Page 17 of The Unseelie War
His shirt joined hers on the grass, and she marveled at the intricate golden tattoos that covered his chest and arms. “What do these mean?”
“Binding spells I placed upon my self long ago,” he explained, his voice strained as she continued her exploration. “Ones I created to help me maintain this form. To…keep the beast at bay. But with you touching them…” He groaned as she trailed her fingers down his abdomen. “There is little magic can do.”
Reaching for the fastenings of her remaining clothing, she helped him disrobe her until she was laying before him, completely naked.
He was kneeling between her knees, in just his britches. Looking down at her with an expression that was a mix of awe, lust, and yet…he was unsure.
“I want you as you truly are.”
“Forgive me. But Ido not, Ava…” He cringed.
“Well…” She smiled, and reaching out, she hooked her fingers into the waistband of his pants. “I will be patient for the moment the beast snaps his leash. Until then…come here, Serrik.”
For a moment, he went perfectly still, his golden eyes searching her face for any sign of disappointment or regret. Finding none, he released a shuddering breath that might have been relief or surrender.
“As you wish, my Weaver.”
She drew him down to her, their bodies fitting together like puzzle pieces. Every kiss, every caress, seemed to send ripples through the fabric of reality around them. The grass beneath them began to bloom with flowers that had never existed, their petals glimmering as if made of starlight.
“The whole world is responding to us,” Serrik observed with wonder, his voice rough with desire as he kissed her throat.
“Let it,” Ava gasped, arching beneath him. Nothing else mattered in this moment. Not the merged worlds, not the chaos they'd created, not the responsibilities waiting for them. There was only this—the passion between them, the reality of their connection, the way he made her feel alive in ways she'd never imagined.
When he moved to remove the rest of his clothing, she helped him, their movements urgent but tender once again, the beast restrained for now. When he kissed at her throat, she tilted her head away, baring it to him.
The sting of his fangs never came—but the press of his body into hers did. The perfect ache. The strange inhumanness of it. The way it strained her was exhilarating as he filled her, stretched her, fitted her body to his. She hadn’t been allowed toseeit.Touchit. Really evenfeelit.
“Serrik—”She moaned his name, wrapping her legs around his waist as he sank himself to the hilt, the ridges of him making her see stars of pleasure as he began the dance.
“I dreamt of this,” he confessed as they finally came together, skin against skin, heartbeat against heartbeat. “From the moment I met you, how I dreamt of you…prayed you might be the one. I can feel everything,” he whispered in wonder. “Every nerve, every heartbeat, every breath. It is overwhelming and perfect and I never want it to end.”
Ava understood. The intensity of their connection was unlike anything she'd ever experienced. It wasn't just physical—it was emotional, spiritual, reality-altering in the most literal sense. She could feel his eighteen centuries of loneliness, his desperate gratitude for this moment, and his love for her.
Love.
He’d said it. It was still just so hard to believe.
Love.Helovedher.
She was not used to fucking as ademigod-something-or-other.
And she could feel her own walls crumbling, her own heart opening to possibilities she'd been too scared to consider. He loved her. And she…did she love him?
Or was it more of a question of when she would finally admit it to herself?
And to him?
Their pace increased gradually, driven by need and wonder and the sheer joy of being alive together. The world around them continued to respond—stars wheeling overhead in impossible configurations, the ground beneath them warm and yielding like silk, the very air singing with their shared pleasure.
When release finally claimed them, it was with an intensity that she swore could have shaken the foundations of reality itself. Afterward, they lay entwined in the aftermath of their passion, and felt her heart return to normal.
“That was…” Serrik began, then shook his head. “I do not have the words.”
“Real,” Ava finished for him, pressing a kiss to his chest. “That was real.”
“The most real thing I suppose I have experienced in centuries.” His arms tightened around her. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
