Page 55 of The Queen

His grimace of pain was enough to tell me how badly it hurt, even when I was being careful. The flesh near the scar was hot to the touch, and the bruises were spreading under his translucent skin.

“You’re getting worse. Rapidly. Would you deny it?” I asked in a whispered hiss.

“No.” Grey paused, considering my face. “You’re so beautiful. I wish we had more time.”

I didn’t know what he meant. If he fulfilled his promise, we would have the rest of our lives. “You need to seal the bond, Grey. Mark me and be mine, just as I have always been yours.”

“She’s right. We can’t wait any longer.” Lex’s sleep thickened voice carried over my shoulder. Shadow nodded from the gloom on the other side of Lex.

Ghost nibbled on the inside of my thigh. “You heard her. Better do it before you’re too weak to do it on your own.”

“It’s too soon. There’s still time… There has to be.” Grey barely got the words out before groaning and slumping back onto the pillows.

“You promised if it worsened, you would complete the bond. You promised me, Grey. You’ve never broken your word to me.” Even knowing everyone was awake, my voice was quiet and pleading. Meant for him alone.

Something about what I said must have pulled him from his fevered haze, because he leaned forward and cupped my cheek in his warm hand. “And I never will.”

My pulse thudded hard, and my belly tightened. His words were a dark promise of every fantasy I’d ever had. This man I’d loved since I met him was finally ready to tie himself to me irreversibly. He guided me back until he hovered over my prone form. His rough lips pressed to mine. They parted, letting his sweet kiss slip past my barriers. His tongue teased at darker things yet to come, and I arched against him, knowing that time was not on our side.

When he pulled away, he studied me for a breath.

Everything balanced on this moment. He said he’d keep his promise, but he hadn’t done it yet.

I wanted him so badly. My nature pounded through my blood in anticipation of his teeth sinking into my skin. I tipped my chin up, exposing my neck. It was more than a sign of submission; it was an invitation.

My scent rose, and slick gathered in my core. The alphas stirred in the nest, scenting my need and wanting to ease my growing ache, but holding themselves back. For Grey.

A whimper worked itself up my throat as he moved over me. His knees parted my thighs wider, and Ghost moved to my side, giving the beta more room. I hooked my legs around Grey’s hips, coaxing him down over me. His fever was a living flame. Everywhere he touched, my naked flesh was scalded. And when his thickness settled against my drenched folds, I ignited. Every inch of my body was engulfed in his heat.

I teetered on the edge of climax as soon as his lips came to rest on the curve of my shoulder. The anticipation of that one single act lifted goosebumps across my skin. I stretched my neck, groaning as his hips rolled and his length slid over my clit. Back and forth he teased me, dragging my pleasure higher.

“Please, please, please,” I whined, begging for his mark and for his cock in equal measure.

My body arched, searching for the right angle. When his thick tip caught my entrance, I gasped in relief and he eased forward, coaxing me open around his swollen shaft. At the same time, I felt the bruising sting of his mouth flexing against my throat. His blunt teeth shouldn’t have broken skin so easily, but something about the brutality of a mate mark had them sinking deep. Satisfyingly deep.

Blood seeped from the wound, running in hot rivulets across my flesh as my body tightened around the solid length of his cock while it pumped into me.

“Yes…” I hissed.

Slick gushed, and an orgasm combusted, rolling over me in waves as the bond bloomed in my chest. I screamed and writhed, feeling the mate mark take hold, sealing us together forever.

The depth of his feelings crashed over me, overwhelming my senses with a rush of love and emotion. His length swelled and flexed with the force of his climax filling me with hot seed. The sensation poured over him, but drowned us both in pleasure as it raced through my body like thick, sticky, molten euphoria. Alongside that all-encompassing heat, I was wrapped in adoration more intense than I’d ever experienced.

He slowed, panting, face buried in the crook of my neck. His fever broke and his breath fanned across my sweat slicked skin. His cock twitched inside me as I clung to him, not wanting him to pull away.

The infection still rampaged through him. I could feel it with its greedy claws dug in. But as his tongue lapped over the newly forged crescent wound on my neck, its grip eased and lightened like smoke from an extinguished flame, curling and roiling, with one last fight to hold on, until it finally let go of us both and drifted away on a breath. I released a sigh as I felt the shift and it was gone.

The poison’s effects still lingered, though. I could feel that, too. The sharp acrid scent of it needled my insides. It wasn’t relenting, but he would no longer shoulder the burden alone, because now I carried the burden too. We fought it together. We were joined, tethered, never to be parted. The white hot fire of the Stars branded and bound us for eternity.

A tension that was coiled behind my ribs unfurled, and I found myself able to breathe. There was still a hollow ache behind my ribs, and as I looked at my other mates, I knew I wouldn’t be free of it until they joined me in our bond.

Grey let out an exhausted chuckle and sagged over me. Sweat coated our bodies, and he slid off to the side, where Ghost made room. The rest of my men watched with hunger and maybe jealousy in their eyes. No one could tell me they didn’t wish it had been them. Stars willing, it would be, and soon. Because now I knew something I hadn’t before.

The bond wasn’t just a mark. It was an emotional and physical link. I could feel Grey through it as if he were an extension of my own body, as if he were part of me.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Saphyra

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