20. FIFTEEN

FIFTEEN

Wren

Mypawshitagainst the soil in the Bestial Forest as I darted through the underbrush.

The hot summer breeze flattened my fur as I propelled myself forward, and I let out a few yips as I jumped over some fallen logs.

My gut quivered before settling almost immediately as I caught another glimpse of my black paws that were once pure white. I knew it was because of the dark magic. I knew I should’ve been scared or worried or frightened, but I wasn’t. I was just complacent about it all.

Rhett screeched as he flew above me in bat form, and I came to a halt in some long grass. The grass brushed my fur as I turned around in it. It was almost like a meadow within the forest, and the sunlight streamed through the openings in the large trees overhead.

I shifted back, enjoying the breeze and scratchy grass against my skin. I hadn’t bothered to bring my bag or a change of clothes since I planned on running the whole time.

Rhett swooped down before shifting in front of me and grabbing the back of my head. My body fell against his before he crashed his lips over mine.

I moaned, wrapping my hands around his neck and pulling him closer.

“Fates, I’ve missed you,” he murmured over my lips.

“I missed you.” I ran my tongue over the seam of his lips before he pulled back.

“Your bond has been quiet lately. It’s causing me anxiety not knowing what’s going on inside your head.”

“Just ask Thorn.” I shrugged.

My ice fae had been delving into my mind more often lately, and it’d been giving him more and more headaches from using his power so much.

“You know what I mean.” He groaned, stepping back and running a hand through his inky hair. “But I wanted to ask you about something.”

“What?” I moved my hair from the front of my body to the back, stepping on a stick that cracked beneath the sole of my foot.

“I knocked your bag off the table last night, and well, a jar of eyes and charms dropped out of it. The jar that Damien made for me out of the stalkers…” His violet eyes flashed with unease, and his breath hitched. “I just want to know why you have it. Damien had mentioned he’d offer it to you, but…”

I let out a breath of air before giggles erupted out of me, and I doubled over, holding my stomach. “Rhett, I still have the bone Damien gave me of Grayson. Making gifts of the body parts of our enemies is a rather lovely sentiment. Don’t you think?”

“Um… I guess.” His brows furrowed, and a silence so loud I could see his confusion settled over us. “…But why are you keeping mine?”

“Well, he gave it to me, and he was really excited about it.” My lips pulled into a ghost of a smile at the memory. “I couldn’t refuse that, Rhett. And honestly, he just did it so you would feel safe again. I mean, if you have their eyes inside a jar, obviously they can’t watch you anymore. Right?”

He glanced around the forest, refusing to meet my gaze as an indecipherable emotion hit the bond.

I found myself crossing my arm over my breasts. “I feel like you didn’t want me to accept the jar.”

“No, it’s okay. When did you accept it? Was it before the dark magic?” His gaze strayed back to my face, and my heart clenched.

“Yes, I did. Actually.” I scratched my temple. “It’s just that Damien was so excited about it. I never wanted to turn him down.”

“I get that. It was actually kind of difficult to refuse the gift for some reason.” He ran a hand through his hair with another sigh. “Has Grayson tried to talk to you lately?”

“No, he hasn’t, but I can feel his darkness at times.” I tilted my head, but I couldn’t feel anything right now. “Did Rowan tell you that Damien and I are going to eavesdrop on the human syndicate?”

“The human syndicate… That’s what they’re calling themselves now?”

“Apparently.” My ears and tail popped out from the heat as a bead of sweat slipped down my spine.

“Come on, baby. Let’s get you into the air conditioning.”

I let my arm fall to my side and moved closer, inhaling his cherry scent. “Thanks for being here and for still loving me. Even when there’s really something wrong with me.”

He growled, and his horns peeked out of his skull. “Nothing is wrong with you. We’re going to work through this. It’s just a roadblock.”

“I think being infected with dark magic is a little worse than a roadblock,” I muttered bitterly, turning my head to the side.

His growl reverberated through my body as he gripped my throat with his hand and squeezed hard, turning me to face him before crashing his lips on mine.

The kiss was hungry, devouring. Our mouths clashed as we bit and licked at each other until he pulled slightly back with a ragged breath. “Don’t worry. I’m not letting anything take you from me. Dark magic, a rejected bond, a fucking war. You’re mine. Doesn’t matter what’s in our way.”

The darkness around my heart cracked as our pheromones seeped together.

Rhett was ruthless when he wanted to be, and I loved everything about it.

My lips parted as he worked his lips down my neck, and his tail wrapped tightly around my thigh, the end of it pressing against the bundle of nerves between my legs. “Rhett!”

An overwhelming need for him blotted out anything else as the familiar tingle of his pheromones coursed through me.

I sent mine back to him.

“Fuck, baby.” He moaned. “Tell me what you need.”

“You. I need you.” I tangled my hands in his hair and pushed against the hard planes of his body.

“Then you’ll have me.” He traced the curves of my hips before lowering us both to the ground, covering my body with his own. The grass bowed the opposite way as our magical energies whipped around us.

I wriggled under him with heat sweeping over me. He slipped down to my breasts, licking and sucking at the tips.

The sensation of an orgasm spread through me, knocking out my breath from my lungs as his tail slipped down and dipped inside of me before pulling out and flicking over my mound. “More!”

“Love that you’re using your words, baby.” He gripped my wrists and pinned them above my head, and I spread my thighs to receive him. “Look at us.”

I glanced down to see his pulsing erection slip between my folds gently. “Perfect.”

One thrust of his hips filled me completely, and he pulled almost all the way out before plunging deep again. “Watch this. Watch your mate fuck your pretty little pussy until you come over and over again.”

I cried out as his girth stretched me, pheromones latched onto me, and his movements became erratic. He rammed in and out as I locked my legs around him.

The tension kept building between us, sending me into orgasm after orgasm before our magic exploded.

He thrust with abandon, and I slipped my gaze down again before another reeling climax stole us both. We shivered in ecstasy, pheromones bleeding together, coaxing us both.

We moaned our releases, screaming each other’s names before he slowed, slipping out of me. He bent down and kissed me again, pouring everything into the kiss as our pheromones retreated back inside of our magic.

“I love you more than you could ever know, Rhett.” I sucked in another breath.

Relief swept through his bond as he smiled down at me. “I love you even more than that.”