17. Zachariah

CHAPTER 17

Zachariah

" Y ou're lucky this bullet just grazed you," Gabriel says as he examines the bullet I'd recovered from my hunt with Dagon, just after it'd torn through the side of my right shoulder. "It's doused with Night Thistle," he continues, placing it in a sterilized jar and turning to face me. "There are no traces of the substance in your blood, but we could summon Aurora and see if she feels up to trying to heal you?—"

"No," Saint says from where he leans against the wall next to Talon and Ajax. Dagon stands to the left of the examination table I'm sitting on. "She's not ready. She'd just as easily kill him as heal him."

I cock a brow at Saint, silently asking if he's all right. He's always on edge, more so since we found Aurora, but tonight he seems like an exposed nerve.

He dips his head in answer, and I nod.

"Should I call the queen then?" Gabriel asks. Our queen's blood is a rare form of remedium we haven't seen in centuries, with healing properties perfect for combatting the effect of poisons that our kind are vulnerable to.

"I'm fine," I say, glancing down at the wound that Gabriel cleaned, seeing the torn flesh already knitting itself back together. "I wouldn't be healing if the Night Thistle had gotten into my system. No need to call the queen or Aurora?—"

"Zachariah!" Talia slams through Gabriel's closed door, reaching my side in seconds. Her lilac eyes are wide and panic-stricken as they trace every inch of my body. Tears roll down her cheeks, her face crumpling when she finds no visible wounds. "Lyric told me you'd been injured. What happened? Are you all right?" Her questions come between rushed gasps for breath, her hands gently running over my chest, my arms, my face.

I draw her to me, gently shushing her. "I'm all right, Talia," I say, moving her so I can look into her eyes. "I promise. I'm fine. Just a graze. Breathe, my love."

She nods slowly as I cup her cheeks, wiping away her tears with the pads of my thumbs. "You're okay?"

"Yes," I assure her. "Aren't I, Gabriel?"

"Perfectly fine," Gabriel answers, but Talia doesn't take her eyes from mine. "Lucky that the Night Thistle-drenched bullet didn't penetrate his body, but fine."

Talia's eyes go even wider, her features drenched in panic.

I glare at Gabriel, who shrugs and returns to studying the bullet.

Talia's face crumples. "I thought…I thought I lost you."

I draw her head against my chest, smoothing my hands up and down her back. "I'm not going anywhere," I say, shock rippling beneath my skin at her reaction. I understand it. I would be the same wreck if something had happened to her, but she'd been so closed off since last week, I started to think she'd dismissed me for good.

"Are you done here?" she asks, her words a whisper.

"Yes."

"Good." The word barely leaves her mouth before her power wraps around the two of us, wending us out of Gabriel's offices.

I blink a few times as I orient myself to my rooms, seeing the door closed and locked?—

Her mouth meets mine in a fury, the kiss tasting of her tears and a desperation I can feel in my bones. "I know I've been closed off, but I can't lose you again, Z," she says, drawing back to look up at me. "I won't survive it."

"You won't," I assure her, my heart thudding at her words. "I promise."

She shakes her head, drawing me closer, kissing me hard and quick. "Not again."

"Never again," I say, slanting my mouth over hers. The kiss goes from hungry and panicked to a calmer, more intentional pace that has every muscle in my body clenching.

Her hands move to my ruined shirt, tugging it up and over my head before I do the same to her. Then we're slipping out of the rest of our clothes and she's tugging me toward my bed.

She urges me to lay back against it, and I do as I'm directed, not wanting to burst this bubble of fantasy I find myself in.

She's never, not once, wanted to fuck me in a bed. It's always been quick and public and impersonal.

This…this is different.

"Talia," I groan as she kisses me, then moves her lips lower, over my chest, my abdomen, then hovers right above where my cock is hard and aching for her.

She grips my length with her hand, stroking me before she bends and wraps her beautiful lips around my cock.

" Fuck ," I hiss, the sensation of her hot, wet mouth sucking at me enough to make my eyes close and my hips thrust automatically.

She moans around my cock, swirling her tongue over my thick head before sucking on me harder, taking me in deeper.

"Goddamn, Talia," I groan, my fingers tangling in her silken hair. "Love… fuck ."

She increases her pace, stroking me and sucking me in a rhythm that has my balls tightening and lightning zapping down my spine way too fucking quickly.

"Talia," I groan. "I'm going to come."

She moans again, sucking harder, squeezing me tight with her hand?—

I come in her mouth, my hips jolting forward as I empty myself into her so damn intensely, I swear I black out for a few seconds. When I regain clarity, I look down at her, finding her licking her lips and grinning down triumphantly at me.

I lunge for her, spinning until she's on her back and I'm between her thighs, not hesitating a second as I lick through her slick heat.

"Z," she sighs, arching into my mouth. "Yes."

Her words are liquid, her body pliant as I spread her thighs, giving me better access to her sweet pussy. Goddamn, she's gorgeous, all glistening and swollen and desperate for me.

I lick into her, spearing her sweet flesh with my tongue, moaning at the taste of her. This female was made for me on every level, and I'll never get enough of her.

My hands roam over every inch of her I can reach while I eat at her, her skin smooth and luscious as I explore and tease and lick and lap.

"Z," she says, her breaths rushed. "Just like that." She rocks into my face, and I make sure I keep doing exactly what I'm doing, not moving an inch or changing my pace. "Yes!" she gasps, her pussy clenching around my tongue. "Yes, God—" Her words break off into a moan as her flavor bursts on my tongue with her release.

She trembles beneath me as I tongue her swollen clit, her body oversensitive and flushed for me.

I'm already rock hard again from the taste of her, from the sound of her moans, from the way I devoured her.

I kiss her inner thigh, then the other, before working my way up her stomach and lingering over her glorious breasts. "Talia," I sigh as I reach her mouth, and she spans the distance between us, kissing me intently.

"More," she begs, and a shudder rocks down my spine as she moves her hands between us, fisting my cock and lining it up with her swollen, slick entrance. "Please, Z. I need you."

Fuck me, those are the sweetest words I've ever heard.

"I've got you," I say, sinking my cock in an inch, groaning at the sensation.

She releases me, her arms wrapping around my neck. I snake an arm beneath her lower back, sinking in another inch.

Talia's fangs punch out. Her cheeks are flushed and her lilac eyes are hooded with pleasure and need. She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

Mine.

Claim. Bite. Fuck.

The mating instincts are so intense it's hard to think or see around them, and my fangs snap out in response to it.

Talia's eyes widen at the sight, her eyes falling to my fangs as she wraps her legs around my hips, drawing me in to the hilt.

I groan, and she gasps, rocking against me in a slow, torturous stroke that has my entire body buzzing.

I draw all the way out of her, watching her face as I pump into her again and again, slow and deliberate, every thrust a promise, every connection binding us together.

"Z," she gasps, trembling beneath me as I hold our bodies flush, barely a breath of space between us. "Bite me," she says, turning her head to the side.

I go harder inside her, my fangs aching at her words. "Talia," I say, hesitant. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," she says, eyes on mine as I continue to thrust into her. "Please. Zachariah. I'm aching. Burning. I need you."

"You have me." I lean down, kissing the soft skin of her neck, slowing my pace inside her, ensuring my pelvic bone grinds against her needy little clit before I sink my fangs into her neck.

"Z!" she cries out, her pussy clenching hard around my cock as her blood fills my mouth, the taste unlike anything else in the world—sweet and unique like vanilla and lavender. I drink her down, pumping into her harder now, faster, my instincts driving me to seal the bond I can feel building between us. "I'm coming," she breathes the words, her pussy fluttering around my cock?—

Her fangs sink into my arm next to her head, the pleasure-filled bite sending lava straight through my veins. I lick her wounds closed, drawing back for a sharp breath at the sensation of her bite.

"Fuck yes," I growl, pumping into her fast and hard, my release barreling through me as hers builds again, the two of us coming at the same time, until I spill inside her, hot and heady.

She keeps drinking as she convulses, going absolutely liquid for me as she drenches my sheets, and I rock her through it. When she's drank her fill, she pulls back, licking my wounds closed and looking at me with lust-slaked eyes.

I smooth her hair back, dipping down to kiss her softly.

I love you.

The words are on the tip of my tongue, but I hold them back. She let me bite her, make love to her in a bed, signaling that she trusts me. I don't want to scare her by uttering the words desperate to be claimed.

Instead, I relish the happy little sigh that leaves her mouth as I gently pull out of her, hurrying to clean us up before returning to bed and holding her against my chest.

"I never want to leave this bed," she mumbles sleepily against my chest.

I smile down at her. "You don't have to," I say. "But I do have Conclave in a couple of hours."

She clings to me a bit tighter at that statement. "Wake me when you have to go," she says, barely audible as she drifts off to sleep, her even breathing signaling to me just how exhausted she is. Shifting from panic to what we just did can do that to the body, so I certainly understood.

But two hours later, as I gently shift from beneath her and dress for Conclave, I do no such thing to wake her. She needs her rest, and I want her in my bed when I return.

I want my mate .

Whether she wants to acknowledge that's what she is or not.