Chapter Text
I awaited Rhysand’s return eagerly.
He had been away for well over two weeks now - along with Cassian, Azriel, and a third of the vast Illyrian aerial force. This was the longest we had been apart since my time back in the Spring Court. Rhys and his men were tasked with a grueling flight across Prynthian to purge the land of any remaining demons and dark Fae after Hybern’s fall. All of the Courts were helping with ground forces, but the aerial team’s job was to both scout and flush out the enemy.
Rhys convinced me to stay behind with some lovely pleading. More than that though, I stayed because I knew I would only have been a liability. My body (and magic) were still recovering from the battle with Hybern and the Cauldron. Rhys was prepared to let me join him if I stubbornly wished, but I could tell in his heart he desperately wanted me safe in Velaris. I was tired too. So, so tired from the war and fighting that I eagerly complied - much to his relief.
They were due back any day now though, if his last note was to be believed.
I shuffled restlessly on the couch. I had been trying to read in the firelight on the balcony of the House of Wind for an hour, but to no avail. My body had healed completely and my magic was replenished after just a couple days of solid rest. I would have been happy, but with no pain or weakness for me to distract myself with, I was left to suffer under the weight of my growing longing.
It was maddening. I had never been such a slave to my hormones before, and the past couple of days in particular had been overwhelming. Heat radiated through my core at random intervals each hour - pooling between my legs and stealing my concentration. My skin was overly sensitive and my sense of smell had heightened considerably. I had been so exhausted by the war effort for months before, that these sudden changes caught me by complete surprise. The smallest things would remind me of my mate: the flash of a passing raven, the scent of the ocean breeze, the caress of fabric on my naked skin. Each thought sending tendrils of fire lapping into my core.
I tried to distract myself with near constant trips to the Rainbow, but that didn’t help. I was horrified to discover that my arousal might not be effecting only me. Fae males, and sometimes females, would stop in their tracks as I passed by them on the streets. Some emitted guttural growls so feral that I retaliated with a snarl of my own and chased them away. Mor accompanied me once as this happened and laughed herself sick as I sent a pack of lusty males fleeing. I knew no one would honestly be stupid enough to try anything on their High Lady, and especially because I was their High Lord’s mate, but best to be blunt.
Amren had come over this very night to show me some of her newest translations from the Book of Breathings. She sniffed at me once, her face switching into a predatory smile, and snuck behind me with a cool hug.
“Ohh your blood smells simply divine tonight, love.” I shuddered as her nose inhaled deeply into my back.
“I can sense your desire from a mile away. Don’t tell me you’ve been in heat this entire time that he’s been gone?” She patted my cheek sweetly. “Poor little lamb.” She licked her lips before leaving me to sit by the fireplace nearby and work on her notes. Utterly bewildered, and not allowing her words to register, I had plopped down with a glass of wine and a new book to distract myself with.
I reread the same sentence in my book probably eight times before sighing loudly and shifting my legs. I had missed him terribly that first week. I could tell he felt the same, for he sent near constant streams of adoration through the bond. Although his sweet messages would turn darkly wicked at night when I would moan his name and pleasure myself into oblivion.
As if in answer to my growing distress, I sensed my mate’s imminent return with triumphant glee and put down the book I had been trying to read. His glittering, ebony power enveloped me as I walked to the edge of the balcony to meet him. Rhysand swept in gracefully from the sky - a shadow in the moonlight - and touched down near me. His great wings beat a wind across the landing, blowing my hair and silk dress. Cassian and Azriel on his heels, flew in on the other side of me. Cass greeted me with a quick grin before following Azriel into the foyer.
Rhys purred at me playfully, and I fell into his embrace the same moment he leaned in to wrap me close.
I nuzzled into his chest and felt his heart beating rapidly from the effort of flying. Breathing in his scent calmed the stalking wolf in my mind that had been pacing restlessly ever since they had set out.
I felt the same kind of buzzing beast in his mind calm through the link as he inhaled deeply into my neck. But then I felt his breath catch, and he chuffed a deep baritone sound that stilled my bones.
“Never in my life have I smelled such overwhelming temptation.” he whispered. His eyes gazed at me ravenously as I shrugged. “..it’s making my mouth water.”
I replied by kissing him; his hands catching in my hair and stroking my back. “Maybe you’re just hungry.” His deep chuckle soothed my soul and he leaned his forehead against mine. Both of our eyes closing.
His thoughts wrapped around me in a warm embrace, tinged with dark desire, but exhaustion won out as he pulled me along with him into the foyer and collapsed on a long, open-backed couch with a sigh. His wings splayed out like long curtains of night.
Further away in the room, Azriel had gone over to the bar and was already midway through a drink. Cassian had slinked deeply into an armchair by the fireplace near Amren. She put down her notes and started a grumbled conversation with him.
I scooted into Rhys’s lap on the couch, leaning into him as his arms encircled me. His chin rested against my neck, and we both stayed silent as we basked in each other’s scent. Soft images and strokes were sent down the bond. Words weren’t needed. I could feel his powerful muscles throbbing through the sliver of mental shield that he always left open for me. It made me wince at the intensity of it, as the pain was centered mostly around his wings. I noticed that the veins were more pronounced in them. Likely still rushing with blood from the long flight.
“I missed you” We both said at the same time. I felt a silly grin light up on my face and his answering smile took my breath away. He opened his eyes and they glittered like dark pools of Amethyst.
I searched his mind and he let me see glimpses of the various terrain that they drove their aerial army through. Dawn, Day, and Winter court landscapes flashed through my eyes. The beasts they hunted also flashed through. A glimpse of a feral and thrashing Attor being impaled with Illyrian blades in mid-flight. The gore sent a wave of raw emotion through me. Even after everything we had been through, everything I had been through, the vision of that snarling maw could still leave me breathless.
Rhys reacted with a soothing stroke down the bond.
His thoughts calmed my anxiety, but redirected my attention to the throbbing pain in his body. My mate's wings were precious, and his pain bothered me more than my mind rationally told me it should. A spike of protectiveness gave me an idea. I murmured in his ear, "Rhys, do you mind if I try something?"
He was too tired and replied with a barley perceptible grunt. I slid out of his arms and stood up, despite his protest at the loss of my warm weight. He sat straighter though when I maneuvered around the couch to sit directly behind him.
Rhysand's wings were fanned out to capture the breeze, and he shuddered as I pressed my weight directly against them. I was gentle, and oh so careful about where I leaned into, but I relished the feeling of him allowing me to be so close to such a sensitive area. Maybe he was too tired to properly protest. Regardless, I had only ever been able to grace him with short, soft strokes (usually just on the membrane) - which didn't last long before I was usually pounced and pounded.
A soft purr escaped him as he saw the images in my head, his lips quirking up into a feline smile. I blushed despite myself.
I shimmied my body into the natural hollow of his back - between the two wings - gloating inwardly that the space happened to fit my form perfectly. He growled as my warmth seeped into them; the sound making me throb in secret places. I inhaled deeply. Citrus and ocean breezes, mingled with a musky Jasmine that made my head hazy. I let myself indulge in his scent, while gently sliding my arms over his warm back. The clothing he wore was thin and I could feel through the bond that he was hyper aware of my every touch. I glided over sensitive lateral muscles - being mindful not to touch the wings just yet. He arched slightly against my hands, but stilled as I worked my fingers into a soothing massage - kneading the tight muscles like a cat.
A sharp wave of love was released down the bond and, much to my delight, Rhys began leaning back into me.
I had learned this touch from the many times I had to smooth out my father's back after his legs were wrecked. He had already been a sloucher, but the strain on his back from leaning on a cane exacerbated his knotted muscles and could incapacitate him completely on some days. Elaine didn’t have the hand strength and Nesta outright refused to help him. So I had learned at a young age where certain pressure points were located and where to be soft and hard in order to get my ailing father back up and running. Though it wound up being redundant to do that for him in the end.
Sliding my fingers higher up, I increased the pressure as I circled the large joints where Rhysand’s wings connected with his back. The muscles there likely had to work the hardest during flight and were thick from overuse. I was careful and used the mental link to make sure I didn't go over his threshold. But the moment my thumbs started kneading into the rock hard muscle of the wing base, Rhys let out the biggest sigh and melted into me.
“Feyre…” he murmured lovingly.
I laughed as his control slipped and I had to hold his heavy weight up. His breath caught when I stroked a particularly sensitive spot.
"Is this too much?”
"No...it's.." He struggled to be coherent as I finally slid my fingers up his wings, flowing along the curve of bone and flesh, but leaving the membrane alone.
It feels divine... he finished contently in my mind, and I leaned in to kiss the back of his neck.
I continued up past the elbow of his wings, kneading the flesh around the bones the whole way. Massaging the pain away. Waves of pleasure rocked through him (and in turn, me) and he huffed a bit too loudly as I slid a hand over the silky membrane. I smirked with satisfaction.
It also woke up Cassian, who had fallen into a doze on the chair. He glanced disinterestedly in our direction once, then did an immediate double take. His eyes widened as a he saw what I was doing and positively gaped at Rhys, jaw falling open.
"How the HELL are you letting her do that?”
I flinched at his volume, and Cass gave me a flabbergasted expression. “Reflexes from our training, Feyre. An Illyrian commander dared to flick him on the wing a century ago, and he nearly misted him on the spot.”
I shrugged at him, but glanced around, suddenly a tad self conscious. Amren looked up once after Cassian’s exclamation, snorted at me knowingly, and went immediately back to scribbling her research down. Azriel must have departed soon after arriving though, for he was nowhere in sight. His empty drink dripping condensation. Probably off to seek out Mor, I thought, smiling to myself.
Rhysand growled at Cass, but didn't deign him with a verbal reply. My mate’s eyes were closed and his head bowed down. He shuffled the wing I had paused on in a silent request to continue, which I gladly resumed. I ignored Cassian’s outright staring and kneaded harder on the wing base. My brows furrowed in concentration as the knots were so tight and unyielding here. All along his back and shoulder blades and around the thick joints - as if they had never before been touched during their entire 500 year existence.
His wings began to lengthen and stretched out fully to give me more access. Their full span spread out like this was truly a sight to behold. Their sheer size went far beyond the length of the entire couch. I admired the contrast of their dark coloring against my pale skin as I worked him. The claw at the apex of each raised into the air like ebony knives. The shorter claws that were at the base of each bone line were curling inward from my ministrations.
After a bit of work, I began to feel the muscles soften as the knots eased out.
I felt Rhysand’s breathing deepen. Not from sleep, no…his concentration was razor hot and tuned into my every touch. But it began to blur, fading with pulses of pleasure. Vibrations emerged softly from his core…a deep, guttural purring that kept building as I massaged him. He began to flow in and out of my conscious like a warm tide, occasionally sending me waves of desire down the bond so pure an unadulterated that it made my face heat with lust.
I eventually dared to look up at Cassian again. His expression was full of fascination more than anything, and he was gazing at Rhys with an intensity that I rarely saw.
He suddenly moved quick as a cat to sit on the sofa next to us.
“Hey, Feyre….could you, uh…could you do me next?”
Rhys stirred from his trance and gave his friend a deep, baritone warning growl. The sound was so primal and commanding that it made my toes curl with pleasure. Cass leaned away from him in response, but still managed to hold his ground.
“Aw, ‘cmon! Just the back muscles. I won’t let her touch my wings.” He paused though as his nostrils flared in my direction. I didn’t have time to think about the implications of that before Rhys leaned up and snapped at him - his teeth barred. Cassian had the smarts to move out of swiping range, but I didn’t miss the flash of hunger that crossed his face.
I decided I didn’t want to know what Cass had scented on me.
“Why don’t you just ask Nesta...” I said in exasperation, and to try and diffuse the feral aura that Rhys was exuding. “I’m sure she would love to -“
“Fuck that….and fuck her”
I raised my brow. “Have you not already?” Amren huffed a laugh and I felt Rhy’s approval through the bond - his territorial instincts diffusing.
Cassian shuffled uncomfortably and exposed a bit of wing to the firelight. Confused, I followed his gaze on it to where I saw five sharp claw marks on a section of membrane. It looked painful…and…woman-made.
“Your demon sister did that. No way will I ever let her near my wings again.” He shuffled the wing back and kept them clipped tightly in.
“Well, what did you do?” I was on the receiving end of Nesta’s claws enough times growing up, and knowing the tension these two could create in a room, I could take a guess at what might have happened.
“I tried to kiss her, that’s all! Just a simple, innocent kiss.” He glared at the floor.
I snorted. “Was it consensual? Or did you assume she would like it and just made the move..”
“Of course it was consensual!!”
“OK sure. Well, she may or may not be slightly masochistic.” He gaped at me and Rhys full on laughed at that.
“She’s perfect for you Cass.” His eyes were a deep, liquid violet and his hand laid down on my thigh that peaked past his back. “Just the type of female who can handle your shit.”
Cassian grumbled in reply, turning hopeful eyes on Amren. She sent a snarl his way that echoed through the open room and made me laugh. He turned again to Rhys and gave him a pleading look, glancing at my hands that were still busy kneading.
Rhysand, bless him, simply spread one of his wings up, blocking Cass’s view of me completely, and winnowed us. Cassian’s bark of protest was drowned out by the rushing vortex of wind that erupted around us. Rhys turned around and wrapped his arms around me as the shadows of the otherworld raced around for a flash of a second.
Our room materialized and Rhys pinned me on my stomach on the bed, hovering just above the skin of my open back. I felt the reverberations of his purring as he nuzzled into my spine and traced his lips up towards the nape of my neck. He nipped my earlobe and all coherent thoughts fled from my brain in an instant. I refused to admit the small noise that escaped my throat was anything less than a mewl. Prick. I arched into the curve of his body to tease him, and his hands slowly stroked up my sides.
“I’ll have to beg you to do that more often.” he ground out into my hair, and his sliding hands moved down to grip my hips. “I feel wonderfully energized.”
The maddening warmth from earlier went cascading through my stomach and throbbed between my legs again. “I like that you say “beg”… as if I would have the self control to not want to put you into a stupefied trance whenever I want.” He bit my neck in response, and I pressed further into him.
I could feel that white-hot glittering force in his mind, and I twisted in his arms - my back now being pressed into the mattress by his firm weight. His nostrils flared as he scented me again. The hunger in his eyes must have echoed on my face, for his breathing became ragged and he traced his teeth along my exposed throat. I arched my neck back giving him more access.
I loved being submissive with him. Only for him. He knew my power could easily knock him aside if I wished. There was a place for dominance battles in our relationship, and it was great fun to figure out who would be fucking who in our bedroom on any given night. Perhaps a bit secretly though, I always favored being pinned underneath him.
His mouth crashed into mine and I knew he could feel the overwhelming heat that kept pulsing within me. A need that had only grown stronger each day that he had been gone. Broken groans and growls made a duet with the wind that blew hard in the night. I wanted him closer. I forced myself up, and pushed flush against him. I could feel every taught muscle of his body and the hardness of his groin made my blood sing.
He moved his mouth down to bite my neck again, and I leaned up to grab at the long claw at the apex of one of his wings. I pulled that wing down and dragged it over my shoulder; effectively pinning me to him and acting like a hammock should I fall. He used that wing like a second arm to keep me there.
I gasped as Rhys suddenly tore my dress off with his emerged talons. I was wholly naked without it. I had felt undergarments were unnecessarily stifling this past week with my shameless hormones running rampant. My mate drank up the sight of my exposed body arched underneath him, lingering on my full breasts, and licked his lips.
I wanted him now. To just bend me over and fuck me hard into the mattress, but he held off, nuzzling into my neck again. He held me flush as our bodies slowly ground against each other in a rhythmic motion. His free wing angled up over us and hooked onto the headboard. I felt another one of those waves spread through me as heat pooled tightly between my legs. I tried to rub my thighs together for some friction, but Rhys leaned down and spread my legs apart.
He leaned down and gently captured a breast with his teeth. I whined at him and angled my hips up. His tongue set me on fire, but he groaned suddenly and leaned back. He cocked his head and held it hovering above my stomach. Even his mouth was slightly ajar, as if he could taste the air with his tongue.
“Your scent is driving me completely insane.” he breathed out.
I grinned up at him devilishly. Good. He was always so composed. I liked seeing him unhinged like this. And better to make him hungry with need, for my raging instincts were set to explode if he held off for much longer.
“Did you know…” he hummed as he went back to work on my breasts. “The aroma of a High Fae female in heat is so intoxicating…” another nip and lick had me mewling again. “…that it has caused many a bloody war and battle to be fought in the past over them?”
That’s completely barbaric. I spoke through the bond. My mouth didn’t want to work properly while he kept lavishing attention on my chest like that.
“Flying over Velaris tonight, I discovered some very forbidden thoughts roaming through my citizen’s minds”. His coherent words were all that kept me sane as he twirled a tongue around a peaked nipple and bit down. I whined again more impatiently and nudged a knee to rub at his erection, earning a pinning stare with his dark bedroom eyes.
“I’m going to have to bash quite a few heads in tomorrow for daring to think of you like that.” His tone was both humorous and predatory.
“Not my fault..” Another bite to my breast and my head arched back. “All…all of this is new to me. I had more control as a human in this regard.” He hummed in response and licked up to bite at my collar bone.
I was panting from the foreplay and nuzzled into his shoulder. Not begging. I adamantly told myself. Using his wings to hold us up, Rhys interlocked his hands with mine and pinned them above my head by the pillows. I had no leverage to do what I wanted.
So I called up my wicked shadows, sharped them into blades of midnight, and carefully sliced all of his clothes clean off. Then for good measure, I turned the shadows into sapphire flame and dissolved our clothes into ash. Partly in retaliation for my ruined dress, but mostly because I was impatient and wanted to feel the warmth of his bare skin. His answering laugh made my flames dance around our bodies. Harmless to us (and the bed), I had built up enough control of my fire to let it burn only what I wanted/when I wanted. I only allowed a sensual heat to escape from the flames, which tingled and licked up our skin as if in answer to my building desire. He sent his own shadows to play in their light. The ebony smoke gliding in and out and causing rays of light to dance all around us.
I don’t think he realized how utterly intoxicating his scent was to me though and the effects of his ministrations became apparent when he slid a finger down to tease me. I was slick with arousal and he purred into my neck as if in another trance. My desire kept shooting down the bond like a falling star and I left my mental shields down so he could feel it all. Let him suffer the same overwhelming burning that I had felt while he was away.
He was panting slightly now, either from the heat of my flames or from the emotions I was flinging down the bond - I couldn’t tell.
Rhysand seemed to have had enough playing though and raised his hips flush against mine.
Without warning, I felt him near my entrance, giving me just a split second to adjust. With his wing pinning me to keep from moving, he slammed in to the hilt inside me. My fire flared out all around as I groaned deeply from the friction of his considerable length. His answering groan was fuel for my magic as it erupted and changed again - this time shifting from fire into glittering, silver starlight.
He started a merciless pounding rhythm that left me breathless. Short gasps were all I had the time to release. He bit into my neck again, a feral side of him that was escaping more with time. His teeth were a welcome mix of pain, as the pleasure he was wringing from me made my bones and my heart feel like they were shattering again and again. I gasped his name as he angled his body and slammed into that certain place inside me that brought such unadulterated pleasure. My labored breathes mixed with his and I felt his answering arousal stroking the bond. I was already on edge, and the intensity of his behavior gave way to a swift and dizzyingly sweet climax. I arched up into him, crying out as my release barreled through me in overwhelming pulses. He kissed me deeply to capture the sound, as he always has since that night in the inn.
Not once did he stop kissing me as he worked me through the waves of pleasure. Grinding into me and fusing our bodies together. Our scents merged once more, and I wondered if the toll had somehow hit him harder from being separated from me on his long journey.
I panted heavily into his shoulder once the high abated. The bundle of nerves at my groin was sensitive now after my release, and I wriggled against him - trying to get out of his reach for a brief respite. But he would have none of that. Rhysand’s apex claw on my shoulder dug in as he kept pounding into me. His own panting was like music to my ears. My sensitivity soon turned back into slow licks of desire, and I hooked my legs higher up his back, using his wings as leverage. The action let him angle in deeper than before, and my head fell back as he once again found that secret spot.
“Harder” I chanted at him; asked of him.
He growled into me and licked up the column of my throat, nibbling the soft flesh and marking me as his. He set me down on the mattress and braced his arms on either side of me, still leaving the one wing attached to my shoulder. I found out why when he used that wing to jerk me towards him at the same time his hips snapped forward. The other wing that was attached to the headboard was being used for the same purpose. Propelling our bodies in ways that I knew would leave me bruised as all hell in the morning. He picked up his own tempo and I had no breath in me to release as I met his thrusts time and again. Our bodies melding into rhythmic waves that had me on the brink once more. Whatever horny beast had been lurking in me the past week…it was certainly being satiated now.
But still I craved more.
I wanted to see how much of his own dark beast I could wring out.
My endless arousal was shaping my magic into liquid starlight - coating my body in a silvery aura. I could feel his magic teasing me in response, so I let that starlight wrap around his body too. Caressing him in warm, glittering waves. He snarled at me and his hands became black talons as they now gripped at the headboard. I kissed up his neck in reply and he groaned deeply as I captured his mouth with my own. I couldn’t hold it for long though, not when he kept such a ruthless pace. I broke the kiss to gasp for air.
His violet eyes shimmered at me and I noticed that his pupils had turned into slits. The color of his whole body darkened to pitch as I let my magic glide up and down him. Shadow and Light. That’s what we were, and the sight never failed to make my heart swell. Glittering black scales started to erupt from his skin like goosebumps. His breathing was a rough pant, borderline animalistic. If I was in a rational state of mind, perhaps I would have been slightly concerned about my position. Instead, the changes thrilled me to no end. I never got to see him like this. Fangs gleamed from the corners of his lips and I held his piercing stare as his thrusts turned feral. His glamour was completely gone and a black wind raced around us - whipping my magic into a vortex of stars and light and shadow and dust.
“I know exactly what you’re doing and you better be careful.” Rhys murmured into my ear. He lingered there to nibble and I leaned away at the ticklish sensation. He smiled and rested his forehead in the crook of my shoulder briefly. His panted breaths blowing over my skin had me clawing at his back. Always more, more, more. I would never get enough of him.
“Why?” I finally replied; breathless
I lost track of how long we had been going at it. We were both slick with sweat, but neither of us was about to stop anytime soon. The rhythm of our movements was the sweetest symphony. Our bodies melted into frenzied state that consumed us. His ravenous thrusts sent shivers of goosebumps from my toes up to the crown of my head.
“Because…” He grunted at the last syllable as he thrust particularly hard; as if to drive the point home. “I really might bring down a mountain if I let go completely.”
I chuckled despite myself, and he just stared at me with that predatory half smile gracing his lips. His features, while still familiar, had changed enough to the point where he looked completely exotic. I could sense a beast behind that face - staring right at me with those glazed, violet eyes. It fascinated me to no end.
He slid a hand down to play with my throbbing clit and I carded my fingers through his hair. The waves of pleasure his fingers brought joined my already roaring fire and had me begging him to never stop. I gasped and tears pricked my eyes as another climax thundered through me. This time, he bent over to bite down hard on my shoulder - his fangs piercing my skin enough to draw blood. I groaned feverishly as he lingered there to suck, but his thumb was still down below and kept brushing over my sensitive nerves. My whimpering turned into heated cries as he tore another unexpected climax through me. My body shivered uncontrollably and Rhys leaned back, licking his lips with a satisfied male grin.
He had kept that one wing curled around me in a lover’s embrace throughout. Once my mind floated back down and my breathing returned, I leaned up out of that embrace to get closer to his face. His labored breaths mixed with mine. I slid my hand gently over his face, memorizing the details. Tracing over everything: his lips, his brow, his jaw. He closed his eyes to let me trace over their contours too. His thrusting slowed, but only so he could roll his hips more languidly - each repetition going deeper and my heart was near to bursting.
I could feel his release slowly building then. How in the world he had held on this long escaped me. I relished in the feeling of his glittering desire spreading without end and lifted my hands up to stroke along the thick muscles of his wings once more. Their sensitivity must have been amplified by both his desire and the heat from our bodies. My mate’s teeth barred and I thought I caught a glimpse of some dark shape appearing above his head like a crown. It looked like horns, but I couldn’t be sure. Not when my mind was in such a high.
Rhysand slowed his thrusts again, finally releasing both of his wings from their clamped positions and flared them out behind him. The sight of his dark magic leaking across them made me hungry all over again. He turned me over roughly so now my chest and face were pressed into the mattress. His large frame bent over me and I mewled like a kitten at the new angles he hit. The pleasure was so wonderfully intense. I arched my backside up into him on impulse. He growled with satisfaction at the sight.
“Like that do you?” His words were laced with a heady, Illyrian accent that I rarely heard. He kissed up and down my spine as my light erupted around him. I felt a deep shudder rumbling through him then and he pounded into me harder. Until at last, with a mighty roar, his release came crashing through him. I felt the intensity through the bond and arched ever higher - completely submitting to him. He shivered into me through the throes of his climax, thrusting again and again and again. I let him hold me there as the last waves of his release melted through us both like slow molasses. His breathing turned to ragged gasps as he finally collapsed on top of me.
I sent him loving and contented strokes down the bond as both our bodies came down from the high. The need to breathe eventually won out though, and I maneuvered from under his dead weight to lay beside him.
I smiled at my mate’s peaceful expression. His eyes were closed and his features had returned to normal. I was still ever curious about what his beastly form actually was. He promised that he would show me one day. Far, far from civilization though, which only left me with endless questions.
I gazed at him sleepily and brushed a hand over his shoulder to feel the feverish muscles there. I felt a bit guilty when the skin that greeted me was hard and tight.
“Cauldron boil me…your back is knotted again.”
Rhys wrapped a wing to cocoon us both in warmth. “Mmm…that just means you can rub them out again in the morning.”
“I’ll rub something in the morning.” His eyes opened at the mischief in my tone and I winked at him. His answering smile was so adoringly dazzling as he chuckled deeply and wrapped his arms around me - tucking me into him. He kissed my lips, my nose, my cheeks, everywhere that he could.
“Sleep, darling.”
I closed my eyes, calm and content and safe in his arms. I felt him lay his head down against my own and our hands intertwined as sleep finally came to claim us both in a sensual embrace.