Chapter 54

Chapter 54

M ariah couldn’t have resisted his command even if she’d tried.

She did as he asked and raised her hips. Andrian slid her leggings and underwear off in one smooth movement, discarding them behind him on the floor.

He still hadn’t broken his stare from hers. Not even as he picked up her foot and placed a painfully gentle kiss on the inside of her calf.

And then her thigh.

His breath was hot as he skimmed his lips across her skin. Her core tightened; her entire body too sensitive. Their bond sang between them, freed from the restraints she’d wrapped so tightly around it—ever since it’d been formed out of necessity and desperation. He pressed in closer, rising to his knees, hand moving up her back and beneath her sweater.

She waited for the fear to come.

But as she stared into his tanzanite eyes, it never did.

He paused when his gaze was level with hers, his heat wrapping around her. She was bare from the waist down, and frustration bolted through her, hot and wild, at the fact that he was still so clothed.

He must’ve read that frustration because his smile faltered, his eyes dimming. His burning heat was replaced with something far more serious, far more urgent.

“Are you okay?”

Gods . Of course, after everything, he misread her exasperation as something darker. Her heart squeezed. Tears—more tears—pushed behind her eyes.

She leaned forward, wrapping her legs around him. She stroked her fingers across his brow before burying them in his hair. Her body trembled, months and months of buried feelings and pain and need coursing through her, fueled only by their neglected and ravenous bond. In her soul, in that place where her magic dwelled, that bond sang as if each touch of his skin made it brighter.

It was as if all the feelings of the bonding, feelings she’d suppressed in the aftermath of her capture, were rushing back. Stronger than they’d been with any of the others, more vibrant, more alive. Something more than an Armature, something fated beyond the power of the gods.

“Yes, Andrian,” she whispered. Again, she rested her forehead against his. “I’m okay.” She inhaled once, energy thrumming across her skin. “But if you don’t fuck me right now, I might kill you.”

Even from her angle, she could just make out his answering grin.

“What happened to your patience, princess? What happened to being worshiped?”

A soft whine slipped past her lips. “Fuck being worshiped. I just want you.”

When she slammed her lips to his, the world stopped.

Her magic ignited, lighting up her blood. The way he tasted, mixed with that familiar, beloved smell of rain and sandalwood. The way he growled against her, pressing into her as he bit her lip, his tongue pushing into her mouth …

Gods, she’d missed this. Missed him. So much anguish, regret, and pain these last few months.

No more. She was done.

She wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and pulled him even closer. And bit him back.

“ Fuck .” Andrian chuckled into her mouth. In a too-fast movement, he slid his hands around her hips, lifting them both up and pushing back onto the mattress. His hands were under her before her back hit the comforter, lifting her sweater and tossing it away. His fingers snapped the clasp of her bra, and just as quickly, that was gone, too. He settled over her, his lips moving to the sensitive skin beneath her ear, traveling down her neck.

“Why are you still dressed,” Mariah growled, that aggravation back, teeth clenched as she dug her fingers into the corded muscle of his forearms.

Andrian chuckled against her collarbone, shifting above her. Just enough so she could feel him pressing against her core, hard and hot and thick.

“I’m worshiping. Remember, princess?” He peered up before propping an arm on either side of her. He bent down and licked a smooth line between her breasts and up the column of her throat.

Mariah almost choked on her breath, gasping as his lips settled against her ear.

“I’m already yours, Mariah. I’ve always been yours. Let me make you mine .”

His claiming kiss swallowed a half-hearted retort resting on the tip of her tongue. Her heart jolted at their clash of hot breath and teeth, a desperate search and devouring of the other.

When Andrian pulled away, she was panting for air, her chest heaving with her thundering heartbeat. He slid to the column of her throat, peppering kisses and stinging bites down her neck and across her collarbone. He traced a path back between her breasts, across her stomach, settling between her legs.

His breath fanned across her bared center, and she writhed on the bed. He pinned her in place with an arm across her stomach. A soft chuckle had her opening her eyes.

He stared at her, something ravenous and consuming in his gaze.

“Time to learn another word.”

She clenched her fists around the sheets.

“Is now really the time?” she gasped.

Andrian’s smile broadened. “Oh, yes.” He shifted, freeing his other arm. Slowly, possessively, he pressed a finger against her—not into her, but on her, right against that collection of too-sensitive nerves.

Mariah broke, her eyes fluttering closed as she tilted her head back into the mattress, body shuddering.

“Hm.” He hummed. “So fucking wet for me, nio . Do you know what else you are?”

She couldn’t answer him. Only shook her head, one quick jolt to the side.

Andrian chuckled again. He removed his finger and replaced it with his mouth, his hand now digging into her thigh.

“ Svass, nio .” He groaned against her. “It means sweet . And you taste like the sweetest nectar the gods have ever dared to make.”

And, as if it were Andrian’s last meal, he devoured her.

Mariah lost herself to the feeling of his mouth on her. The heavy, urgent swipes of his tongue. The gentle nipping of his teeth against her clit.

She felt as if she were floating. Lifting into the heavens, rising to join the stars. Magic and power and love crackled around her, around them, and it wasn’t long before the rising tide of her climax swept toward her.

As it washed over her, pulling a shuddering moan from her lips, something in their bond changed. Snapped into place, shifted and grew more solid. A thundering, ancient, magnetic power, intoxicating in its strength.

Andrian’s lips against her thigh, and then beneath her navel, yanked her back into her body. Back to the present. Her eyes flew to his, the brilliant blue wide and blazing and hungry.

Fast as an adder, she pressed her hand against the column of his throat. He froze, eyebrow lifting.

“Your turn.” Her voice was hoarse, low and husky in her throat.

Andrian gave her a dark and feral grin.

“My turn for what?” He answered her with shadows and smoke.

She sat up, pushing him with her. He stood, backing away from the bed. She followed him, standing before him, bare as the day she was born.

Not long ago, she’d been unable to stomach him touching her.

Now, she couldn’t stop.

She snaked her hands beneath his shirt, lifting the hem. He met her halfway, pulling it over his head and shoulders and tossing it aside. She paused for a moment, staring at the Mark on his chest. Jagged scars now bisected it, the results of a bond made with a too-dull blade and a shaky, malnourished hand.

“Hey,” he said, pulling her attention back to his face. Some of the heat had dimmed, concern now filling the depths of his eyes. “Are you okay?”

Again. That gentleness. He was the same Andrian, still sour and angry and brooding, but with a new layer of softness, a vulnerability that broke her and built her back up again.

She lightly brushed her fingers across his Mark and scars. “Despite everything that happened, I wouldn’t change it.”

He blinked. “You wouldn’t?”

“No.” She drew in a breath, her hands tracing a path across his chest, down the tightened muscles in his stomach. “Because without it all, without everything we went through, I wouldn’t have you. Not like this.” She reached into her mind and tugged on their bond. He jerked in response, hands flexing and eyes widening. “Not the way I have you now.”

“I was stupid for not doing it sooner. For letting my father intimidate me. Blind and pathetic and selfish.” His words were growled, low in his throat, rumbling through his chest.

Mariah only smiled. “It wasn’t just you. I was a fool for letting those men dictate my life. But … I don’t want to talk about that tonight.” She stepped closer, her hands reaching for the waistband of his pants. “Instead, I think you deserve a reward for your worship.”

The softness left him, his eyes hooded and darkened. “Did you not just beg me to fuck you?” He nipped at her bottom lip.

She tsked. “I changed my mind.” Still holding his stare, she popped the first button to his pants, sliding her hand into the fabric. He inhaled sharply, nostrils flaring as she wrapped it around his cock. Her mouth watered at his hot thickness, at the bead of moisture gathered at the tip that she swiped away with her thumb.

With a slow, teasing movement, she dropped to her knees.

Andrian’s trousers followed, and soon they, too, were discarded across the room.

Without breaking his stare, she took his length in her hands and licked him once from base to tip. He tasted salty and sweet, with that hint of rain and cedarwood beneath it all.

His head rocked back with a groan, eyes fluttering closed, as she took him fully in her mouth.

“Gods … nio …” His fingers wound into her hair, gripping onto the roots. The pull was painful, but she welcomed it as she took him deeper, swallowing him down her throat even as tears burned behind her eyes. Her hands reached up, over the hard lines of his stomach and across his hips, nails digging in and scratching as they went, making her own type of claim.

His grip on her hair tightened. He pulled back on her head, tugging her away from him, his cock sliding from her mouth with a wet pop. She tilted her head up to meet his gaze, a protest on her lips, only to find his expression devastated and absolutely pained. His hand gripped the back of her neck as he yanked her from the floor, a yelp slipping from her throat.

Andrian pushed forward, and she stepped back in surprise, her shoulders meeting the wall behind her. He crowded into her, breath hot and desperate against her skin.

“Enough of that, nio ,” he growled, hands gripping her thighs. In an easy movement, he picked her up, wedging her against the wall. She felt his cock between them, hot and thick and wet from her mouth, and her magic danced along her skin. He glanced at it, sighing and resting his forehead against hers as his own shadows brushed her cheek.

“Andrian?”

He smiled at her, enough joy in his eyes to shatter worlds. “Mariah,” he whispered before he claimed her lips again in a kiss.

Her hands wound into his hair, gripping the soft strands as he snaked a hand between them, fisting his length and lining himself up with her.

Their magic danced together as he finally pushed into her, filling and forgiving and claiming.

She gasped for breath. “Fuck, Andrian—I am … you are …”

He rested a hand on the wall behind her, arm shaking. “I know, Mariah.” He held her gaze, so much unsaid whirling behind the blue. “I know.”

Then he moved .

At first, his thrusts were slow and steady, almost hesitant.

But it wasn’t long until that bond between their souls burned hotter, shimmering with silver and gold and shadow and smoke. It rippled with the song of the moon and the sun and the stars, ancient powers greeting each other after so many millennia apart.

Their control snapped.

The wall behind her rattled and shook, their blended breathing ragged and desperate. Mariah rose again on that tide, their bond and the heavy expression in Andrian’s eyes carrying her up, higher and higher.

He pressed his forehead against hers, sweat dampened hair brushing across her face.

“Blind me, nio .”

The same words he’d used on the balcony. So many different times he’d told her exactly how he felt, but neither of them were ready to be truthful.

She whispered back words she’d doled out too sparingly the last time.

“I love you, Andrian.”

Together, they dropped over a bridge of light and shadow, their souls entwined as magic danced in the air around them.