Page 48 of Hers to Keep

“That’s my good boy.”

He blushed to his silver hair.The reaction was so adorable, it made her want to lavish him with praise constantly.She withdrew from his mouth so she could settle her hands on his shoulders and slid onto his cock with a long, slow glide that had her gasping by the end.The way he filled her was just perfect, and her magic soared.

Mari flexed her body and started to ride him in a hard rhythm.He arched up into her, offering himself for her use in a way that made her savagely possessive of him.She shifted one hand to his throat, squeezing until her nails dug in.“Fuck me with that glorious cock.”

His hips began to churn under her with a feral desperation that made her clench around him.She leaned to capture the sexy sounds that poured from his lips and let him drive up into her with his entire length.

His powerful body surged under her, building her magic with every stroke.She lowered her head to draw the pointed tip of one ear between her lips, smiling to herself when his hips stuttered.She used her teeth on the sensitive arch of his ear, timing the press of her bite to match with his thrusts.The added pain made him snarl with lust.His raging desire rushed into her, hot and urgent.

“That’s so fucking good,” she groaned into his ear.The hand that wasn’t around his throat moved to grip a fistful of his hair to help her hold on as the movement got more intense.She straightened a bit to look in his eyes.“Tell me how badly you want to touch me right now.”

He stared up into her eyes as he slowed his pace, his expression completely unguarded for the first time.“I crave the feeling of your soft skin under my hands.”He swallowed.“The only thing I’ve ever wanted more is the taste of you on my tongue.”

“Mmm.”She leaned to take his mouth again, sucking on his lips.“You want to taste me some more?”

His eyes blazed.“So much.”

“Come inside me, darling boy, and show me that you’re mine.Then you can have your fill.”

He let out a sexy growl.“Can I touch you?Please.”

The longing in his voice almost undid her.“Anywhere you want.”

His hands came up to grip her hips in an instant, a low rumble of satisfaction vibrating through him as he smoothed them over her skin.“You feel so good.”He kneaded her ass with his fingers as he lengthened his strokes and picked up his pace again.

Mari wrapped both arms around his head and threaded her fingers in his hair, bringing his face to her tits, where he nipped hungrily as he continued to thrust into her.Arching her spine, she threw back her head, moaning up into the trees as the absolute bliss of his desire soaked into her.

Their mingled magic tore through her as she cried out when an orgasm crashed through her unexpectedly.Ashdei filled her to bursting with every snap of his hips as she continued to come, driving more power into her at the same time.He curled his fingers into the meat of her ass as the intensity of his fucking increased even more, ramming into her with every stroke.

The sounds of her pleasure melded into a constant drone that rose through the trees.A barrier burst open inside her, flooding her with thoughts and emotions she didn’t understand as his magic roared through her.Memories she had no frame of reference for rushed across her awareness, including some of the man under her.Fragments came together in a jumble, only causing more confusion.

Ashdei bit her exposed throat when his climax overtook him, moaning into her skin while driving deep.His cock throbbed inside her as she continued to tighten around him.His magic still poured into her in a torrent with each snap of his hips, as if she was a vessel to be filled by him.Her body and her magic pulsed in answer to him.

Shuddering, Mari collapsed against him, overwhelmed by all that flowed through her.He wrapped her in his arms, holding her to him in the aftermath with a tenderness that stole her breath.There was too much all at once.His gentleness was the blow that opened the floodgates, and she sobbed into his shoulder.

Mari understood with sudden clarity that what she’d felt breaking within her was the divider between the goddess and herself.They’d never been two people—just one being, restrained by unfathomable magic at the moment of creation so that she could never be whole.

“Did I hurt you?”The question came softly from Ashdei once she’d subsided into sniffling.

How could she even answer that?Yes.And overwhelmingly no.He had healed what was broken by completing the circle.Just as he’d sworn to the goddess he would, all those years ago.“I remember the ritual,” she said, after a few moments.

“Oh.”The word was a sigh filled with heartache.His hand ghosted down her back as if it was the last time he might ever touch her.“Should I go?”

“No.”Though she had every right to be furious with him for keeping the truth from her, she couldn’t find it in herself to send him away.She clutched him tighter at even the idea that he would leave.“You shouldn’t have kept that from me.”

The two of them had plotted together from the start, hoping for exactly what had just happened all those years ago.She understood now why it hadn’t worked, with the benefit of hindsight.It had required more power and more ties to her to unshackle her.More than any one creature could offer, no matter how powerful—it had taken five.

“I didn’t think you’d take my word for it, since you couldn’t remember.”His touch was gentle as he continued to stroke her back.“I thought we’d failed.That it would never happen at all.”

“It needed the others.Each of you held a piece of the key we needed to turn the lock.She didn’t understand the extent of what they’d done to us when she reached out to you.She thought any powerful creature would do.”

He made a thoughtful sound.“So, it’s done?You’re whole again?”

She let out a laugh without much mirth in it.“I don’t actually know.She’s definitely not there the way she used to be.And as soon as I can unscramble these memories, I think things will be much clearer.”

Ashdei pressed a kiss into her temple.“Is there anything I can do to help with that?”

So many memories tumbled through her, but one in particular bothered her the most.The goddess talking to her mother, ordering her away on a mission to convince Ashdei to go through with the kindling ritual when he’d already declined the latest offer from her father.She almost didn’t want to ask because she was terrified of hearing the answer.“Is my mother alive?”

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