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CHAPTER 28
LILY
Breath hitching, my heart stumbled, almost stopping dead in my chest. Familiar grey eyes stared back at me, freezing every cell in my body. Dark tousled hair and thick brows, just like I’d remembered it. My mouth was open, but no air was coming in or going out of my lungs. Tanned skin and taught, coiled muscles. The boy I’d given it all up for.
He stood before me naked, no longer a boy. Sweat and dirt covered his skin. Instant heat crept over me as I watched the last few inches of claws retracting into human fingertips. Looking up to find those stormy grey eyes again, I willed my eyes to remain fixed on his face. Somewhere in the distance, I heard my plastic bag hitting the ground, sending snacks scattering.
“Mate,” the word tumbled from my lips.
Raiden’s eyes quickly travelled down my body, but mine never strayed from his face. The familiar lines and contours which I had caressed and kissed so many times before.
He swallowed, his Adam's Apple bobbing and flicked his eyes back to mine.
“Lily?” he said in a voice like gravel and took a hesitant step closer.
I blinked, the air finally returning to my lungs. “Ray?” My words were no more than a mere breathy whisper.
As if something snapped between us, he suddenly took large, deliberate strides towards me, stopping so close that I could feel his body heat leaking from his skin. A lump formed in my throat, as I searched his face for any signs of emotion. What was he feeling? Was he going to reject me? Did he still love me?
Slowly, Raiden’s hand came up to my face, hovering mere inches away from my cheek, almost as though he was afraid to touch me. But I leaned forward, into his touch until his hand curled around my face. The mate bond immediately flowed through us in warm electric currents. Mate. He was my mate.
“Mate,” he said, his glassy grey eyes scanning over my bruised temple, brows, nose and lips.
Time stood still, granting us this precious moment. All I could think about was closing the distance between us, to have him as close to me as I possibly could and claim him as mine. Luckily, he beat me to it and leaned in, grazing his lips against mine. For a brief moment, my body went rigid, but I didn't dare move away. No, I wanted this. I wanted him. Have wanted him since the very moment we’d met.
My true fated mate. Ray. It seemed so unreal, after everything we’d been through. Had the entity kept true to his word all along or was he always destined to be mine?
Tingles danced over our lips and everywhere else our bodies touched. I needed more. I needed to feel this was real, that I wasn't dreaming it. My hands gripped his shoulders, trembling fingertips exploring the hard bulky muscles underneath clammy skin. He did the same, one hand at my waist and the other cupping the back of my head. I closed my eyes, kissing him back, revelling in the softness of his lips, the slow, lazy rhythm in which he kissed me.
The tingles of a mate-bond, I’d heard of it many times before, but this was the first time I got to experience them for myself. It was electric and wild. Pleasurable beyond anything I’d ever felt. Sensual, but at the same time, delightfully sinful. Ray inched closer, pressing his chest into me and tilting my head back, letting it rest in his hand. His tongue swooped out, asking for entrance against my lips. I gladly opened for him, letting the tingles engulf every inch of my mouth, welcoming them to fill me from the inside out.
They spread quickly, travelling down my throat and into my belly, lower, consuming me. I was on fire, my body heating up against his, demanding more. I moaned into his mouth as our tongues moved together and our breath became one. A warm hand slowly slid up my back, tingles following teasing, torment and pleasure. I was squirming, my body aching for more. Pressure began building somewhere within and I found myself slowly letting go of everything I knew, my hips moving or grinding, I wasn’t sure, but Ray let out a throaty groan and I pulled away to look at him, to catch my breath.
Tiny waves of pleasure still pulsed through us, the mating bond tangling between us, pulling taught. It was powerful and mysterious. A force created by the Moon Goddess herself to ensure the future existence of our race.
We’d moved perfectly in tune with one another. His body answering to mine in heart, mind and soul. The smell of his skin, the taste of him on my tongue, it was too much, and my legs turned into jelly. I tightened my grip on his shoulders as I stared into his depthless grey pools, now so full of emotion.
Ray's strong arms tightened around me, keeping me upright. I was floating or falling or dreaming, drunk on him. His eyes bore into mine as I panted breathlessly, noticing stubble over his jaw for the first time. I’d never seen it before. He’d been a boy back then, with smooth, soft skin. My hand came up, trembling fingers skimming over the roughness there. He studied me, let me do whatever I wanted, touch wherever I wanted. His heart was hammering the same as mine, not only did I feel it through his chest, but I heard it too.
Raiden was a man now, and I a woman. I wondered what he saw in me. If I’d changed to his liking. The hand at the back of my head moved, sliding across to where I knew the ugly remains of a bruise still lay. His thumb brushed over the area, “what happened to you, Lil?” His voice was hoarse, like he’d been sleeping, emotion thick within it.
I had no words to answer. Where would I even start and worse, would he forgive me if he knew the truth? That I had caused all of this? All of the suffering and distance. My eyes stung as I stared at him, a thousand words clumping together in my throat. But Axel and two other warriors burst into the clearing, panting, pale-faced and eyes which darted between me and Ray.
Axel’s mouth hung open as he skidded to a stop, lifting a hand in the air, ordering his men to stand down.
