Page 74 of Godsbane
Cal’s back arches off the tent floor, his eyes closed. His moan is louder this time, but still not loud enough.
“Look at me,” I purr, my words vibrating against his length, “on my knees for a god.”
I lick my lips, my mouth hovering over the tip until his gaze is right where it belongs:on me. One hand moves to grip the base of his shaft while the other curls into a fist beside me, magically tightening the restraints on his wrists.
I open my throat to take him deep, licking and sucking and twisting until the sound of his moans fills the tent. Cal’s hands are in my hair the next moment, pulling my head up to meethis lips, the vines lying in a heap of ashes on the floor. We’re a frenzy of tongues and teeth, exploring and teasing, playful and demanding.
I lower myself down onto him, my wet heat gliding sinfully until I’m seated fully. Cal’s hands move to my breasts, each palm working in tandem to mimic the circles I’m now making with my hips. His fingers twist and pluck my nipples, causing gooseflesh to rise on my skin. A shudder of pleasure and magic ripples through me simultaneously.
“That’s it. Show me what you can do, goddess.”
I call out to the power that I know best and watch as a verdant vine wraps around the ivy tattooed on Cal’s muscular thigh, the summoned plant a perfect match to the inky image. The free end snakes up his body in a serpentine climb as I ride him harder. His growl echoes through me as the green tendril finds its final destination: his throat. I squeeze it tightly and watch as his stormy gray eyes shutter.
“Fuck, Ivy.”
“What was that?” I tease. “Say that last word again.Louder.”
Cal’s large hands find my hips, one thumb making circles on my clit as my blood surges again under his touch in a wave of renewed heat.
“Ivy.”
“Louder,” I breathe, my voice barely detectable over the thundering storm now raging outside.
I don’t know if the downpour is my doing or Cal’s, but I can’t stop it. Everywhere our bodies touch is as charged as the air around us. I’m seconds away from bursting into flames and setting us both on fire.
Lightning illuminates the tent, cracking across the night sky as pleasure, blinding and absolute, slams into the magic within me. I feel Cal tighten inside me and I’m only vaguely aware of the sound of my name on his lips and the sound of his on my own.One moment I’m looking into Cal’s stormy eyes and the next I’m looking down from above us at the near-celestial body of a woman glowing with power.
I blink and I’m back inside my body, my breath coming in heaving gasps. Cal sits up quickly wrapping his arms around me and pulling me tight against his chest. My scream fills the tent as sharp, hot pain sears through me.
“Breathe, princess.”
His voice is commanding again and my body instinctively obeys. My magic, well and fully spent, finally retreats within me as the pain subsides.
“What was that?”
My throat is raw and strained as I lock eyes with Cal, afraid to look down at my own body. Pride fills his silver eyes as his hand moves to rest between the flare of my ribcage.
“Fate,” he mutters, taking my hand and placing it atop his own. “Let me show you.”
I nod still breathless and scared as he moves to get the compact from my belongings. The familiar scent of leather and sea salt air hits me as Cal places the mirror in my hand. His breath is hot on the column of my neck and his lips gently brush against my skin.
“Look” he whispers.
I lower my eyes, hesitant to see what I know now permanently decorates my skin. There, in the same place the red indention sat yesterday, is the image of the sea beast in obsidian ink. The tattoo pulses in time with my heartbeat, as if the serpent is a living, breathing thing slithering against the tender skin of my belly.
My fingers skim the dark brand. The image of the Goddess of Protection’s cursed form is forever a part of me, much like the man who bears the replica across his broad chest.
“Is this what happened to you?” I ask him.
“I wish it had been this fun,” he teases, placing light kisses along the column of my neck.
I shift the compact to take in his tattoo. The waves surrounding the beast glimmer for a moment in the dimming light, confirmation that his feels like mine. A living token of Arcasia’s protection.
“We are inevitable, Ivy,” Cal whispers reverently as he pulls me tight against him.
Happiness laces his every word, complete satisfaction as he holds the one thing he wants. But it's a heavy weight that settles over me as the euphoric haze of pleasure recedes.
I fear that giving into magic, lust, and a desire to be anyone other than who I am has led him to believe that he now has something I cannot ever hope to give. Something I’m not even capable of giving myself.
