Page 294 of Vasmora

Heat coursed through my veins and my thighs burned with the urge to rub against something. As if he’d felt need inside of me, his muscled thigh flexed, pressing against the ache.

“Do you need a moment?” he asked.

Licking my lips, I clutched his shoulder, grinding against his thigh. “No. I need you. Now.”

He rolled over top of me, dragging his nose across my throat, his palm skating over my hipbone.

I reached down to grip his erection but found only smooth skin where the metal prongs used to be. Frowning, I shifted just enough to look down between us, noticing only two of the ten piercings remained.

“I left those ones,” he said. “I don’t know why. I thought maybe they’d be pleasurable for you.”

I ran my thumb over his shaft, where scars marked every decade of his torment. “She’s dead then. The curse … it’s broken.”

He snorted a laugh, his eyes carrying a shine. “Yeah. She’s gone. I couldn’t have removed them otherwise.”

Tears blurred his face as I stared back at him, cupping his cheeks. “You’re free.”

His jaw hardened, and he nodded. “Doesn’t feel real.”

“It’s real.” I brushed my thumb over his scarred cheek. “Savor it. You deserve happiness. You deserve to be free. Truly free.” I leaned in for a kiss, threading my fingers through his hair. “I love you. I love you so much, Zevander.”

He ran his thumb over my bottom lip, eyes riveted there. “Say it again.”

“You’re free.”

“No. After that.”

“I love you, Zevander.” I’d hardly spoke the words before his lips crushed mine, as if he longed to capture them in his mouth before they escaped.

“I love you.” His fingers dug into the back of my skull as he held me a hairsbreadth away from his mouth. “Aside from the ache, does anything else feel different?”

“Yes. I feel … revived? Energetic? I can’t pinpoint it exactly.”

“It’s immortality,” he said, gently massaging my thigh.

Immortality. The word lingered in my head. “I’m no longer mortal?”

The caressing of my thigh ceased, and with his gaze locked onto mine, he shook his head.

Tears sprang to my eyes, too many emotions and feelings clashing inside of me like a thrashing sea. “Then, this is … the beginning of eternity?”

“It is. Are you okay with this?”

I nodded, the tears spilling down my temples. “Very much.”

“Good.” He thumbed them away, relief softening the hard lines of tension on his face. “Because there’s no one else I want to spend it with. You’re mine, moon witch.” His gaze fell on my lips again. “I claimed you before you were born, and I will love you until the last star fades from the sky.”

“And you’re mine.” The ache swelled between my thighs as I said the words, another wave of hunger sweeping over me. “We probably shouldn’t dally too much longer, though.”

He smiled and slid my arms above my head, pinning them to the mattress. “No, we shouldn’t. There are plenty of pillows still intact.”

“Not for long,” I said against his lips and chuckled.

CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE

MAEVYTH

Eight months later …