Page 50 of War Of Fire and Fortune
"Luana,"I breathed down our bond. I’d known she was alive, I would’ve felt it if something had happened to her, but knowing that didn’t stop the anxiety—the doubt that always crept in.
I pulled back just enough to look at her, my hands trembling as they framed her dirt-smudged face. Her eyes, watery pools reflecting my own turmoil, locked onto mine. Worry and fear danced within their depths, but she was here—she was real. A thorough sweep of my gaze assessed her for injuries, and after finding none, I crushed her to me again, the beat of her heart against my chest the only anchor keeping me from spiraling into madness.
"I-I thought," she stammered, the rest of her fears trapped by a choke of emotions. I gently pulled back just enough to see her face.
"I know, I did too, but I'm right here. We're okay," I signed, my fingers shaking slightly as they moved through the motions. The fear eased the longer she was in my arms. I lifted her, cradlingher close against my chest. My heartbeat that had thundered in my ears slowly began to ebb. I reached down our bond, my soul caressing hers, wrapping it in solace and warmth. And she responded, her gentle touch soothing the raw edges of my mind.
I launched into the sky, gritting my teeth against the pain shooting through my back and held Luana tighter. The wind howled around us, and for a moment I headed toward our tent, but then I changed course. We had both gone to war today, and the river wasn’t far from camp. It didn’t take long before the riverbank came into view, a crescent of silvery sand illuminated by the moonlight. I settled us down, my feet sinking slightly into the soft earth, and released Luana gently. The night air was cool, carrying with it the scent of wet stone and nightoaks.
"I figured you'd want to clean up after the battle," I signed to her. It was then that I noticed her finally looking down at herself. Her leathers were singed and soiled under layers of dried blood and earth. Then her eyes ran down my body and then back up to my face. A moment stretched between us. With deliberate slowness, she began to peel away the leather cuirass that shielded her torso, her fingers deft despite their shaking. Layer by layer, her battle-worn garments fell to the ground, revealing the dark skin I knew as intimately as my own.
My cock thickened, heat spreading through my veins like wildfire. Fuck. Standing there, bathed in shadow and silver light, still covered in the aftermath of battle, she embodied every warrior's ballad, every poet's sonnet, every piece of fucking art—my fierce and beautiful mate.
Mine.
My body reacted with primal urgency. I pulled off my leathers and then my trousers, and as they pooled at my feet, her gaze latched onto my hard length. Her lips parted, and the sight of her so raw and wanting and hungry for me shattered the last vestiges of my restraint.
I closed the distance between us in a heartbeat, cradling her face with hands still tainted by battle. Our lips met in a kiss laden with the weight of unspoken fears and relief. As my arousal pressed firmly against her belly, a low hum vibrated from her throat into my mouth, a sweet sound that I wanted to hear every day for the rest of my life.
Together, we stumbled toward the water's edge, our movements more instinct than thought. The river embraced us, and I broke our kiss so she could tilt her head back and get her head wet. My fingers combed through her hair, washing away the day, and then she did the same to me.
I bathed her and ran my hands over every contour of her body, but each caress was like a discovery, an affirmation. I just needed her. Touching her was constant reassurance that she was here and safe. As my hands trailed down her neck, brushed over the swells of her breasts, and dipped lower, I found her already drenched for me. A hiss escaped me, and I captured her lips again, greedily drinking in her moans as I started stroking her clit.
Luana's hand palmed my length, and then she wrapped her delicate fingers around me and started stroking at the same pace as I worked her closer and closer to the edge. Our breathing became ragged, and fuck, if she kept this up, I was going to blow before ever getting inside her. Then she clung to me, grabbed onto my shoulders, and wrapped her legs around my waist. "Please, Ace, I need you inside me." Her voice was a whisper against my ear.
“You’ll have me, but you’re going to come on my fingers first,”I said down the bond, and it was as if my words dragged her orgasm out of her. She moaned and her pussy clamped down, but I didn’t stop until every ounce of pleasure was drawn out of her.
I hoisted Luana effortlessly, cradling her against my chest, her body loose and pliant as I strode to shore. I laid her down on the sand, going with her, legs still wrapped around my waist. Her body beneath me was a canvas of moon-kissed curves and shadows. It stirred another wave of hunger within me. I leaned down, my lips finding the tender peak of her breast. She arched beneath me, a moan escaping her. My teeth grazed her flesh, each nip eliciting gasps that fed the fire in my veins. I moved from one breast to the other, enjoying all the little noises she made for me.
"Luana," I signed, "if at any point you want me to stop—" But she cut through my concern with a lift of her hips, and suddenly I was poised at her entrance, the head of my length breaching her pussy.
"Fuck, Luana." My hands shook as I signed, the words rough and jagged as I thrust into her. The world narrowed to the gasp that escaped her lips and the tight heat of her enveloping me whole.
“Stop talking.” She moaned as she adjusted to the length of me. I buried my head into the crook of her shoulder, inhaling the scent of her. My movements were slow at first, but our languid kisses didn’t last long as we soon became feral. Our bodies quickened and found a rhythm that had us both making noises that sounded like animals.
She met each of my thrusts with fervor, her fingers digging into my back, marking me as hers as much as I claimed her. I was sure my fingerprints would be bruised into her hips, but that only made me more ravenous.
Our kisses were deep, each one a promise, a plea, giving and taking that melded souls. I pressed my lips to hers, my tongue swirling with hers, tasting the salt of tears and the bittersweet tang of fear mingled with relief. There was no holding back thetide of emotions crashing within me, threatening to spill over and down our bond. I felt the same coming from her.
“I love you,”I whispered down the bond, my words thickened with the weight of what we'd survived, what we could have lost.
"I love you, too, Ace," she breathed against my lips. We were a tangle of limbs, a blur of need and desire, refusing to part even for the barest second. Her nails scored my back, and I felt her walls clench, drawing me deeper, closer to the edge where control slipped like sand through my fingers.
Our lips remained sealed, a shared breath between us, both of us unwilling to break the connection that was more intimate than the joining of our bodies. Her whispers cascaded down the bond, shattering the last of my restraint.
With a surge that tore a groan from my throat, we plunged into the abyss together. I felt her release as well as my own. Waves of ecstasy crashed over us, drowning us in bliss too potent to withstand. We clung to each other, adrift in the aftermath until our breathing evened out, and then I finally pulled out and looked down at the mess I’d made of her. Watching as my cum started to slip out of her, I took my fingers and ran it through my release and shoved it back into her pussy where it belonged. Claiming her and filling her again already had my cock hardening.
Fuck.
And then Luana was up and flipping me over. I was careful as I let my wings sprawl out from underneath me. But then she was on top and slowly sinking down onto my cock, except this time she was in control and I was ruined.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Emelyn
Ihovered at Kade's bedside. Three days had ticked by, and each second just made the pit in my stomach grow wider. He was motionless save for the shallow rise and fall of his chest—his breaths were the only proof he was still alive. I’d checked him over and over again but couldn’t find anything wrong. It seemed like me giving him some of my strength wasn’t doing anything because he was still asleep, or maybe it was helping and I just couldn’t tell.
Fuck, I was so in my head about everything. Kade was a Celestial Fae. Powerful, yes, but not some vessel brimming with latent energy like the Peacebringer sleeping in my chest. We fae had our limits, and when we reached them, we could burn out.I shifted uneasily, my hand brushing against the cool sheets as I contemplated the battle.
