Era of the Moon, page 34
A choked gasp got stuck in her throat. “Bash?” Her voice was desperate, his name being spoken like a hopeful question.
“Darling,” He whispered. “My Ame.” His eyes opened, twinkling with the beginnings of that fire she had grown fond of as his cheeks tinted with a blush and pooled with the whisper of a dimple.
“You’re alive?” He nodded, pushing himself up onto his elbows, only to be knocked down as she barreled into him with a hug. “You’re alive!” Tears of joy replaced those of sorrow. Her face buried into the place between his neck and shoulder, encasing herself in his scent.
“I am.” He chuckled, pulling her back and brushing her hair out of the way to allow him an unobstructed view of his fated one. “Thanks to you.” He noted the slight pallor to her skin and tremble in her muscles. She had exerted nearly all her energy to save him.
“You’re not escaping me so easily.” She teased, giddy to be speaking with him once again.
“You think death would be a reprieve from you? You’d find a way to haunt my afterlife, I know it.” He teased, tender affection in his eyes.
She ignored his mockery, allowing herself to bask in his growing warmth and company while ignoring the trauma that was the last hour of their existence. With loving hands, she brushed wet hair from his face, staring down at him with tender affection.
“Why’d you move?” His eyes cast downward, towards his saluting member.
Her mouth fell open in surprise. “Your heart stopped beating! I felt it grow still at the end of our bond.” She said through a choked sob.
“Well…it’s working now.” His eyebrows wiggled mischievously, his disposition awfully jovial for a male that had just almost died.
“I thought you were dying!” A nearly hysteric snort fell from her lips.
“And now that you know I’m not?” Heat pulsated between them, a welcomed sensation after too many moments of chill while his body and soul had floated between worlds. “Don’t you want to honor the goddess and complete our bond?” Cerilla’s bemused smirk was all the answer he needed.
Renewed and strengthened beyond his previous state by their soulbond, it took only seconds for Sebastian to rip the leather corset and blouse off from Cerilla’s body. Tearing fabric gave way to pebbling nipples when he exposed her chest to the chilly night air. And his own disrobing was not far behind. Cerilla watched with amazement when he ripped his shirt off with agility and speed, no hint of his previous injury showing. The shallow water they were in began to bubble, heating with Sebastian’s rising body temp and growing arousal.
He paused for one moment, taking a single finger and trailing it over her shoulder, across her collarbone, and down between her breasts whilst his eyes perused her naked form. Appreciating what he almost lost.
In those fading moments, he hadn’t known he was dying, but after he awoke he had realized it with solemn clarity. And now, every ounce of his being was filled with a nearly insatiable need for Cerilla.
Their skin still pulsed with a slight glow, though it was slowly diming away, and every one of their nerve-endings were throbbing with desire. Cerilla’s heart rate quickened as the muscles in Sebastian’s loins tightened – their physical bodies priming for one another. Both Cerilla and Sebastian, as well as the goddess above them, knew that only one more thing would end their Bonding Rite and take them from the lust-filled edge they were in – a completed joining.
With lightning speed Sebastian grabbed Cerilla by the shoulders, laying her flat on the marshy grass beneath them. Cerilla’s legs instinctually splayed out for him, allowing him the space to crawl over her body and hover above her. Though their minds strode toward a single goal, they both paused, drinking in the memory of that moment. Cerilla closed her eyes and breathed in a heavy draw of his smokey scent, while Sebastian ran his hands up the curve of her hips and over the mounds of flesh on her chest. His right hand drifted over, pausing over the space where her heart was. With eyelids closed he took in the sensation of her beating heart. She was alive. She was safe. She was his. And this thought was the undoing of his control.
Drawn to her center, Sebastian released his heavy tongue and drew a line up her body from slit to neck, stopping to nibble the soft skin above her collar bone before biting down, earning him a whimper of approval from his mate’s mouth.
“I’ve dreamt of this moment.” The sigh that spilled from his lips was heavy and seeped in want. “So many times.” Water sloshed around them as he moved them up on the bank and positioned himself between her legs. His hands ran up and down her thighs, warming them from the outside in.
“I’m sure this isn’t exactly how you imagined it.” Just from the brink of death and still on the Isle.
“I would have you anyway, Cerilla.” His tip grazed her center, heat kissing her insides when he pushed into her with a teasing pump. “No limits or exceptions.”
“Then show me.” Her eyes held a challenge, one he was more than ready to meet.
With a single, unforgiving pump he pushed into her. Cerilla released a mewl of satisfaction to match the quiet groan that slipped from his lips – a sound that told her he wanted to be everywhere. Member inside her, hands roaming her body, mouth on her breasts. And he did just that.
Leveraging his weight with his knees and one elbow digging into the earth, he let his free hand travel down to her bundle of nerves. His thumb began to work her in slow circles, a pace matching his gentle pumping in and out of her.
Their mouths met in the most intimate kiss they had shared yet. Lips melding together softly, sharing air as they both relished the sensations they were giving one another. They pulled apart, eyes meeting for the briefest of worshipful glances before he moved downward. Her hands, which had been trailing feather-light touched up and down his spine, found their way to his hair when he lowered his mouth down to her chest. Her fist clenched a handful of thick hair when he sucked one of her pert nipples into his mouth and began to twirl his hot tongue over her sensitive skin. Arching her back Cerilla matched his ever-growing thrusts with some of her own, circling her hips until she felt him purr against the skin of her chest.
Sebastian continued his mission, thumb swirling, hips thrusting, and mouth sucking as his mate spiraled higher and higher, muscles tightening and heart racing as she neared her release. And he could feel it all. Her arousal was his arousal, her pleasure like his own.
All the while, Cerilla laid beneath him, grinding against him with abandon as he pushed her into sensory overload. A pleasure unlike anything she had experienced before.
Sebastian was high on his mate. Her smell. Her sounds. Her touch. Pleasing her was part of his own sexual gratification process, and she was well-pleased. He felt himself edging the line between pleasure and completion, but he wouldn’t go there without his mate.
He pulled out of her for a moment, rolling off of her as a whimper of disapproval spilled from her lip. But their separation only lasted a moment – only long enough for him to lie on his side and pull her back to his front. Throwing her leg over his own, he thrust into her once again, using the hand he had snaked up her stomach and wrapped around her neck as leverage.
His hand draped around her neck like jewelry, putting delicious pressure on her pulse point – accelerating her pleasure as he deprived her of just a little bit of oxygen. With one holding pressure to her neck, the other hand trailed down her body – pausing for a moment to flick one of her stiff peaks before continuing down and resuming effort to stimulate the nerves at the apex of her thighs.
Cerilla cried out, her core tensing as Sebastian carried her towards her release.
“Bash,” Her voice was a plea, begging him to not stop and alerting him to her swiftly coming finish.
“Come for me, Ame.” His charcoal tone tingled inside her ear, and this was the last sensation she felt before her body convulsed one final time. Liquid heat pool around Sebastian’s member, and the feeling of her pleasure sent him over the edge as well. He pumped into her one final time, filling her with his essence before pulling both arms around her and holding her through the after waves of both their contented completions.
Cerilla rolled to her back, sucking in air as her tired lungs recuperated after being deprived. Sebastian gazed down at his mate, taking in her beautiful form from his place propped up on one elbow beside her. He loved nearly everything about what he saw before him. Like her flushed cheeks, and tired smile. What he didn’t like was the angry looking hand prints he had burned into the skin around her breasts or the lip shaped blister on her neck.
Sebastian’s cheeks heated with a blush as he brought a single hand up to rub the back of his neck, a shy and out of place action from the male who had only seconds before had a tight hand necklace around his lover’s neck while growling and riding her into completion.
“Ceri,” His voice was wary, and filled with regret.
“Hmm?” That’s the most complete sentence she felt she could articulate in that moment.
“I burned you again.” Her eyes opened as she cast an unworried look down at where he was pointing. “I got carried away.” He kissed the place above the burn gently before taking her hand in his own. “I will get better at controlling myself.”
Cerilla waved a hand over her burns, water wiping away the injuries in the blink of an eye. “I like you unrestrained, and I have no interest in changing you.” Sebastian smiled down at her, a mate perfect for him in every way, and his heart filled with a foreign sense of peace and belonging.
“Come here, Ame.” His hands reached out to her, beckoning her into the waist deep water he once again found himself in.
Cerilla eyed him, considering his offer. “For a moment, and then I’d like to be back in my tent on top of my bedding with food very nearby.”
“Did I exhaust you, Darling?” She knew he meant to tease her, to joke that their joining had caused her to crave sleep and sustenance. The joining played its part, but she mainly was reeling from all the other events of the day. More emotionally drained than anything.
“You did.” She kept her reply light, desperate to remember the light and push the darkness of the day into the far recesses of her mind. She raised up to her knees, wading her way over to him. Water hissed and steamed around her as her hot skin met the cool water. Sebastian had not only burnt the outside of her skin, but he had also heated her from the inside out. Cerilla mused that there were many mysteries of a Sun-Moon bond and their joinings that would continue to be revealed to them. The mystery of her spontaneous internal heating amongst them.
“Then let me clean my mate up, and then I will take you back to your camp and make sure all your needs are met. Okay?” She nodded, only to turn her head to the side and give his lips access to her neck.
“Okay.” She sighed, leaning into his gentle touch.
“My bonded one.” He nestled his face to her neck for a moment, and then went to work fulfilling his promises to Cerilla.
With tender hands, ones Cerilla was shocked could belong to a fierce warrior, he washed her clean of all the blood on her body and in her hair. Despite her protests, he wouldn’t let them leave the Pool until every cut, scrap, and bruise he found on her body was healed as well.
Only when Cerilla was clean and whole did he assist her in pulling on her pants and drape his own shirt over her to replace the top that laid in shreds on the ground of the goddess’ Garden. After, he slowly dressed himself they began the walk to her camp – where both their clans stayed up waiting for them.
Baylor was the first to see them coming up the path to the Moon clan’s camp.
“Sebastian! Ceri!” He called out to them, hopping up and breaking out in a full sprint until he was standing before his Prince. He bowed his head slightly, only to forgo all formality and throw his arms around Sebastian. No words were spoken, but Cerilla could see with her eyes and sense through her bond that both males were happy to have found the other alive and well. When they pulled apart Baylor gave her a nod, a sign of his respect and gratitude. He would have hugged her too, but he knew better than to try to touch the mate of a freshly bonded male.
They made their way through the camp, addressing the greetings and questions of their clan members as they made their way to where Merida stood waiting for them.
“Merida,” Cerilla greeted her defacto second diplomatically.
“Princess.” This was Merida’s only reply, as she was still angry, but Cerilla considered that a problem for another day.
“Did anyone perish today?” Cerilla was tired and felt no need to beat around the bush.
“No. After Callahan ran off all the clans dispersed.” Merida’s tone was cold and dismissive. “And those Sunnies followed us back here.” Sebastian cast his gaze toward Baylor, who shrugged in carefree acknowledgement of Merida’s words.
“Thank the deities.” Cerilla praised, earning her an eye roll from Merida. She didn’t think it possible Cerilla respected the deities while she was so casually dismissing the traditions of the Trial. “Thank you for the report.” Cerilla caught Sebastian’s eye before continuing. “We’re off to rest before sunup.”
No more had they turned before Merida spoke again. “The Sun and Moon clans are tied in numbers. What is going to become of us all?”
Only after Cerilla paused to consider this question did she notice the tension in her camp. The Sun and Moon clans had honored their leaders’ orders of alliance – but they were not happy about it. And after counting heads many times they all knew the truth – there was still no clear winner of the Trial.
“No one act on these concerns.” Sebastian ordered, voice full of menace. “Princess Cerilla and I will figure it out.” He clasped her hand in a show of solidarity. “Go about your business. Eat, sleep, hunt. Do as you please and be ready at sunup to travel to the Temple.”
His clan nodded in understanding, but the Moon warriors simply stared at him unmoving.
“As he said. Mind all business that is your own. He and I will figure this out.” Cerilla notice the rebellious look in Merida’s eye, and she could sense a heightened level of fear and mutiny rising up within her once confidant. “Any member of my clan who injures or kills one of my mate’s warriors will die by my hand. So, it would once again bring us to an even number and your actions will be moot. And if your own life is not enough incentive, I will also punish all of your direct family members upon my return to the Monarchy. Am I clear?”
“Same goes for my clan.” Sebastian said, and every being, except Merida, spoke up in understanding.
“Am I clear, Merida? If you even paper cut one of his warriors I will kill you and imprison your sister and parents for ten years.” Merida bit down on her jaw, fury pulsing through her veins. “If you understand say, yes Princess.”
The defiant look didn’t bleed from her eyes, but she repeated the words through gritted teeth, nonetheless. “Yes, Princess.”
“Great.” Cerilla turned to walk away, pulling Sebastian behind her, only stopping to breath once she was within her tent and away from the prying eyes of every being beyond its walls.
Sebastian could sense her tension and reached out with his hands to rub away the tightness in her shoulders. With a sigh, Cerilla leaned into his touch, letting him push away the stress their encounter with the clans had caused. Finally, now that she and Sebastian were safe, she began to cry. She had carried what felt like the weight of the Realm for too long and with her bonded one now beside her, she decided to let him share some of that burden with her. Sebastian caressed her, silently holding her until she was ready to speak again.
“How much time do we have?” Her feet padded against the floor of her tent as she made her way to the bedding and crawled up it until her head could rest on a pillow.
“The sun is still many hours away.” He didn’t add what they both knew, when the sun was up the Trial would be over – but before that a decision had to be made between them. Someone would have to die or else they would be dooming the entire Realm for the next decade.
“What will we do?” The bedding gave beneath Cerilla as Sebastian crawled in behind her, cratering as he flopped down and placed his arms around her. “We both can’t win.” From its place on her chest his hand could feel the increasing pace of her heart.
“Rest, Ame.” His lips pressed against her temple. “I will wake you in time to meet the priestesses at the Temple, and I will figure out a solution.”
Cerilla turned her head, looking up at her mate with worry in her eyes. “But who will-”
“I will take care of it.” He kissed her. “Everything will be okay. I promise.” Cerilla nodded, nestling against him and falling asleep despite the fact that her mind was filled with worries and questions of the days to come. But Sebastian said he would figure it out, and she trusted him wholly to do so.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Cerilla,” Sebastian whispered in her ear. She was floating between worlds, half-awake and half-not. The bedding smelled like her mate, calling her to snuggle deeper into its warmth and continue dreaming about him. “We can sleep in late tomorrow, Darling.” Warm lips brushed against her own. “But today we must finish the Trial.”
The Trial. She groaned slightly, wishing to return to her pleasant dream rather than face the realities of the day – but she did not have this luxury. Champions, if still alive, were required to attend the closing ceremony. Usually, the clear victor would step before the priestesses, who would surround the victor in a prayer circle as the deities bestowed their blessings upon them. However, this Trial would look different.
Cerilla rolled over, accepting a long kiss from her mate before crawling from the bedding and readying herself for the day, and Sebastian did the same. The tent was quiet as the two leaders, former enemies, dressed themselves. Both worked in quiet contemplation. Sebastian’s mind reeling with his plan, while Cerilla considered who might die that day.
Never before had the Trial had a tie, Daeva wouldn’t allow it, and Cerilla doubted that would change. No matter how much she wished it might.
