Page 3 of A Fate of Blood and Magic
When she did, I slammed into her harder and faster while I rubbed a finger over her clit with quick, practiced strokes.
“Yes,” she hissed out.
My thrusts became more erratic, and when I felt my orgasm build, I teased Teddy with my finger. The scent of her mounting orgasm filled my nostrils, and I had to hold my breath so I wouldn’t explode before she had the chance to orgasm again.
“Come for me,mo elma.” My voice held a hint of desperation and pain.
Mo elma.That was what she was—my soul.
Her eyes met mine, and whatever she saw broke her wide open. She shattered around me, the hue of her peach magic calling to the silver threads of mine. They twined together.Only once her body stopped quivering did I let go, spilling into her with a guttural moan.
My arms trembled. I collapsed onto my side, bringing her with me. My heart hammered hard, and when I rested my palm over her chest, I took in the way her heart slammed just as fervently as mine.
Her fingertips caressed the length of my arm, and when I pulled her closer to me, she moved without hesitation. She smelled of her lavender soap but also of me. Of us.
She kissed my chin, her arm snaking around my back. “I take it you missed me?”
I huffed out a laugh. “So much,” I admitted. “Every day apart from you was torture. And the days I spent with you, knowing I’d have to leave again . . . they were worse.”
She nestled closer to me, her head dipping below my chin. “Having you here and knowing you don’t have to leave again makes this cabin finally feel like home.”
My heart both ached and swelled. I knew she’d felt lonely in my realm and missed me as much as I missed her. I felt it in the way our magic yearned for the other’s. Despite that, she’d already made this place our home. It was my refuge, and I hoped it’d be the same for her and the younglings.
“I love you.” I kissed the top of her head. “You are threaded through every piece of my soul. I am yours,mo elma.”
She sighed, a contented sound as she whispered, “I love you too. I just don’t have the pretty words to say it the way you do.”
I chuckled.
The annoying bastard on the other side of our front door knocked again.
I grumbled, hugging Teddy tighter.
Teddy sat upright, tension stiffening her frame. “What ifit’s about the kids?” she asked. “What if something happened to them?”
The warmth I’d found in that moment gave way to cold dread.
When the endless winter first started in her realm, Teddy had taken in and cared for four younglings. Now, they were unofficially ours, making our cottage and family feel complete.
I bolted out of bed, pulling on my clothes while I rushed out of our room and to the front door with Teddy close behind. I waited for her to finish dressing before I opened the door.
“Your Majesty,” Hayden, one of the royal warriors said, “I apologize for the intrusion.”
A hint of red spread over his neck to his face, and I caught the edge of discomfort in his scent. I wasn’t sure if he was unsettled by what he’d interrupted or the weight of the news he carried.
“What is it?” I asked, my words streamed together. “Are the younglings okay? My mother?”
Hayden shook his head. “They’re fine. I believe the younglings are at the bakery with Brenton, and I haven’t heard word of anything happening to them.”
Beside me, Teddy loosened a breath.
“It’s the fae,” he said. “Several of them showed up at the castle.” He roughed a hand through his hair, clearly shaken. “They claim their loved ones, the warriors Hudson had sent to the human realm, still haven’t returned. They’re demanding answers.”
“What are you talking about?” My question came out sharper than I intended. “I went to each region. I brought them back myself. You were on someof those missions.”
“I know.” He bowed. “But we still have hundreds of warriors unaccounted for.”
“I’ll start the shower for us,” Teddy whispered, a blush blooming across her cheeks.
