Page 115 of Thread and Stone

The most intense sensation of love floods me as he repeats, “Until the very end.”

With slow movements, I straddle his lap, gripping his neck and pressing my chest to his. Heat spreads from the head of his cock as he guides it to my entrance. I tremble. Taste his mouth. Run my tongue over the sharp points of his teeth. His hands move to my waist. Our eyes lock. And in a slow, deliberate motion, I lower myself onto him, letting him watchevery reaction on my face as he overwhelms my senses. My thighs tremble, heart races, and the rest of the world disappears.

His forehead presses to mine as he gasps for every breath. “It is both agony and bliss,” he whispers.

And he’s right. It’s the kind of pleasure that’s so absolute, it digs at your very soul, and in this new position, the intensity is dialed up even further. Thrusting is out of the question. There’s no way I could handle that, so I start to rock.

He hisses out a breath and his fingers dig into my hips, stilling me. “Please,” he begs. I guess this position is intense for both of us.

A second later, his virga finds me, and a fever-like sensation spreads over my skin as I whimper against his neck. When I asked about how much control he has over his virga, he told me he has less control over it than his own heartbeat. So, despite the overwhelming sensation, I lean into it instead of fighting back.

“Are you ready?” he asks, his voice gentle, but strained.

“Yeah,” I say breathlessly.

“Wrap your legs around me so your hands are free.”

I do, and the slight change in angle leaves us both gasping. “Holy shit,” I groan. I can’t move at all now. Don’t need to. Just existing like this is pure, overwhelming ecstasy.

Vexar’s hands leave my hips, metal rasps over leather, and he asks a final question, “Are you sure?”

I lean back enough to see him. “Very sure.”

Light bounces off the blade as he drags it across his right palm, releasing a bloom of crimson that pools in his hand. As if my body already knows what to do, I offer him my left hand. The anxiety I felt earlier is long gone. The burn of the blade barely registers.

His black eyes lock on mine and he nods. Our hands meet, fingers interlock, I feel the warmth of his bloodagainst my palm, and?—

Time stops. My vision blurs. Heart slows. And then I see images. So many images, filling my mind’s eye. Entire lifetimes flashing by in the span of seconds. People I’ve never seen. Places I’ve never been. I’m lost in a rip-tide of memories that don’t belong to me. Then the images slow, ticking by one at a time before coming to a complete stop. It’s not an image anymore. I’m outside somewhere, massive trees tower over me, and … I’m staring at Vexar. But it’s not the same man I know now. He’s young. Maybe a teenager? But it’s definitely him, standing in the middle of a sand circle, holding a blade.

There’s a woman, too. I can’t see her face. Vexar looks over his shoulder, and our eyes meet. At first, he looks confused, but that confusion quickly turns to determination. The woman speaks to him, but I can’t hear her. She has a blade too. Her blade flicks out and slices into Vexar’s forearm. My hands fly to my face, stifling a silent scream. I don’t know what’s happening. Vexar looks at me again, but this time an awareness passes between us, as if he’s acknowledging who I am—or who I will be. That’s when the woman cuts him again, from the base of his ear to the top of his shoulder, and a second later he’s gone, washed away by another rush of images that eventually fade to nothing.

Slowly, the present comes back into focus. Vexar, my Vexar, is holding my face and looking at me like I’m the center of his entire universe. The answer to every question he’s ever had. The only thing he’s ever truly wanted.

“I saw you,” I whisper. I don’t know how else to communicate what just happened, but he seems to understand. I drag a finger down the scar that runs the length of his neck, the one I just saw carved into his skin, before meeting his gaze again.

“I know,” I hear him say. But his mouth doesn’t move.

My eyes go wide. Iheardhim.

He smiles and kisses me, soft and tender at first, but growing quickly into anunrestrained celebration. His emotions flow through me easily, no longer a stray thought at the back of my mind, but a deep knowing in my body. It’s everything I’ve ever needed, filling me all at once. Safety. Love. Desire. Connection. Belonging. Certainty. And above all else, purpose. A desperate, hopeful purpose.

I’m moving again, rocking against him, deepening our physical connection while the threads between us pull even tighter. His fingers slide up my spine and into my hair, tugging me closer.

Every sensation is heightened. Every touch, smell, and sound, a broadcast of pure intention, growing and coalescing into an unimaginable peak. Existence blurs as our minds lock, and a thousand thoughts and emotions cross between us in a single breath. Then, we fall together, off that cliff of uncertainty and into something entirely new. As one.

EPILOGUE

VEXAR

“IS IT HIM?” Amara asks as she steps up behind me.

I have already silenced the proximity alert, but the yellow warning lights are still flashing, reflecting off the deep black of Amara’s eyes in a strange, ethereal way.Absolutely stunning.

“Not sure,” I answer. “The ship has no identification tags.”

She gives me a knowing look, and I hope she is right.

A few seconds later, the external cameras orient, and a Vhorathi Heavy Cruiser Warship emerges from the darkness like some deadly ghost of myth. Of all the ships in the empire’s fleet, few can do as much damage as the one before us.

Her hand slides on top of mine in a reassuring caress. “It’s him,” she whispers. “It has to be.”

Gods, I hope she is right. Embracing her confidence, I guide our hands to the comm button. My throat works as I try to swallow. If we are wrong, pressing this button will be deadly, and yet, we press it anyway.

Amara is calm, confident even. So I focus on that. On the steady thud of her heart, the warm scent of her skin, the relaxedcurves of her face. “You are braver than me,” I whisper, before raising her hand to my lips.

“Only in some ways.” She smiles, and a new alert flashes. When I do not move, she guides my hand back to the controls. “It’s ok. Answer it.”

Setting my jaw, I accept the request, and an image fills the screen.

“Brother!” Steinarr says, in his familiar, cocky tone. “As requested, one newly liberated warship.” He places his hands on his hips and asks, “Do you like it?”