Chapter 25Varos

Chapter

Twenty-Five

VAROS

I didn’t know if I could ever recover from the utter devastation I felt as my mate was dragged through the portal into the Underworld. As soon as the females disappeared, Valen and I ran to the portal. No matter how much we tried to push our way through, or how much we slammed our bodies against that dark iridescent light, it refused to allow us passage.

Juliette was crying, begging Varek to let her go as he held her securely in his arms with a grim look on his face. He knew, as did we, that if Juliette had stepped through that portal, she would have been as lost to us as the other two were. I saw Varek's look of pity as he watched us panicking. Valen nearly lost his mind as he bellowed Kallista’s name.

I couldn’t take the emotions, both those that I was feeling as well as those of my brothers, so I retreated into myself. I found that place I had lived in for the last few thousand years and allowed it to consume me again. I knew I was kneeling on the floor, felt the hard, cold wood under me as I tried to force myself to feel nothing. To drown myself in the cold, empty nothingness where I couldn't feel my world shattering.

But no matter what I tried to do, the sight of my mating brand kept my attention. I stared at it and remembered.

Sasha, when she stepped through the prison, and that searing pain flashed across my skin.

Sasha, as she carried me away from the dungeon.

Sasha, covered in blood as she dragged a carcass larger than she was into the cave just to feed me, knowing it would bring me back to health.

Sasha, as the heat entered her glowing yellow eyes, and looked at me with a soul deep hunger.

Sasha, with a look of rapture on her face as I sunk into her warm depths for the first time.

Sasha, laughing as I ran my soapy hands over her breasts.

Her smile, her warmth, her touch, her bravery.

I knelt there as Juliette screamed, cried, and cursed. As Valen bellowed his rage. As Varek whispered how sorry he was over and over.

When I heard her soft voice call my name, I thought I was imagining things. I couldn’t fathom a world without her in it, and then I couldn’t believe that she had returned. Even as I checked my mating brand again, seeing that it was still black and that she had yet to perish, I still couldn’t believe that she was alive. Not until I touched her beautiful face and felt the warmth of her soft skin under my palms.

“I thought I lost you,” I rasped out as I carried her through our room and into the bathroom. I set her on the wash basin and began peeling her sticky, wet clothing off before tossing them into the waste receptacle as Max trilled and brushed his body against our legs.

Sasha picked up her pet, nuzzled her face into his soft fur, scratched behind his ears, and then set him gently on the ground. She watched as he walked back to the bed to lay down on her pillow. She turned to me with a sad smile.

“I’m so sorry I made you go through that.”

I took her hand and pulled her into the shower. “Don’t ever do that to me again. That’s three times now I thought I’d lost you forever.”

I placed her under the warm spray, ignoring my own blood stained body. I had healed quickly once the arrows had been removed. I wasn’t even sure when it had happened. Perhaps while I was kneeling on the floor, wishing for death to take me instead of my mate.

I pumped soap into my hand and began to carefully tend to every wound that was still visible. Many had closed, but there were still a few that were healing, including the deep gash on the back of her thigh.

“Where did these come from?” I asked as I washed away the blood as tenderly as I could.

Sasha sighed and leaned heavily against the wall. “The General was waiting for me. Whatever that invasion was, it was clear that he planned to take me back. He made it obvious how much he hated me. How much he hated all females, really. He was also pretty upset about how easy it was to rescue you from the dungeon. I wish we knew who had set all this up and how.”

Sasha closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. “I guess I never wanted to believe that he truly hated me. He was my father, Varos.” She opened her eyes and looked at me with sorrow.

I rubbed my thumb over her cheek before placing a soft kiss on her lips. “He was a monster, princess. A demon like that is incapable of love. Look around you. Every person you meet cares for you and your kind heart. You’re impossible not to love.”

I heard her quiet intake of air as she blinked up at me. “Does that mean that you could love me one day?” she whispered as she searched my eyes. I opened my heart and soul to her, not realizing that I had never done so until that moment. I let her see what was there—what I had never intended to hide from; I had just forgotten to show it.

“I think I loved you from the moment you dragged that beast into our cave so that you could feed me. I have never met a more selfless, caring being in all my existence. All that you did to bring me back here to my brothers. Even if we weren’t mates, I believe I would have fallen in love with you. You’re beautiful and compassionate. You’re brave, and you're fierce. I am so fucking proud to be by your side and will thank the Fates every day that I am alive for gifting me with such a treasure.”

By the time I was done speaking, Sasha was shaking in my arms as she wept. “I love you, too! Gods, I love you so much, Varos! I can’t put it into words the way you did. Maybe one day I’ll be able to tell you all the amazing things about you that I love. But I do, I love you.”

“That’s all I need to know, mate,” I said gruffly as I took her lips with mine, tasting her tears on my tongue. I wasn’t planning to mate with her at that moment, knowing that she was still healing from her ordeal. But Sasha made the decision for us both. She hopped up, wrapping her strong legs around my thighs and taking advantage of the erection I always had when she was in my arms. Sasha shifted her hips until she found the perfect position. Then she slowly lowered herself, letting out a breathy moan as she engulfed my cock in her warm body.

“Fuck,” I growled. I spun us around and slapped a hand against the wall beside her head. The claws I hadn’t realized I released along with the rest of my demon form dug into the strange material, causing pieces to fall to the ground. “Mine!”

“Yours,” she agreed with a scream as I shifted my hips and drove into her harder. My mind seemed to forget all the terrors from the day, and nothing but lust and love remained. Madness seemed to overtake me, just like in the cave when it seemed I couldn’t get close enough to her or deep enough inside of her.

Without thought, I pulled from her depths as she protested with a moan. “Varos, what…”

I kept a firm hold of her hips with one arm and slammed the door to the shower open with the other. I only had one thing on my mind—the need to be as deep inside my mate as possible and to claim her in every way. I strode to the side of the bed, where I dropped her down on her back. Max gave out an angry, high-pitched trill and scrambled from the bed.

I lifted Sasha’s legs and placed them over my shoulders, lined myself back up with her entrance, and drove in deep with one thrust. As I relished the feeling of being in her tight heat again, I threw back my head and bellowed to the ceiling.

Finally, I was fully inside my mate, knowing I could go no further. I spread out my wings and blocked the rest of the world from sight. Nothing else existed but the two of us, just my mate and myself.

Using my shadows, I pinned Sasha's wrists to the bed while pistoning my hips, making sure that I repeatedly hit the deepest part of her. I used the tip of my tail to trail across her thigh and across her mound before flicking the end against her clit in a sharp snap that had her bowing her chest. The way her cunt tightened around my cock at that moment had me grinding my teeth to hold myself back from coming.

Her whole body writhed as I repeatedly flicked her clit with my tail, but she had nowhere to go as I held her immobile with my shadows.

“Take it,” I gritted through my teeth. “Take everything I give you like a good little mate.”

She screamed my name as her pussy pulsed around my cock, and her wetness flooded my thighs and balls. “That’s it, sweet mate. That's such a good girl coming for me. Now, give me more,” I demanded with a growl.

My balls were aching with the need to release, but my mind had a stronger need to dominate. I was the only one to ever have control over Sasha. She would have anyone else on their knees with a sword to their throat.

As the pressure became too much, I knew I could no longer hold out. I allowed her legs to drop from my shoulders, but I kept her wrists pinned as I leaned over her body. I continued to thrust roughly, almost violently, waiting until the last second, even though it was agonizing to hold back. With my face in her neck, I growled. “Come for me, mate. Come all over my cock again!” Then I opened my mouth and bit into her soft flesh until I tasted the copper of her blood on my tongue.

As I clamped down with my teeth, Sasha’s whole body froze, then shook as she spasmed with yet another release. It was all I needed to fall over the edge with her. I pushed into her body one final time and allowed myself to let go. I let out a guttural growl as my cock pulsed with the painful pleasure. I was giving her my essence, filling her so full of me that it began to drip down my balls.

I released my hold on her throat and lifted my head until I could look into her half-lidded eyes as she shuddered under me. “You’re mine forever. I will never let you go, mate.” It was as much a warning as it was a promise. I would find a way to follow my mate into the Underworld if we were ever separated again.

Sasha lifted a trembling hand to my jaw. “I will never want you to. And you’re mine right back. As soon as I get feeling back into my legs, I’m going to bite you too, you know.”

I chuckled, then scooted her up the bed so I could lay next to her. We still needed to finish our shower, which was still running in the bathroom, and we definitely needed to call someone to clean the bedding we’d just destroyed. But I didn’t want to lose my connection with her, not yet. So we lay there for a long time, my cock still half hard and buried in my mate's cunt, as I ran my fingers over her soft, warm skin and breathed in her unique fragrance.

Eventually, we got up and finished our shower. Even if it was as cold as the water had been in the cave. It didn’t matter. As long as my mate was by my side, everything was perfect.