57. Arran

I'd known from the moment I walked into the bedchamber that I'd made a colossal mistake.

We could not show Palomides any sign of weakness or conflict. He had no doubt seen the desire burning in both of our eyes. If we did anything other than share a bedroom, he would see it as an opening to try to drive a wedge between us. Worse, he might find out that he did not even need to. It was already there, firmly lodged.

But no sense of duty or strategic thought could have prepared me for the sight of Veyka in that fucking nightgown. What business did she have being so beautiful? It was as if the Ancestors had crafted a female perfectly designed to test my control. Her moon white hair was unique, a shade I'd never seen before on this continent or any other. And those eyes… Ancestors, those eyes of hers were dangerous. Too keen by half, and too damn good at looking past the wall I erected around myself.

And that fucking nightgown. How had she managed to bring such a thing along? My travel pack was full of thick woolen clothing and emergency rations. Hers clearly had been packed with less rational thoughts in mind. Though I doubted it was Veyka's doing. She had not even wanted me in the room. There was no chance she'd packed that scintillating garment with the intent of me seeing it.

But she had not tried to cover herself, either.

She may not want me here with her, but she wanted me. And the more time I spent in her presence, the more I did as well. Not just her luscious body, but her dangerously sharp mind. She was manipulating Palomides, I had no doubt. Agreeing to the duel, letting him set the terms and keep us in the castle overnight were calculated choices, they had to be. That bravado, while inherent to who she was, was also a strategic weapon—being used in the service of Annwyn.

I wanted her to let me in.

I wanted her to agree with me about the amorite not because I was the stronger willed of the two of us, but because I'd convinced that cunning mind that it was the best course of action.

Yet my rational mind would not allow me to give myself to her. Not entirely. Not even if my body and soul demanded it. I wanted Veyka with every beat of my heart, but that did not mean I could trust her. She was an elemental. She knew more about the succubus and about what had happened to me than she was letting on.

There were holes in the recounting she'd given me. I'd prodded at them while we traveled to the coast, trying anything to keep my mind off of the female herself. Veyka was keeping secrets. She did not trust me any more than I did her.

That was going to be a problem sooner than either of us was comfortable with.

I laid awake for a long while, staring up at the bed hangings. Only when Veyka's even breaths turned to soft snores did I finally feel my muscles beginning to relax. Kay was stationed at the door. Lyrena at the end of the hall. Vera would relieve Kay at midnight. We were secure enough that I did eventually drift off.

I dreamt of a barren, orange-gold plain with swirling dust and dunes of sand, ringed by tall mountain peaks. The image had come to me again and again in the days since my awakening in Avalon. But I still did not recognize it, and I had not yet consulted a map. It was nowhere I'd been in my memory… at least, no memory that still resided safe within my mind.

That confusing tableau gave way to something much more pleasant.

A long, languorous caress across my shoulder and down my pectoral muscle. A sharper prickling sensation followed. Methodical, steady. My Talisman. The sprawling tree tattooed across my chest was burning with pleasant but persistent sensation.

Then it was past my Talisman. Lower.

My eyes snapped open, but there was nothing to see in the dark. The fire was nearly out, reduced to embers and tiny licks of flame. But I did not need light to realize what was happening as Veyka slid down my body, her fingernails and tongue working in tandem to draw the startled groan from my throat.

Somehow, I managed to shape it into words. "What are you doing?"

"What I should have done the moment you woke up," she purred, and I felt it against my skin. Her scorching breath, her soft lips, her complete possession of me.

Her hand closed around my cock and I did not need to question her intent again. Not when she flicked her tongue over the head and a moan ripped from her chest as well. Her head dipped down again, licking the first beads of cum from the tip with such greed I found myself thrusting up into her mouth.

Veyka took it in stride. She began to work my length with her hand in a rhythmic twirling motion while her mouth sucked me down, deeper and deeper. At some point she pulled her hand away, and a growl so visceral and demanding ripped from me that she chuckled maniacally. In the haze of my pleasure, I realized she was not in full control of herself. Nor was I.

But I did not stop it.

When her hand returned, slick and wet, and the scent of her own arousal hit my nostrils, I nearly spilled my load of cum down her throat on the spot.

But Veyka knew me, that much was obvious. I did not care to interrogate that realization, not when it felt so fucking good. She took me right to the edge, again and again, until I felt my control flagging. Veyka knew it too. She dragged her tongue in one last long, languid stroke over the head of my cock before sliding up my body, her soft curves caressing everywhere her tongue had paid homage on the way down.

She paused, rising up on one elbow above me. I could just see the outline of her face in the failing light from the hearth. For the space of several heartbeats, she balanced herself above me. The muscles of her arm did not quaver under her weight, used to bearing that and more. Every inch of Veyka was strong, right down to the soul that I was quickly learning was indominable.

It was too dark to see anything in her eyes other than the burning ring of blue around the pupils. But I knew the question they must hold. An opportunity to pull away. From her, from this. Because we both knew that this would change things. I had no idea what it meant to her, but for me…

I waited too long, and she decided she did not care about my answer. When her mouth closed over mine, I realized I didn't either.

She sank her hips down over mine, the weight of her substantial and powerful. Veyka was no slender waif, breakable and weak. She was strength and power and every sexual fantasy I'd ever had. Maybe they had not been fantasies at all. Maybe they had been visions of my future. A future with this female, my mate.

Veyka's hand curled around my cock one more time, guiding me to her slick center. Then she shoved her hips down, seating me to the hilt in one brutal stroke. There was no memory or thought of past, present, future. There was only this moment, this female, this excruciating perfection and pleasure.

I reached for her for the first time. Ancestors, how had that happened? How had I not taken every second to explore her glorious body? But she swatted my hand away, pinning a hand to my shoulder.

I could have fought her. But then I felt her other hand between us, her nimble fingers tangling in the thick curls, stroking her clit as she rode me. She could not see my face, I could not see hers. And yet, there was no doubt of who and what we were as we drove each other toward climax.

Mates.

The word sang through my veins, embedded itself in the sinew of my muscles. For the first time since awakening, the bond in my chest did not ache. It glowed. If I blinked, I might see that golden thread between us come to life. Conjured by this—by us.

The walls of her pussy clung to my cock tighter with every thrust. I wanted to reach for her hips, to slam her down harder, or to warn her. But some instinct told me that if I touched her, the magical suspension between us would be broken and we'd come crashing back to reality.

It was too late anyway. I exploded inside of her, spurt after spurt of my hot seed coating the insides of her cunt. Veyka did not slow at all, the thrust of her hips milking every last drop of seed from my length. I realized why a second later as she gripped around me again, her climax so intense I felt my cock hardening in response. It should not have been possible, not so fast, so soon.

But I was spilling again, and she was crying out, screaming as she rode me through wave after wave of pleasure. I clung to it, to her. Nothing had ever felt so perfect, so right.

She was shaking as she lowered herself back down, her breasts pillowing out against the hard planes of my chest. I caught her, unafraid to touch her now. Unable to stop myself. I eased her onto the bed until she was in my arm, her face buried in my shoulder and her body still half-draped over mine. I did not dare try to kiss her, not even to press one to the top of her silky hair.

Only when she finally stopped shaking did I close my eyes.

The sleep that came for me was dreamless.