Chapter 32 Eternal Luna
Maureen Laurent
I lingered on the marble steps of the Laurent estate longer than I needed to.
The southern sun burned high, thick air heavy with jasmine and river mist. The grounds stretched before me—fountains restored, gardens blooming defiant, every scar of fire and betrayal buried under fresh stone and paint. Northern banners snapped beside the old Laurent crests, claiming this place for both past and future.
Everything they stole had been returned.Everything they took had been paid for in blood and broken pride.
And for the first time, I felt no guilt when I thought of tomorrow’s executions. No pity for Celeste’s raw, bleeding hands. No whisper asking if I’d gone too far.
Just quiet, fierce satisfaction.
I was happy with myself.
The realization slid over me like warm silk. I closed my eyes, tilted my face to the sky, and let it sink deep.
Strong arms circled my waist from behind. Vuk’s chest pressed flush to my back, his chin resting on my shoulder, breath hot against my throat.
He didn’t speak. He just held me, like he could taste the peace settling in my bones.
I turned in his arms and clung to him—arms locked tight around his neck, fingers digging into the muscle of his shoulders like I could fuse us together. I pressed my face to his throat and inhaled wildfire and midnight snow, letting it flood my lungs until I was dizzy with it.
“I thought revenge would leave me hollow,” I whispered against his skin. “But it didn’t. I feel… whole.”
His hand slid up my spine, tangling in my hair, tilting my head back. Golden eyes burned into mine, hellfire banked low and dangerous.
“You didn’t just take revenge, little moon,” he growled softly. “You took yourself back. And you made them kneel for it.”
I smiled—slow, sharp, unapologetic. “With you beside me.”
“Always,” he said, voice rough as sin. “Always.”
Then he kissed me.
Not gentle. Not reverent.Hungry.
His mouth claimed mine like he was starving, fangs grazing my lower lip until I gasped. One hand fisted in my hair, the other sliding down to grip my ass and pull me hard against him—so hard I felt every thick, rigid inch of him straining through his trousers.
I moaned into his mouth, shameless, thighs clenching at the feel of him. My nails raked down his back, and he growled, lifting me clean off the steps without breaking the kiss. My legs wrapped around his waist on instinct, silk dress riding up, bare skin against the heat of him.
He walked us backward until my spine hit the warm stone wall of the estate, pinning me there with his hips. The friction dragged a broken sound from my throat.
“Vuk—” I breathed, head falling back as his mouth moved to my neck, sucking hard over the mating bite until pleasure stabbed straight between my legs.
“I watched you on these steps,” he rasped against my pulse, grinding slow and deliberate. “So fucking beautiful. Free. Mine. And all I could think was how badly I needed to be inside you right here—mark you all over again so this place remembers who you belong to.”
I whimpered, rolling my hips to meet his, slick already soaking through the thin lace between us.
But he pulled back just enough to meet my eyes, wicked smile flashing fangs.
“Not here,” he said, voice shredded. “Not yet. I have somewhere better.”
He carried me to the waiting jet like I weighed nothing—my legs still locked around him, his hands gripping my thighs hard enough to bruise.
Inside the cabin, he didn’t set me down. Just kicked the door shut, waved the pilot off with a snarled command for privacy, and dropped into the wide leather seat with me straddling his lap.
The engines hummed to life beneath us, but I barely noticed.
His hands were everywhere—pushing my dress higher, tearing lace aside until there was nothing between us but heat and need. I rocked against the thick length of him, gasping at the drag over my clit.
He watched me with blown-gold eyes, fangs fully extended now.
“We’re not going home,” I managed, voice trembling as his thumb circled my nipple through silk.
“No,” he growled, yanking the dress down to bare me completely. His mouth closed over one tight peak, sucking hard until I cried out. “I’m taking you east.”
I arched into him, fingers threading through his hair. “East?”
“Private palace on the cliffs,” he murmured against my skin, switching to the other breast, teeth scraping just enough to make me shudder. “Golden sand. Warm sea. Nights so hot the air itself feels like a tongue on your skin. A bed big enough for me to spread you out and fuck you until you forget every name but mine.”
I moaned, grinding harder, desperate. “How long until we land?”
“Hours,” he said, dark promise in his voice. One hand slid between us, fingers finding me drenched, circling my entrance before pushing two thick digits inside without warning.
I clenched around him, head falling back.
“Then you’d better make them count,” I gasped.
He curled his fingers, hitting that spot that made my vision spark white, and leaned in until his lips brushed my ear.
“Oh, little moon,” he purred, voice pure ruin. “I intend to make you come so many times you’ll be begging me to stop before we even touch the ground.”
His fingers curled inside me, slow and merciless, stroking that spot until my thighs shook around his hips.
“Vuk—” My voice cracked, hips rolling shamelessly to chase the pressure.
He added a third finger, stretching me, thumb pressing hard circles over my clit. The wet sounds of it filled the cabin, obscene and perfect.
“Look at you,” he growled against my throat, fangs scraping the mating bite. “Soaked for me already. Dripping down my hand like you’ve been starving for this cock.”
I whimpered, nails digging into his shoulders. “Please—”
“Please what, little moon?” He pulled his fingers out slowly, deliberately, letting me feel the loss. Then he brought them to his mouth and licked them clean—eyes locked on mine, tongue swirling around each digit like he was savoring me.
I shattered just from watching.
The orgasm hit hard and fast, walls clenching around nothing, slick coating his thighs. I cried out, back arching, riding the waves while he held me through it, murmuring filthy praise against my skin.
“That’s one,” he said, voice dark and satisfied.
Before I could catch my breath, he shifted me higher, freeing himself with one hand. The thick, burning length of him sprang free, already slick at the tip, knot pulsing at the base.
He didn’t give me time to adjust—just lined up and thrust in to the hilt in one brutal stroke.
I screamed, the sound swallowed by his mouth as he kissed me through it. He was huge, always huge, but in this angle—pinned to his lap, impaled deep—he felt impossible. My body stretched around him, fluttering in panic and pleasure.
He didn’t move at first. Just held me there, buried to the root, letting me feel every throbbing inch while the knot pressed threateningly against my entrance.
“Breathe,” he rasped, forehead against mine. “Take your devil.”
I did—shaky gasps, tears pricking my eyes from the overwhelming fullness. Then I rolled my hips, testing, and the drag of him inside me tore a moan from both of us.
He snapped.
Hands gripped my ass, lifting and slamming me down again and again—hard, punishing strokes that punched the air from my lungs. The jet’s hum faded under the wet slap of our bodies, my broken cries, his guttural growls.
He fucked me like he was trying to brand me from the inside out.
I came again on a sob, walls milking him, slick gushing around where we joined. He snarled, pace turning feral, angling me so every thrust ground against that devastating spot.
“Again,” he demanded, fangs at my throat. “Give me another.”
I did—shattered a third time, vision whiting out, body seizing around him.
Only then did he let himself go.
He slammed deep one final time, knot swelling impossibly, locking us together as he roared my name. Thick, scorching ropes flooded me, endless, until I felt it leak around the knot and soak us both.
I collapsed against his chest, trembling, wrecked, boneless.
He held me tight, licking the sweat from my neck, murmuring soft praises in the old tongue—words that meant mine, forever, Luna.
The knot kept us joined for long, lazy minutes, his hands stroking my back, my hair.
When it finally eased, he didn’t pull out. Just tucked me against him, pulled a soft blanket over us, and let me drift—sated, claimed, floating.
Hours later, the jet touched down smooth as silk on a private airstrip carved into the cliffs.
The moment the door opened, warm, salt-scented air rushed in—sunlight golden and fierce, the distant crash of waves below.
I scrambled off Vuk’s lap, legs still shaky, dress barely straightened. “Let’s go, let’s go!”
He laughed—deep, indulgent—and followed me down the steps.
A sleek black car waited, top down. I slid in first, barely waiting for him before I was leaning out, hair whipping in the wind as we sped along the cliff road.
Golden sand beaches far below. Turquoise water so clear I could see shadows of fish. White stone palaces clinging to the rock like they’d grown there. Spice and sea and sun everywhere.
“This place is beautiful!” I shouted over the wind, grinning so wide my cheeks hurt.
Vuk glanced at me, one hand on the wheel, the other resting possessively on my thigh. “Better than the North?”
I turned to him, eyes bright. “Yes! The North has snow and more snow and black rock and dramatic aesthetics, but this—this is alive. Warm. Color everywhere. I love it.”
He smirked, fangs flashing. “Really?”
“Really,” I said, leaning over to kiss his jaw. “Don’t worry. I still love your frozen fortress. But this… I could stay here forever.”
We rounded a final curve, and the palace came into full view—white cliffs, glass walls open to the sea, infinity pool spilling over the edge like liquid sapphire.
I actually screamed—a delighted, undignified sound—and bolted from the car the second it stopped.
I ran through the open courtyard, barefoot on warm stone, spinning in circles with my arms out.
“Vuk!! Come! Come look at this!”
He followed slower, hands in his pockets, watching me with that soft, dangerous look that said he’d burn the world to keep me this happy.
I skidded to a stop at the pool’s edge. Something massive moved lazily beneath the surface.
“There’s a tortoise! A huge one! In the pool!”
Vuk stepped up behind me, arms sliding around my waist again. The tortoise surfaced, ancient eyes blinking, barnacles on its shell like jewelry.
“Yes,” he murmured against my ear, voice warm with amusement. “It’s beautiful.”
But he wasn’t looking at the tortoise.
He was looking at me.