21. Mica

Chapter 21

Mica

Sadly, Mica did have to let Ra out of his bed in the following week before the celebrations. They were both far too busy for more than stolen moments, but the bone-deep satisfaction of holding his fiancé in his arms all night and waking up to slow kisses and quick releases almost made up for it.

Ra had recruited his friend Esme to help with some of the tasks Wren would've otherwise been performing and it was just as well, because he wasn't sure Elysia would've survived the shock of discovering they needed to incorporate a wedding into their millennial party plans with only one week's warning. Neither of them had wanted to wait, nor could they be bothered trying to organise another international diplomatic event so soon after this one just so they could keep the other rulers happy when they tied the knot.

If he could choose, he would've kept the ceremony small and intimate, but that wasn't the life they lived. At least Ra understood after decades as the Soul Lord's righthand man. They had made sure to allow for a smaller gathering immediately after the ceremony for an hour before they re- joined the main celebrations. They'd kept the guest list for that one to actual friends and family. He'd just have to hope the other courts understood because he wasn't going to compromise on letting Ra enjoy a moment with his whānau.

The night before the celebrations, they finally managed to clear their schedule enough to eat a meal in peace. It was also the first night they would spend in their new penthouse at the top of the Earth Spire.

Rather than have a meal brought to them, they worked together in the kitchen to prepare the food. He lost track of the number of times Ra brushed against his wings or pressed against his back to drop a soft kiss on his nape. Delightfully torturous anticipation built between them as the night progressed.

As they brought the plates to the table, Mica sent a silent request to Earthshine that had the lights dropping until the only illumination was the sparkling glow of the minerals in the table and the veins running through the Spire's walls and ceiling. He wasn't the only one setting the mood, though. Ra must've spoken to the Stronghold when he was distracted because the room filled with soft music thrumming a strong beat beneath its melody. It was the same song he'd been playing when Ra had found him at the piano weeks earlier and he'd placed his mark on the man, now remixed with his mate's distinctive flare.

Reaching out, he linked his fingers with Ra's where they rested on the table, relishing the feel of the warm metal of their ring against his skin.

"Where did you get this recording?" he asked.

"Serena gave it to me. You didn't tell me you wrote that song," Ra said.

"Is it our song now?" he asked.

"I mean, I'm going to keep playing with it, but I intend it to be the soundtrack to every bond we form," Ra said, a slight hitch in his voice.

Mica froze in his seat as every part of him focused intently on the man beside him. "You mean it will be playing at the wedding tomorrow?" he clarified, trying not to get his hopes up if he was reading too much into this.

Ra nodded. "Yes, and this is the extended remix, so you have about…" He paused to dramatically check his non-existent watch. "…thirty minutes to complete our mating bond. Is that enough time? We can always put it on repeat."

"Sunshine—" Mica said, lost for words. "Are you sure?" He was barely restraining himself from scooping Ra into his arms but he needed to be absolutely certain.

Ra's reservations seemed to mainly be that he would put Mica's life at risk or that Mica might regret forming the bond. Mica had been keeping the connection between them wide open this last week so Ra could feel his every emotion and know exactly how much he cared for him. He'd also noticed the numerous conversations Ra had been having over the phone with Bastion about mate bonds. Even so, he hadn't dared to hope they would move this fast.

"I've never been more certain of anything in my life. When we welcome our guests tomorrow, I want everyone to know exactly how mine you are. It might not be long since you pulled your head out of your ass and trusted me, but it has been decades since I first started falling for you. I was wrong when I worried I would make you weaker. This past week has shown me this is how I can keep you safe and be the partner you need. You haven't had anyone to lean on for so long and I can be that for you once your people and the courts see our relationship in a way they understand," Ra said.

Every instinct was screaming at him to claim his mate already, but still he hung back. "I don't want you to do this just to satisfy my court," Mica said.

Ra snorted and pushed back the chair he was sitting on with his foot so he could straddle Mica's lap. "Shut up and listen. I love you . I'm done waiting and I'm not going to leave you vulnerable for a second longer. Bast pointed out to me that right now you would already die to save me, but I have none of the extra protections the mate bond will bring. We're going to fix that."

"This bossy side of you is kind of sexy," Mica murmured, kissing Ra's neck as he finally started to believe this was happening.

"There's nothing kind of about it. I'm sexy as fuck and you know it, so stop fighting this. I can feel how badly you want it," Ra teased.

Growling under his breath, Mica kept hold of Ra as he pushed to his feet and strode out toward the huge terrace just outside the living area, wrapping a glamour around them to keep them hidden as he went.

"Mmm … I like where this is going. Which is where exactly?" Ra said as his hands slipped under his shirt to trace paths of raw desire across his skin.

Mica kept kissing every inch of exposed skin as they left a trail of discarded clothes behind them until they were both completely naked. Thank fuck he'd finally managed to convince Ra of the benefits of a fully elemental-tailored wardrobe so they didn't have to worry about inconveniences like zippers and seams.

"I'm going to claim you in the most traditional and ancient of ways. Under the stars with the sky above and the earth below as our witness," Mica growled, already lost to the intoxication of Ra's naked body pressed to his and the slide of their erections against each other.

"Wow. Your ancestors had a bit of an exhibition kink going on. I like it. But maybe we could grab the lube from my pocket before we get too far away from it?" Ra said.

"Okay, the artistic depictions of ancient matings might've skipped over that part," Mica said with a smile, looking down into Ra's storm-grey eyes twinkling with laughter as they reflected the moonlight.

"I'll hunt down the artists tomorrow and we can give them some feedback. It's important to depict sexual relationships in a healthy way," Ra said, sliding down Mica's body in a way that had him moaning before he went in search of the missing lubricant.

Mica paused and then threw his head back and let out a peal of laughter. This is what he'd been missing his whole life. This is what he needed. Joy. Fun. Love. That unique irreverence of his mate that made life worth living. That made life worth playing.

"I should ask you not to, but the artist Reagan is so pompous I'm actually looking forward to watching his face turn plum-coloured as he tries to figure out how to respond," Mica said, eyes trained on Ra's enticing backside as he leaned down to rifle through his abandoned pockets. Thank the earths elemental magic meant they didn't need to worry about transmittable diseases or who knew what else Ra would suggest Reagan add to those artworks.

"Success!" Ra cried, holding up a small bottle.

Using his supernatural speed, he crossed the small distance between them and wrapped himself around Ra's naked body, reaching down to take a firm grip on his erection as he started stroking him. His mate's head fell back against his shoulder and his arms dropped to his sides as he worked him, revelling in the growing arousal he could feel through their connection.

Reaching down to grab the errant lube bottle, he spun Ra in his arms so they could grind against each other as his now-slick fingers went exploring.

"Fuck, yes. I need you inside me now," Ra moaned as he teased against his hole.

"Patience, Sunshine. I'm not going to hurt you," Mica said, still stroking in tantalising circles instead of where Ra was increasingly desperate for him.

"Well, I'm going to hurt you if you don't hurry the fuck up," Ra groaned, the empty threat belied by the way his mate couldn't help but rut against him.

Huffing out a laugh he kept his touches light, worshipping his mate, until Ra's hand closed on the upper edge of his wing and dragged down in the perfect exquisite pressure on the sensitive surface.

The sensations made him lose all control. He had no memory of picking Ra up again, but as his fingers finally slipped into the tight heat of Ra's body, he knew he would remember the feel of him in that moment forever. With the help of his power, he hoisted Ra even higher, draping the man's legs over his shoulders so he could swallow his shaft in one deep moaning slide as he continued to work him over with his fingers, stretching him so they could finally come together in the way they always should've been.

Ra seemed equally lost to the passion between them, unable to do anything but tense and groan as Mica manhandled him into taking the pleasure he was offering.

"Sweetheart. Please. I need more," Ra finally managed to gasp out.

Snapping his wings out behind him, Mica slicked himself with more lube before tossing the bottle and lowering Ra down until his cock was pressed against his entrance.

"You sure you want this? There's no going back once I claim you," he growled against Ra's lips.

"Yes! Do it," Ra cried.

As he launched them into the skies above, he entered his mate's body with one powerful thrust that had them both screaming in pleasure. Every wingbeat as they soared higher seemed like it was driving him deeper inside Ra until he felt like they were one body, one soul. Raw power thrummed in the air around them as the stars became the backdrop to their desire. Earth magic pierced the sky like a copper beacon from the Spire as the Stronghold reinforced his magic with its own. Magic that was sinking into Ra's skin until it filled every part of him, tying them together.

Their flight might've caught Ra by surprise for a second, but he'd quickly adjusted. Ra's body was arching into him as he used his leg muscles for leverage to take Mica harder and further. Mica moaned as Ra leaned forward to suck hard on his neck. Yes. His mate wanted him just as badly as he did.

There was some debate on the nature of human magic, given there were no known human mages, but it wasn't something Mica had looked into. Whatever the truth of it was, he could feel a power unfurling inside Ra like a fern responding to the life-giving warmth and light as it reached back toward him. Ra had always been his sunshine, but, for the first time, Mica saw that he was Ra's as well.

His flight took them higher and higher until the world was far distant. The only link between them and it was the shaft of copper magic connecting from their Earthshine up to them. Hovering at the edge of the point where the air became too thin to breathe, they lost themselves in each other—heads swimming with the low oxygen, bodies burning with lust, and the essence of the magic they both contained weaving together until they could never be unravelled.

"I love you so much, my Sunshine," Mica gasped, his cock throbbing as he desperately tried to stave off his orgasm for another second, another breath. He didn't want this moment to ever end.

"Love you, too. Forever," Ra said, his muscles tightening around Mica's length like he might never let him go.

"Forever," Mica echoed.

With one final thrust, he felt Ra's orgasm rocket through him, dragging Mica along with him into pleasure he'd never felt before as it set off his own climax. As the mating bond finally clicked into place, their connection deepened until he could finally feel all Ra's essence, all his pleasure, as if it were his own. The aftershocks of their coupling held them in a state of shared euphoria long past the point he usually would've pulled gently free.

"Holy fuck," Ra gasped when the world finally started to come back into focus for them. "That was…"

"Everything," Mica finished his sentence for him.

"I've never had sex mid-air," Ra said.

"Good," Mica growled, nipping at his mate's neck as he tried to push back the jealousy that the man had had sex at all before they met.

"Aren't we supposed to have dive-bombed down to earth or something, though? I'm sure that's how it goes in all the romance novels," Ra said, distracting him from his possessive thoughts by making him laugh again. How did he do that with such ease?

"I enjoy aerial acrobatics as much as the next elemental, but I have no idea why you would want to focus on distance and wind speed and everything else required to divebomb proficiently while you were mid-orgasm, especially when you make me come so hard I almost black out," Mica said. "However, now that we're taking a brief pause, I'm happy to oblige."

That was all the warning he gave before tucking his wings in tight and plummeting them back down to earth head first. Ra's excited scream was quickly followed by breathless laughter as their feet touched back down to the Spire.

Welcome home , the voice of the Stronghold said into his mind.

Ra's eyes widened at the words and he realised his mate could finally hear the Stronghold, courtesy of their new mating bond. He knew Ra had wanted to be able to communicate properly with the sentience since he'd first stepped foot here, but a part of Mica was grateful his protective mate had never had to experience the broken, unstable darkness it had been. Ra cared too much and wouldn't have slept until they'd saved the Stronghold if he'd been able to feel it in his mind. This way, they had both been kept safe.

It would take time for the Stronghold to fully recover, but the difference in their Earthshine the second the Spire was completed was already like night and day. All that pressure now had a safe outlet and the murderous mood swings were a thing of the past. They would always mourn the part of the sentience that was lost to the contagion, but now it could finally heal and transform itself into something just as complex but new—the fractures in its essence repaired but still visible and somehow even more beautiful for it, like kintsugi pottery. Like him and Ra.

The energy he was no longer expending hiding and stabilising the fluctuating ley lines from its damage left him feeling almost giddy. Or maybe that was just a side effect of how fucking in love with his mate he was.

"This is so awesome! Thank you, Earthshine!" Ra said.

He'd have to teach the man how to speak to the Stronghold with his mind, but that was a task for another day. Right now, he needed to get them to their bed so they could pick up right where they left off.

His footsteps faltered as a thought struck him and Ra looked at him confused as he stopped and started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"I just realised we're mated and engaged and I still don't know what name you were born with," Mica said.

Ra grinned. "I guess you've earned it, but you have to swear never to reveal it to anyone else."

"I promise, my love."

Leaning closer, Ra whispered in his ear and Mica's laughter only got louder as he finally learned his mate's full name. "That doesn't suit you at all ," he said, tears forming in his eyes.

Ra shook his head ruefully. "Yeah, laugh it up. You better make it up to me when we get to the bedroom, though."

A shiver of desire travelled between them and Mica nestled his mate closer to his chest as he scooped up the abandoned lube while carrying Ra back into their penthouse suite.

Ra smirked at the move and ran his hands down his wings again making him groan. "Got some plans there, Mr Earth Lord?"

"Yes. They involve ravishing each other for the rest of our immortal lives."