Theron walked up to me, his gait strikingly graceful for such a large creature. “You’re mine.” He traced my cheek with his claws, each dagger-sharp tip so gentle on my skin. “That’s all that matters now.”
Mine. The simple declaration sent heat pooling low in my belly. “The ceremony. What happens now?”
“Now, we entwine our threads. So we’ll be together always.”
It was everything I'd ever dreamed of, and I still couldn’t believe he wanted such a thing with me. “Theron… Why?”
Theron’s powerful hands framed my face. They weren’t a man’s hands, more beast-like than human. Yet he held me with far more tenderness than anyone in Korinos had ever shown me. “From the moment I found you bleeding in that clearing, I knew you belonged with me. Not because you’re death-touched. Because you’re you.”
I stared at him in disbelief. It had been insane enough to hear Iaso appreciate me because of my sterility, but to be wanted for myself? It seemed impossible.
“You fought back when they tried to break you,” he continued, undeterred. “You killed the bastard who exposed your secret. And when it would have been so easy for you to die, you cameback to me. You embraced death, but you also embraced life. That’s what I saw. That’s what I wanted.”
“But my curse—”
“Brought you to me,” he cut me off. “The thing they called your shame became the reason we could find each other. If you’d been fertile, you’d have gone to the Marriage Temples. I never would have met you.”
The simple truth of it stunned me. He was right. Everything that had made me feel broken had led me here, to him.
He moved back, giving me space but never breaking eye contact. “Let me see you.”
The command should have made me hesitate. Instead, I reached for the simple ties at my shoulders. The cream fabric pooled at my feet, leaving me bare before him.
He drew in a sharp breath. Flame stirred under his dark fur, as if he was a living brazier. “Look at you.”
I moved to cover myself, old instincts kicking in. He caught my wrists in a soft but decisive hold. “Don’t hide from me. I’ve been waiting my whole life to see you exactly like this.”
Tears spilled down my cheeks before I could stop them. No one had ever looked at me like that. Like I was something precious instead of damaged.
He knelt before me, folding himself down until his muzzle was level with my belly. I nearly shattered on the spot. Just days before, the mere idea of love had been something I’d never even dared to consider. Now, this towering creature was placing himself at my feet, lowering his head, worshipping me.
“This body.” He pressed his muzzle against my stomach, his breath furnace-hot against my skin. “Is perfect exactly the way it is.” His hands landed on my hips, steadying me. “Every inch of you belongs to me now.”
“Theron.” I buried my fingers in his thick fur, shaking. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Yes, you do.” His voice dropped to a rumbling purr. “You knew the moment you picked me in the bride market. I can smell how much you want this. How much you want me. Let me show you what you mean to me.”
He guided me backward carefully. My calves hit the edge of the sunken area where the thickest pelts lay. When he lowered me down, I couldn’t look away from his face. Whatever control he’d been maintaining was slipping, and the raw hunger in his expression made my heart stutter. This was what he’d been holding back. This was the predator who’d claimed me. The sight should have filled me with dread. Instead, it made me feel loved.
“You’re so small compared to me,” he murmured. “So brave. You could have run when you saw what I was. Instead, you stayed.”
“I wanted to stay.”
His growl shook my bones. Hellfire erupted around us, charring the edges of the furs, but leaving me unharmed.
When his snout found my breast, I cried out. His tongue was longer, rougher than a man’s, and the scrape of it sent lightning straight between my legs. He took his time, first with one peak, then the other, his fangs grazing without breaking skin.
“I dreamed about this,” he said, his voice muffled against my flesh. “About how you’d taste, how you’d feel in my arms.”
With every word he spoke, he continued to explore my body, traveling over my ribs. His whiskers tickled my oversensitive skin, but amusement couldn’t have been further from my mind. When he finally reached my belly, he paused, almost seeming unsure how to continue.
If this was anyone else, perhaps I’d have felt self-conscious. But this was Theron. With him, I had nothing to fear.
When he moved again, he did so even more slowly, every motion almost dreamlike in nature. He nuzzled and licked the swell of my abdomen, taking his time with every inch of skin. I let out a choked moan, and he jolted, as if he’d just taken a heavy blow.
He finally lifted his head, and his golden gaze held mine, fierce and tender alike. “Callista. I need you.”
When he settled between my spread legs, I nodded, unable to find words. I didn’t know how this magnificent beast had managed to get so close to me, so quickly, but I wanted exactly what he did. All of him. All of us.
