Chapter 45

Hanna

In the pre dawn hush of morning, I woke to Kaelan gone. The bed behind me felt empty without him there. Thorne was still sleeping deeply and needed his rest, so I kissed him goodbye and rose to look for Kaelan.

I couldn’t imagine he had gone far and left us sleeping alone, and indeed, he was just outside on the balcony.

“Hey.” I said softly as I stepped out behind him, leaving the doors open. The cold night breeze rifled the curtains, but I didn’t want to close the doors and have that much separation between Thorne and me. I wanted to be there when he woke.

For a few long seconds, Kaelan kept staring out at the distant mountains.

“Am I interrupting your brooding?” I demanded.

He rubbed his forehead with his long fingers, as if I were already exhausting him. “There’s a lot to… regret. Over the past few weeks. A lot to come to terms with.”

“No, there isn’t.”

He looked at me in shock.

“You’re a homicidal asshole. Thorne knows this, I know it. We love you anyway.”

“You and Alys keep saying love.” He spoke as the word pained him.

“Because I love you,” I admitted.

“Even when you shouldn’t.” He was looking down at me with a searching look in his eyes, and I wasn’t sure why.

“There’s never a time when I shouldn’t, Kae.” I touched the hard angle of his jaw tenderly. He looked so cold and dangerous and yet so… mine. “And even if there were… nothing could stop me from loving you.”

Those words seemed to break him, and he suddenly hauled me to him, covering my mouth in a passionate kiss.

I kissed him back hard, the two of us trading wild kisses. His hands swept down my sides and locked around my hips, his fingers digging into the swell of my ass as he held me against himself as if he would lose his mind to me.

Kaelan boosted me onto the edge of the balcony railing. The distance behind my back yawned, dizzying, down to the rock-strewn ground far below, but the danger barely registered for me. Now when Kaelan’s arm was tight around my waist and he was kissing me as if he would never stop.

He paused, his gaze studying mine.

“Are you recreating the moment when you almost killed me to see if I trust you?” I demanded.

“Even if I were…” His face shifted as a memory washed over him. “It wouldn’t matter, would it? Because you have wings. You can fly.”

It was an old memory that felt new, recently returned to him, and it lit his face with joy.

“You can’t break me, Kaelan,” I whispered. “So I don’t mind if you try… a little.”

He let out a groan. “You’re the perfect woman, Hanna… for me.”

I let out a little laugh. “You can’t resist the caveats, can you?”

He drew me off the railing, and my thighs latched around his waist. The two of us continued trading kisses and caresses, the heat between us smoldering with intensity. Kaelan”s hands roamed over my body, igniting every nerve ending as desire pulsed through me. As his lips trailed down my neck, I arched against him, aching for more of his touch.

With a swift movement, Kaelan spun me around, pressing me firmly against the balcony railing. He had a gentle but firm grasp as he guided my hands to the balcony railing, and he pressed his body against mine.

Kaelan”s hands moved possessively over my curves, his breath hot against my skin. slowly, he raised the shirt I wore as a nightgown, and his hand traced across my thighs, igniting an urgent need that made me want to grind back into him. But I waited, letting Kaelan lead. His hand slid across my thighs again, his thumb grazing between my thighs, and I couldn’t hold back my moan.

His hand slid up my stomach, cupped my breast hard, drawing me back against him. “Take off the shirt.”

“Someone might see us, Kaelan.” I whispered, knowing he wouldn’t care, but he would enjoy ordering me around.

His hand moved up to my throat, testingly at first, the movement pressing my head against the broad, hard plane of his shoulder. “I’m not sure why you think I care.”

Then he squeezed. The world turned heady and dark at the edges. When he released me, I inhaled a quick wild breath. His cool touch drifted down my decolletage, then seized my shirt… and then there was an unrepentant ripping sound. The fabric pulled against my skin and then it shredded under his grip.

He released the fabric to the wind, which caught it and carried it away over the cursed land.

“You’re dreadful,” I told him. “Do you know that? I barely have any clothes at the moment?—”

“I’ll buy you all the clothes,” he promised. “Or maybe I’ll keep you naked and waiting for me.”

I scoffed, but then his hands were on my breasts again, kneading them, and despite my best effort, I rocked back into him. The tip of his cock teased against the now bare curve of my ass, sliding between my thighs and into the wetness pooling there.

“You seem to like that thought,” he commented, his fingers sliding between my thighs and toying with my clit.

He bit my earlobe, hard, and I gasped. The pain and pleasure mingled, leaving me breathless and needy. Kaelan”s touch was firm, commanding, and it sent shivers racing down my spine. I arched into his hand, my body craving the sensation of his fingers inside me.

With a low growl, he pressed the tip of his cock against my entrance. He teased me with the tip and I pushed back, the head of his cock sliding easily through my folds and just inside. I wanted more, but then he gripped himself so that when I pushed back, his fist was pressed against my ass so I couldn’t get more than the little bit of him that was already inside me. ”Do you want my cock now, princess of mine?”

I let out a moan, and he kissed my bare shoulder. “You’re going to have to do better than that.”

My mind had been a blur of need, but now his particular kink returned to me. “Yes, husband.” My voice was a rasp.

“Good girl.” His voice was lazy and warm and I felt it all through my body.

Kaelan sheathed himself in one powerful thrust, filling me completely and sending a jolt of pleasure coursing through me. I cried out, my hands tightening on the balcony railing, his fingers splayed against my back, holding me in place.

His thrusts were slow, deliberate, and deep. Each time he entered me, my entire body trembled with the sensation, the sound of our flesh slapping together echoing in the night. His left hand roamed over my body, cupping my breast, then sliding down my stomach to rest on my hip, his grip firm yet tender. His right hand continued to hold me, his fingers digging into my flesh, marking me as his.

Kaelan”s hips thrust harder, deeper, each stroke more powerful than the last. I met his movements eagerly, my hands gripping the balcony railing for support as I arched my back with each thrust. His cock slid in and out of me, hitting my sweet spot with each powerful stroke, the pleasure coursing through my veins like a wildfire.

Our bodies moved together, each thrust more intense than the last. The sky outside was a canvas of stars, a silent witness to our primal dance. The wind cooled our flushed skin.

The sound of our bodies slapping together grew louder, more frenzied.

Kaelan”s fingers tightened around my hip as he thrust harder, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He bit down on the back of my neck, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin, sending a shiver down my spine.

”You”re mine,” he growled, the intensity in his voice sending a jolt of desire coursing through me. I cried out, arching my back further, inviting him deeper.

He thrust again, harder, his hips pounding against me, his cock hitting my sweet spot with a perfect rhythm. I could feel the warmth of his climax building, the sensation radiating through his cock and into me. My own desire was reaching its peak, the fire of my own orgasm burning within me.

Kaelan”s hands gripped my hips, pulling me tight against him, his hips thrusting faster and harder. I felt him swell, the tip of his cock pulsing as he filled me with his release. The sensation was overwhelming, and I knew I was close to my own climax.

With a final cry, my body convulsed, reaching the pinnacle of pleasure. I clenched around him, milking him of every last drop. Kaelan groaned, his hips bucking against me as he emptied himself inside me.

Our bodies swayed together, limbs tangled and breaths labored as we came down from our intense climax. The wind continued to swirl around us, the stars above still twinkling in the night sky.

Finally, Kaelan pulled out of me, his cock glistening with our mingled fluids. He reached inside the room and pulled a towel off a table, using it to clean himself off, then knelt to clean me. Or so I thought, until I realized he was pushing every bit of his cum that had escaped back into my channel.

“Kaelan.” I pushed his broad shoulders, not that it was remotely effective in moving him away from me. “Are you trying to get me pregnant?”

“Yes,” he said unapologetically, straightening to face me.

“We need to talk about that.”

He raised an eyebrow at me that suggested it would be a one-sided conversation.

“Why do I love you so much?” I demanded.

“I suppose you’re just stubborn. Incredibly reckless,” he said tenderly, kissing my forehead. “A little bit foolish. Outright st?—”

“Shut up.”

He let out a laugh that I felt like a rumble through my own body. Kaelan was full of joy, at least as much as Kaelan ever was.

“You’re cold,” he murmured, and the next thing I knew, I was wrapped in a blanket. He grabbed his trousers and began to pull them back on.

“We should go back,” I murmured.

“You should,” he agreed. “But Thorne’s still sleeping, and I have one more thing I need from you.”

It was my turn to arch an eyebrow.

“Give me your hand,” he said sternly.

I held out my hand to him, always curious what Kaelan was going to do next.

He pulled his mother’s ring out of his pocket. “You dared to take off your wedding ring?”

“Are you going to punish me for that later?” I asked teasingly, and then when he smiled slightly, I said, “You are, aren’t you?”

“Definitely.”

“Even though I did absolutely nothing wrong?”

He shrugged unapologetically, though he was smiling even more now. “You ran away from me… with another man… took off your wedding ring, and used your magic against me.”

I gasped, though it was mostly for dramatic effect. “You cannot be serious. You can’t punish me for that.”

The look he returned me said he definitely could, and it was a look that filled me with a delicious toe-curling sense of anticipation.

“I found myself recently in the strange position of standing at a wedding altar once again,” he said, “Even though I already have as much wife as I could bear.”

“Excuse me?” I asked sharply.

“And so I wanted to make new wedding vows,” he said, undeterred by any of my asides. The wind was moving his hair above the gorgeous lines of his face, and he was smiling; Kaelan’s smile made me melt. It lit his face with warmth that few others ever saw.

Not many people had the chance to see Kaelan as he truly was. It felt like an honor that he was mine, and that he was himself with me.

Of course, he should feel pretty damn honored to that I was his.

“I will marry you every day for the rest of our lives, Hanna. I will be as committed every day as I am right now. And I swear to the gods, I will never betray you… or our love… ever again.”

He slid the ring onto my finger.

“It’s a vow,” I whispered. “What’s the cost?”

Because the magic always had a cost. I wanted to remind him to say something so that the vow’s magic wouldn’t grow in its own unpredictable direction.

“My life,” he said.

“That’s too much.” I shook my head. “Take it back. What if something happens, Kae… what if you don’t love me anymore…”

“Shut up or I’ll start your punishment right here on this balcony.” His hand cupped my cheek, his gaze tender despite his words. “There is no future where I will ever stop loving you.”

Then he was kissing me again, and it felt like maybe there was no future where we would ever stop.