“Then do it,” she begged, dragging him up her body, her legs wrapping around him again. “I need you, Cade. Now.”
He growled—something wild and possessive and not entirely human—then guided his cock to her entrance, pressing just the head inside her soaked pussy.
“Look at me,” he demanded.
She did—and then he thrust into her in one slow, devastating stroke.
Her mouth fell open in a soundless cry as he filled her, thick and hard and perfect. Her body stretched around him, claimed him, welcomed him like she’d been made for this.
“Fuck, Lyra,” he gritted, buried to the hilt. “You feel like fucking heaven.”
She couldn't speak—her body too full, too overwhelmed. He stayed there for a breathless moment, their foreheads pressed together, the magic between them pulsing like a shared heartbeat.
“Say it again,” he murmured, voice trembling with restraint. “Tell me you want this.”
“I want you,” she whispered, her fingers dragging down his back. “I want you deeper.”
His control shattered.
He moved inside her with a rhythm that was both desperate and worshipful. Each thrust sent pleasure spiraling through her, and her magic surged in response, coiling around him, merging. Cade growled her name, grinding deeper, angling his hips to hit that spot inside her that made her sob.
They didn’t stay in one position long.
Cade flipped her onto her hands and knees, dragging her hips back to meet him as he plunged into her from behind, his cock slamming into her with a force that made the rune flare and the air tremble. His hand wrapped around her throat, not tight, but grounding—his breath hot against her shoulder as he whispered, “You’re mine. Every inch. Every moan. Say it.”
“I’m yours,” she gasped, wrecked and radiant and utterly undone. “Always.”
His thrusts faltered for a moment, like the words hit something raw in him. Then he pulled out, flipped her onto her back again, and drove back into her with a groan that sounded like relief.
“I’m not going to last,” he warned, panting, “Not when you’re squeezing me like this. Fuck, baby, you’re milking my cock.”
“Then come,” she said, pulling him down to kiss her—deep and filthy and tender all at once. “Come with me.”
And she did—seconds later, her climax crashing through her in a blinding burst of gold and white. Her pussy clenchedaround him, pulling him deeper, and with a broken curse, Cade followed, thrusting once, twice more before burying himself deep and groaning her name into the space between her collarbone and throat.
He collapsed against her, both of them panting, their bodies still humming with aftershocks. Magic crackled in the air around them, soft and satisfied now, and the rune beneath the rug gave off a content glow.
Afterward, they clung to each other in the darkness of the cellar, both breathing hard and trying to process what had just happened. Lyra's magic was still humming contentedly, wrapped around Cade's wolf energy like they'd been designed to fit together. The branding on her palm was glowing steadily, no longer painful but somehow complete.
"Holy sage," Lyra breathed, her forehead pressed against Cade's shoulder. "What did we just do?"
Cade was quiet for a long moment, his arms tightening around her as if he could hold onto this moment forever. Then, gradually, she felt him starting to withdraw—not physically, but emotionally. The warmth in his expression faded, replaced by something that looked disturbingly like panic.
"Cade?" she said, suddenly uncertain. "Are you okay?"
"I—" He stopped, running a hand through his hair in the gesture she'd learned meant he was struggling with something. "This shouldn't have happened."
The words hit Lyra like cold water. "What do you mean?"
"I mean I just claimed you against a cellar wall because some ancient spirits told us we were supposed to be together," Cade said, his voice flat with self-recrimination. "I lost control. Completely."
"We both lost control," Lyra said, trying to keep the hurt out of her voice. "That's not the same thing as?—"
"Isn't it?" Cade was already reaching for his discarded clothes, not meeting her eyes. "You felt the bond forming. You know what that means."
"I know it felt right," Lyra said quietly. "I know I've never felt anything like it."
"That's the problem." Cade's voice was getting more distant with every word. "You can't trust what you felt down here. The founder magic, the spirits, the rune—it's all designed to push bloodlines together. What happened between us might not have been real."
