5. Aurelia

Chapter 5

Aurelia

M y world is simultaneously growing bigger and smaller. While my insides churn with something new and expansive, I feel so small standing at the middle of the three sinks in my mates' massive bathroom.

Lyle fills a bowl with soap and warm water for Henry to soak in while I riffle through my toiletries, pulling out the medical tape I'd been using to hold my bandages in place.

Everyone knows about my wounds, so there's no point in hiding them anymore.

And now everyone knows about my biggest secret, too.

My hands tremble as I set the tape next to the waterproof bandaging and grip the edge of the black marbled counter before the floor falls from under me.

I've kept this secret my entire life. I've held onto it so tightly that it had slipped right out of my fingers.

No, it had fucking exploded like a pipe bomb. And my ears are still ringing from the aftershock. I can't help but feel vulnerable. Torn open. As if I'd spilled my insides out for everyone in the world to poke and prod at.

Everything is going to be different now, and the dangerous world I've been living in has suddenly gotten a whole lot more lethal. Not only for me, but for those I love.

First Savage, then Sabrina.

Who will be next?

The bathroom walls press in on me.

"Hey, it's alright." Lyle's voice is whisper soft as he presses himself against my back, a reminder that I have a wall of solid muscle protecting me. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, feeling his towering strength and letting it ground my flailing senses. It doesn't stop the gigantic poisonous feeling trawling in my stomach, making tears burn through my eyes and stream down my cheeks. I've not done this right. Not at all. In the history of fuck-ups, this is right up there.

Lyle brushes his lips along the skin under my ear, and instantly, a warmth tries to push the poison away.

I let out a strangled sob as it all hits me.

Lyle spins me around and wraps his arms around my trembling bones. I bury my face in his naked chest, shoulder-wracking sobs attacking my body, my mind. It feels like an assault, the way the fear and overwhelm slam into me, pummelling my chest, my heart.

Through it all, Lyle holds me, murmuring gentle words into my hair that I can't hear right now.

Images flash through my mind's eye, Fredrick Ulman's face as I launched myself at him, the barrel of his gun…the sensation of his skull inside my long, powerful jaw—Lyle's burnt face, the smell of burning fur—blood in my mouth—the cut end of Sabrina's tail.

My throat burns, my head pounds, and my insides twist until Lyle's stroking hand slowly but surely sweeps the pain, not away, but aside, into a corner of my mind. It finally lets me breathe.

"We're together." His voice echoes off the black bathroom tiles. "You have me, and we're going to work together. Me and you."

"And Scythe," I whisper hoarsely. And even more quietly, I add, "And Savage."

"Yes, angel, them too. You wouldn't let us help before, but now you will. Right?"

I sigh in a long breath. "Right." It's the reassurance we both need. "I just know Sabrina is terrified and it's all my fucking fault?—"

Lyle grips me firmly by the biceps. His near angelic face is wild with fury, those amber eyes flaring. But I know it's not directed at me. "There's only one person responsible for this, regina, and it's not you."

Regina.

That word coming out of his mouth is enough to make me close my eyes and forget the many pains in my heart. I'd never thought I'd hear him say it. I'd never thought Lyle Pardalia would claim me, rough and raw on the bitumen at the gate before the academy.

It healed a part of me. His bite is on my neck, and mine is on his. Here he is, pressing his body possessively against mine, saying that he can't leave me.

"Scythe said he'll find her," I say thickly. "And he didn't look worried about Savage. Like…not at all."

Lyle kisses the top of my head and huffs a laugh. "Savage will see the entire thing as an adventure. An adventure, that has you as its end goal."

That's enough to open my eyes, so I can look at my perfect lion in disbelief. Said perfect lion responds by gently tugging my T-shirt over my head. His eyes darken as he surveys the violent slashes of my father's psychic attack before I hand him the plastic bandage.

I put my arms up in the air and twirl around and around as he rolls the waterproof material over my abdomen. The Lady Phoenix Headmistress of Animus Academy, Celeste Agnis, had given me her tears to heal the necrotic wounds, but had warned me it would take time for it to reach its full effect. My father sure knew how to make a lasting impression.

He'd also known exactly where to strike to hurt me emotionally by taking one of my friends. But Scythe was bloody right. We need to be careful. We need to be smart.

Warily, I strip off my pants, fully aware of Lyle watching me more closely than any eagle as he, too, removes his track pants. With both of us fully naked, he reaches for my hand, but I hesitate.

There are three shower heads on the wall of the massive black and gold tiled monstrosity that is the shower. And I don't even look at the massive inset bathing pool that's supposed to be for Scythe.

"Let me look after you," Lyle says, tugging me into the shower. "Let me wash his blood off you. The only scent you'll bear is mine." A crease forms between his fair brows before he corrects himself. "Ours."

Scythe's cut on my finger suddenly stings as Lyle turns on the central shower head and tests the water. With his back turned to me, I raise the offending finger and stare at the incision Scythe had licked.

I'd been so shocked at the time that I'd just stared, my breath trapped in my lungs, that space between my legs throbbing as he'd tasted my finger. Whatever he'd sensed in my blood had made him shudder, and there was this momentary look on his face that I couldn't decipher.

It had robbed me of all thought. To see that otherworldly beauty smoothed out like water over the softest sand. And then it was all over, and both lion and shark had read an understanding in each other's eyes that I was not privy to. Annoyance flashes through my veins as Lyle, washcloth in hand, tugs me under the warm spray and begins to gently soap my chest. The body wash smells like peach and mango, and I know it's Savage's.

My annoyance turns into something awfully sad as the backs of my eyes burn and I grab a random shampoo from the lineup of products in the recess and begin hastily going at my hair before a further flood of tears is unleashed. Lyle quickly washes himself as I rinse my hair and then aggressively condition it. He's helping me again by then, rinsing out the conditioner with large, soothing fingers.

My eyes catch on Lyle's wet skin glistening under the golden lights, and I can't help but place a hand on the stable surface of his smooth chest. He has a scattering of golden hair that I run my fingers over as he rubs the washcloth down my back and lower still. Something languid wanders through my lower belly as he replaces the washcloth with his hand. I sigh, resting my cheek on his chest as the warm water runs down my back and steam wafts in swirls around us.

Lightheaded from the warmth and the glowing embers of desire, I savour the feeling of safety and security I suddenly feel with him. Lyle has always felt like the sun. And now being with him is like lying on fresh green grass on a clear summer's day, warm and relaxed. After tonight's events, it's not really until this moment that I feel at ease. That my muscles relax and my naked skin wants to melt into his. The impressive length of his cock stiffens between us, and I can't help but smile and nuzzle into his chest.

"Angel," comes a rough whisper against my neck. "Let me worship you. Because I'm going to spend the rest of my life on my knees, repenting for every fucking thing I did before we became one. Let me make it better, just for a moment."

I shiver with delight as he presses an open-mouthed kiss to my shoulder, then my neck. Turning around, I press my back against his front and guide his big hand to the place I want it most.

Lyle growls in his chest as his fingers slide through my moist heat. His hand cups my centre possessively before he explores what's there. I sigh, tilting my head back as his other hand slides up my wet body to my neck, the water pounding over the hot skin of my breasts and nipples.

"I need you in me," I say, angling my head towards him.

His newly integrated animus makes a guttural sound of lusty desperation before he simultaneously plunges a finger into my wet core and captures my needy lips with his. I clutch at both his hands, giving into him and his rabid animus completely.

We'd only claimed each other a few hours ago, the sting of his bite still warm on my neck, but it's only made me want him more. He growls into my mouth, wanting me to know that he craves me too, while his villainous finger tortures my pussy with sweet, golden bliss. His thumb finds my clit, and one of my hands winds itself into his wet hair as I grind against him, taking what I need. I need touch; I need warmth; I need my mates more than anything in the world, and I tell Lyle that with my moving hips and my searching tongue.

Lyle's kiss gets rougher with my silent, wanton language, and he breaks off only for a moment to spin me around and pick me up by the waist. My legs wrap around his hips and he shoves me up against the wall.

I hiss at the cold tile on my back but am quickly distracted as he possessively captures my mouth again, his fist wrapped around his cock to get in position.

My groan is deep in my throat as I allow him in, letting the sweet burn of his girth stretch my entrance. He's always been overwhelming in his size, and I break off our kiss to breathe him in. He makes a sound of masculine pleasure as he thrusts a gentle entry, clearly showing great restraint from the way he bites my shoulder.

"My angel," he groans, sinking deeper. "My Aurelia."

I cry out his name as he thrusts into me so deeply that he's finally fully sheathed. The sense of fullness consumes my body and mind, and his heady power tumbling through me fills my very soul. And it's my anima who whispers to me, made to be together. Made to be one.

"Yes, angel," he says, blowing out a measured breath as he thrusts slowly. "Tell me how good it feels. Tell me how much you need this too."

"Oh Goddess. Lyle, you feel so fucking good," I gasp, completely out of breath, overwhelmed by him.

He presses his forehead to mine. "Tell me if it hurts, sweetheart." His kindness to me, despite his clear, near-trembling control on his own leash, almost makes me come.

"No, I love it," I whisper against his mouth. "Please give me more."

That unleashes him. He snarls as he draws out and his hips slam into me over and over again.

I do nothing but scream and savour him as he takes me, claiming me in the way I've always wanted, the way we've both always wanted.

Lyle's animus grunts and growls against my neck, rutting into me with that possessive force. The steam curls around us, the water drums against his back, muffling my cries of pleasure. I spiral upward, higher and higher until my body explodes into multicoloured shards, eyes rolling to the back of my head as I spasm around Lyle's cock. My lion comes with a roar, wrapping his arms around my waist and pumping a violent stream of warm cum into me.

Being filled by him is nothing short of all-consuming heaven.

When we walk out of the bathroom, we arrive to a pleasant surprise. Where before three bed stood in the bedroom, the Academy has seen fit to replace Savage's middle bed with a carpet and add an adjoining room. Henry excitedly zips over the explore the new room and we follow to find a giant pack bed occupying the space. It's complete with a plush red carpet a sideboard on the left, and a tub chair on the right.

"Cosy," I murmur, running a hand over the white duvet. It'll be perfect for the three of us when Savage returns.

Once Lyle and I are both dried and dressed, with Lyle borrowing clothes from one of the other wardrobes, my stomach gives an audible growl.

We'd missed dinner in all of the chaos, and I'd never been inside the animus dorm during a lockdown.

Lyle takes my hand and tenderly kisses the back of it, inhaling the scent of my skin as he does. "Let me feed you, regina."

A tingle shoots all the way down to my toes.