Page 45 of Oath of War
‘Neither.’ Arachne laughed, her voice dark and sweet. ‘You are already mine.’
Her laughter reverberated in my soul as the pressure around my essence tightened. She clenched her fist in front of my face, and I felt the connection between us solidify. ‘Only death can remove our bond. Now, Anchor your fae, child. I want to feel it, to experience it as it forms.’
I turned to Alaric, his body straining against some invisible force, but his eyes locked onto mine with unwavering intensity.
‘Ari,’ I said, my voice gentle. ‘It will be alright. We can do this.’
‘No, Annika.’ His voice cracked with pain. ‘I won’t force myself on you. Even the gods couldn’t make me.’
His eyes blazed with fury as he glared at his goddess. ‘I prayed to you,worshippedyou, and you enslave the woman I love?’ Alaric was ready to fight his deity to protect me, but all our struggles would be in vain if he died angering her.
‘Alaric’va Shen’ra,’ I said, my voice sharp, commanding his attention. ‘Look at me.’
His eyes met mine, and I released the breath I’d been holding. ‘There are worse things in life than having sex on an altar witha voyeuristic goddess watching, but I’ll understand if this isn’t something you can do—’
‘What? No! Never. But Annika, not like this, not when this is precisely what the Lich King wants. Not when she is forcing you . . . I won’t be your weakness. I won’t be the cause of your misery.’
‘She is not forcing me, and I don’t care what Cahyon wants. I don’t even care if Arachne drools all over us making love. I wantyouas my Anchor.’
I didn’t know how else to convince him, so I reached out to my fae. ‘Ari, I love you. In every shade of time, with everything I am,I love you. It is not her decision, it’s mine. I’ve wanted you as my Anchor since our duel in the fortress. Please, all I ask is that you love me back.’
Unguarded emotions flickered across his face—love, anger, wonder, and resentment—until his shoulders sagged, and he exhaled, shaking his head.
‘This feels wrong, Domina,’ he murmured, his voice hoarse. ‘I should worship you on the finest silk, not take you on hard stone.’
Still, he stepped closer, the tension in his movements betraying his inner conflict. I moved to sit at the edge of the altar, spreading my knees as he stood between them, his hands grasping my thighs. When his forehead rested against mine, I felt his pulse thrum in tandem with my own. A vein stood out in his neck, and my chest ached with the urge to assure him that this was what I wanted. That I had wanted his Anchor for so long, I could do the deed in front of an army, not just one curious spider.
‘The circumstances and timing may be wrong but Anchoring you will always be right. What we feel isright. Touch me, Ari. We can pretend it is just us in a cosy candlelit cavern. Make us feel good before I speak the Anchoring Oath.’
I kissed him and eventually felt his resistance melt as my tongue parted his lips.
‘Annika,’ he groaned as I raked my nails over his skin. ‘That is an unreasonable, dangerous thing to do . . . yet I want it so much,’ he finished with a moan that only encouraged me to keep exploring. He grasped my arse, pulling me closer, and I placed a hand on his chest, feeling uneven skin where the curse marked his body. Alaric grunted, pressing his hips to my thigh, and I felt his length hardening in his trousers.
I noticed Arachne had withdrawn into the shadows but felt her presence when she reacted to Ari cupping my breast and stroking my sensitive nipple. As his hand continued its questing journey upwards, his thumb brushed across my lips, and I couldn’t resist biting it, making him jerk in surprise.
‘Fuck, Domina. What are you doing to me?’ he whispered, his husky voice sending shivers down my spine.
‘Whatever I want. You will give in to me and take me like the world depends on it because maybe, just this time, it does. Show me how much you want me, Alaric, and fuck me like you’ve never fucked anyone.’
I cried out, feeling his hand on my sex, fingers rubbing the sensitive spot, touching it with such mastery that my world swam out of focus. My back arched, legs falling open, inviting him in.
Passion flared in Alaric’s eyes, crimson fire eclipsing his pupils. The purple strands of his necromantic power appeared, pulsing as they wrapped around my wrist, pulling my arms above my head.
‘As you command, Domina.’
Alaric’s fingers slid inside me, curving gently as he moved them in and out while his thumb continued to press on just the right place, and its circular movements sent me into a frenzy. ‘Fuck me, Alaric!’ I commanded, and he laughed.
The deep, throaty timbre of his voice reverberated in my core, and nothing could have made me look away from my lover. He opened his trousers, and my hips involuntarily jerked forward to meet him, but again, he denied me. I was trembling with anticipation, whimpering quietly as he aligned himself to my entrance. He paused, his eyes locking with mine as his unspoken question lingered between us.
‘Please, don’t stop now,’ I pleaded, and a mischievous smile tugged at his lips. We were both dirty and tired, but Alaric was hard as a rock, and as a tremor ran through his body, he pushed forward.
‘I will never make you regret this, Annika. You are the light to my darkness, and Iwillbe worthy of you.’
He sounded so sincere, my tormented fae whose spirit burned so bright it had surprised a goddess, but I didn’t need any reassurance. I was at peace. Darkness slowly seeped from my chest, a ring surrounding the sigils over my heart. The presence of a being so ancient and powerful merged with my soul as the goddess echoed my moans of pleasure at each thrust of Alaric’s hips.
I was drowning in ecstasy when her presence returned to my mind. I could feel her loneliness, her need to feel again. To remember how it felt to be a woman, and not simply enduring an eternity of guarding the fates of those who begged for help in their darkest hours.
I pitied her.
