“Are you tired?” The tension in my belly becomes unbearably tight and heavy at his low voice, and my thighs squeeze together as a rush of heat spreads between my legs.

  “No.”

  “What do you want, Nyx?” Giving me the choice… always giving me the choice. I swallow hard as I shift, pressing myself against him, and a quiet groan rumbles in my ear. He kisses the lobe and pulls it between his lips, sucking gently before his tongue traces up to the very tip and back down.

  I realize I’m panting, and so is he.

  My eyes close as I clench my thighs again. More of that delicious heat pulses low in my body as I rock backwards, and the explosion of sensation makes me gasp. Reyes’s hand lands on my waist, his thick fingers digging into my flesh. They tiptoe downward, cupping my hipbone as he presses kisses along my neck and jawline.

  “Do you want me to touch you?” he asks, deep and careful in my ear, but I don’t hesitate as I jerk my head in a nod. “Take my hand. Show me what feels good for you.” I press my palm against the back of his hand and guide him lower. The thump of my heart pounds all the way into my ears as he drags his fingertips along my stomach. They trace a lazy, unhurried path, taking his time while I’m convinced I’m going to implode from the tension.

  His fingers brush my cock underneath the shirt, and I groan at the lightning bolts of sensation. “Is this okay?” He inches the fabric higher, and even the drag of the material over my sensitive skin is enough to coax another sound from my throat.

  “Please?” I beg as I roll back into him. I don’t know how to handle this fire that consumes me, and the rock of my hips only makes it flare.

  “You’re doing so good.” His breath is warm against my skin as he kisses my neck and cups my bare cock. A jolt charges through my system at the skin to skin contact, and a shudder works up my spine. I press my hand against his to get more friction, and he chuckles softly as he wraps his fingers around me. They swallow me whole, and he hums a curious sound at the slickness.

  When his hand moves, I ignite.

  Each slow stroke sends shocks of pleasure racing across my limbs. They spread throughout my body, and turn me weak, and greedy. They make me want more. The dull throbbing inside me builds to a heavy pulse as wet heat surges between my thighs. Hot breath blows over my ear as he drags his hand along my cock. My hips stutter forward to chase the sensation.

  “That’s it,” he murmurs, and my mouth falls open on a whine as I do it again. Something presses against my lower back as I settle against him. I’m dizzy when I realize it’s his cock, and that he’s hard. His hips rock like mine, and I can tell he’s enjoying this just as much as I am.

  He wants me.

  I twist my head in search of his eyes in the darkness, and his hand freezes. “Still okay?” he asks, and I nod as I scramble to claim his lips. He kisses me slowly and sensually, taking his time when all I want to do is run. His tongue dips into my mouth, sliding against mine with the same pace he uses to stroke me.

  “More,” I plead against our kiss, and I tug on his hand to guide it lower. He separates our mouths as he watches my face, and when I drag his fingers across my slit, my eyes close with the rush of ecstasy.

  “You want me here?” He teases me with a single finger, and I nod as he slips it deeper. “You’re wet,” he murmurs with a shiver of his own. “Does that mean you want more?”

  “I want,” I whisper, but it turns into a moan when he slides his finger inside me. A piece of him is inside me, claiming me in a way no one else ever has. My body tightens at the thought, and my muscles clench with another of those electric shocks. He groans at the squeeze, slowly sinking deeper.

  “Gods, you’re so wet,” he murmurs as he pulls back out. He brushes a spot at the entrance to my slit that makes me arch my spine with a gasp, and I quiver as he grazes it again.

  “S-sensitive,” I manage to say. He pauses, and I impatiently rock my hips.

  “Good sensitive or bad?”

  “Good!” I cry, louder than I mean to, and he chuckles as he rubs over that spot. Untamed, whimpering noises leave my throat out of my control. My mind is the most delicious kind of fuzzy as he adds another finger and dips them both inside me. Slick leaks onto his hand, so thick it rolls in drips down my skin.

  Reyes is moving now too, a gentle rock of his hips as he thoroughly explores my body. The hard line of his cock digs into my lower back as his fingers claim my most sensitive parts. They thrust into me, pushing deeper until his palm sits flush, then pull out. He intentionally drags them over that spot that makes me shake.

  Sweat forms a mist on my skin, and my hair sticks to my forehead and cheek as I take my pleasure from his fingers. My hips move freely now, and he follows my pace. My pace, my choice, always my choice.

  “Gods, you feel so good,” he murmurs as my head falls back against his shoulder. “So, so good.” He kisses my exposed neck as he slips his fingers free. They trace a wet trail to my cock, and everything is slippery as he grips me. It’s so hot, so slick and tight. Too much… it’s too much, but not enough.

  “I want to try something,” he says with a kiss on my nape. “Can we shift positions?” I nod, but clutch his wrist and hold it in place as my hips jerk forward again. Another of those deep, husky chuckles leaves him. “I have to let go of you for just a second.”

  I whine as he pulls his hand away, but he doesn’t move. He cups the side of my face and guides my mouth to his. His damp fingers smell of my arousal as he traces my jawline, but that only fuels the magnetism between us.

  “I want you,” I whisper against his lips. “Want you… want you… always.”

  “You’ve got me, sirrha. I’m yours.”

  We kiss until my body rebels and searches for more of this sweet relief. Reyes pulls away with another soft peck to my nose, and he looks at me as if I hung the stars in the sky. Like I am cherished… precious.

  Loved.

  He drags himself away and sits against the headboard. “Come here,” he instructs as he repositions my body. He touches me with so much care it brings tears to my eyes as he pulls my back against his chest. A kiss presses against the top of my shoulder as he lifts my knees until my feet are on the mattress, then spreads my legs wide. Both his hands tease their way to my front, tickling and tracing, getting close and withdrawing. Arousal pools underneath me, hot and damp, and I beg him in a sob to touch me.

  “Touch you like this?” He nips my ear as he fists my cock again. “Or like this?” His other hand moves lower, slipping two fingers inside me.

  The back of my head digs into his chest as static forms in front of my eyes. My body pulses as he builds me higher and higher. Nothing in my life has ever felt this good or erased the pain, but this… this makes it feel like I’d never been broken.

  All that matters, all that exists, is Reyes. My mate. My love.

  His hand moves faster until I’m clenching, fighting to hold on to the sensation, and he groans. “I wouldn’t last two minutes inside you,” he breathes as his hips drive off the bed, and I imagine for a moment it’s not his fingers there but his cock, thick and heavy, stretching me further.

  Another rush of slick gushes onto his hand, and he moans, or maybe it’s me. My body takes over, writhing between the fullness of his fingers and the slippery glide over my cock. I’m so tight, and everything winds until my limbs tremble and stars explode behind my eyelids. For one brief, endless moment, I’m soaring.

  Weightless.

  And then I fall.

  Pleasure like I’ve never known rampages through my body. I recognize it’s my voice as I call out, but my mind is lost in bliss. My cock pulses in his grip, and my inner walls constrict around his fingers. Even my ass clenches, and I wonder in that delirious haze if he might touch me there, too.

  I’m frantic, moving on nothing more than instinct as I spin and slam my mouth into his. My knees fall on either side of his lap, and I gasp against his lips at the friction. There’s only the thin fabric of his shorts between us as I roll my hips in time with the waves that jettison through my body.

  “Perfect mate,” he whispers, and I move faster as he moans my name, and then again. He chants it, and his hands land on my waist. His fingers dig in, thumbs squeezing inside the hollows of my hipbones. Pulses continue to blast through me in surges, and I shudder from the friction as he holds me there and thrusts off the bed.

  “Look at me,” he breathes. “Stay with me… tell me you’re mine.” Nothing else in the world exists beyond the two of us. My fingers sink into his hair, and our foreheads meet, eyes so close I can only focus on one of the beautiful depths at a time. We’re panting, sharing the same breath, and in that moment, I realize the Fates didn’t get it so wrong, after all.

  “Yours,” I promise.

  My name leaves him again, this time as a prayer, and his mouth falls open. Fingers dig into my skin, clutching and scratching as he stiffens beneath me. The tendons in his neck pull taut as he releases a noise that’s so rough it’s almost a growl. New dampness mixes with mine, and his entire body quivers underneath me as his hips jerk up.

  He’s helpless.

  I think I like him this way very much.

  My hands move down the front of his torso, raking through his chest hair as I stare. Eyes squeezed closed, mouth hanging open, and brows pinched in ecstasy as a series of quiet whines leaves his throat.

  The most beautiful undoing.

  Reyes opens his eyes and stares at me through heavy, hooded lids. The explosions have weakened to thumps of dull pleasure, and I’m filled with a drowsy peace as my thumb drags over his bottom lip. Skin flushed bronzy pink and a sheen of sweat on his forehead, he looks as ruined as I feel.

  His dry mouth clicks as he swallows, and his voice is rough. “Was that… are you…”

  “You won’t break me,” I tell him like I’ve told him time and time again. My forehead falls back against his, our eyes never leaving each other’s as my hands trace over the lines of his face. “That was… perfect.”

  He smooths the stray hair from my face, wild strands that have fallen loose from my braid. Those hands continue to drift over my hair and skin, until he cups both of my cheeks and draws me in for a soft, languid kiss. I shift on his lap, realizing we’re both covered in fluid. The fabric of his shorts is drenched along with my shirt, and the sheets are soaked.

  A flush burns on my face, and Reyes pulls back and questions me with his eyes. “I think I got us both very dirty,” I mutter, and he laughs, pulling me into a tight hug. His chest bounces beneath me, and I grin.

  “Yeah, you did, and it was incredible.” He settles us onto the mattress, keeping me wrapped in his arms as he nibbles my earlobe. I exhale heavily, laying my head on the cushion of his chest and grinning when his hairs tickle my cheek.

  “Do you want clean clothes?” he asks as my eyes grow heavy, and I snuggle in deeper.

  “Should,” I manage to say, and he grunts in agreement.

  “Gonna regret it when I wake up with dried jizz all over me in the morning.” His voice is getting thicker, and his breathing heavier. A quiet, sleepy sound leaves my throat as I nuzzle in.

  “What is this jizz?” I murmur, my words muffled by his chest.

  He chuckles as he smacks around the bed. Once he finds the blanket, he drags it over my shoulders. “The fluids. The reason we’re wet.” I snort a breathy laugh as I give in and close my eyes. “Oh, well… sounds like a tomorrow problem,” he mumbles, and I nod, because I couldn’t agree more.

  Reyes

  Honeysuckle.

  The corners of my mouth turn up as I open my eyes. Nyx is sprawled out beside me, sleeping with his face on my chest. Our fingers clasp, touching like we’re drawn together. Magnets, even in our sleep.

  It’s peaceful… until I shift my hips and am faced with stiff shorts.

  Sacrifices.

  My jaw opens wide with a yawn, and Nyx stirs. I realize I’m damn near hanging off the edge of the mattress, while his arms and legs are stretched wide, taking up space in a way his small frame shouldn’t allow. For someone who isn’t used to sleeping in a large bed, he sure is comfortable occupying the whole thing. My grin deepens, and he blinks his eyes open. He’s adorably confused for a moment.

  “Good morning,” I rasp, my voice gravelly from sleep. Those stunning sage eyes move up to mine, and his lips lift in a sleepy smile.

  “Morning,” he whispers back, nuzzling against my chest. He stretches, and the blanket slides down to expose more of his skin. Half of his ass cheek peeks out from beneath his shirt, and I want nothing more than to grab it. Bite it, shake it… do anything at all with it.

  I contain myself, though barely.

  “What do you want to do today?” I ask. He sits up, and I try not to pout as the shirt falls over his cute little butt, but it’s a loss that deserves at least a moment’s mourning.

  “We need a bath,” he says, wrinkling his nose as he glances down at the front of my shorts. “I made a mess of you.”

  I snort before I can catch myself. “To be fair, I made a mess of myself, too. I liked it,” I promise him, feathering my fingers along his forearm. Tiny goosebumps lift on his skin, and he shivers as I do it again. “You, um… you’re different from me. Your anatomy.” He scrunches his features into his confused face, and I huff another laugh. “Body parts.”

  “Oh,” he breathes, chewing on the side of his lip as his eyes dart away, but I grip his chin and force them back to mine. They fret, broadcasting his stress like always, but I peck a soft kiss onto his nose and some of that worry fades.

  “It’s not a bad thing, just an observation. It just made me curious, because you have a cock like me, but also… more.”

  A flush burns on his cheeks as his gaze drops to my crotch for a split second. “Human males do not bear children, yes?”

  “Correct,” I say with a slow nod. “Those born with male anatomy can’t. Humans born as female do, and their parts are more like… yours. Where I was touching you last night.”

  “The Drüinae—my people—do not assign children a gender. We are of one body. No differences. They choose their… ah, what is the word? Who you are here?” He taps his hand over his heart.

  “Identity,” I say, and he wrinkles his nose. He makes that face when he doesn’t like how a word sounds, and I chuckle as he waves it off.

  “They choose when they are ready, or they don’t. Some are comfortable, like me, and never feel the need to change. Others are more fluid.”

  “You’re all built the same?” He nods thoughtfully, staring off into the corner of the room absentmindedly, like he does when he’s pulling memories from deep in his mind. “So, um, you could bear children?”

  He hesitates, his eyes finally drifting to mine with an uncertainty I haven’t seen in them for a while. “Before? Yes. After what they did to me?” He lifts one shoulder in a shrug, and another fissure forms in my heart as I wrap an arm around him and tuck him into my neck.

  “Is that something you want?”

  His fingers trace over my pecs, creating swirls in my chest hair before smoothing them out. “In this world? No… things are too hard. Too dangerous. My mind is too broken. Children are innocent. They do not ask for our scars.”

  “In another life?” My voice is thick as I’m reminded yet again of everything that’s been taken from him.

  He’s quiet for a long moment. “We are not in another life, katsurrel. We are in this one. It does no good to pretend otherwise.”

  “I’m sorry you’ve lost so much,” I whisper, and I can’t stop the catch in my throat. Nyx takes a deep inhale, and I don’t interrupt his silence. His hand absentmindedly moves down to my stomach, raking through the hair under my navel, but it isn’t sexual. After a lifetime of being touch starved, he’s gorging himself on it, and I’ll happily let him use me to soothe himself.

  “When Ronan and Cameron found me, they kept telling me it would be okay. That it would get better. But I never believed them. I was… angry. Confused. I didn’t understand why I was alive. Didn’t want to be, some days.” I hug him tighter, and he hugs me back, pressing a kiss to my shoulder right as I press one to the top of his head. “The first time I saw you, I knew you were important. My body was weak, and my mind had been broken. Twisted and changed until it was barely mine anymore. But my heart knew you. It recognized you, even then. It made me want to try.”

  “I’m so thankful you tried,” I whisper into his hair. “So thankful you were brave enough to fight.”

  “I want to keep being brave,” he says, and I pull back as his gaze climbs to mine. “The places they took me, the rifts… I want to go. Want to see if I can help.”

  “We have time—” I start to argue, but the pleading in his eyes brings my words to a halt.

  “I need this.”

  My chest fills with a heavy inhale, shaking as I push it out. “Why?” A thousand thoughts rush through my mind. How disappointed he will be if he fails. How much it might take out of him. And then, there’s the flip side of the coin…

  What if he succeeds?

  What if the path opens up, and he has a chance to go home, where he belongs?

  “I belong with you,” he says quietly, and I realize I’ve said the last part out loud. He flips my hand and traces the glowing mark. “You are the only home I have ever had. You are my safety. The only place I am whole.”

  My arms bind around him and pull him into my lap, and he settles against me. His face tucks into my neck as I say, “We know nothing about the rifts or how they work. We haven’t learned anything new since they took you.”

  “No, but I’m stronger now. I have you.”

  “You can still be hurt.”

  “I will always hurt,” he whispers, pressing his lips against my neck as I close my eyes, enjoying the soft weight of his body against mine. “When I am with you, I’m strong enough to fight it. You make me forget the pain.” We hold each other for a long, quiet stretch, and his stray hairs tickle my nose. His braid is wild from sleep, so I slip the band from the tip of it and unwind the long locks. They’re wavy and fluffy as I run my hands through them, and without a word, Nyx turns his back to me. I sit up taller, combing my fingers through the strands and scratching over his scalp. He hums his pleasure as I grab the brush from the side table.