Chapter 14

I should immediately distribute the weapons to Low Earth. But there hasn't been an alert, and I can't leave Nariel in this emotional turmoil if I don't have to.

So I fuck what I should be doing and portal straight to him.

To my surprise, Nariel's in his spire. I didn't think he'd want me here again, not now.

But judging by the way he's lazily twirling the hair clip, I think he's planning to make a point that I'm not going to like.

Especially as he's lounging against the pouf, sexy as sin and obviously taunting me with it.

I don't deserve that.

So instead of an apology what leaves my mouth first is, "You left me alone there."

"You clearly had everything under control," Nariel says coolly, and that I do deserve. "And I did not do anything of the kind."

I frown .

"What?" he mocks, and it reminds me of Casimir. "Don't trust me?"

"I trust my skill," I snap. "Your presence was gone."

"I can hide my presence from an angel, Sierra. I can cloak my presence from you if I want to."

I take a breath. Okay. That I do believe. "And you wanted to."

"What was it you told me?" Nariel asks. "That you needed my honest reaction? The same goes for you."

Wow, that feels much bitchier on this end.

I take a breath. He isn't wrong though, and neither was I. Casimir wanted Nariel's pain.

I hadn't considered that, on top of needing to appear to come out ahead of me, Casimir also wanted mine.

I stand tense before Nariel, looking down, and feeling for all the world like I'm beneath him.

Enough. Put on your big girl pants, Sierra.

"I will figure out another way to defend Makora from High Earth summons," I tell him.

"No need," Nariel says easily. "With access to Low Earth's magic, my spirits can refuse bonds. This way, with any they choose to accept, I will maintain access to information in High Earth now closed to Casimir."

Oh. That is clever.

But that also means my vow to make up for it on that front is totally wasted.

"Okay, that's great. So, as for giving him magic— "

"Giving my most explicit enemy untold magic that he will use against me, ostensibly as a gift from me. Yes, do go on."

"His spirits can leave now, which is what you wanted and have never been able to make happen. And it's not untold , it's specific. Specifically, I can control the rate he can drain from the bead, though I didn't in the sample he tried. So I won't actually have to give him more power very often. He won't be able to just burn Low Earth power for his own ends."

Nariel lets out a crack of laughter. "He can still go to Low Earth any time he wants, Sierra."

"And I admit I don't have a solution for that yet, but , the spell I put on his stronghold is borrowed from High Earth's healing ward—which prevents all violence. So you can still get into his stronghold if you want and do whatever, but he can't hurt you there."

Nariel stares at me. "Or any of his spirits."

I nod.

He takes a breath and closes his eyes, leaning back. "So it's a stolen spell, not invented. That's why you had more limited parameters."

I clench my fists, feeling increasingly awkward standing here like this in his room. "Yes. It's a really complicated spell. I've only studied it enough to reproduce it."

"But you've studied it because you spent a considerable amount of time in the healing ward during your training in combat magic."

I shrug. "Well, yes. "

Nariel is quiet for a moment. Then he says, "The solution is treaties."

I blink. "Come again?"

He props up on one elbow decadently and looks at me. "How you get demons not to eat too much magic from Low Earth at once. Treaties, with spells to back them up. We'll have time to work on that once High Earth is off your back."

My stomach turns over, and for a moment it feels like my whole body is tingling, my whole brain thrown for a loop and throwing my body with it. "We?"

Nariel's shadows coalesce right in front of me. "We," he growls into my face. "You know perfectly well I can lie. Despite the surprises you threw at me, even though you made choices I never would, I supported you through that entire negotiation. So tell me why you thought it was necessary to spring that on me."

Wait.

He's not mad about the negotiation itself?

He's mad that I didn't think I could tell him the plan.

I shove him backward.

He does not budge an inch, glaring at me.

I glare right back. If he's not moving, then the fuck am I giving him space either. "Well that's rich. Who was it who decided to test me before deciding to bond, to see if I would follow you blindly? To see if I would freak out when dropped into the fullness of your power? And I didn't give you any shit for that. "

Nariel blinks.

Then he says, more conversationally, "You should have, you know. You're too used to being tested. I apologize."

Hang on, now he's apologizing to me ?

"I feel like we've gotten turned around here," I say.

Nariel smiles slightly, reattaching the clip to his shirt and looking at me expectantly. My heart clenches.

"Would you like to tell me how I fared, then?" he asks.

"No, I want to apologize for putting you through that!"

"Accepted," Nariel says smoothly. "So. You decided to change your strategy, to make us look like allies people want to have rather than formidable enemies they'll have to fight."

I controlled that delicate diplomatic negotiation with Casimir.

And it's clear now that every expression, every interruption from Nariel, was designed to help that.

Not undermining my ability to do it on my own. But able to keep up with me and support me, even when he didn't like it. Even when he didn't know what I'd planned.

That's what I needed to know, isn't it? But now here he is, turning a conversation back on me, something he has centuries more practice than me at.

Or is he steering it back where he thinks I'm more comfortable? Is he still trying to backhandedly support me, even now?

You know what? It doesn't matter.

When push comes to shove, I know how he'll choose .

And I know who I am, and what I want to tell him.

"Sierra?" Nariel prods.

I watch him. "Yes. I've been trying to be unassailably strong, but High Earth is proving the flaw with that. They can always add more people, more resources, more power. No matter how strong I am, someone will always be stronger, so I'm trying a different path."

"Building," Nariel murmurs.

I nod and say softly, "A world where people don't have to be afraid of someone with more power. Where we can all have the magic we deserve."

Nariel shakes his head, but before I can take it as disagreement he rests his forehead on mine. "And you really think you have to worry about losing yourself to me?"

Somehow, I'd thought this moment would be harder. That it would be hard to bring out the words that would change my life. That I'd feel more pressure, second-guess myself.

But instead, it's like magic.

The most natural thing in the world.

"No," I tell Nariel. "I'm good now."

He stills, withdrawing far enough to look at me. "What?"

I smile at him. "I'm good. I want to bond with you."

For the first time I can remember, Nariel is visibly dumbstruck.

I can't help it. I start laughing, my head thrown back.

Then Nariel growls and yanks my face back to kiss me, swallowing my laughter .

Not that I'm complaining.

My arms snake up to anchor behind his neck as his surround me, wrapping me in him.

Home.

I'm here because even mad at me, he brought me home. Not to taunt me with it or take it away from me.

And if he can trust me to make bold moves that affect his people, too, and he still wants me, then he can have me.

Nariel finally breaks the kiss, breathing hard, his eyes bright. "You're sure?"

Now he's insecure? No way, now that I'm finally ready I don't want to wait.

I cup his face in one hand, thumb brushing over the smooth skin of his cheek as his eyes darken.

If I think about it for more than a second, I can hardly believe that I've even touched the perfection of him, let alone kissed him. Or that he wants me.

But if he didn't back out today, he knows what he's getting from me, and I'm not going to help him second-guess anymore.

I am, after all, selfish.

I hold his gaze and can't hold back the smile spilling out. "I'm sure."

Nariel catches my hand with his, and then uses it to tug me with him, falling backward onto the pouf with me on top of him.

" Oomph. "

Sexy, Sierra.

Nariel sits up to nip at my ear, sending a zing straight to my core.

Well, teeth are a kink I didn't know I had.

I have a feeling sex with Nariel is going to be an education.

"Took you long enough," he murmurs in my ear, and I shiver.

And then as I process his words, gape and squeak in outrage, "It's been like two days!"

Laughter dances in his eyes as he flops back, perfection spread under me, like I can do what I please with him.

I can't quite believe this is real.

Nariel is still holding my hand, and he presses a kiss into it, making butterflies flutter through my chest. "You're still mortal. Everything with you is faster."

I yank my hand away, making him frown.

But then I offer it to him again like a handshake.

Between us, it's something else.

"No, that's just me," I say. "When I make a decision, I don't go back. Will you?"

A slow, wicked smile curves over his lips, and he takes my hand. "No."

My whole body warms.

We're doing this.

Nariel pulls me, unresisting, down to his chest so he can kiss me.

And ohmygod, I can feel him everywhere .

I've wanted him so badly for what feels like ages, and it's all I can do not to squirm against him.

Not that he's making it easy. Nariel keeps my hand in his, drawing it up over his head and stretching out beneath me, while his other hand runs up and down my back, every touch making my breath come faster against his lips.

I brace my other hand against his hard chest for support, but that one touch against his firm flesh makes me want to do nothing but run my hands all over him.

But I can feel his pulse rapid underneath my hand, too, so that's something.

I don't have any sexual experience to speak of, let alone centuries of it, but I don't think Nariel has let his guard down often over the years either. And even if he has, it will be different with us, because of who we are to each other, our bond—even before it's magical.

Then again, it's always been magical.

I push myself up just enough so I can look him in the eyes. "You know I love you, right? It's not just politics or magic."

Nariel's eyes are black, and a smile blooms across his face. "I know," he says simply, tugging me back to him, against his chest so he can wrap both his arms around me and I can hold onto him, too.

He's real, and he's here, and he's mine.

I'm home.

"But I won't object to hearing it again," Nariel adds .

I smile against his chest, pressing a kiss there, marveling at how his pulse jumps in response. "I love you, Nariel."

And it is that easy.

He draws my head up again and kisses me, oh-so-gently, like I'm precious and a treasure he could never dream of throwing away. Tears prick my eyes, and I blink them back, not wanting him to get the wrong impression.

The kiss is still over too soon. And he sees the tears anyway, not wiping them away, but brushing his thumbs against them, witnessing and not erasing my feelings.

Nariel breathes, "And I love you, Sierra Walker. Not just for politics or magic, but for you."

Oh.

I mean, I guessed that, obviously, that's why I was willing to bond with him, but somehow, hearing him say it—

"I also would not object to hearing that again," I whisper.

Nariel smiles against my lips and kisses me again. "I love you, Sierra." Another kiss. "I love you." Again. "I love you."

My head is spinning, and I'm clutching him like I need him for balance. If we weren't already lying down, I think I'd have melted.

He can clearly tell, because he grins at me again and rolls us, so it's me beneath him, enveloped by him, and his beautiful wings. Like we're in our own little dark world, just the two of us .

And it's a little bit wicked, this grin, but mostly just delighted, like I've made his fucking day and we could do this forever as far as he's concerned, and I want that.

I want him .

"Are you ready now?" Nariel asks me.

It takes me a second. "To bond? Yes, for sure. Is it not—oh, hmm, I made some assumptions. Sex isn't involved?"

Now it's just wicked. "Required? No, only if you want to be crude ."

"Oh." Damn. "No sex, then?"

Nariel presses kisses down my neck while I struggle for air. "If you are interested, then sex is absolutely on my agenda," Nariel says in a low voice against my throat, and honestly thank god. " After we bond."

I roll my eyes, tilting my head to give him better access. "Nariel. I am very obviously interested in having sex with you."

He snorts. Yeah, this is shocking to exactly no one.

"You don't want to just kill two birds with one stone?" I ask breathily.

He draws himself up to meet my gaze with a serious expression, running his hand over my hair so gently, and it's not even sexual and I'm still tingling. "No. I want our first experience of the bond to be separate, so you will know it's not contingent on sex."

I rub my head into his hand. "I do know that. "

" And we will always know that the choice to bond was not influenced by endorphins."

Hmm. Okay, that's a point. It's hard for me to imagine making an out-of-character choice just because of good sex, but if it's magic sex, not to mention with Nariel , I don't exactly have a baseline comparison. And since I decided to have sex with him also before the bond, we know that the bond isn't influencing my decisions on that front either.

I nod. "Okay. Bond first, then sex. How do we do this?"

Nariel sits up, the sudden space between us an immediate ache. I follow him as far as I can, propping up on my elbows as he studies me.

His eyes are back to normal.

How did my saying I'm ready for the bond he's been trying to seduce me into suddenly douse cold water on what we were doing here?

"For state leaders in your world," he says carefully, "there would generally be some ceremony to a union, would there not?"

"Yes, but is that necessary for a bond?" Nariel doesn't answer immediately, and in a flash I know why. "Nariel, I would love to have a public ceremony with you. But from what you've told me of the bond, I want to do this privately first. Yes, we'll both get power, but that's not why I want to bond with you. This is for us. Public marriage later, once High Earth isn't going to crash it. Okay? "

His lips quirk. "You don't want a battle on your wedding day?"

I smile but shake my head. Never thought I'd see the day where I was turning hypothetical magical combat down. "No. I want all my focus to be able to be on you."

"And may I take that," Nariel asks, "as a formal proposal of marriage?"

I did just go there, didn't I? Somehow putting it in those words makes it feel more real. I guess it's cultural biases.

Now I understand better why he's taking a minute to process.

"I mean, traditionally I ought to get down on one knee and have a ring for you," I say. "And I guess I figured I'd make a moment of it? I don't know, I've never thought about proposing to anyone before." I shake my head once abruptly as if to clear it. "Never mind. You know what? I'll figure out the trappings later. Yes, you can take that as an official proposal, acceptance pending on me getting my shit together. Wait, are you laughing at me?"

Nariel's smile breaks free. "Maybe a little. My bond proposal to you was hardly traditional either. I'll accept your proposal of marriage as-is."

I poke his perfect chest. "We are going to do a ceremony though. Some part of this won't be improvised. I do want the world to know I'm serious about you."

He kisses me again, too briefly .

"And I, you," Nariel agrees softly. "We'll plan marriage later, then."

And I'm engaged, just like that. Ohmygod.

I take a deep breath. This is what I want. Why am I having an internal freak out?

Because no one has ever publicly declared that they want me before, let alone forever.

And some part of me doesn't quite believe it. And probably won't, until the ceremony.

Shit. Nariel's right. We do need to do a public thing. Not just for politics, but for me. For us . Given how Bright Earth betrayed him, I think he needs it, too.

Nariel has apparently been watching my expression as I process. "Regardless of our reasons, Sierra, this bond is also a political move. I know you regret forcing the wizards to deal with the consequences of your choice to bring magic back. If you wish to take some time to speak to them first—"

"I already talked to Ayaka." Oh god, time is exactly what I don't need, here. Or at least, the time I need is on the other side of the bond, to believe it's real.

"I heard—"

"No, back at the Great Wall, when I sent you to clean up in the opposite direction."

Nariel blinks. "Oh."

I sit up so I can wrap my arms around him and look him in the eyes. Nariel adjusts his legs so we are sitting in each other's laps and that was more pressed against him than I'd intended, honestly.

I breathe shallowly and look him in the eye. "Any other objections? I didn't expect you to stall."

Nariel's arms come around me too, and he shifts slightly, his hard length pressing between my legs. My breath hitches and I rub against him reflexively.

Nariel shifts again, drawing his pelvis back, and I hiss.

He says, "I hadn't thought you were taking it seriously back then."

I run my hand up and down his back like he did to me earlier, wondering if it will affect him as much. "You're the one who said I move fast, remember? It only took me like three days to change the magical order of the universe. Did you think I'd sleep on this?"

That startles him into a choked laugh.

All at once I pause, letting my arms drop. If he doesn't want this, I don't want to pressure him. "Seriously, what's going on? You're the one who was trying to encourage me into this."

Nariel's arms tighten around me. "I want this to be for forever, Sierra," he says fiercely. "I don't want you to have any regrets."

Oh. He's not doubting me; he's trying to look out for me. Like a partner, considering what I may not have, so I don't have to do everything myself.

I wind my hands into his hair, feeling it flicker like shadows. "Nariel," I tell him seriously. "I love you, and I appreciate what you're doing. But in my culture, we have a saying that perfectly applies to this situation."

"Oh?" he murmurs.

I nod. "Put up or shut up."

Nariel's eyes widen, and he bursts out laughing, and this time it is my turn to crush his lips to mine.

This kiss is fierce, impatient. But Nariel matches me with his own hunger, and it's all I can do to tear myself away with a gasp.

Before he can snag my lips again, I nip his ear, reveling in how he reflexively clutches me tighter.

Turnabout, my love.

Then I whisper, "If you want to bond before sex, you'd better have a way to do it fast."

Nariel disperses into shadow, and for a moment I teeter, losing my balance as the person I was holding onto suddenly just isn't corporeal.

Then he's standing in front of me on the pouf, catching my hands in his and drawing me up.

If he expected that to weird me out of wanting to bond right now, absolutely not.

"The most useful way to not have to bring yourself to stand up when you're comfortable," I tease dryly .

Nariel flashes a grin, but it fades quickly and something like anxiety takes its place. "Sierra. I promised to support you, but—"

"You've never done this before, right?"

Nariel lets out a breath. "Correct. For a being of spirit, bonding is a simple process. I'm sure that even though you're human we can figure out how—I know it's been done. But I don't know of any cases where a human bonded someone of my... strength."

Angelic strength.

"Well," I say. "We're going to find out."

"You don't want to distribute the weapons first, or tell someone—"

I flick one of his wings, just to get his attention.

He breaks off, blinking at me.

"I'm going to be fine," I tell him. "And so are you. You believed in me before, and now it's my turn. You're not going to hurt me, Nariel. I promise. Whatever happens, we'll figure it out, and we will both be here, together, to figure it out. Okay?"

He takes a deep breath.

I squeeze his hands. "I love you. Now tell me how we start."

Nariel's gaze searches mine.

He takes another breath.

"I love you too," he says softly. "Feel me. "

He doesn't release my hands, so I take him at his word and focus on the feeling of them, the sensation of his skin against mine, how it tingles wherever we touch.

And then it's like my senses open up to another plane.

I'm used to sensing magic, of course. But somehow it's like Nariel is drawing me deep into the deep, endless pool of his.

I don't know what I expected. Some ritual, an altar, an object like Low Earth weddings use, something.

But instead, it's like I'm drowning in him, the spark of my magic smothered.

I don't have my wand in hand to shape my magic, and honestly I'm not sure I can physically move. But right now it feels like I can touch the magic directly with my mind.

No runes or spells, just raw power.

Power I can handle. I will not lose myself in him.

I imagine my power like a core of lightning, crackling, and Nariel's dark magic swirls around it.

"Let me in, Sierra," Nariel whispers.

No. He'll wipe me out. I can feel it. Already it's like my lightning is caught in the whirlpool of his, spinning his direction.

Nariel squeezes my hands. "Our magic has to connect, Sierra, that's how this works. That's the point . I'm here. You have to reach back."

How , though? He's reaching for me, and it's setting the pace.

So change the pace, Sierra .

You don't let anyone else control a fight, a conversation. You bring yourself to it and make it yours.

Now we'll make it ours.

I gather my will, and in one burst I shove my power—spinning the opposite direction.

Nariel sucks in a breath.

But it's not a rejection.

His power swirls one way, and mine another, and I imagine lines of lightning spearing out from my power—not into his, but around it.

Immediately, Nariel's shadows twist around my lightning.

Now , we dance.

Now I follow Nariel's lead into a pattern like a magical handfast knot. We twist and braid our power together, the vast swaths of shadow laced with bright gold lines, each separate and distinct, but together.

Bound.

I feel the moment the bond snaps into place.

I can move again, and I open my eyes to see Nariel's, black now with sparkling gold.

And then the power washes over me like darkness falling, and I fall with it.

Nariel disperses and reforms instantly, cradling me in his arms. "Breathe, Sierra. I have you. Just try to breathe. In and out. "

I gasp, sucking in air. But it doesn't feel like I've filled my chest with anything I can breathe, and I make a strangled, choking sound.

"Sierra!"

I'm trying , but it's like I'm lost in sensations. I don't know what's my body or my magic and I can't—

Nariel's hand whacks my back, expelling the breath and forcing me to take in another one.

His lips close on mine, and I feel his desperation but it's like I'm clawing for consciousness in a sea of shadows.

"You have to let it out," Nariel tells me frantically. "Your body isn't used to holding this much power, you need to vent it."

Is that what this is?

Yes, okay, now that he mentions it, I do feel like I'm about to explode.

This is the bogeyman of all mages, the reason I was kidnapped.

Power overload.

Nariel bites my lips, jolting me back to myself. "Focus!"

I try to breathe. I'm not going to explode. I'm going to release the power. It's one of the first things I ever learned. I can do this.

Except we're in Dark Earth, not in Low Earth, and I don't know how to bind it to this world which means—

"Get me out," I gasp. "Outside. "

Nariel doesn't second-guess, doesn't tell me he can protect me. He just takes me at my word, and that is why I did this at all.

I hold onto that thought as in the next instant I feel my whole body disperse into shadow and coalesce again.

I'm already too dizzy to even think about throwing up.

We're in the wind now, I can feel it on my skin, and I don't hold back for another moment.

I let go.

Lightning explodes into the sky.

My vision whites out.

But for a moment, I feel like I can breathe.

And then the shadows come creeping back inside me.

"I can't contain this," I whisper frantically while I still can. "I don't know how, I'm going to—I'm going to—"

I'm going to die.

The beat of wings, the rush of wind, and Nariel's lips against mine.

If that's the last thing I ever know—

Oh god, I'm not ready for it to be the last thing.

"You are not," Nariel growls, "going to die. You have channeled the power of an entire world, and you will channel mine too."

But that power wasn't inside me—

" Focus , Sierra." Before I can scream that I don't know what to focus on , Nariel's lips are back at my throat, his teeth grazing .

I gasp in a breath.

Although I don't get enough, this one feels like air.

"Focus on me," Nariel says against my skin.

And that—

That I can do.

Every touch an anchor; every individual movement a revelation.

I feel his lips on my neck, moving down.

I feel his hand against my back—and then the moment he tears off my clothes so he can touch my skin.

And in the same instant his own clothes dissolve, as if they were made of shadow the whole time.

No casual or intentful disrobing this time.

Just his skin on mine.

His lips find my nipple, and I arch into him. More lightning shoots out of me, detonating in all directions as Nariel drives us higher.

The explosion inside me isn't slowing down. It's just building.

But I manage to clutch my arms around Nariel's neck and swing my legs around so they're wrapping around him, his hard length pressed against my core.

Nariel bites down on my breast at the same time his shadows find my clit, and I scream as more lightning explodes out of me.

His shadows flicker against me and I writhe against him, twisting, but I can't go anywhere because we are in the sky —

And then his shadows delve inside me.

Slowly at first. In and out. Flickering along my inner walls.

And that's it.

I don't make a sound as I come, my head falling back, my vision filled with blinding light.

For a second I think I pass out.

And then I feel Nariel's shadows again, still inside me.

That's the moment I realize that I can tell what me even is.

I can tell it by how I also feel him.

Physically, his body, where it meets mine.

But magically, too. I can feel his magic, not just where his shadows touch me, but like they're inside me—not smothering my own magic, but augmenting it, filling me to the brim.

Nariel's lips have slowed down, but still he presses kisses to me, reminding me that he's here, that I'm here.

"More," I whisper.

His hard length, still against me, twitches.

Nariel lifts his head to look at me, and I didn't imagine it: his eyes are not just black, but sparking.

With my magic also in him.

His voice is tight. "We have to slow down."

I shake my head rapidly, rubbing myself on him, and his hands flex. "No. Take our time next time. I need you now ."

"Sierra, we'll fall," Nariel bites out. "I can't—I won't—"

This time I kiss him, and his lips are frantic against mine as he tightens his hold on me .

It's not just me that's adjusting to this bond. He's lived with shadows all his life, but my lightning won't hide.

It acts.

"I trust you," I whisper. "Trust me."

He stares into my eyes, and it's hard to make out his expression without pupils, but given how wide they are, I think he's a little shell-shocked.

I need him to believe in me, like I believe in him.

And in the moment his wings beat a powerful stroke, I know he does, flying us higher, to give us space to fall, trusting me to catch him .

And in the next stroke, he drives into me.

Lightning fritzes all over my skin, and shadows from his smooth it, keeping us from being magically electrocuted.

Every stroke takes him deeper, my magic wilder, his wings flying us higher.

We find a rhythm, a stroke of his wings, a stroke of his cock, a burst of my power emanating around us with each.

I'm full of him in every way.

And I don't have to hold it.

When his shadows flicker over my clit again, I come not violently like before, but like a slow roll of thunder chasing lightning, releasing my power in waves just like my own release cascades through me, going and going and going as I take more and more of Nariel.

This time, I am literally soaring .

And I feel the moment in our magic when Nariel's rhythm falters. Like his shadows freeze, just for an instant, before going wild.

The sensation of it, his shadows dancing against my skin and inside me, inside my magic , makes me come again as Nariel chases his own release, driving into me again and again.

But not driving us up—his wings have lost coordination.

We come as we fall.

Spiraling downward through the sky, a lightning bolt chasing the blackness below.

And that's its own rush, the wind whipping past us, and the knowledge that I can make Nariel let go of his power, too, like he did for me.

And then we crash into a cloud, slowing our descent as we fall deeper into it, its density gradually increasing until it firms up into what I imagine a cloud bed would feel like.

My eyes are reflected in Nariel's. Mine glow white, with a flickering shadow in their center.

We're both breathing heavily, but I finally manage to say, "I've got you."

And I do.

I feel him inside me—physically, too—but no longer like his shadows will overwhelm me.

Like they belong.

Like I've taken all of him and made a home for him inside me .

Nariel lowers is forehead to mine. "And I have you," he whispers, like I'm a revelation.

I clench around him, and feel his cock harden inside me in response.

He does have me. Even when I lost myself, he held on for me.

And now even if we're separated, he'll carry a part of me with him always.

But not yet. Now, Nariel kneels, my legs still wrapped around him, and lowers me back into the cloud.

My expression must be incredulous—I've already come three times, for god's sake—because Nariel grins, flexing his hips as he hardens further, and I suck in a breath.

"You promised me slow," he reminds me, pressing a kiss to one breast before drawing the nipple into his mouth.

I thought I was done, but instantly I feel myself tightening again.

He's right, though—in my desperate need to not literally explode, I haven't had a chance to explore him.

So now I do.

Now I touch him like I've always wanted to, my magic at my back and his around me. I run my hands down his back and kiss my way up his chest, Nariel groaning as he makes his way to my navel.

And on my breasts, his shadows replace his mouth, and I arch into him, gasping again .

But you know what? Two can play that game. I can manipulate my lightning directly now like he can his shadows.

So I take that sensation of gentle sparks dancing over my skin and squeeze his cock with it.

Nariel surges forward with a strangled oath, and I laugh.

And do it again, making Nariel buck against me.

" Slow ," he growls against my skin.

"Make me," I breathe.

He grins, delighted, a little bit feral.

And slows the fuck down.

I try squeezing him with lightning again, but although his muscles flex with strain, he keeps himself at the same rhythm.

While his shadows tease my breasts.

And gently, so delicately I can barely feel them, flicker against my clit.

I'm writhing against him now, my breath coming fast. With my hands I dance lightning over his skin and watch how it undoes him, his every twitch and moan, but he never loses his inexorable, steady rhythm, taking his goddamn time to savor me, absolutely refusing to rush as I teeter on the edge without ever tipping over.

I'm so desperate for him to give me more that my orgasm catches me by surprise, all at once tearing through me like a storm. Nariel's lips find mine and I cling to his hair, an anchor above to balance the one below.

His shadows lift me, holding me in the air as he changes his angle to somehow drive even deeper into me, any space not filled by his cock filled by his shadow, cresting into his own release as distant lightning crashes in the sky.

When I can finally breathe again I say, "So much for keeping the bond and sex separate."

Nariel bursts out laughing, rolling onto his back with me on top of him as he holds me tight, still inside me.

Still literally lying on a magical cloud.

What is my life?

"The bond has taken now," Nariel says breathlessly, as if I needed the confirmation, "but it will take some time to settle. It should be less... overwhelming, though there may yet be new effects."

I burrow into him, dropping a kiss on his perfect chest.

I totally just had flying, explosive sex with a demon.

And I'm finally, maybe starting to believe this is real.

"I think I'm starting to get the hang of this part," I say, dancing some lightning between my fingers, "but I need more practice."

Nariel grins. "I am at your immediate and eternal disposal."

I clench around him and look down my body askance.

Still? Really?

Nariel throws his head back and laughs and laughs and laughs.

"This is ridiculous," I say, exasperated.

"It's partly our magic," Nariel finally manages. "It wants to bring us together. "

In that case, it kind of seems like we should have had sex first before the bond, so I could know the difference.

Then again. "Partly," I murmur in agreement.

I invented a way to portal between dimensions to reach him. My wanting to be close to him is well-established, even without magic.

Nariel pulls me up his body so he can kiss me lazily, like we have all the time in the world.

We don't. Not yet.

But we will, if I have anything to say about it.

And I do.

"Next time," Nariel says, breathless, "I intend to take my time."

I stare at him. Slower? "Are you serious? You'll kill me."

He grins lazily. "You can take me."

And I can. I have .

The thought of it makes my toes curl.

And Nariel pulses within me, demonstrating the craving here is not at all one-sided.

My skin starts tingling again, my magic warming me.

I sit up on top of him, running my hands down his chest as I smile as blinding as my lightning. "Okay, one more practice round to take the edge off."

Nariel's eyes darken at that.

Not one more time. One more practice .

Because now that I have him, I am goddamn well making sure I get to keep him .

And that means making sure I keep my magic.

"And then?" he asks in a low voice that makes me shiver, and he echoes my movement with another pulse.

"Then," I say, deliberately stroking up his wing and feeling him shudder, "let's go make sure you have that time."