Page 78 of Hell Gate

I hold on to the fact I’m in his arms as he carries me. Then I’m passed off with a curt command, Valerian’s bitter smoke scent twining around me.

“I’ve got you.” His accented words are tight and cracking. He presses his lips to my temple. “My flower, my flower, my flower.”

Each frayed whisper feels like he’s pleading with me. Whatever he wants, I’ll give it to him. He has me always and forever.

Everything aches with an acute, stinging throb. It’s difficult to draw a full breath as if my lungs have seared away from the inside out.

“Fuck, that trickster demon’s curse trapped her hellfire inside. It could’ve burned her internal organs without any outlet.” Alder peels back my eyelids when Valerian sets me down.

It’s soft, yet cold. Leaves? The treetops blur overhead. Still in the woods, then. Better than burning alive in the arcade, except I get no relief from the humidity compressing me in the open air.

“—re…safe?” My feeble voice cracks. “‘m s’rry.”

“Shh, petal.” Matthias wedges in beside Alder, his expression fraught with worry. He tries to give me a smile and it crumbles. “You’ll be okay. I promise.”

I swallow thickly, hating the tremor in his voice. It’s my fault it’s there. If I hadn’t been an idiot, if I hadn’t fallen for the illusion that invaded my mind, he wouldn’t be upset. Another fiery wave of pain passes through me and I grit my teeth to smother a scream.

“We don’t have time,” Valerian snaps.

Alder nods gravely and drags Matthias away. He fights, struggling to stay by my side.

“I want to stay with her, too,” Alder barks. “But we have to keep her safe by guarding them while he saves her life.”

Matthias wrestles away and lifts my hand to his face. A shuddering breath punches out of him. My tears spill over, stinging down my heated cheeks.

“Don’t let our mate die, Vale,” Matthias orders in a solemn, fractured tone.

“Never,” Valerian snarls.

The only thing that soothes the misery of Alder dragging a reluctant Matthias away is Valerian’s fierce kiss. I drown myself in it, focusing on him instead of everything else. Every glide of his lips and tongue against mine sends a spark along the invisible tether connecting us.

If this is the moment I die, then at least I’ll go with the memory of his kiss on my lips.

He growls. “You’re not fucking dying, Lily. I won’t let you.” He holds my jaw and deepens the kiss. “Keep surviving for me. For us.”

I nod, clinging to him. I want that. I want to be with them always.

Valerian strips out of his clothes in record time and pulls me onto his lap. His fingers twist in my brittle hair and his jaw clenches.

The next kiss sweeps me away. Despite the blistering pain, I move against him, grinding against his hard length. My need comes on strong with a life of its own like the bond in my chest. A feral sound reverberates in his chest and my bond hums in response to my mate. I need him.

Let me in. Valerian’s voice is warm and demanding in my head.Give yourself to me, mate. I will make it all better.

A piercing noise tears from me.Yes. Please.

That’s it, little flower. He hears my unspoken plea.

Valerian growls, shredding what’s left of my singed clothes with his claws to bear me for him. I grit my teeth. With a swift, brutal thrust, he enters me. My back bows and a cry lodges in my throat.

“Fuck,” he rumbles. “Hold on. I know it hurts, but I swear to you it won’t for much longer.”

He sets a quick pace that steals my strained breath. The rough way he takes me reminds me I’m alive. The will to keep living for him, for Matthias and Alder, formeburns through me with flames that don’t hurt.

Within moments, my heart beats stronger. He’s right. The agony begins to subside.

The pleasure overtakes my pain, the heat between us erasing the discomfort, replacing it with a passionate hunger fueled by a wildfire. Our bond rewrites the hurts within me, the injuries covering my body, healing me with each kiss, each caress, each thrust that joins our bodies. The inferno moves from his body to mine and swirls around us, the flickering sparks creating rings of fire at the edges of my awareness.

As the building sensations crest, his tattooed fingers grasp my jaw. “You are mine. You hear me, Lily Sloane?Mine, and no one else will ever dare take you from me again. That includes you. Don’t you dare retreat. You’ll burn bright and vibrant, as the descendent of the fae goddess Lilith should. Promise me.”

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