Sadie

The crack of a whip sounded overhead, and I shot up from my bed. The satin sheets slid down my body and my pulse raced as the thunder rolled in. It was lightning. Just a storm. I let my breathing slow. I was safe.

Or as safe as a prisoner surrounded by monsters that would tear her to pieces the moment she stepped outside could be.

The skies seemed to open, and a deluge of rain poured down. The sound was deafening, torrents falling from the sky. I leapt out of bed and threw open my door. Both ends of the hall were obscured by waterfalls of rain. Navin’s room was straight across the atrium, and I wondered if he lay awake in his own bed listening to water pour down from the roof.

My fingertips buzzed and I stalked toward that wall of water. Another rumble of thunder rolled in, echoing across the tiles. The reverberations shook through my body, and I braced myself against the wall. A flash of lightning lit up the whole space, and I saw the shadow of a figure on the other side of the water.

My chest rose and fell faster, knowing that exact silhouette. Was he coming for me? To check on me during the storm?

The deafening drum of thunder and clatter of rain was like a song all its own, pounding like a war drum and ratcheting up my pulse. I wondered if this storm song came with its own sort of magic, too. Time seemed to stand still, and I wondered if only for this moment the sounds could drown out my righteous anger, my wary heart. Maybe tonight I didn’t need my weapons drawn. I could pick them back up with the rising sun.

I reached my hand to the waterfall and Navin did the same in mirror to my own. We stood there in this strange limbo, neither of us seemingly wanting to break the spell. Finally, I extended a hand out through the water, the coolness soothing my hot skin, and that hand grabbed mine and pulled me through.

I let out a surprised laugh as Navin yanked me into the rainstorm. I stretched out my hands in supplication, feeling the thousand little droplets dance across my skin. He smiled at me, his chest heaving in unison to my own as the rain washed over us.

“Rahm Bek Annataf,”

he said, closing his eyes and tilting his head skyward. “This storm comes only once a year.” He had to shout to be heard over the rain. “Every plant and animal in Lower Valta lives and dies by this storm.”

“Except for here,”

I said, spinning in a circle, my hair flying out behind me, spraying water as I spun. My feet slipped on the tiles and Navin’s hand shot out and steadied my elbow. His laughter made my skin buzz along with the heavy rain massaging over my limbs.

“The rains of Rahm bless you,”

he said. “The Songkeepers believed they were magical. Many a song was written in their honor.”

I could feel it. The magic consuming me, the storm seeming to wash everything else away.

Slicking my bangs out of my eyes, I paused to take in Navin’s now soaked-through shirt. It clung to the lean muscles of his torso, creasing around his biceps and pecs in a way that made it hard to look away. I knew my nightdress, too, was similarly glued to my muscles and curves.

“Can your magic control the weather?” I asked.

Navin shook his head, water dripping from his brow, nose, and lips with every movement. “We thank Rahm in our songs, but I cannot summon storms. Even if it was possible, I think that would be greater magic, and I wouldn’t want to pay that price.”

“Like creating sorcerers,” I said.

Navin wiped the rain out of his eyes. “Yes.”

I walked slowly around the heptagonal space, my feet sliding across the slick tiles. Navin fell into stride beside me. “You hummed to keep that beast from attacking us,”

I said as we turned another side. My pulse raced as it all started to come together. All the things he hid from me. All the magic in plain sight.

“Yes,”

was his only response.

“You used your song to lose Maez and me in Taigos.”

“Yes.”

“You saved yourself from falling with magic.”

“Yes.”

I choked on the last words. “You made me fall in love with you.”

His footsteps faltered and I kept walking, not knowing if the hot liquid on my cheeks was rain or tears. That’s what this was after all, wasn’t it? Love. There was no other explanation. He’d warped my mind, twisted and confused me into falling for him. Every ounce of logic in me told me he was a bad idea, but I couldn’t stop thinking about him, couldn’t stop wanting him, even when I knew he’d lied to me.

“,”

he said, reaching for me.

“It was all just magic,”

I muttered, easily maneuvering out of his hold.

As I rounded the next corner, he sidestepped me, his tall frame blocking my path. “You don’t get to just say that and walk away from me,”

he panted, rain bucketing down upon us.

“Of course I do.”

I tried to duck under one of the palm leaves to move around him, but his hand splayed across my belly and pushed me back, turning me until I leaned against the slippery tiled walls.

Our eyes locked, and I knew he was thinking of that day I held a knife to his throat, knew he was remembering my threat: know that every time you put your hands on me it is only because I’ve allowed you to.

When I didn’t move, Navin pinned me to the wall with his chest, the wet fabric of our clothes meeting. I could’ve slipped from his hold, I could’ve twisted his arm or broken his wrist, but instead I stood stock-still, staring up into his eyes with hurt in my own. How dare he make me feel this way for him?

His hand reached out, sweeping wet strands of my hair behind my ear as he gently shook his head. “There is no magic in the world that can do that,”

he said, his hand bracketing my jaw as his thumb swept across my bottom lip. “And you, Rauxtide, would be the last person compelled to feel anything you did not want to. You’re more stubborn than any magic.”

I stared up into his dark eyes as they crinkled at the sides, a quick flash of a smile before his gaze drifted back to my mouth. I panted as though I’d been running, trying to catch a full breath as the skies poured down upon us.

“I shouldn’t feel anything for you.”

Navin’s cheeks dimpled. “Nor I you,”

he said. “I spent my life vowing to protect humans from Wolves, not falling in love with them.”

His words hit me all at once and my eyes flared. He loved me. We loved each other. I could still hate him, still guard my heart from this terrible, traitorous feeling, but there was no denying that feeling had a name. And it made no sense and it probably never should’ve been, but it was true.

“This was always a terrible idea,”

I said, half-heartedly shoving on his chest. “Even before I knew you had magic, we never made any sense.”

I shoved him again, and Navin caught my wrists and held them to his chest as if he knew exactly how I needed him to fight with me, to show his backbone and not let me walk away.

“We make sense because of my magic,”

he said. “I don’t know how, but you fell for the real me, not the ruse. Somewhere deep down you knew I was more than what I seemed. A guardian of magic and a Wolf soldier are not as dissimilar as you wish to believe.” I pulled against his grip, testing him again, but he pulled me back into him, his ever-tightening hold making my lips part as his piercing eyes dropped to my mouth. “We both serve a higher purpose. We’re both loyal to our chosen families. We’ve both fought and grieved and suffered to protect those we care about.”

I scoffed. “You’re no fighter.”

A challenge. One my Wolf needed to see fulfilled: fight me, chase me. For once, Gods, let you be the predator and me your prey.

His eyes darkened, fueling my desire. “You still think that?”

His grip tightened on my wrists, his large hands easily cuffing them like manacles, and my skin rippled with gooseflesh. “Then why do you think you fell for me? Not magic. The real answer.”

My lips curved into a smile. Time to see how much he could really do. He thought he could immobilize me so easily? By simply holding my wrists? Fast as a snow snake, I twisted, driving my elbow into his sternum. He let out a grunt of air as I stomped on his foot and ripped my hands free. Except he was faster than I anticipated. His hands looped around my center, hoisting me into the air and dragging me back against him. I twisted in his hold, elbowing him in the ear and kicking out his knee. When he dropped, I hit the ground and ran through the nearest hallway, through the waterfall, spilling into the hallway on the other side. My feet slipped under me like I was running on ice, but I kept my balance.

Navin had caught up to me in two short strides. He grabbed me and I whirled, punching him in the side with a laugh. Dodging out of the next blow, he chuckled and spun me back into the wall. Before I could land another punch, his broad hand lifted my jaw and his lips landed on mine. All sense of battle vanished as I lifted on my toes, finally allowing the frenzy of fighting to morph into a frenzy of lust.

His tongue licked into my mouth, pulling a moan from me as his free hand skimmed up my wet body. I shoved him away, growling, one last fleeting attempt, but when he just stood there, waiting for me to decide if this is what I truly wanted, I knew I was done with these games. Panting, I reached for him, practically willing his body into mine. He found the clasps at my shoulders and pulled the pins free, pulling the wet fabric down my body without breaking our kiss. I stepped out of my wet dress, pulling open the V of his shirt and then ripping it the rest of the way.

He laughed against my mouth as his shirt hit the ground with a wet splat. He lifted me up by my ass, my back sliding up the tiles and my legs hooking around his hips. He unbuckled his belt and freed himself as I ground myself into his belly, writhing and desperate.

His hands found my hips and he stilled me. “I love you,”

he said, forcing me to meet his eyes. “Even if I shouldn’t. Even if it makes no sense. I love you, . Every song in my soul sings your name.”

My hands gripped Navin tighter, desperate for this feeling to deepen even further, knowing exactly how I wanted to take him. I still feared the truth of everything I was feeling, but I needed his body so desperately it was going to drive me mad.

“And you love me,”

Navin rumbled, the claiming in his voice making me ache with desire.

His cock was poised below me, waiting, and I couldn’t bear the anticipation, needing all of him. I let out a snarl as I moved against him, wanting to be filled and hating him for his cursed patience. He’d wait all night for me to acknowledge his words just to torture me. I knew he would, knew he saw all the ways I still pushed him away.

“I hate you!”

One last protest. One last vestige of strength but my grip was slipping.

“No. You don’t.”

He rocked his hips, the tip of him rubbing against me, zapping me with such acute pleasure it felt like a lightning strike.

“Yes—”

“No,”

he said quietly, but with a strength like the rumbling thunder. If he put me down right now, my legs would not hold me. But he wasn’t putting me down. He would do this forever. Hold me and tease me and get what he wanted from me. He’d told me he loved me and he knew I loved him back.

And I cursed him and thanked him in equal measure for making me say it, making me face the torrent of undeniable emotions inside. He and I both knew there would be no coming back from this moment. Might as well lay it all bare.

“Yes,”

I moaned, my hand finding his cock and positioning him at my entrance.

His eyes guttered, a groan pulling from his throat, but he didn’t move. “Yes, what?”

I looked up at the tiled ceiling, droplets tracing down my skin between us, my chest heaving, and I prayed to the Moon Goddess to forgive me as I said, “Yes, I love you.”

He thrust up into me, cutting off my words in a sharp moan. The pain that had been in my heart shattered as his claiming pulled me apart and put me back together. My head rolled back, leaning against the tiled wall, as I reveled in the sensation of him, so deep, so full. My thighs quivered around him. Gods, he felt so good. He pulled out slowly inch by inch and slid back in, stretching me each time in the most delicious way. I didn’t think humans could fuck as good as Wolves, but I was very, very happy to be mistaken.

I let out a high-pitched whine and dug my fingernails into his back. Tilting my hips, riding him as he drove back into me. My breasts bounced with each thrust and Navin dropped his head to suck one hardened nipple into his mouth. I cried out, the feeling making everything happening between my legs even more heightened. My fingers delved into his wet hair and held him to my breast as he tested my nipple with his teeth and then sucked again.

“Yes,”

I panted, and his hips moved faster. I slid up and down the tiles, completely at his mercy as he impaled me onto him again and again. I clawed down his back, desperately hanging on as he drove harder and deeper, hitting that spot inside me that made my eyes cross and my moan catch in my throat.

“,”

he groaned against my breast, and I knew by the erratic movements of his hips he was close and just that thought alone pushed me higher toward my own release.

One hand strayed from my ass, shifting to my throbbing clit. One long finger snaked between us and he began circling me. The sensations were too much. I was practically scrambling up the wall away from the building power of my orgasm. I clawed up Navin’s back as he pumped into me faster, that finger circling my swollen bud. With a broken cry, I came.

Lightning flashed outside, mirroring the bright lights shooting within me. My body clenched around Navin, pulling his own climax from him. He dropped his forehead to my shoulder and groaned even as his finger kept circling me, kept chasing my own rolling release. My body felt heavy and light, shattered and whole, everything in me pulling apart and mending back together as I came down from that euphoric high.

When my limbs fell limp to my sides and my head dropped to Navin’s shoulder, he stepped away from the wall, cradling me to him while still inside me. His hand trailed down my back, his other cupping my ass as he carried me down the hall and into his bedroom.

All I kept thinking was the rain is magic, the rain is magic, the rain is magic . . .