“Perfect,” I breathe, kissing her through the aftershocks. “You’re perfect.”
But even as she comes down from the high, I can feel the magic building around us, insistent now, demanding completion. The bond pulses between us, and I know we can’t wait much longer.The Solstice magic has its own rhythm, its own needs, and it won’t be denied.
“Now,” she says, seeming to sense the same urgency. “Please, Aelin, I need you now.”
I shed the rest of my clothes quickly, my hands shaking with need and anticipation. When I settle back between her thighs, she reaches for me, her fingers wrapping around my length with a touch that makes me hiss in pleasure.
“You’re so big,” she breathes, her eyes wide as she takes in my size. “Will you fit?”
“We’ll make it fit,” I promise, positioning myself at her entrance. “The magic will help. Trust me.”
She nods, her eyes locked on mine, and I begin to push forward slowly, carefully, watching her face for any sign of discomfort. She’s tight—impossibly tight—but her body accepts me, stretching to accommodate my size as I sink into her inch by careful inch.
“Fuck,” I groan when I’m finally seated fully inside her, my forehead resting against hers as I fight for control. “You feel incredible. So tight, so perfect.”
“Move,” she gasps, her nails digging into my back. “Please, I need you to move.”
I start slowly, long, careful strokes that make her whimper and arch beneath me. But as the magic builds around us, as the bond flares brighter and stronger, careful becomes impossible. My pace increases, my strokes becoming deeper, harder, more demanding.
“Yes,” she cries, her legs wrapping around my waist to pull me closer. “Like that, just like that.”
The magic reaches a crescendo, power flowing through us and around us until the very air shimmers with silver light. I can feel the bond solidifying, becoming permanent and unbreakable, and with it comes a rush of sensation that threatens to overwhelm me.
“Mine,” I snarl, my fangs extending as primal instinct takes over. “My mate, my queen, mine forever.”
“Yours,” she agrees, her voice breathless with pleasure and power. “Always yours.”
The claiming takes us both then, an explosion of sensation and magic that transforms us from two separate beings into something greater. I feel her climax through the bond, feel her body tightening around me as she cries my name, and it triggers my own release.
I come with a roar that shakes the very foundations of the grove, my body shuddering as I spill myself inside her. But this isn’t just physical pleasure—it’s transformation, creation, the forging of bonds that will last for eternity.
Power flows through us, changing us both. I can feel Jessa’s humanity burning away, replaced by something stronger, more eternal. Her markings flare brilliant silver, spreading across her skin until she glows like starlight, and when she opens her eyes they’re pure gold, burning with fae fire.
“Aelin,” she breathes, and her voice carries harmonics now, the music of winter winds and ancient power. “I can feel everything. The magic, the realm, you—I can feel all of it.”
“The bond is complete,” I tell her, my own voice rough with wonder and satisfaction. “You’re fae now, my love. My queen in truth as well as title.”
She sits up slowly, power radiating from her skin in waves, and I watch in awe as the final transformation completes itself. Her hair shimmers with silver threads, her eyes burn with inner fire, and when she speaks the very air responds to her command.
“Your queen,” she agrees, her voice carrying absolute authority. “And they’ll acknowledge it, or they’ll answer to both of us.”
I pull her against me, marveling at the way she fits perfectly in my arms, at the completeness I feel with her beside me. The bond hums between us, unbreakable now, a connection that transcends the physical and reaches into the very core of our beings.
“What happens now?” she asks, though I can feel through the bond that she already knows.
“Now we return to the palace,” I say, my voice carrying the weight of decision. “Now we face the council and show them exactly what they’re dealing with.”
“And if they try to remove you from the throne?”
I smile, and I know it’s not a pleasant expression. “Then they’ll discover that a mated Winter King is far more dangerous than an unmated one. And that their new queen is not someone to be threatened or dismissed.”
She rises gracefully to her feet, power crackling around her like visible lightning, and extends her hand to me. When I take it, I feel the magic flow between us, amplifying both our strengths.
“Together?” she asks.
“Together,” I confirm, and we walk hand in hand from the sacred grove, ready to claim our destiny.
The war for our throne begins tonight. But we are no longer the same beings who entered this grove. We are mated, bonded, forged by ancient magic into something new and powerful.
