Page 93 of The Never List
“My father told me she made the choice to go into stasis after the war with the demis and when Erithmore became a greater threat,” I explain, waving my hand to the statue she supposedly created around herself. Rylee tenses beneath my arm, but I give her a comforting touch to assure her that I’m okay to talk about this. “He told me she’d awaken and return to us when she felt the world was at peace.” I swallow around the rock in my throat. “But that can’t be true, can it? Just a bedtime story to appease me when I was young and grieving.” I turn to Rylee like she’ll have all the answers. “If my mother was really sleeping in there, wouldn’t she hear me? Wouldn’t she have felt the peace Lumathyst has held for the last few decades? Wouldn’t she…come back?”
Rylee blinks up at me, sympathy ringing from her features. She splays a hand over the center of my chest before glancing back up at my mother’s statue. “Maybe she isn’t ready yet,” she says softly. “Maybe she’s waiting for her son to be on one of the four thrones before she awakens.”
Hope splinters the tension gripping my heart. “You really believe that?”
“Why not?” she asks. “Anything is possible.”
There is something in her tone with the last statementthat makes a whole new wave of doubt crash over me…something that makes her sound more like she’s trying to convince herself than me.
I shift my arm from her shoulders, reaching into my pocket to withdraw a long wooden box made from driftwood before handing it to her.
She cracks it open, smiling as she trails her fingers over the bracelet I placed inside. I hold it up before her. “This band is made of the strongest platinum Lumathyst has to offer,” I say, sliding my finger over the silver waves that comprise the bracelet. “And these sapphires represent not only my city but the ocean that holds my heart.”
Rylee presses her lips together.
“I had this made for you,” I explain. “It won’t break or shatter. I knew from the moment you dove into the ocean with me that you needed something that would withstand your adventurous side, because once you put it on, Rylee, I don’t want you to take it off.”
I eye Kal’s ruby ring on her right hand, pride swelling in my heart that she’s worn his token since the day he gave it to her.
“This means I’m choosing you, kitten,” I say, holding it before her. “It means that no matter what happens…” I take a breath, hesitating. “No matter what secrets come to light, I’m with you.” Her bottom lip trembles slightly, but I press on. “Kal might’ve told you to wear that ring without making anything official, but I’m not him. You put this on, it marks you asmine. I don’t take that lightly, and neither should you.” I grimace. “I know I’m a handful. Know I’m a cocky bastard who likes to push the limits, not to mention the weight of obligation that comes with being a Legend. Ifthat’s too much, then—”
“It’s not,” she cuts over me, reaching for the bracelet. “You’re not.” She slides it onto her right wrist, her eyes shuddering like she’s just stepped off the edge of a cliff with no bottom in sight. “I love it,” she says, eyeing the bracelet with silver lining her eyes.
The sight of my token secure around her wrist has a low growl rumbling from my chest, instincts roaring at me while she wears my mark.
One second. That’s all it takes for me to scoop her up and throw her over my shoulder, hurrying out of the building and down the stairs, her laughter chasing me all the way to the beach.
“What are you doing?” she asks through her laughter, not once trying to fight me as I carry her back to the ship.
“What I want to do to you can’t be done in front of my mother,” I grumble, hauling us up the stairs of my ship.
I lay her out on the nearest available surface, not wasting one second to descend to the primary room below deck. The small table on the deck, fully open to the elements, will do.
“Axl,” she says as I practically rip her pants off and toss them over my shoulder.
Goddess help me, she’s not wearing any underwear.
“Look at you,” I say, gliding my fingers through her heat. “All pink and glistening for me.” I shift to my knees, dragging her ass to the edge of the table before I set my mouth on her. “Mine.”
Fuck, she tastes like caramel and salt and everything good in this fucking world. I drag my tongue through her without preamble, relishing the light scrape of her nails on my scalp as she tangles her fingers in my hair.
I look up at her from between her legs, gripping her delicious thighs as I lap and suck and thrust my tongue inside her. “I need you, kitten,” I say, my words guttural in a way I almost don’t recognize.
Fire courses through my veins, all my instincts narrowing to one base truth—Rylee ismine. My mate in every way that matters.
Rylee looks down her body, her eyes glazed with lust and need.
“You understand?” I spear my tongue into her heat. She arches against my mouth, chasing her pleasure without a hint of shame. “You put that on,” I say, eyeing the bracelet. “And I need you more than I’ve ever needed you before. Need you to understand…” I flick my tongue over her swollen flesh, and she moans.
“I understand,” she says, her breaths ragged as she rocks against me. “Axl, I…I…” Her words get lost as I suck her clit into my mouth. “Axl!” Her flavor bursts against my tongue as she comes. I lick her down quickly, rising to my feet and dropping my pants to my ankles.
There’s no time to remove my boots. No time to undress completely. I need her right fucking now.
“I understand,” she says again as I seat myself at her entrance. She reaches up, cupping my cheeks and dragging her lips over mine in the barest of kisses. “Take what you need from me,” she says.
I go still against her.
“I can handle it. I can handle you.”
