Chapter 31

Satisfaction curls through me. Mina sleeps on the makeshift bed I've set up, her hair drying in dark waves around her. A fire crackles before me, and I smile to myself as I prepare food for my mate.

My mate.

My whole heart swells with overwhelming adoration. I stir the pot before me, settling on a simple dish of meat and vegetables, something that will hopefully both comfort and nurture my Mina.

Simply thinking her name sends a bolt of need through me, immediately hardening my cock.

I grit my teeth, amused and uncomfortable. Will I ever get used to the way the small female holds all of my heart in her hands?

I do not think so, but I am not so opposed to it, either.

The fire crackles and sparks. I tilt my head up, watching the smoke disappear out the small vent in the cave roof. Overhead, the three sisters, the three moons of Vraya, continue their trek across the night sky. Stars twinkle in the black expanse of night, and I exhale, closing my eyes.

When my mate awakens, I will feed her, sustain her, make sure she is strong enough for another round in the sheets. Not that it will slake this lust I feel for her, but we have all night.

And I thought we might not have any time at all.

A quick check over my shoulder tells me Mina's still slumbering, her face utterly relaxed. I would give anything to have her sleep like that every night, untroubled. Peaceful.

It heals a part of my heart, to know I am partially responsible for her contentment. That I was able to do what my father could not, that I stood up for the woman I love, that the blood drinkers were not able to renew the blood curse my father helped them start.

I broke their cycle, and with the worm Eldgrim dead?

Perhaps change will happen.

My fingers tighten on the wooden spoon. I stir carefully, the thick broth beginning to bubble over the flame.

What was the red-haired woman's purpose?

Concern furrows my brow.

Surely she could not have meant what it said in the supposed letter she left Danielle, that she had been training to be captured by the Butcher King. Another Starbound in his clutches is cause for more than concern, and try as I might to convince myself she brought it on herself, it does not sit right with me.

But with Eldgrim dead, perhaps they lack the arcane knowledge to cast another blood curse on the Starbound.

Something about her, about what she screamed in his face, triggers a memory in me, but the more I try to pinpoint it, the further it slips from my mind.

"You're awake," Mina says sleepily, and all thoughts of the flame-haired woman and the Butcher King disappear.

"I thought you could use a meal. I am sorry if I woke you."

"You didn't, and it smells amazing. I'm starving." She sits up slowly, yawning and rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?"

I gaze out the small aperture in the ceiling, noting the positions of the constellations in the heavens above.

"Just before midnight." I test the bond, casting my thoughts at her clumsily. I smile broadly as I feel her emotions sing back to me. She's happy, and it's like warm sunshine across my senses.

"I like this, coruscant. Waking up with you. Being able to tell how you feel."

"I like it, too," she replies, smiling back at me. "That's not all there is to like, either." Her eyebrows raise suggestively, and fresh lust rolls through me.

"You should eat," I tell her.

"Because I'll need my strength?" Her arms stretch overhead, the blanket falling away, revealing the smooth, creamy skin of her chest, the taut pink nipples peaked on her full breasts.

A groan slips out of me. "Something like that."

"Hyadum," she says in a singsong voice. "The food can wait."

"You should eat," I choke out. Her fingers run across her skin, until she finds her nipples, rolling them back and forth as she watches me, smiling mischievously.

"I think you should eat," she says, kicking off the blanket and spreading her legs wide.

"Coruscant," I murmur, hard as a rock. Everything about her is perfect. The small tuft of hair that hides her cunt, her strong, thick legs, her heavy, full breasts.

My mouth waters.

I move the pot from the heat of the fire, keeping it near enough that it will stay warm without burning.

"Hyadum," Mina says softly. "I want you inside me."

Dinner moved to safety, I turn towards her, all resolve to feed her removed by surging lust.

With a growl, I launch myself at her, flipping her onto her stomach. She braces her hands against the floor, a small surprised noise tearing out of her.

"You think to tease me, mate?" I raise my hand, smacking her across the ass, leaving a pink handprint on her soft flesh.

"Hyadum," she groans.

"Is it too much?" I ask her. Perhaps I read her signals wrong.

"No," she says, her voice a sensual rasp. "I like it."

"Good." I lean back onto my heels, pulling my pants down. My cock throbs, and I stroke a hand over it, drinking her in. My mark glows on the back of her thigh, and I watch it with a predatory, possessive stare. It twines up the curve of her ass, her cunt fully exposed to me.

"What is that?" she asks, craning her head over one shoulder, staring at my abdomen.

I look down, following her gaze, momentarily distracted from the sight before me.

"It is your mark," I tell her, awed. I run a fingertip down the muscle of my abdomen, where the sign of Orion House glows bright. "It is the sign of our bond, written in flesh."

"I like it," she says, and heat burns through me at her own possessive tone.

"Tell me if you like this," I say, leaning forward, licking along the seam of her cunt.

She gasps, pressing back into my face. "Yes, yes, Hyadum."

"Good," I say. "I love how fucking wet this cunt gets for me." I dip my fingers in, holding them up, where they glimmer with her juices in the firelight. She's watching me, pressed up on her elbows, her gaze hungry. I lean forward, covering her body with mine.

She groans, my cock nudging at her entrance.

But I don't move. Her lips are parted, her eyes glossy with lust. I smooth my finger on her lower lip, and her eyes flutter shut as she licks her arousal from my fingertips.

I groan, her trust, her own desire, fueling my own.

Her hair tickles against my chest, and I wrap my hand around it. She lets out a breathy moan, and for a moment I worry if I'm being too rough with her.

"Yes," she breathes, and wetness drenches the tip of my cock, positioned between her legs.

She wants this as much as I do.

With a snarl, I pull her head back, plunging deep into her. A breathy gasp leaves her mouth every time I hammer into her. I pull her to me, so her back's nearly flush with my chest, allowing me access to her clit. Keeping the pace, I delve my fingers into her soft flesh, finding the spot that makes her cry out.

I cannot think straight, cannot think of anything but the tight pleasure of our bodies, the wet heat of her, the needy way she breathes my name. My pace becomes increasingly erratic, and when Mina clenches around my cock, I can no longer hold it back.

"Mina," I groan, coming hard. I pull her hair to the side, kissing gently down her neck. "I love you, my brilliant mate, my coruscant."

"I love you," she says.

I kiss her gently, laying her back down on the bed, and dig through the packs until I find a clean cloth. The hot springs are perfect for this, and she shudders with the aftermath of her orgasm as I clean her off.

Her stomach growls.

"Food," I tell her. "And then we sleep."

"You won't hear me complain." She grins up at me, her expression so satisfied I can't help but press another kiss to her sweet mouth.