His answering growl sent a delicious shiver down my spine. His lips moved from my mouth to my jaw, then lower, tracing the curve of my throat with aching slowness.
"I love you so frygging much," he murmured, his breath hot against my skin.
A shudder wracked through me as his hands slid up my sides, fingers mapping every inch of me like he was memorizing it. Like he was claiming me all over again.
"I love you too," I whispered, tilting my head to give him more, to let him in, to let him take.
I reached up, cupping his face, feeling the sharp edges of him—the warrior, the survivor, the man who had waited lifetimes for me.
"Don’t stop," I whispered.
"Never," Xyrek exhaled sharply like he’d been holding that breath for centuries. Then he was kissing me again, but this time it was slower, deeper—less desperate, more reverent, like he was afraid to break me. His hands moved with aching patience, sliding beneath my shirt, skimming bare skin, making me tremble.
I arched into him, needing more, needing everything, pressing closer until I felt the pounding of his heart against mine.
"Frygg," he breathed against my mouth, his forehead resting against mine, his hands flexing against my waist. "You feel… just like I remember."
I swallowed, my own heart stuttering at the rawness in his voice.
"Then don’t forget me again," I whispered.
XYREK
"I love you,"Alice said as I slowly moved in and out of her, making her mine all over again. It was as if she had felt my mind drifting and was calling me back to her side. I could never get enough of her telling me these three words.
"I love you too," I whispered in her ear, sliding in and out of her perfect pussy. So warm and wet. Her little moans were music to my ears. Her hands grabbed my shoulders, her legs scissoring around my hips as she brought hers up to meet me, to allow me in even deeper.
We took our time. Let our orgasms build slowly, just reveling in being fused together like this. She was mine, and I was hers.
Part of me wondered why I remembered that life from twenty thousand ago but nothing from any other before or after, right then my balls began to pulse, killing any thoughts that weren’t about her—Alice, Allisaahn, my mate.
The gift from the gods to me.
"Alice, I'm so close," I warned.
"I'm ready," she panted, stiffening underneath me. Her pupils dilated, and a loud, long moan escaped her as her facial features relaxed and took on a blissful expression. She bit down on her lower lip. She was such an incredible sight. I held on, forced my climax to wait so I could commit this beloved face to memory in the throes of her passion.
She cried out my name, and that ripped the last bits of control I had over my body from me.
"Alice!" I screamed the moment the coil inside me snapped.
Pleasure exploded through me, ripped through my body with a violent, uncontrollable force. My spine locked, muscles seizing and flexing simultaneously as my cock pulsed deep inside her; every throb sent a new wave of electric bliss through my veins.
The world blurred. My vision went white at the edges, and for a second, I was lost. A deep, guttural growl tore from my throat as I spilled inside her. My hips jerked involuntarily, caught in the unstoppable rhythm of release.
The pleasure was too much, too good, too consuming.
Every touch, every breath, every whisper of her skin against mine sent another aftershock rolling through me. My arms trembled, and my legs barely held me up as my body fought to recover from the onslaught of sensation. I buried my face against her neck, breathing hard, my entire being wrecked by her.
My love for her was so deep and overpowering, it should have frightened me to my core. But it didn’t. Because with her, nothing felt like a loss of control—it felt likeclarity. Like everything in my existence had been noise until she entered. She didn’t weaken me. She focused me. Made the silence tolerable. Made the fight worth fighting. Most of all, it didn’t frighten me because loving her didn’t unravel me. It reminded me of who I had been, who I was.
After a while, I pulled her against me; her face rested on my chest, and my arm slung possessively around her. Eventually, her breathing evened out, and I knew she had fallen asleep. As much as I wanted to simply follow her down, memories I hadn’t fully worked through yet—and maybe never would—fought to be acknowledged. Specifically, the last thing I remembered before dying. Finding Allisaahn in her workshop. She was already gone, like all the others in town. I didn't know how I’d managed to stay conscious, on my feet, crawling to find her for so long. But I had.
The pain of seeing her lying there, dead, was the worst agony I had ever experienced. I gladly surrendered to the darkness once I was next to her and held her in my arms. I wouldn’t have survived a single day without her. An hour was too much to bear. My only consolation was that we were leaving together.
As I remembered my dream, Zaarek's words rang in my head,they betrayed us. He and Noevah had left for Ax one more time to either try to come to peace terms with the Ohrurs or to rally a war party. For either, it was too late.
Darkness washed over me.
