Chapter 13 You’re Mine
INDIE
He lined himself up, the tip of him nudging my dripping entrance. Then, with one brutal thrust, he buried himself to the hilt.
The stretch burned in an overwhelming way. My mouth opened on a silent scream, my back bowing off the bed. He didn't give me time to adjust. He pulled out almost all the way and slammed back in, setting a punishing rhythm that had the headboard thudding against the stone wall.
"Fuck—you're tight," he snarled, his hips snapping forward. "So fucking perfect. Look at you taking my cock like you were made for it."
Each thrust drove the air from my lungs. The wet slap of skin on skin echoed through the room, mingling with my frantic moans and his low growls. He fucked me like he was claiming me, every stroke rewriting the years I'd denied him.
My nails dug into his shoulders, the bond snapping tighter between us. Tears streamed down my temples again, but I didn't want him to stop. I never wanted him to stop.
"Harder," I begged, my voice wrecked. "Please—harder—"
He obliged.
One hand wrapped around my throat again, squeezing just enough to make my vision sparkle. The other gripped my hip, angling me so he hit that spot deep inside me over and over again.
"You're mine," he rasped, pounding deeper. "Say it."
"I'm yours," I sobbed. "Yours—only yours—"
The words tipped me over the edge.
The second orgasm hit me like a fucking tidal wave, harder than the first. It bulldozed through me until my whole body seized. My walls clamped down around him, milking him and fluttering wildly. I screamed his name, the sound raw and broken.
Zade let out a guttural groan, his rhythm faltering for the first time. He thrust twice, burying himself as deep as he could go.
Then he came with a shuddering curse, flooding me with heat, marking me from the inside out. And in that moment, flames burst out of my skin.
I gasped in shock, terror sizzling through the haze of pleasure. Golden fire licked along my arms, my chest, and my thighs, coiling like living serpents. I braced for the agony of my own power turning against us both.
But it didn't hurt.
The flames danced harmlessly over my flesh, warm but not scorching. They crept up his arms and across his broad back without a single blister.
Zade froze above me, buried to the hilt, his violet eyes wide with something I'd never seen on his face before.
Awe. Pure, stunned awe.
His breath hitched, his chest heaving. The flames reflected in his pupils, turning the endless night of his gaze into flickering gold.
Slowly, he lifted one hand from my hip, watching as the fire danced between his fingers like it recognized him.
"You're..." His voice was laced with disbelief. "You're the Flamekeeper."
My eyes widened.
"You... you know what that means?" I whispered, my voice trembling. The flames still wrapped us, gentle now, almost protective. "How do you—?"
But before I could finish, a masculine scream tore through the night. At the exact same moment, the heavy door to the room slammed open with a thunderous crack.
Three warrior women stood in the doorway, their eyes blazing with rage as they took in the scene before them.
Embarrassment instantly washed over me, making me shrink further into my mate's body.
"Intruder!" the tallest one snarled, stepping forward. "You dare defile the Flamekeeper?"
Zade didn't move. But the flames around us grew brighter, as if they were responding to his will.
He turned his head slowly towards them, his violet eyes impossibly empty. I knew that look. He had switched to his predator mode.
"Touch her," he said softly, "and experience real pain."
They hesitated, uncertainty flashing across their faces.
Zade pulled out slowly, the wet slide of him leaving me empty and aching. A fresh gush of his release followed, warm and thick, trailing down my inner thighs. I hissed at the loss, my body still trembling from the aftershocks.
The warrior women stiffened at the sight of the unmistakable evidence of what had just happened between us.
Zade shifted, shielding me with his body as he rose to his knees on the bed. He looked like a dark god wreathed in holy fire.
One of the warriors took a step forward. "Step away from the Flamekeeper. Now."
Zade's lips curled into something that wasn't quite a smile. "I don't take orders from anyone but her."
Before the tension could explode into violence, I reached for him through the newly blazing mate bond, the connection that had roared to life the moment he'd claimed me inside out.
'Zade. Don't fight them.'
His head jerked slightly, as if my voice had physically touched him. He glanced down at me, his violet eyes narrowing in surprise.
'What?' His mental voice came back rough, laced with disbelief and a trace of irritation. 'They're threatening you. I can end this in seconds.'
I pushed the thought back desperately. 'Please. Trust me. These people... they have very strong magic. The wards dragged me back when I tried to run. If you fight them, they'll keep dragging me back. I don't want you to get hurt. I can't lose you now.'
For a long second, he stared at me. Then he exhaled through his nose, letting out a sound of frustration.
'You're overestimating them, Bunny.'
I didn't argue. Instead, I pushed up onto my knees, ignoring the mess between my legs, and leaned in. My hands found his face, my thumbs brushing the sharp line of his jaw.
The warrior women gasped audibly as I closed the distance and pressed my mouth to his.
It wasn't a gentle kiss. It was hungry and fierce. Zade stiffened for a moment, then his hands came up, one tangling in my hair, the other gripping my waist, pulling me flush against him.
When I finally broke away, breathless, I pressed my lips to the shell of his ear.
"Come back soon," I whispered, my voice low enough that only he could hear. "Please."
His eyes glimmered wickedly, and something dangerously close to a smile ghosted across his mouth.
Then he simply... vanished.
One moment his heat was wrapped around me, the next the space between my arms was empty. The golden flames that had surrounded us went out instantly.
The three warriors stared at the empty space where Zade had been, their mouths hanging open in bewilderment.
I let out a shaky breath and reached for the crumpled white robe at the foot of the bed. My fingers trembled as I yanked it on, tying the orange sash with clumsy haste. The fabric clung to my damp skin, and I could still feel the slow trickle of him between my thighs.
I looked up at the warriors, offering the sheepiest, most disarming smile I could manage.
"Sorry about... all of that," I said weakly. "He's, uh... gone now."
The tallest one blinked, retracting her claws. "He... vanished. Through the wards."
"Yeah," I said, my cheeks burning. "He's good at that."
They exchanged glances etched with confusion, frustration, and something that might have been reluctant respect.
The middle one sheathed her blade. "The elders will want to know about this."
I nodded, trying to appear sober while inwardly thanking every god I could name that Zade had listened.
An elderly woman appeared in the doorway, her presence commanding despite her thin frame. She wore robes of deep crimson edged in gold, the only one I'd seen so far without orange or white. Silver hair was braided intricately down her back, and her silver eyes swept the room with authority.
The three warriors immediately dropped to one knee, their heads bowed.
"Chief Elder Mara," they greeted.
The elder nodded once, then stepped inside. Her gaze lingered on the rumpled sheets, the lingering scent of sex and smoke in the air, and finally on me.
"It appears," she said slowly, her face blank, "that we underestimated the desperation of men."
I swallowed hard. "What do you mean?"
She tilted her head, studying me like a puzzle she had already half-solved.
"Earlier tonight, one of them died trying to breach the outer wards. A lone wolf, it seemed. He screamed as the flames consumed him—your flames, Flamekeeper. The wards are keyed to your awakening now. They protect you... and punish those who would take you by force."
My stomach lurched. A man had died. Because of me.
I stared at her, horror rising in my throat. "I didn't—I didn't know—"
"You could not have," Mara said, almost gently. "The Flamekeeper's power awakens in stages. Tonight was merely the first flare. Tomorrow... tomorrow the true test begins."
She turned to the warriors. "Take her to the purifying spring. Prepare her."
The three women rose as one.
I jerked back instinctively. "Wait—what's happening? What quest?"
Chief Elder Mara met my gaze.
"Men from all over the world will come for you, Flamekeeper. They will sense the call of your flame and the promise of the true bond."
She paused, letting the words sink in.
"Only one will be worthy enough to claim you. The others... will fall. The quest begins at first light. The worthy one will prove himself through trials of blood, will, and fire."
My mouth went dry. "And if I refuse?"