Chapter Fifty-three

Watching Thea ride across the gilded hills of Tver in pursuit of her stallion was a thing of beauty. With her braid dancing in the wind behind her, she urged her mare into a gallop across the rugged landscape, lassoing her rope over her head as she rode, the mountains framing her in sage and gold.

Wilder only wished Malik and Talemir were there to see her as well. She was doing far better than he had, having spotted her stallion in the herd within moments of their arrival. He sat atop Biscuit, lifting a flask of fire extract to his lips as his brother and mentor had done, watching on in pride.

Wilder let out a cheer as Thea's rope looped around the stallion's neck and she slowed their pace, bringing the majestic creature to an angry halt, its back legs kicking out. His chest swelled as she leapt down from her mare, her cheeks flushed with exertion. She approached the rearing stallion with her hands raised, murmuring soft words Wilder couldn't hear.

Her dark brows furrowed in concentration, Thea soothed the horse, inching closer and closer until the flat of her hand rested against its gleaming black coat. The stallion huffed, but Thea continued to talk, stroking its neck gently. As the beast calmed, it stared at her, as though recognising her.

Wilder let out a breath as he witnessed it for the first time from afar: the piece of the puzzle clicking into place for the legendary beast. Warsword. Rider.

As though that piece had slid into place for Thea as well, she ever so slowly reached for the lead rope around the stallion's neck and removed it, the horse bowing his head as she did.

Her gaze instantly found Wilder's, a wide smile breaking across her face.

The sight nearly floored him, and for a brief moment, he was taken back to the image he'd seen when he'd been a prisoner of the Scarlet Tower – of Thea in his cabin, a simple band of silver around her fourth finger. One day, he vowed. One day I'll ask her to be my wife.

But for now, Wilder steered Biscuit towards Thea as she turned her mare loose and saddled her new stallion. ‘You did it,' he said, beaming.

‘Was I faster than you?' she asked, rubbing the flat of her palm against the horse's forehead as it nickered softly, nuzzling into her touch.

‘Maybe,' Wilder replied with a teasing grin. ‘But you know what this means? It's time to name the mighty creature. I was thinking —'

Thea threw a hand up. ‘Don't you dare.'

Wilder laughed. ‘I wouldn't dream of it.'

The midday sun shone in golden rays as together, they rode through the sweeping, richly textured valleys of Tver. With Thea at his side, Wilder felt more at home than he ever had in his cabin back at Thezmarr. Here, beside the crystal-blue rivers topped with white foam as they coursed through the gorges, he felt content. He felt free.

Eventually, he brought them to a beautiful woodland area and jumped down from the saddle, offering Thea his hand, though she didn't need it.

‘This way,' he told her.

‘Where are we going?' Brow furrowed, Thea followed him, her stallion falling into step behind her. Wilder was glad she didn't recognise the spot yet. He'd discovered that surprising Thea was one of the truest joys in his life.

‘You'll see.' When they reached a small grassy glade, Wilder took her reins from her and looped them over the saddle horn. ‘They can graze here,' he said.

‘But Pancake —'

She stopped herself, her eyes wide. She hadn't uttered the warhorse's name aloud yet, but Wilder knew it had been on the tip of her tongue for hours. He'd planted the seed himself.

A deep laugh burst from him, and Thea put her head in her hands.

‘Gods,' she muttered, cheeks flushing. ‘And I thought Biscuit was a terrible name for a Warsword's horse.'

Still chuckling, Wilder laced his fingers through hers and tugged her towards the treeline. ‘Biscuit and Pancake… They make quite the pair.'

‘Malik's going to love it,' she said, laughing at herself. ‘Are you going to tell me where we're going yet?'

Smiling to himself, Wilder said nothing as he led her through the trees, until they came upon the spot he was looking for. ‘I promised I'd take you back here…'

He watched Thea's mouth fall open at the sight of the ribbons of steam drifting up from the surface of the hot springs.

With a lazy grin, Wilder removed his breastplate and shirt, letting Thea's gaze roam over the planes of his chest and the bolt of lightning he'd had inked over his heart. She bit her lip as her eyes raked lower, to the muscles along his abdomen.

‘What are you waiting for, Princess?'

A soft whimper escaped Thea, which only emboldened Wilder further. Keeping his eyes locked on her, he pushed his boots off at the heel and undid his belt, and then his buttons, sliding his pants and undershorts down his thighs.

When he was completely naked before her, he took his hard cock in his hand and stroked it up and down, the tip already damp with need. ‘Well?' he said.

Thea licked her lips, her hands drifting to the buttons of her shirt. ‘Two can play at that game, Warsword.'

Still stroking himself, Wilder watched Thea undress, each layer that fell to the ground sending a bolt of desire straight to his balls. When she freed her breasts from the band she wore, he couldn't stand the distance any longer. He closed the gap between them in a single step and crushed her naked body to his, moaning as her nipples hardened against his chest, as his cock pressed against the soft skin of her stomach. He gripped her hair at the back of her head and forced her gaze up to his.

Silver eyes met celadon, and for a moment he simply swam in the tempest of feeling he saw there.

But he'd never known Thea for her patience. She broke eye contact, her lids fluttering closed as she kissed him, hard.

In a tangle of limbs, they claimed one another with mouths, tongues and teeth, white-hot need surging through Wilder at the feel of her. She was perfect, she was everything, and he had to bury his cock inside her, now.

Scooping her up in his arms, he carried Thea to the steaming water. Hissing at the heat, he walked them into the hot spring, eliciting a soft gasp from Thea.

He released her, only to back her up against the ledge, his hands tracing her curves with a quiet moan, coaxing her nipples into even harder points.

Bracing herself and gripping the edge of the spring, Thea wrapped her legs around him, drawing him close, so that his cock brushed against her core. Her head tipped back at the contact, giving him access to her breasts above the waterline. Wilder trailed kisses across her soft skin, biting softly before taking her nipple into his mouth and sucking gently.

Thea moaned, and the sound made his cock jerk against her, sending a frisson of longing through his entire body.

‘I want you,' she whimpered, rolling her hips, guiding his cock down the centre of her.

He shifted beneath her and notched himself to her entrance, sucking in a breath as the overwhelming urge to drive into her took hold.

‘Wilder…' she warned.

His blood heated at the needy note in her voice, and she arced against him, her thighs widening around him, demanding more. He reached between them and toyed with her clit, and with a loud cry, she writhed under his touch, water sluicing over her breasts as she panted.

‘Wilder.' A demand this time.

Satisfaction bloomed at that, and he was more than happy to oblige. He took her mouth with his in a searing kiss, and he slid home.

Inch by inch by inch, he took her, and the moan that escaped him was pure carnal need.

‘Fuck…' he groaned as she tightened around him and he savoured the wet heat. Gods, he would never tire of this, of the feel of her.

Wilder slid out, only to thrust back inside her, hard, sinking even deeper this time, to the point where his vision blurred from the force of it. He fell into an uninhibited, unapologetic and relentless rhythm, Thea's nails digging into his back with every thrust, unleashing something feral within him. He wanted to mark her. He wanted to possess every part of her.

‘You're mine,' he told her, teasing her nipples, slamming into her to the hilt. ‘You always have been.'

‘Yes,' Thea cried, clawing at his back. ‘More —'

He gave it to her; he gave everything to her. With every rough cant of his hips he built that pressure from within, hitting that spot deep inside of her.

‘Wilder, I'm going to —'

Just the words pushed him past the point of no return, and he increased his pressure on her clit and thrust into her with a moan, feeling the first waves of his climax edge closer as she clenched around his pulsing cock.

And as they came apart in a final rush, they did so together.

Panting, Wilder rested his brow against hers and for a moment, simply breathed her in. Even in the hot springs she smelt like sea salt and bergamot, like home. ‘I love you,' he whispered against her lips.

Thea kissed him, slowly, luxuriously, as though she were memorising the taste of him before she broke away. ‘I love you, too,' she said, shifting her hips.

Wilder felt himself grow hard again almost instantly, always ready for her, always wanting her. He felt Thea not only against his body, but in his bones, in his blood. She was a part of him now and forever.

Wilder slid inside her again, this time in a torturous, gradual glide, relishing how she opened for him.

He looked into her eyes, loving every flicker of that untamed storm within. ‘I always said you'd be the end of me,' he told her, throat bobbing. ‘But I was wrong. You're the beginning.'