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The words hit home, eliciting raw pleasure and emotion in my heart as I let them hang between us. Each one reinforced the young girl I was and the strength that I now have—that she now has.
“I’ve heard you repeatedly say that you’re not a hero,” he continues, seemingly on a roll now that he’s letting it all out. “And you’re not trying to be one. No hero complex in sight. But you believe in doing the right thing, you believe in protecting the innocent, and you believe in the villains getting what they’re due. I don’t know what that makes you to the rest of the academy, the realm, the whole fucking world, for that matter. But to me… that makes you my Dove. Always.”
All I can do is gape at him. My heart races so fast I know he’s triggered my fight or flight mode, yet for the first time in my life, I’m stuck in freeze. The words swirl in my mind, finding me, seeking me desperately as they solidify who I am. Branding me without offering a label, declaring who I am and what matters most to me.
He says them so easily, defining me without effort, and all I can do is blink at him.
My limbs remain stiff even as he grabs my waist and hoists me in the air before ungracefully lowering me to his lap. I cling to his shoulders for balance, my heart lurching in my chest as I struggle to breathe, but the moment he envelops me in his arms, pulling me tight against his chest, I succumb to the warmth.
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I nestle my forehead against his throat, breathing him in as he strokes his hand up and down my spine in the most blissfully lulling way ever.
“I fucking love you, Raven. We all do, just as fiercely as you love us. We’ll follow you blindly into whatever draws you close without question. But if I can start to see it wearing you down, like now, then we’re going to have to have a system in place that allows us to take control. You’re my everything, and I refuse to watch you struggle under the weight of the world that’s been thrown on your shoulders. You’re strong as fuck, and one-thousand percent I know you can handle it, but if you don’t have to, I’d rather you didn’t.”
I bury my face even deeper into the crook of his neck. I am strong, I know I can handle it, but there are so many layers to everything now that I don’t even know where to begin.
“I think what Zane is trying to say, Little Bird, is that we’re here to shoulder the strain too. If that means we have to help Sebastian, then that’s what we do. If we have to spend the rest of the night going over what Burton said to Fitch, then so be it. Whatever it takes. I think we can all agree that we want a future that is more than this. Fuck, you deserve a hell of a lot more than this, but we’ll weather this storm if there’s a glimpse of sun on the other side.” Eldon’s voice is soft as his words wash over me, grounding me even further.
What would I do without them? How would I handle any of this shit?
It’s a pointless question, really. The only way I wouldn’t be here handling this shit is if I never left Shadowmoor, and the truth has revealed that it was never my destiny to remain there.
They were my fate—all four of them—just as much as the damn visions and prophecies that seem to put me at the helm of bringing the realm back from the brink of chaos.
My knees press into Zane’s sides, my body desperate to wrap around him like a new shadow as I lift my head enough to meet Eldon’s heartfelt gaze. Finding the words I need to say is harder than I expected, but in my defense, I wasn’t expecting tonight to turn into such a deep moment.
I swipe my tongue over my bottom lip as they part, but Eldon presses a finger to his lip, pausing me before I can speak.
“Don’t say anything, Little Bird. I think you might just need a moment to feel.”
His raspy voice makes my body stiffen once more, but it’s not with panic or fear this time. No. It’s exactly what his words suggest.
Zane’s hands shift to my waist, squeezing me just right so that my hips move, and I find myself grinding along his length. He repeats the move again, but this time, he tilts his hips up to meet the motion. I stifle a groan.
Leaning forward, I feel the brush of his lips over the shell of my ear. “I should be a gentleman and break you in, but feeling your pussy stretch around my cock is like stepping into Heaven for a split second. I can’t seem to deny myself that feeling right now,” he groans, making me shiver. The tremble elongates down my spine a split second later when he lifts the hem of my skirt and uses his magic to remove my panties.
Everything else remains in place; my blazer, my shirt, my bra, and my skirt. Only the barrier to my pussy is removed, and the grin spreading across his face confirms he’s more than happy with the fact.
His fingers caress up my thigh, inching higher and higher until he swipes his thumb over my clit. The thrumming explodes through my veins, heightening the desire they create in me as my jaw falls slack.
“So fucking beautiful, Dove,” he murmurs, hitching my skirt around my waist as he grabs my hips, lifting me just enough to press the tip of his cock against my core. That second, those milliseconds of pressure at my entrance are the only warning I get before he drives deep inside of me with one powerful thrust.
Pleasure mixes with pain as I adjust to the length of him, a deep, guttural groan tumbling from my mouth.
“Definitely not a gentleman,” Eldon states, humor in his voice, but I can’t focus on him. My eyelids refuse to remain open as Zane controls my movements. There’s no moment to adjust to his length, no breath to catch before he claims me completely. Nothing.
The second he fills me, he retreats to the tip before repeating the motion, setting my body on fire with coursing need.
“Don’t stop,” I croak, my head tilting back as I press my fingernails into his blazer, holding on for dear life.
All I can feel is him, all I can hear is our panting breaths, and all I can see are the fireworks imprinting on the back of my eyelids. Nothing else in the world matters right now.
Just us.
It may be a short reprieve from the madness around us, but I’ll take it.
“Look at Eldon watching you, Dove. He’s jealous. Jealous of the sounds I’m getting from you, jealous of the way he knows you’re making my cock feel right now, and jealous that you’re putty in my hands.”
I shake my head, not even bothering to look as Zane tries to goad his friend. “He isn’t,” I grumble, and a scoff sounds from my right a moment later.
