31

IVY

WHEN I heard his footsteps hit the upstairslanding, I sucked in a breath and leaned against the archway. What the hell was that? What did I do?

I knew I didn’t understand everything about this new world, but…I looked up to the stairs like he might return and tell me why he had to escape like he was on fire.

Maybe he doesn’t want the mate bond yet. The thought struck me with a power that made my stomach churn and bile rise in my throat. I felt almost stupid for even thinking it, but what if a mate bond was the last thing he wanted right now? It meant trouble being the mate of the future Queen, and I wouldn’t blame him if that set him off.

Elias had been worried about me wanting to be his mate. Yet, despite Adrian’s assurances that everything was fine, I couldn’t be sure if he still felt the same or was even on the same wavelength as me. He could have been telling me that for my sake.

Rubbing a hand over my face, I pushed off the wall, starting for the stairs, before hesitating. The warmth remained still, even with his absence. Wetness dampened my panties, and a throbbing started between my legs.

This has to be because of the mate bond, I thought, shaking my head. It’s a reaction to my magic wanting to complete it. I reiterated that to myself a couple more times as I pressed my thighs together. If Elias had been here, I could have gone to his bed and…taken care of it.

And yet my hand strayed to the front of my shorts. I bit my lip and closed my eyes as a rush of desire shuddered through me. My fingers were barely a whisper against the folds of my core, and it felt like every nerve ending was alight with electricity, so tender and…

Footsteps sounded down the stairs. I dropped my hand and opened my eyes to find Adrian stalking towards me. He must have splashed water on his face because the roots of his hair were wet, his skin damp. His shirt was gone, revealing the planes of his lithe form. His striking green eyes were trained on me and blazing with an emotion I couldn’t read.

I opened my mouth to say something, but he slammed his lips into mine, and I folded into his embrace.

He tasted like peppermint tea and sugar, dark desire, and something more. Adrian cupped my cheeks as he melded his lips to mine, and the heat grew stronger, filling me with stupid drunkenness that brought a smile to my lips.

I slipped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. Adrian teased the seam of my lips, and I gladly opened my mouth to him. His tongue flickered across mine, filling me with the sweetness of his mouth, tugging at the mate bond so desperate to snap into place.

I should have been pulling away and going back up to bed, but the yearning only intensified the longer he held me. The magic didn’t want me to leave—and as his hands slipped from my cheeks to the bare skin of my shoulders, I didn’t want to, either.

Adrian pulled me into the living room, towards the couch, and lowered me onto my back. He hovered above me without breaking the kiss, his weight a blanket over me. One hand moved to cup the back of my neck while the other trailed down my arm and over my stomach, leaving a line of fire as he went.

When he broke the kiss, Adrian slipped a hand under the waistband of my shorts. “Can I?”

I blinked up at him, almost startled by the question. His chest heaved against mine, and it took me a moment to realise what he was asking me.

This moment felt entirely different from the first we shared in the hotel room. Last time, Adrian had been so certain of himself, of what he was doing, but I could see the uncertainty in his eyes now.

If we went further, if we went down this path, things changed. He and I wouldn’t simply be friends in the beginnings of a soft romance. We would be mates, bound to one another until the next Daughter of Nyx rose.

I swallowed hard. Slipping one hand down to his racing heart, I felt the strength of his adoration pouring through him. We were both breathing heavily; every part of me wanted him—his tongue on my clit, his cock inside of me, the bond snapping into place. The thought of completing the bond made my heart tighten, and yet it felt so right at the same time.

It wasn’t just my magic that wanted him.

I did, too.

His eyes moved from mine down to my swollen lips. “Ivy?”

I bit my lip. “If we do this…”

He released a soft breath, and our eyes met again. “I know. I want this. I want you. This bond is—” He shook his head and closed his eyes. “I didn’t realise before how much I wanted to learn we were mates, even knowing how you felt about…me. But Ivy, I want to be your friend, your lover, and your mate. I want to stand by your side, and I need you to know that before you decide what we do next.”

There wasn’t anything I could say to that, not with tears burning behind my eyes. A smile tipped my lips, and I nodded instead. Relief filled his eyes as he lowered himself on top of me again, pressing his lips to mine. But he didn’t capture them completely. Instead, he pressed featherlight kisses down my neck that burned while the hand on the back of my neck moved to caress the edge of my shirt. He slipped his hand under the material, over the soft rolls of my stomach, up to my breast.

His kisses travelled down my exposed skin, and without moving, my shirt was gone. I gasped, only to find it on the coffee table next to us.

Adrian chuckled and continued his exploration down my chest to my hardened peaks. He dipped his head and took the bud between his teeth, tongue flicking over the sensitive flesh. A whimper shuddered through me, and I arched my back into his mouth. I wanted more of him. All of him.

Adrian swept his tongue over my nipple again before giving his attention to the other. A moan built in my throat as his free hand traced the waistband of my shorts, tickling the silver stretch marks marring my stomach.

“Adrian, please,” I whimpered, arching into his next kiss.

He made a sound in the back of his throat. Finally, he continued his descent down my stomach, kissing each roll of my belly and the most prominent of stretch marks, worshipping each scar like they were the scriptures of my body, and he was at service.

As his lips brushed the waistband of my shorts, the material disappeared, leaving me in only a pair of cotton panties. A deep rumble sounded from his chest as he whisked those away, too.

I was too caught up in the sensations to care if we got caught or were heard. I was a puddle of need in his confident hands, a wisp of desire dancing with the promise of pleasure.

His head dipped between my legs, breath fanning over my sensitive clit, teasing me with the climax already slowly building within me. Adrian kissed my inner thigh and made a sound in the back of his throat.

“So beautiful,” he whispered, dragging a single finger through my slit, “so wet already.”

A sound that was half whimper and half moan passed my lips as Adrian skimmed his tongue over my feverish flesh. He added pressure to the wetness around my clit, but refrained from giving me the release my body needed.

Fire burned within me, coursing over my skin with his next touch. Adrian inserted two fingers into my pussy and pumped them slowly in and out of me, curling them as he did. My hips moved without a thought from me, rocking with each thrust of his fingers.

“So reactive and needy.” He slowed, kissing my clit with a gentleness that made me want to burst. “Tell me you want my cock, Ivy. Tell me you want me to fuck you.”

The words formed on the tip of my tongue, but the haze of pleasure and the swell of my inevitable climax lodged the command in my throat.

Adrian paused and pulled his fingers away. I whimpered at the loss, barely catching Adrian’s smirk as he rose onto his knees. My lips parted, a weak retort on my tongue. But I watched through half-lidded eyes as Adrian’s sweatpants disappeared, leaving him naked above me.

Even with only the dim light and the golden halo of the kitchen surrounding him, I could tell how beautiful he was. Adrian reminded me of a Greek statue, carved from marble and blessed by the Gods themselves. His kind of beauty intimidated me, and yet I felt no shame lying beneath him with my stretch marks on display.

The dim light allowed me to take him in fully; corded muscle made up his lean body, skin a pinkish gold that flushed as he stared down at me. As he took his cock in hand, spreading my juices along the head, I glanced down at the length of him.

His size should have intimidated me. I chewed my bottom lip in lustful hunger. He curled his hand around his shaft and stroked himself slowly, giving me a full view of the veins that lined the length of his shaft and the pre-cum already beading the tip. He had a decent girth that rivalled Elias, but it was his length that made me hesitate.

My gaze flickered back up to meet Adrian’s, and the cocky grin he wore settled my resolve.

I wanted this. All of this. The bond, the future, everything with him. It flooded me, a complete and all-consuming feeling. My magic rose beneath my skin in agreeance.

“I want you to claim me, Adrian. I want to be bonded to you.”

Adrian paused and blew out a harsh breath before settling above me once again. His kiss was searing as he teased my opening with the tip of his cock, sliding over the slick entrance and circling my already swollen clit. Adrian was surely going to kill me with all this torment. I bucked, feeling him slide against me with an added pressure that forced a groan from my lips.

“You’re so needy,” he murmured in my ear, pulling away once more. I bucked again, seeking friction, but Adrian’s weight held me down. The power of my magic, my bond, urged me to seek more. I ached for him.

“I know. I feel it, too,” Adrian murmured, his lips brushing the shell of my ear. Before I could respond, the head of his cock nudged past my opening, and he sunk into me slowly. “Good girl. Let me into that tight pussy.”

Stars danced behind my eyes as he impaled me in one full stroke. It felt like he could tear me apart with a single thrust. He filled me entirely, so much more than I thought possible, his length almost too much for me to handle.

I cried out, my magic stirring deep in my belly, fully ignited by the promise of a completed mate bond. The mage’s lips found mine, his magic a gentle caress against the heat burning through me.

After a moment of letting me adjust to his size, Adrian pulled out until only the head of his cock remained. He gazed down at me, his alight with adoration, before slamming into me. “Fuck, you feel so good, Sweetheart,” he murmured, angling my hips upwards slightly. “So much better than I dreamed you would be.”

As his thrusts grew harder, the ties of our mate bond threaded together, our souls solidifying a bond that could never be broken. Adrian kissed up the curve of my neck before capturing my mouth once more as he pressed his hand between us to rub slow circles around my clit.

The stimulation of his cock and fingers paired with the overwhelming magic tying us together almost made me scream. I circled my arms around his neck and clawed at his back, digging my nails into his flesh.

Adrian’s thrusts turned teasing as he slowed his pace. He rolled his hips into mine. “Beautiful girl,” he murmured, easing into me. “You’re mine. Always.”

I pressed my head back into the couch as pressure built in my belly. “Adrian…” My pussy fluttered, clamping around him. “I need to come, please.”

He increased the pressure on my clit, rolling it between his fingers. “Not yet, Sweetheart. Hold on a little longer for me. You can do that, can’t you?”

I bit down on my, holding back another whimper, as he slammed into me. But I forced myself to nod and take the agonisingly slow climax he was determined to give me.

The mage smirked, devious and gorgeous, before rewarding me with the harsh pace I so desperately needed. My magic thrummed beneath my skin, a constant hum in my ears. It begged, too, for Adrian to give me my release.

Adrian claimed my lips, the swipe of his tongue teasing the bond building in my chest. I whimpered against his lips, nails biting into his shoulder and forearm as he slowed, dragging me to the edge before pulling me back.

I wrapped my legs around his narrow hips, drawing him closer. Adrian groaned and buried his face in my hair, teeth grazing over the sensitive skin of my throat. Setting a pace that tested my control, Adrian and I turned into a cacophony of grunts and sharp gasps and skin slapping against skin. I couldn’t bring myself to care, not as the bond in my chest twisted and reached for my mate.

Like I could physically see the bonds, they curled around each other before knotting and becoming one strand between us. A soft burning at my back made me gasp, but Adrian’s lips on mine drew me from the burn and back to him.

“Fuck,” he said against my lips. His pace became uneven, and he cursed again.

The edge was close, and I was ready to plummet.

“I’m almost there,” I whispered, burying my face into the crook of his neck as my pussy fluttered around him in warning.

Adrian grunted and resumed toying with my clit, pinching the nub between his fingers.

I couldn’t hold in my scream as Adrian pushed me into my climax. White spots danced across my eyes. His name was a plea on my lips and a cry for mercy as he fucked me through my earth-shattering climax.

“Fuck, Ivy,” he grunted, his movements stuttering as he chased his own finish.

My name turned into a prayer as he filled me with his seed and cradled me close to his chest. The mate bond snapped into place completely, the imaginary ties drawn taut between us. A shiver raced down my spine as a feeling of content washed over me.

Adrian’s sharp, heavy breaths filled my ears as the high slowly faded. The race of his heart mimicked my own.

“You were so good,” he murmured low in my ear. “So perfect.”

I tried to respond, but sleep tugged at the edges of my mind. In Adrian’s arms, I didn’t feel afraid of the darkness that threatened my nightmares. I felt safe enough to succumb to it and let the sound of his heart carry me into sleep.