above me, blocking out everything else. His name floats through my mind for a moment, as do reminders of why this is a bad idea, but they are quickly swallowed by a hunger that is out of my control. I reach for him with a groan, and he takes my hand, guiding me away from Bram. The contact makes me hiss and throw myself at him, my mouth sliding across his skin as it starts to harden under my desperate touch.

Dropping me none too gently on the floor, he comes down above me, shoving my legs open as he glares at me, furious even as I see the longing in his eyes.

“Firebird. It’s apt, isn’t it? You’re burning for us. I can feel it. Don’t say I’m cruel after this.”

“You bastard—” My words end in a groan as he yanks me down onto his cock, spearing me on the huge length. I had him earlier, but I’d forgotten how big he gets, and it’s everything I need as he kneels between my thighs.