Vows & Ruins (The Legends of Thezmarr, #2)

by Helen Scheuerer

Wilder was so close that she could feel the tremor of restraint that gripped his body. ‘Everything,’ he said at last, and then he kissed her.

He’d all but told Althea Zoltaire that he loved her, that she, the lost heir of Delmira, the living storm, owned him mind, body and broken soul. That his cold, weary heart was hers, if she would have it.

Gods, he could feel the tempest building in her, his own unique magic answering its call with power of its own. There was no end to the wanting of her, the loving her. It was in his blood, etched in his bones, and it burned through him like wildfire.

Wilder swept her up in his arms, kicking the doors closed behind them and taking her straight to the bed. A bed. As much as Wilder had loved the Bloodwoods, the cave and the mirror in the bathing chamber, he had longed to take her properly in a bed, as he might do if they were another couple, if they were anyone other than who they truly were.

She wore nothing underneath. Wilder’s heart skipped. Gods, she was perfect. He traced the red marks across her ribs from the bodice. He kissed the scar where she’d been stabbed as a shieldbearer. But that was where his restraint ended.

Wilder groaned at the feel of her beneath his touch as he pushed her back towards the bed while she fumbled at his belt, and then, the buttons of his pants. He felt as if he’d been rock hard for hours – days, even; weeks. He wanted her always. Gods, had she no idea what she did to him? His erection was damn near painful.

Her legs hit the edge of the mattress and she fell backward, taking him with her. He’d follow her anywhere.

Wilder gripped her hips, tilting them towards him, lining himself up to slide home, but not before he lifted her legs high, so that the backs of her thighs pressed against his torso, and her knees hooked over his shoulders. Thea’s eyes went wide. Only then did he push inside her, sliding in and in, watching as her mouth parted in a shocked cry of pleasure. He waited a beat for her to adjust to the size of him, knowing that from this angle he was deeper than he’d been before — Thea jerked her hips against him, demanding more.

A slow, dark smile curved his lips. ‘Use your words, Princess,’ he said. ‘What do you want?’ Thea gave an impatient cry. ‘Harder,’ she panted. ‘Faster. Rougher.’ Wilder gripped her thighs, hard enough to bruise. ‘I can give you that,’ he

Thea’s moans echoed off the walls, and it was all Wilder could do to keep the feral beast within him at bay as he fucked her, her feet by his ears, his own pleasure building and building with every thrust. He drank in the sight of her breasts bouncing, of the hand that drifted south, down her body to her clit. He’d never seen anything so beautiful, so sensual, as watching Thea touch herself while he pumped hard inside her, over and over.

He craved this – her – the heat of her driving him to a new place of madness, making him lightheaded with ecstasy. When he was on the verge of losing it, he flipped her on her side and fucked her from behind, drawing ragged gasps from her. The decadent sounds she made vibrated down his cock and through his balls, coaxing his own moans of pleasure from the back of his throat, and driving those carnal, savage instincts within.

‘Are you going to come for me, Thea?’ He hardly recognised the low rumble of his own voice, darkened with need. He grabbed her by the inner thigh and hooked her leg back over his, spreading her wide, his fingers finding her clit, pressing down. With a shout, Thea bucked at the contact and spots swam in his vision as he sank even deeper inside her. She rocked against him, meeting every one of his punishing thrusts. He kissed her shoulder, scraping his teeth along her skin. ‘Wilder, I’m going to —’ She cried out amid the haze of lust, clenching around him as he fucked her through her climax, drawing out every last drop of pleasure, circling her clit until she was quaking beneath his touch. ‘I’ve got you,’ he whispered into her hair, holding her tight to his chest as a sob escaped her.

swelled at the base of his spine and in his balls as she rode him, dragging the pleasure from him just as he had with her. A dark fever of desire took hold of him then, and he had to move, had to claim her with everything he had.

cried out as her back hit the cold surface, and he trapped her there, thrusting into her wet heat as her fingers tangled in his hair and his mouth closed over hers. ‘Thea…’ he murmured against her lips, hoping he could capture everything he meant with her name alone. ‘Let go, Wilder,’ she whispered, dragging her teeth up the column of his throat. ‘Let go.’ And so Wilder did. He erupted, ramming into her with the force of his climax. Release tore through him, wave after wave, his body shuddering beneath hers, completely out of control, every extremity tingling in the aftermath.

Wilder had dreamt about what it would be like to wake up next to Thea, to fuck her all night and then share a bed with her properly, to have her in his arms upon waking. He had pictured the joy and peace that would come with it. And it was everything he’d imagined it to be. More. So he allowed himself to savour the moment and the sleepy quiet of the morning to breathe her in, to memorise how she felt pressed against him and how she fit him so perfectly. He knew he couldn’t have it forever, so he had to make it count.

Wilder kissed the soft spot between Thea’s neck and shoulder, unable to quite believe he was able to do such an intimate thing, that it came so naturally. He revelled in the luxury of waking her slowly, pride surging in his chest as she sought him out, even in sleep.

He nearly bucked off the bed as the warm, wet heat of her lips closed over his cock. Her tongue circled his crown, and the moan that finally escaped him was deep and primal and loud. He didn’t give a fuck who heard him. Threading his fingers through her hair, he watched as she swallowed him down. ‘Fuck…’ he murmured, his voice hoarse with lust, his eyes almost rolling into the back of his head.

The strangled cry of horror from Kipp might have been funny were the situation not so completely and utterly embarrassing. ‘Get the fuck out,’ Wilder barked, a flush creeping up his neck.

It sang to her, and coaxed her magic to the surface, a strange, primitive power, as old as time itself.

What the fuck, Hawthorne?’ ‘I didn’t mean for you to get involved…’ ‘Well, I am now. At least tell me I’m on the right side of this.’ Wilder braced himself. ‘I don’t know yet. All I know is that I’m trying to keep Thea safe, trying to get her ready for the Great Rite. We need her.’ Torj shook his head in disbelief. ‘You’re mad. Raving fucking mad.’ ‘Very possibly.’

Instead, he stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close for all the world to see. For as long as she’d have him, Althea Zoltaire was his. And he no longer cared who knew it. Maybe she should know it too.

Tell her how you feel, the voice in his head demanded as he stared into those stormy eyes. Say the words. But the words lodged in his throat, refusing to form on his tongue. If he told her, he’d lose her, just like everyone else. So instead, Wilder leant down, tucked a strand of bronze hair behind her ear and kissed her. He kissed her soundly, thoroughly, as though with each brush of his lips, he could pour those words into her and she’d know.

Wilder placed a hand on her knee, squeezing gently. Every one of them noticed. The small gesture clearly banished any notion of something casual between them. But Wilder didn’t remove his hand, and he sagged a little in relief as Thea covered it with her own.

Wilder himself knew of his torment. That he had just found Thea after all this time, only to learn that he would not have her for long, that she was bound by fate, on top of all else that burdened her.

She burned for him, her whole body alight with desire and need and something far deeper. A feeling she wasn’t ready to acknowledge. All she would acknowledge was that doing this with him was unlike anything else, and that she felt tethered to him beyond just their bodies.

‘Tell me you feel it too,’ he growled, pushing into her.

‘I need to hear you say it,’ he said, his teeth closing over her nipple.

‘I feel it,’ she panted, her heart seizing. ‘I feel everything with you.’

Completely and utterly joined. It wasn’t pleasure alone that roared in her veins, but her magic too. It answered him like it answered the call of a storm. She felt him not only inside her body, but inside her soul, inside the very fibre of her being, coursing through her like an unbroken tempest. Power met power and bound together, two threads entwining, forging something new, something stronger.

Thea watched him from where she still lay on the rug. If she didn’t know any better, she’d say he was fussing. He dipped his elbow into the water and hissed at the heat, adding a pail of cold water into the mix. He also set up a small table beside the tub, where he placed a tray of bread and cheese, and a goblet of wine for each of them. Wilder Hawthorne was definitely fussing. Over her.

‘You won’t lose me, not until fate itself comes to claim me.’ She shifted her hips, angling herself at the tip of his cock. ‘I promise you that, Warsword.’

Noting the Warsword’s movement, Kipp exchanged a glance with Cal. ‘That’s still taking some getting used to.’ Torj snorted. ‘I thought walking in on them mid-fuck might have shocked it out of you already.’ Thea groaned, reaching for the flask she knew Wilder kept in his pocket. ‘It wasn’t —’

He rubbed his sternum, as though the movement might ease the ache there. It didn’t. And so he simply rode on, for that was all he had ever done in the face of such pain.

It doesn’t fucking matter if you’re a shieldbearer, a Guardian, a fucking storm wielder or a Warsword. You cannot keep doing this. I won’t allow it.’ ‘You won’t allow it?’ Her first words to him were as sharp as a blade. ‘You won’t allow it?’

‘No,’ he ground out. ‘I won’t allow it.’ She took a step towards him, closing what little space remained between them, staring up at him with fire in her gaze. ‘Why?’ she snarled.

‘Because I fucking love you,’ he said.

You know I do.’ He pressed the flat of his palm to her chest gently. ‘You feel it, here.’ She did. In her heart, in her bones, she felt it.

When I was younger I didn’t know what it was to look at a woman and want to fall to my knees,’ he told her. ‘When I was younger I didn’t know a woman could make me feel powerful and powerless in the same breath. When I was younger, I didn’t know a woman could bring me back from the darkness.’ Thea exhaled shakily. ‘A woman can do all of that?’ ‘Not any woman. There is only one. There has only ever been one.’ And then Wilder kissed her, fiercely this time.

He looked like a war god, still smeared with dirt and blood, his wet muscles gleaming as he reached for her again. Thea bit her lip, watching his cock bob as he moved towards her. She needed to feel it inside her. She needed him. It was impossible not to gravitate towards him, those silver eyes hooded with desire, that sculpted body glistening with water.

What about Tver? What about the —’ ‘Fuck everything else. Nothing else exists but us in this moment, Thea,’ he said. ‘And I mean to have you now, here in this spring. For as long as I can.’

I need you,’ she told him breathlessly. ‘You have me,’ he said, his voice raw. ‘You’ve always had me.’ She reached for him, lining up the crown of his cock to her entrance. ‘You’re mine?’ she asked. He tensed as she sank down onto him, his eyes glazed not just with desire, but with deep, unending love. ‘Beyond reason.’ ‘Then I’m yours.’

But you have me all the same…’ His throat bobbed, and he stilled them. ‘What are you saying, Thea?’ Emotion threatened to overwhelm her, to drown out the words she had wanted to say for weeks, the words she had wanted to echo back to him the second he’d said them to her. ‘I’m saying I love you, too,’ she told him, kissing him roughly. Wilder’s body shuddered around her – and then, he became a man unleashed.

So come undone.’ ‘Not without you,’ he groaned, replacing her fingers at her clit with his own, as though he couldn’t stand the thought of not touching her himself. ‘Never without you.’ At the first brush of his fingers against her centre, Thea’s vision went white.

‘I knew you’d be the end of me, Althea Zoltaire,’ he murmured. ‘If this is the end, is it so bad?’ she asked, bringing his mouth to hers in a tender, gentler kiss. ‘No.’ He smiled against her lips. ‘It’s not bad at all.’

Wilder’s breath caught in his throat at the sight of Thea. She was his. And he was hers.

Night had fallen by the time Thea joined him in his quarters, and the smile she offered when she met his gaze from across the room had his knees buckling. Never in all of his life had he imagined someone would look at him the way she looked at him now. He’d do it all again, every wretched second of his existence, to wind up right here, with her.

She needed his cock inside her. Needed to feel the raw, hungry power of him slamming into her. With a whimper, she pressed back against him, her entrance already slick. ‘Holy gods, Thea…’ he muttered, his tip brushing against the need he found there.

Wilder moaned with her, driving himself into her as though it would never be enough. His hand closed over hers, guiding her fingers across her clit, increasing their pace. ‘Gods, I love you,’ he murmured desperately into the damp crook of her neck, strumming her mercilessly. ‘This thing between us is endless. Nothing will stop me loving you.’

Panting and raw with emotion, they held each other while they waited for the call of battle.

Now was the time for heroic words and rallying cries. He fucking hated war speeches. But they were not for him, but for the men, to steel them against the terror that threatened to loosen their bladders and see them flee.