Page 152 of May: Bloom & Bane

And I’m still inside her.

The memory of last night floods back, her desperate heat, the way she begged me just to fill her. The relief on her face when I slid inside and stayed there.

I need more of that scent, he breathes. Her body is ready.

My hands move to her stomach, spreading across her soft skin. The scent of life wraps around me, and my entire body tenses.

The altheria doesn’t lie. By the time your rut ends, there will be a soul growing inside her. Our soul, Ashán murmurs.

Should we wake her up? I ask, shifting slightly. So we can tell her?

She said she would love to be woken up like this, but I think we build her up first.

I pull back just enough to slide forward again, savoring the way her body clings to me.

“You are ním, Saevúra,” I whisper into her hair, rolling my hips lazily.

My hand slides from her stomach to her hip, holding her steady as I rock into her with careful strokes. She whimpers softly.

I want to feel her come around me while she’s still dreaming, for her to wake up already knotted, knowing that she belongs to us.

I press my lips to her temple.

“You are ním thaeris,” I breathe. (Mine to protect) “Ním to cherish. ním to keep safe from all harm.”

My hand slides from her hip, cupping her breast, treasuring the place she will nourish our tiny vúsha.

“Ethvúsha ním’thalen. Navrae thelis.” (You carry our greatest treasure. Nothing in any realm will ever touch you)

I keep my movements slow, barely rocking my hips, letting the head of my vék nudge against the deepest part of her. Every gentle thrust pushes more of our seed deeper, coating her cervix in thick, warm fluid.

“My turn,” Ashán murmurs, his skeletal fingers tracing circles over her belly, right above where her womb sits.

“Saevúra ním’thira…ním’vael…ním’ethra.” (Soulbond, you are our heart, our soul, our everything.)

He rolls us slightly, hooking Eden’s leg over his hip to open her wider. She whimpers as her body clenches around me.

“You feel so good,” I breathe against her ear. “Keep dreaming while your mates worship you.”

“You’ll let me taste you, won’t you, ash’kaela?” His hand slides up her body, cupping her breast, níva already dripping from her peaked nipple. “So generous,” he murmurs, gathering the sweetness on his thumb. “Always giving us exactly what we need.”

He brings his thumb to our lips and the sweet taste spreads across our tongue like warm honey.

“Shá,” he chokes out, his fangs lengthening. Before I can stop him, he’s dragging them across the curve of her throat.

“You are our altar,” he rasps against her skin, trailing kisses along her jaw, his fangs scraping lower, down to the swell of her breast.

“You’re going to be such a good mother, Eden.” His mouth closes around her nipple, and the first pull of níva on our tongue makes everything go white behind our eyes.

“Vresh,” he groans against her breast, his control teetering dangerously. Bloodlust claws at his restraint, fangs aching, venom pooling, every instinct screaming to bite down and mark her.

“Need to claim you—” He groans deliriously.

No, I snarl, fighting for control. Ashán, don’t⁠—

She’s ours, he growls back, his hips snapping harder despite my attempts to slow him. Mine to mark.

Not while she’s asleep!