by Leia Stone
Oh mage, he had it wrong. All wrong.
I pulled away from him and rose up on my toes. I wanted one kiss, and then I’d explain. But I felt like a thief, and my kiss fell on his neck. Blinking through my tears, I took his face in my hands.
“Oh, Rage,” I whispered, my throat raw as I forcefully swallowed my emotion. Fresh tears pricked my eyes. “He’s … dying.” The tears spilled over, and I buried my face in his chest.
He held me as sobs wracked my body. I tried to tell him what had happened, but the words fell unintelligible and disjointed with my grief. I cried for my grandfather. I cried for Reyna. I cried for Rage, and then finally, I cried for me—because I’d never wanted to leave my mate. And when all of my tears were gone, my body released a hard shudder. I sucked in a deep breath, sniffed, and pulled myself together.
“It’s bad,” I said, wiping the moisture from my cheeks. “I went to help grandpa at your coronation. He told me he needed to formally declare me as his heir before he died. I thought I’d sneak right back after we signed the heir declaration, but then I got thrust into an initiation obstacle course to prove myself worthy.” I blinked, offering him a small smile. “I thought we’d be able to still speak through the bond. I’m so sorry, Rage. I’m so freaking sorry.” My voice broke.
“Heir declaration?” His brow furrowed with confusion. “Obstacle course?”
I wasn’t explaining this right—not at all. I exhaled, long and slow, and thought about what mattered the most. Because the explanations could all wait—and they should. The most important thing right now was our mate bond. I brushed my fingers over his lips. “I-I don’t want to talk about that place right now. Can we put that all on hold, please?” I took another breath. “I really want to talk about … us.”
I wanted to seal our mate bond. Now. Before anyone could take it away from us. My fingers trailed down his neck and then over his chest, my breaths shallower as a mixture of fear and desire coursed through me. Rage. He was … everything.
His fingers dug into my hips, and my entire body trembled.
Rage looked down at me and frowned. “I … I thought you were kidnapped, Nai. You … you left me. On my coronation day.” He swallowed hard. “You did that willingly?”
Willingly? Is that what he thought?
“That hurt,” he growled.
His pain pummeled me, and, despite all my earlier crying, a fresh tear slid down my cheek. I hadn’t explained properly if he really believed that. I was just so tired, emotionally and physically, and terrified the high mages would take him from me.
“Why did it have to be right then?” Rage continued, oblivious to my internal turmoil. “Why couldn’t you tell me? Why … you left without even a thought.”
His accusations … each one wrung my heart. More tears trickled down my face, and I nodded, acknowledging my guilt. More than anything, Rage deserved the truth. All the way down to the cowardice I’d felt and then rationalized as being sufficient reason to flee. “I-I was scared you … wouldn’t let me go,” I whispered. “My grandfather said we had a limited amount of time to record my name in the books—and I had to be there for it. He said if I didn’t inherit his spirit magic, the one that lets him raise the dead, like Honor, it will go to Kian and the other high mage councilmen.”
The breath whooshed out of him at that detail. “Yeah, we can’t let that happen…”
Of course he understood. Feeling more than a little stupid, I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. How could I have doubted him? “I came back as soon as I could. I’ve barely slept since I left.” Admitting that truth made me yawn as fatigue really hit me, and then I noticed the dark circles under his eyes. “Not that it looks like you’ve slept much either.”
Guilt pressed against me, filling my chest and twisting my insides. If the roles had been reversed … I stared into his eyes, and more tears fell down my face.
Poor Rage. What had I done to him?
“I was so worried you’d think I just left you,” I blurted out.
He reached up and brushed away my tears with the pad of his thumbs. “Dammit, woman…” He rested his forehead on mine. “You nearly broke me.”
My heart fell—like a stone in my stomach. I really screwed up. Bad. I wanted to make this right. I wanted to seal our bond. I wanted for him—for us to be safe. But more than anything, I owed him an apology. “I’m sorry,” I said, my voice breathy as I looked into his emerald eyes. “I love you, Rage. I love you so much.”
I licked my lips, and his parted. The air charged as need knocked into me, and my breath quickened. Did he feel this, too?
“Nai…” He spoke my name so full of love and longing. As his fingers trailed down my neck, his touch left a trail of heat on my skin, stoking my desire, until his palm rested against my chest. My heart thumped against my ribs as if it could leap through me to him. Every part of me wanted more, to be closer to him, to touch him … to taste him. Leaning forward, I sucked his bottom lip into my mouth, and he groaned, clenching my hips as his muscles tightened.
“Rage…” I panted against his lips.
He walked me backward, closing the door as he boxed me against it. Pressing his body to mine, he trailed kisses down my neck and then slowly dragged the tip of his tongue back up the sensitive skin with my pulse thrumming against the gentle pressure.
Arching, I pressed my lower body to his, and he slipped his hand under my shirt and caressed my breast. Heat shot through me. I clung to him, trying to steady myself. I needed … I needed…
“I love you, Nai,” he growled with a squeeze, and then he nipped at the sensitive spot just below my ear. “You are mine, mate.”
I moaned, pressing closer until all I could feel was Rage … and still, I ached for more. As I raked my fingers down his back, I panted out my assent and then slid my tongue into his mouth.
Our tongues tangled, stroking against one another, but his last word stuck in my mind: mate. Rage was my mate, and I wanted him, not just now—forever. And the only way that would happen…
“We have to seal our bond,” I begged.
He gripped my hips, grinding against me in response.
“Please?” I begged, writhing against him. Fear crept in … an icy wisp of promised failure. I fumbled with the band on his boxers even as my worry multiplied.
What would the high mages do?
Shoving the thought from my mind, I focused on Rage. I couldn’t let the high mages’ threats ruin this moment for us. I needed—
He scooped his hands under my thighs and lifted me up, cupping my butt, and I wrapped my legs around him.
Thoughts fled my mind as we tumbled back onto his bed. Our kisses grew frantic; his hands traveled over my curves. My shirt disappeared as did my pants. He stared down at me, his chest heaving as his gaze caressed my skin.
I swallowed hard, forcing down the desperation clawing its way through me. What was taking him so long? Why didn’t he—?
Finally, Rage lowered himself onto me, bracing his weight on his elbows, and then he pressed his lips to mine in a slow, tender kiss.
He acted as if we had all night … but what if we didn’t? What if they saw me leave? What if the mages were coming right now with the blood mage they spoke of and—
“We need to seal it before they break it,” I breathed, tugging on the waistband of his underwear.
He pulled back, his brow furrowed, and stared at me.
“What?” he asked.
I sucked in a breath, and my gaze darted to the door before returning to Rage. The wretched fear I’d tried to ignore reared within me, and I nearly whimpered.
“What did you just say?” he repeated, cocking his head to the side as he studied me.
My lower lip trembled as I fought the tumult within … but I wouldn’t mar our relationship with any more lies. I had to be honest with him now—and always. “The high mages heard how you called all of the shifters back to the island. They know you’ll be a strong leader, and some of them are worri
ed you’ll be too strong.” I thought of Kian and Snade’s words from only a short time before. “A threat.”
“Too strong?” Rage sat back on the bed, staring at me with an intensity that held none of our former passion. “Too strong for what?”
I swallowed, my chest still heaving with each breath, but the dam had burst, and now fear held me in its icy grip. The awful truth of what the high mages wanted—and what they would do to preserve their way of life hit me like silver slugs to my chest. “They want total control. I think they had it with Declan—I’m sure they did—but you aren’t doing anything the way they think you should.”
“That’s their problem,” he snapped as if insulted that I’d even brought it up.
“Yes, but they said if I’m going to be going to school there, we can’t be bonded mates. That I’ll spy for you. I overheard them talking. If they break our mate bond before we seal it … it will be broken forever.”
He blinked, and then a full-on howl ripped from his throat. The sound, so full of wrath and betrayal, made me flinch, and I scooted back—away from him—by instinct. Silky onyx fur rippled down his arms, a clear sign that he was struggling to rein in his wolf.
This was my fault.
I dropped my chin to my chest in defeat.
“Oh, I will have you, Nai Crescent.” Rage growled, his voice barely human. “All of you. But not because of their threat to our bond. They will not force this moment.”
I didn’t want to force anything either, and yet … wasn’t it our plan all along to seal our mate bond? I wanted Rage—no matter what else came our way, I wanted him. But if we didn’t hurry…
Raising my chin, I offered him a sad smile. “If I go back and we’re not mated, then they may get their wish and break our bond forever.”
Anger slipped over his features like a mask. “Let. Them. Try.” Fire danced over his skin as his magic flared out of control with his emotions. “I’m the alpha king, and you are my fated mate. If they come between us, I’ll dismantle them, limb by limb, and use them for firewood before I burn their entire realm to the ground.”
The fight might happen anyway, couldn’t he see? But this … our mate bond—would he really risk it? He might … but I couldn’t. More than anything, I just wanted to be his.
I inched forward on my knees and then stroked his cheek. “Please, Rage? I can’t handle a world in which we aren’t mated.”
His expression fell, and the fury left his eyes. His wolf’s fur retreated, and when he met my gaze again, I stared into the green eyes of the man I loved.
He nodded. “Me neither.”
His eyes raked over me, kneeling before him in my bra and undies, begging him to take my V card.
“Holy Mother Mage, Nai. You are irresistible…”
Yaas!
I grinned as he took a deep breath. Gently, he lay me back on the silky sheets, straddling me, letting his gaze dance over my skin. He slid down so he was now hovering over my knees. He leaned over my abdomen and licked me. My nervous giggle cut off as he traced his tongue down my abdomen a little way and then paused to nip at the sensitive flesh just above my underwear.
I gasped, and Rage glanced up, his eyes heavy-lidded, and licked his lips.
“You taste like heaven,” he breathed in a gravelly tone that made my insides melt.
His warm breath fanned out over my skin, making it break out in goosebumps where he’d just attended with his tongue and teeth.
“More,” I begged in a ragged whisper.
He stroked my skin, his hands gliding up over my hips, my waist, and then my ribs, before sliding underneath me. His fingers fumbled with the clasp of my bra, and then the tension of it disappeared.
My breaths quickened as he tugged one strap and then the other over my shoulder. As the fabric disappeared, his lips parted.
“So … beautiful…” he murmured. “I missed you so damn much, Nai.”
Then he leaned over to continue his ministrations, with his lips … and tongue. His teeth grazed my breast, and I arched my back as my eyes rolled.
Oh … oh my… “Rage…”
A fine magic mist swirled in the air, and my need for him built with every sensual stroke. A tortuous ache made me wrap my legs around him, and I dug my fingers into his arms, desperate to pull him closer.
‘Rage,’ I begged, panting. ‘Mate.’
More than anything, I needed him … ached for him … so when he pulled back, I whimpered.
“Mate,” he growled.
The word shot through me, filling me with love but also a deep yearning…
Rage gripped my hips and then untangled my legs from his waist. Then, he slid his hands up my thighs until he hooked a finger from each hand in the sides of my panties and tugged.
My underwear slid over my hips and, soon after, disappeared.
Rage sat on his heels, staring at me, his chest heaving with each breath. ‘Claim me,’ he said. ‘Make me yours, Nai. My fated mate.’
I sat up, filled with sudden purpose. Climbing to my knees, I then scooted over to Rage and pressed him to sit as I climbed over his legs. Tracing my nose up his neck, I scented him. As his scent filled me, something primal seized me, and I nipped his neck. ‘Mate.’
This wasn’t enough. I needed more. This ache … I needed to feel him inside me. I dragged my fingers down his sides to the band of his boxers. ‘Please.’ Tugging at the last scrap of barrier between us, I demanded, ‘Mate.’
Rage slid his arm around my waist and spun. One heartbeat, I was on him, and the next, he emerged over me.
I slipped my hand under the band of his boxers and pulled.
Rage growled, a deep and possessive sound that pooled low in my belly and made me ache for him. His scent swirled around me, sandalwood and desire, and he took a deep breath before chucking his underwear off.
He climbed over me, his gaze filled with heat and love … so much love.
He lowered his body until our legs tangled and I could feel him between mine. Bracing the weight of his upper body on his elbows, he traced his nose up my neck, pulling back to look me in the eye. “I love you, Nai Crescent.”
“I love you too,” I gasped, desperate to become one with him as his fingers trailed down my skin.
“Protection?” I huffed against his ear. I wanted to make love to Rage, but I wasn’t ready for a baby just yet. He nodded, reaching into a bedside drawer. There was a crinkle of a wrapper, and then Rage gripped my hips and coaxed me to move with him.
‘Mate,’ he growled.
I arched my back, panting as he continued to guide me. His hands stroked my skin … and then his mouth… ‘Rage.’
As we moved, magic danced over my skin, heightening my need all the way deep into my core.
Our tongues tangled, and his heat became mine. Our sweat-slicked skin slid against each other. There was only one answer for the deep ache within me, and I writhed in desperation for more. And then he pressed his body into mine…
and moved.
Oh…
My core tightened, and my mouth went lax.
He moved again, and I tilted my body as my pleasure heightened.
Oh … mage…
Another thrust, and a zing of pain made my body clench. I sucked in a sharp breath.
“You okay?” he asked, his brow furrowed with concern.
The pain melted away, and I nodded.
“Nai,” Rage growled possessively. “My mate.”
He pressed soft kisses up my neck and, at the same time, caressed the skin at my hips, trailing his fingers over my curves until my body melted, opening to him once again.
‘Nai…’ Rage murmured as he moved again.
My entire world pitched, and Rage released a deep moan of pleasure.
Oh … my … mage…
Our bodies twined, melding into one, and slowly, the dance of our mating began. The air sizzled with magic as heat and passion built between us. I clung to my mate as our bodies moved in tandem.
; Each stroke of pleasure, each nip of desire added to rapturous bliss coursing through me. Digging my fingers into his back, I pulled him tighter to me as instinct drove us to a fervor. In my core, a coil of tension built with exquisite agony.
This … what Rage did … how he made me feel… “Rage…” I panted. “Rage…”
The swirl of magic danced over my skin, but I felt it inside me, too. It pushed through barriers and then…
I could feel Rage. Not just his sweat-slicked body, or his taut muscles, but his emotions … his desire—his hunger—for me.
“Mate…” he growled, his claim searing through me as he thrust us to the edge of ecstasy.
‘Mate…’ I repeated, the only word left. The only word sufficient for all I felt for him … for all he was to me.
My body clenched … tightening as if to cling to this extraordinary pleasure … and then, every muscle seized as a dam of ecstasy exploded within me. My back arched, and my head fell deeper into the pillow as pure bliss—mine and Rage’s—coursed through me, pouring into every corner and fiber of my being. I fisted the sheets as the feeling filled me, sealing me to him and him to me … mates … forever.
The intensity waned, ebbing slowly, and in its wake, it left me blissfully languid and full of joy. I blinked up at Rage to find him staring at me with a wide-eyed look of wonder.
“Uh … is it always like that?” I asked.
I mean, this was my first time, so I had no idea, but if that was what I could expect for the rest of our lives, then sign me up.
He didn’t answer right away. Rather, he swallowed hard and rolled off me.
A million butterflies danced in my chest, and I nibbled at my lip nervously. “Or was that better for me than for you?”
He propped himself up on his elbow and shook his head. “I … I’ve never experienced anything like that.”
Tentatively, I smiled and then poked him in the chest. “Which is good, right?”