A Crown of Cursed Hearts (Kingdom of Blighted Thorns #3)

49. Tempest

49

TEMPEST

D on’t leave me again. I spoke the words simply in his mind, but they clawed their way out. I nearly lost you too many times.

I will always be yours. He continued to gently stroke my inner walls with his threads, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before I was bucking beneath him once more. What he’d done had only whetted my appetite for everything Vexxion. Even when I was lost in the ether, all I could think of was you. I could never give up. My place is by your side, in your bed, and within your arms.

“How could you forget me?” I croaked, awash with the pain I’d felt when he looked at me blankly.

Residue from the ether?

Perhaps.

Few knew anything about what happened when someone’s magic was drained to the point where they lost the thread keeping them from falling from this world into the next.

He rose above me, kissing me, and I tasted my passion on his mouth. His head lifted. “I love you now. This is all we’re ever given, Fury. This moment in time. If I’m granted tomorrow, I’ll love you then as much as I do now. The day after that? Same. Years from now, I’ll still feel everything when I look your way. And when my body finally rests, I’ll dream of my love for you. Always.”

I cupped his shoulders. “I love you.”

He nodded. “Let me show you. Now and tomorrow and even on my final day. Follow me when I go. Dream with me. Be with me until this world ceases to exist and there’s only our souls entwining in the sunlight.”

The intensity of my love for him shook my core. No one else could ever match the way I needed not only his touch but his undying devotion. This wasn’t only about passion or desire, but the profound connection between us that made me whole. He was the part of me I’d been searching for since the dawn of time. Every moment without him felt incomplete, and every glance from him ignited something inside me that no one else ever would.

“Let me show you,” he said again, moving his threads deeper and faster inside me.

They caught my emotions and swirled them through me, heating me to a blaze only he could extinguish. I was dry tinder caught by fire, and the feel of it was a roaring beast this man had tamed .

“Yes,” I breathed.

His gaze locked on mine, and he smiled with such joy that my heart melted before surging up in my throat. I wasn’t sure I could take more, yet I would. I’d pull it in and give it back tenfold to this man alone. No matter how fiercely I burned or how hard I crashed, I’d land safely in his arms.

He kissed me hard, and I could taste his need on my tongue, fiery and heady. The thread of my control would soon snap, and if he didn’t love me completely soon, I was going to roll him onto his back and stake my claim on his body.

The need I felt for this man would never wane. It was a feral thing inside me, a fierce longing that demanded I take until he had nothing else to give.

Losing him had nearly ripped me apart. It was all I could do to hold myself together. I didn’t want to think about a time when I might lose him completely. I’d sunder the world to keep it from happening.

While some of his threads drove me closer to the edge, others wrapped around my wrists, tugging my hands above my head.

“Too fast, lovely mate,” he purred in my ear. “I want to take this slow. I need to see every bit of emotion on your face as I consume your body with mine.”

I laid beneath him, writhing as his mouth glided down my throat and over to my breast. While he stroked one nipple, his tongue flicked across the other.

“I want you wild,” he said. “Can you let everything come undone for me, my fury? ”

Vexxion, I growled in his mind. I need you now. I was aflame for him, burning to ashes in a way I never had before, not even with him. We’d come so close . . . Knowing he loved me again, that he wanted me as much as I did him was all it took.

I bucked up against his threads, and he lifted his head, watching me with complete adoration in his eyes. The sharp edge I loved was there as well, and it fit with his threads keeping my arms bound above my head.

Others coiled around my ankles and tugged them farther apart, while a few slid beneath me and thrust my hips up. He was placing me in a position that many would consider vulnerable, but I savored it, moaning as he centered his cock at my opening.

One thrust seated him deeply, and we both groaned.

All I could think of—feel—was his body deep within me. His gaze locked on mine, and seeing his need edged with a hint of vulnerability made me come undone. His obsession with me and the almost overwhelming way he wanted to consume me should make me eager to run in the opposite direction. But I couldn’t. I didn’t want to. He was the only person that saw who I was deep inside and still loved me. He empowered my weakness, fanned the heat of my fire, and lifted me when I needed the boost to keep going. His selfless way of giving humbled me. Knowing he loved me despite my flaws was enough to sustain me if life sliced between us once more.

Then he started to move, slowly, almost gently at first and in complete contrast to how he had me pinned to the bed and splayed out for his pleasure alone.

Fury, he said in an almost delicate voice in my mind, and I realized whatever wall he might’ve still held up between us was cracking, falling. He kissed me and caged me with his arms as he began to thrust harder.

Vexxion, I could only sigh as I was caught up in this moment and in him. Love you.

Love you, he growled. I’ll crave you forever, my fierce storm. When we’re old and gray and can’t do this any longer—

Never say that, I barked out with a laugh.

His threads stroked my breasts and some coiled around my nipples, tugging and quivering. You know what I mean. My bones will creak, and my joints will ache. It’ll be all I can do to walk across the room, let alone do this.

He pulled back and drove himself in so hard, my pleasure grunted out of me.

I’ll give you massages, I said. Send power into your aching bones and they’ll feel better. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t give to him, and he knew it.

I’ll still suck on your clit, he said. I’m sure no matter what, I’ll be able to crawl between your legs.

I could sit on your face.

His huff of laughter soaked through me, heating me up and melting me all at once . Show me later.

I’ll ride you hard, my love.

And I’ll push you to ride me harder.

As he continued to move, his cock got stiffer, and the muscles across his chest and arms tightened. He bowed his head, pressing his forehead against mine, his gaze still focused on mine.

“You fucking drive me out of my mind all the time,” he crooned, moving harder, faster. “When I’m not with you, all I can think about is doing this.” He thrust in deep, pulling out quickly to do it again, and his threads lifted my legs, tugging them farther apart while the others drove me up to meet his cock each time. “You’re beautiful, but it’s what I see inside you that I love and crave the most. I’ll never get enough of you, Fury, so don’t ever think of leaving me. If you do, I’ll fall apart and fade away to nothing.”

His gaze slid down my body, focusing on where he moved inside me. “Look at how well you take me, how your sweetness bathes me in your love. This is what I’ll always need.” He pounded inside me, jerking his hips up to drive his body to the hilt. “This is what I’ll be craving the moment we leave this room.” His mouth slanted across mine, his tongue thrusting inside at the pace of his cock. “And this is what I’ll think of on the day I die.” He cupped my face and stared into my eyes. “You, Fury. Always you.”

Forevermore, I am yours completely, Vexxion. Through storms or sunny days, my every heartbeat will belong solely to you. You're my security and passion and the reason I can still smile. I vow to cherish, protect, and love you unconditionally. No matter what lies ahead for us, remember that you're never alone because with each breath comes my unwavering promise to be by your side.

Mate, he growled. Mine from the moment we were born. Fated to love and adore each other until the world ceases to exist. If something happens to one of us, know I’ll find you no matter where you are in this world and beyond. If I’m reborn, I’ll wait for you, cherishing each and every moment we’ve had in this life until you can rest in my arms once more. There will never be anyone but you for me and me for you.

My heart splintered, shattering into a billion fragments that shot out only to return to make me shiny and new. That was what this man did for me. He could rip me apart, but what he remade me into after would always be better.

His hunger sunk into me, making me crave him even more.

When he released my hands, I sent them everywhere, stroking his shoulders and gliding them across his chest. His nipples tightened at my touch, and he tipped his head back, groaning as he moved within me.

Reaching down, he claimed my mouth in a ravenous kiss, his tongue swirling across mine, his hum of pleasure sinking through me.

More, I moan. Show me you’re back, that you’re the man who’ll always love me.

I do. Always. Mark me, mate, he growled. But know first, that this is it. The third mark means you’ll be stuck with me forever.

I can’t imagine being with anyone but you.

Then bite down hard enough to brand me as yours. I want everyone to see it and know that I’ve claimed you and you’ve staked your claim on me forever.

I’m not biting your cheek, I said with a half-laugh. It was hard to think with his cock sinking deeply, his threads teasing my clit and nipples. He was all over me, inside and out. Even now, I wanted more. I wanted to fall apart in his arms and have him hold me until I fused back together. Then we could start all over again .

Bite me wherever you please, he said.

Some parts of you might protest that suggestion.

Even there if you want. It’s yours as much as my heart and my soul. Mark it if you want, though no one’s ever going to see it but you.

An overwhelming urge to bite him shot through me. I lifted up and licked across his shoulder before sinking my teeth into his flesh, adding enough pressure to leave a mark. Falling back onto the bed, I grinned up at him. Now they’ll see. Now they’ll know.

Mate, he said with pure satisfaction. It feels good. Look how it glows.

The mark blazed, nearly blinding before it faded to a soft shimmer.

Heat poured through me, and my body spasmed. A voracious hunger overtook me, and I clutched his arms, digging in with my nails.

He groaned and moved faster, pounding into me while I jerked my hips up to meet him.

What’s happening? I didn’t feel panic, just an overwhelming need to have him take me at least ten more times before we left this bed.

Third mark. Final mark. He gave me a kiss that devastated me.

I was spiraling, falling and soaring all at the same time, and I rocked against him as wave after wave of pleasure roared through me.

My orgasm crashed over me and my breathing stuttered.

His threads pushed me through another orgasm, wringing everything out of me while giving it back tenfold .

With a roar, he followed me, his cock pumping and shuddering deep within me.

We collapsed together, and he slid to the side, wrapping his arms and his threads around me.

“Mate,” he whispered in my ear. “ My mate.”