Gods, I would give this woman anything. Everything. It was all hers. The thought didn't scare me. No, it thrilled me. Urged me to break down the last of her barriers until there was nothing left between us but truth. She made the most wonderful noise. My new favorite sound in all creation. I devoured every one of them like they were nectar, like I could hoard them the way a dragon hoards gold. I had never wanted to give so much in all my immortal existence.
Her fingers dragged down my chest, over the shifting tattoos that rippled with heat rising in me. A shudder broke through, rare, genuine, nothing to do with magic. Everything to do with her. Annie. My Annie. Gods, I needed more My hands roamed, mapping her, rediscovering her like I hadn't already traced every scar, every rune carved into her. But this was different. This was real. My mouth followed my hands, lingering over the delicate chaos etched into her ribs. My mark. My lips pressed there, reverent, savoring her gasp, the way her body shivered under me.
"Annie," I murmured against her skin, worship dripping from my voice. She said my name back like I was a god worth praying to. My restraint was dangling by a thread.
Then she whispered, "I want you, Malvor."
The words stilled me. Wound me tight. Dangerous words, because they were true. She wanted me. Me. I lifted my head, searched her eyes. No hesitation. No second guessing. Just her, giving me that truth freely. My hand cradled her cheek, thumb brushing her skin as I drank her in. She was looking at me like I was real. Not a legend, not a trickster, not chaos incarnate. Just Malvor. I bent close, my lips ghosting hers. "Say it again. Please."
Her fingers tangled in my hair, pulling me closer. Her whisper brushed my mouth. "I want you, Malvor."
That was it. My control shattered. My lips crashed against hers, urgent, unrestrained. I kissed her like she was oxygen, pouring every damn thing I felt into it. Every touch, every motion, every unspoken word was a declaration. I would give her everything.
My grin curved sharp against her mouth, dark amusement lacing my reverence. "Oh, Annie," I purred, velvet steel in my tone, heavy with promise. "You demand so beautifully."
I unwrapped her like something sacred, stripping away each barrier between us with deliberate care. My hands slid fabric over her shoulders, baring pale skin and the runes etched into it, scars turned into power. My lips followed, reverent, tracing her collarbone, tasting the heat of her pulse.
Her breasts rose and fell with shallow, uneven breaths. Full, perfect, begging for my mouth. I cupped them, thumbs grazing over hardened peaks until she gasped, then closed my lips around one, sucking slow and deep until her back arched clean off the bed. Her sigh of my name broke into a whimper, and gods, I nearly lost myself right there.
I dragged kisses lower, over the delicate lines carved across her ribs. My chaos burned into her skin. The sight of her bearing my mark undid me. I licked along one curve, felt her shiver under my tongue, then bit gently, claiming and soothing all at once.
Her navel drew me down, the small hollow quivering with every breath. I pressed my mouth there, tasting the heat of her, inhaling her scent, then let my tongue dip lower, toward the edge of her panties. My fingers hooked the fabric, sliding it down inch by devastating inch, exposing the soft curves between her thighs. Gods, that undid me. She wasn't performing. She wasn't surviving. She was here. Wanting me. That truth, her want, was more than I could bear. It was salvation. It was destruction. It was everything. I lowered my mouth to her, tasting her, sucking her clit until she writhed beneath me, begging for more. My fingers slid inside her, slow and deliberate, one, then two. Stretching her around me as my tongue teased and tormented. Her hips bucked helplessly, her hands fisting in my hair, desperate sounds spilling from her lips. I added a third, scissoring gently, working her open until she was trembling, clenching, slick and perfect for me. She broke apart on my hand, crying my name like a benediction. I licked her through it, savoring the taste of her release, before easing my fingers free and kissing my way back up her body.
My lips brushed her ear, whisper low and sinful. "Do you even realize what you do to me, Annie?"
Her eyes burned with the same hunger. "Then show me."
I growled, low, approving. "Oh, I intend to, darling."
I kissed her fierce and unrelenting, my body settling between hers. I ground against her, slow, maddening, letting her feel the heat of me through the last barriers left. She moaned into my mouth and I drank it greedily. Clothes vanished, magic or impatience, I didn't care. Her fingers dug into my back as I pressed her down, claiming every inch with mouth, hands, body. I hovered over her, pressing the head against her slick entrance, nearly undone by just that. She looked at me, no mask, no fear, only need. She was flushed, panting, pupils blown wide. I pressed the head of my cock against her entrance and stilled, chest heaving. Her heat wrapped around me, velvet and wet, and it nearly destroyed me to hold back.
I cupped her face, forcing her eyes to mine. My voice came out ragged. "Tell me now. If you don't want this, if you don't want me, say it. I'll stop."
Her gaze burned, steady, fierce. "Don't stop. I want you, Malvor."
I pushed inside her. Heat. Tight. Home. A groan ripped out of me, half growl, half prayer. I pressed my forehead to hers, shaking. "You feel like…" Words failed. Feeling didn't.
Her legs wrapped around me, pulling me deeper. I moved, slow, deliberate, savoring. Every thrust, a promise. Every gasp, a revelation. She gasped, arched, clutched at me, sensation flooding her. My hands gripped her thighs tighter, my mouth at her throat, trailing fire down her skin. "You are mine," I rasped, hunger thick in my voice. "Not owned. Never owned. Claimed, yes, but free. Always free. I will make sure you never forget it."
Her hands mapped me, muscle, ink, heat. My tattoos flickered beneath her touch, shifting with my emotions. Gods, she was unraveling me as much as I was unraveling her. I watched her, dark, burning eyes memorizing every breath, every sound. "Annie," I breathed, softer now. Reverent. Her heat wrapped around me, velvet and slick, her scent clinging to my lungs like incense, dizzying me with every breath
I kissed her again, slow, consuming, endless. Our rhythm built, faster, harder, deeper, bodies colliding like they were made to fit. My hand slid between us, finding her clit, rubbing it in a way that made her break apart beneath me. She shattered first, gasping, breaking apart in my arms and gods. The realm cracked with us, chaos splintering through my veins as I came undone inside her. Her name torn from me like a prayer screamed into the void.
Magic hushed the room. I slowed, stayed sheathed, kissing the tremor out of her mouth. A glass of water appeared at the bedside; a warm cloth, a warmer blanket. I cleaned us gently, warded the room softer, and pulled her onto my chest. "You're safe," I breathed into her hair. "Always."