Chapter 143 Dante
The moment she sat down beside me, I knew something was wrong. Not because she faltered. Not because she made a sound.
Seraphine never made a scene when she was struggling.
It was the fire.
Her black flames, the ones that usually moved like silk in a slow, controlled current around her horns and shoulders, were flickering. Not wildly. Not dangerously.
Weakly.
The red gown her dragon had woven from living flame still clung to her body like molten lace, but the edges were dimming. The Between itself, this breathing, ancient realm, hummed unevenly beneath our feet.
She looked breathtaking.
And exhausted.
I turned slightly toward her throne, keeping my voice low so it wouldn’t carry beyond the semicircle of kings.
“Sera.”
Her head tilted just a fraction.
“I’m fine,” she said, but the words were softer than they should have been.
Her chest rose too fast. Her shoulders dipped with every inhale. And for a terrifying second, I saw the faintest tremor in the air behind her — like heat distortion about to crack.
My dragon surged forward inside my ribs.
She is draining.
The words hit me like a fist to the gut.
“What do you mean draining?” I demanded silently.
The Between is feeding from her power. Too many bodies. Too much magic. She is sustaining all of it.
I didn’t think. I dropped from my throne and knelt in front of her, one hand hovering near her knee.
The music continued. The candidates laughed nervously in the distance. No one else had noticed.
Yet.
“Sera,” I murmured, gripping her hand gently. “Look at me.”
Her eyes lifted.
Still red at the center. Still ringed with that faint violet glow.
But the glow was dimmer now.
“I can hold it,” she whispered.
Her dragon’s voice cut sharply through my mind.
She cannot.
The marble floor trembled.
Not enough to cause panic.
Enough that I felt it.
“What do I do?” I asked my dragon.
Give her strength.
“How?”
There was a pause.
A flicker of heat in my chest.
Transfer.
Before I could question it further, her dragon spoke again, blunt and urgent.
The quickest and most efficient method is intimacy.
I blinked.
My eyes swept the ballroom.
Kings.
Old Guard.
Territories gathered beneath living chandeliers of flame.
“Now?” I muttered under my breath.
The Between can create privacy. Command it, her dragon snapped. Or she collapses this realm.
As if summoned by the threat, a hairline crack spidered briefly across a distant pillar before sealing itself.
Her breathing turned shallow.
The black fire along her shoulders flickered violently.
“Sera,” I said, voice tightening.
She tried to sit straighter.
Her horns glowed faintly, then dimmed again.
My dragon growled low in my chest.
If she falls here, the Between will unravel. And everyone inside it will fall with her.
My blood went cold.
I leaned forward until my forehead pressed lightly against hers.
“Tell me what to say,” I whispered.
The air around us thickened.
The Between was listening.
I swallowed and focused on the fire in my core. Not the destructive blaze I used in battle. The steady heat that warmed bone and blood.
“You belong to her,” I said quietly, speaking not just to the realm but to the magic itself. “She is your Queen.”
The marble beneath us rippled faintly.
“She doesn’t fall,” I continued. “Not while I’m here.”
Good, my dragon urged. Claim it.
I tightened my hold on her hand.
“Between,” I commanded, my voice deepening as heat rolled through my chest, “give us space.”
The music warped.
The chandeliers dimmed.
Light bent at the edges of the hall like reality itself was softening.
Then the world folded.
Not violently.
Gently.
The ballroom blurred into muted shapes beyond a veil of glowing mist. Sound dulled into a distant hum. We stood in a circle of black marble, surrounded by low-burning crimson fire.
Private. Isolated. Safe.
She sagged forward.
I caught her.
Her horns brushed my shoulder. Her fire flared weakly against my skin, but it didn’t burn.
“Stay with me,” I breathed.
Transfer now, her dragon insisted.
I guided Seraphine gently onto the floor, her body trembling from the strain of holding the fragile world together. Her eyes, dimmed by exhaustion, met mine with a mix of desperation and trust.
"I've got you," I murmured as I cradled her face in my hands, thumbs brushing away the faint glow of spent magic on her cheeks.
Slowly, I lowered her back, my lips finding hers in a tender kiss that deepened with shared urgency.
My hands roamed her sides, slipping under her flowing robes to caress the warm skin beneath.
I peeled the fabric away, exposing her breasts, nipples hardening in the cool air. Leaning down, I took one into my mouth, sucking softly, my tongue circling the peak as she arched beneath me with a soft gasp.
"You're so beautiful, Seraphine," I whispered against her skin, trailing kisses down her stomach.
I parted her thighs gently, settling between them, my cock already hard and throbbing with need. But I took my time, rubbing the tip along her entrance, coating myself in her wetness before pressing in inch by inch.
She whimpered as I filled her, her walls clenching around my length. I paused, buried deep, letting her adjust.
"That's it, my love, take me in. You're doing so amazing already." I began to move, slow thrusts that rocked our bodies together, my hips grinding against her clit with each pass.
One hand supported my weight, the other stroked her hair, my lips brushing her ear.
"Feel how perfectly we fit? You're my everything, holding this realm and me together." My pace stayed deliberate, each slide in and out drawing out her moans, her magic flickering brighter with every connection.
I kissed her neck, nipping lightly, then captured her mouth again, tongues dancing as I angled deeper, hitting that spot inside her that made her cry out.
"Yes, just like that. You're incredible, Seraphine. So strong, so wet for me." I felt her tightening, her breaths coming in short pants.
My thumb found her clit, circling firmly as I thrust steadily, building her toward release.
"Cum for me, darling. Let go—I've got you. You're perfect." Her body tensed, then shattered, pussy pulsing around my cock as waves of pleasure crashed through her.
"That's my girl, cumming so beautifully. You feel divine." I followed soon after, spilling inside her with a groan, my essence mingling with her magic, infusing her with renewed strength.