My hips bucked beneath his mouth, and a moan escaped my lips as a wild pulsing began.
“I need you, Kellan,” I breathed through the moan as his tongue flicked back over my clit. His fingers moved in slow, smooth movements. “I need all of you. I amyours.”
Kellan’s shoulders shuddered, and he slipped his fingers out. Moving faster than I could register, his mouth crashed against mine. I sucked his tongue into my mouth, and he held the fabric to the side as the head of his cock slid against my clit before sinking into me. My legs widened, and my hands slapped against his ass as he slammed into me, the delicious burn of his stretch only heightening the addictive sensation.
My heel popped up over his perfect ass, sliding over the edge of his leathers, still halfway up his legs. Muscles rolled under my hands as he moved his hips, my fingernails digging into the skin on his back as he drew me closer and closer to oblivion.
“Kellan,” I moaned again, a warning this time, as perfection and the promise of forever sparked along the tight, unbreakable thing we had created earlier in the night.
A line of stars had formed in the space that connected us, a divine thread of our own making. It was heaven, an unyielding eternity that linked the two of us in the infinite universe. It was forever. A maddening pulsing pulled me back into my body as Kellan drove home, faster and faster, and his body began to quake.
“I am yours,” he breathed before his lips crushed against mine.
My eyes rolled back as a universe of stars blinked into existence. An eruption of pleasure detonated throughout my being as Kellan groaned and poured himself into me. His body stilled above me, his dark eyes heavy on mine, and holding infinite promise.
CHAPTER FIFTY
NERISSA
Cleared of charges, so long as she lends her power to the crown until it’s no longer in need of her services.
– Formal release of Vienah, signed by High Steward Merik.
Nerissa – Airborne over the Juniper Sea
Deep blue waves rose to meet a tapestry like living fire as we approached Lotrennia. The coastal forest shone in a golden sunset with orange and blood red leaves set above the azure jewel of the Juniper Sea.
Aquila’s large body heaved a sigh as he soared through the clear skies, and I echoed the sentiment. I’d yet to release the tension in my shoulders since the Vael Lacrima had opened, but there was something soothing about flying back to the Land of Light and Life, even in the face of death.
Aquila had flown the entirety of the trip to Lotrennia, and the old man was exhausted. My fingers wove deep beneath his thickfeathers, and I rubbed my hand against the tiny, downy fuzzies nearest his neck. He sighed into my mind.
The seven statues of the Bellators stood against the bright blue sky, and my gaze lingered on the demolished rubble that used to represent Enya, Lyvia’s ancestor. Something stabbed me in the chest at the reminder of Lyvia’s absence. It had been months since I’d seen her. Months since she’d returned. I resisted the squeeze in my chest as I realized how much I missed her. My gaze snapped up to the massive statue of Kyson, my own ancestor, and I scowled.
Do you miss him?I asked Aquila, my brows narrowing.
Aquila was silent as he pondered.
I miss who he once was, he finally said.He’d changed by the end of the war. He’d become untrusting. Doubtful.
I shook my head.
Reminds me of someone…I replied, my brows furrowing as I thought of my brother. While I loved Bayne, his need to do what was right, what hebelievedwas right, had begun to blur his faith in the rest of us. I’d seen it with Lyvia, even after she’d proved herself ten times over. There was a time I’d stand behind him no matter what… But now? Something had shifted. A curtain of blind faith had been pulled aside.
Aquila grunted his agreement and banked, preparing to land in a small valley offshore.
“Are those tracks?” Kresida shifted as she called from behind me, her long arm stretching to the north.
I frowned and focused in on the sandy shoreline. What the?—
Aquila swerved midair, and my stomach dipped. He surged upward and soared north instead of landing in the safe clearing of Ayla’s harbor.
“Those look like…” Kresida trailed off.
I nodded, my mouth setting in a grim line.
“Bears,” I finished for her, eyeing the deep tracks in the sand.
A chill breeze cut through the air as Aquila circled overhead, the tracks disappearing in the thick underbrush of the coastal forest. He landed on the vacant beach, white sand rising in a cloud.
