Her lip tremors, eyelashes kissed with rain, but her gaze is fully on me. “Farron, darling,” she whispers, “I will always be yours. Take me now. Take me forever.”
With her permission, I give myself to the bond. I push her to the ground and pull off her skirt and undergarments in one swift motion. Stars, she looks gorgeous, her pale, soft body squirming in the mud. Rain pounds my back as I crawl over her, but I don’t care. There’s a wildness in us; the press of the earth, crisp scent of the trees, and the rain only heightens this feeling of aliveness. Alive in a way I’ve never been before.
Our bodies tangle together. Closer, closer, I crave her skin on mine, my mouth aching for her lips, her throat, her collarbone, her breasts. Everything all at once. She giggles as I move her so she’s on top of me, then laughs harder, noticing she’s painted in muddy handprints. Gods, I love her laugh, but I need her mouth, and I take it.
“Farron,” she murmurs against my lips. “Mine. Mine.”
We roll again, and I pin her beneath me, an unconscious growl erupting as my length presses against her. Deep within my heart, I know I will spend every moment of her life discovering her body, finding new ways to worship her.
But I’ve waited too long already. I must claim her.
She peers up at me through her lashes, a look both sensual and intimate. A dare and a need all at once. I position myself at her entrance and inhale.
There is a deep and ancient knowing in my chest. When we do this, nothing will ever be the same. All the walls I’ve built to shelter myself will tear down. I will never just be Farron anymore.
I will be hers. Forever.
I will be yours. Forever. Her soft voice drifts into my mind. In her eyes, I see the weavings of the cosmos, the flickered breaking of a star that knew we would one day be reunited.
I sheathe myself within her.
69
Rosalina
A cry escapes my lips as my mate fills me: a sound of pleasure, of completion, of letting in his divine love.
Farron cradles my head, and I loop my arms around his neck to tether myself to the earth.
The space between us feels alight, our breath and gazes weaving together.
He thrusts.
Tears stream down my face as he moves inside me. There’s a strange sense of beginning. It’s the first time I’ve ever been with Farron like this, but also the first time I’ve ever made love. Nothing in my past could compare.
His pace increases, and I lose myself to the wildness. He’s loving me and fucking me all at once. We’re both two feral creatures in the mud, and one intertwined being that is the mud, and the rain, and the canopy of maple leaves. I see his realm as he sees it: images of golden hills and bursting fields painting the edges of my vision which is filled with him. His beautiful face, gasping in bliss.
My mate.
I arch my back, his body fitting so perfectly with mine, pain and pleasure entwining from the mass of his manhood. My legs wrap around his hips, and I pull him harder into me, wishing I could dissolve within his skin.
With each thrust, a ferocity steals his gaze, his pupils blown. His pace increases; my fingernails scrape down his spine as growing heat spreads over my body. “Fare—”
He slams to the hilt, his voice now a throaty roar. Farron may be a prince, but he fucks me like a beast.
The invisible tie between us sings, and I claw at his neck to bring him down to my lips. “Kiss me,” I beg.
I know by the flash of surrender in his eyes, this is our moment. This is where we descend into the divine.
My body erupts with release as he explodes within me. A pure, unbridled ecstasy floods my heart. Words spark in my mind amidst the bursting color and beauty of his face: Starlight igniting your body, having the empty part of your heart filled.
That’s what’s happening and more, so much more, as if the sparkling energy of the cosmos flows through my veins. My soul has been reaching out to Farron, from the moment I first found him in the dungeon. How my body knew how to find him when I didn’t have the words to understand. And he’s always been reaching back.
Now, the rest of the world melts away in a distant, insignificant blur, leaving only the pulsing intensity of our bond. A love that ignited the darkest corners of ourselves.
Farron collapses on top of me. I revel in the steady beat of his heart against mine.
“The rain has stopped,” I murmur as I slowly drift my hands through his hair, over the sharp point of his ear.
He rolls to the side, staring up at the tree canopy. I mimic him, marveling that the dark clouds have passed so quickly. Golden light shivers through the trees, making their wet leaves glimmer.
“Rosalina,” he murmurs and rubs his chest.
“Farron,” I reply and lie on my side so I can hold his hand. “I love you.”
He blinks at me.
The words come out of me in an unhurried breath. “I love you in the starlight way.”
The softest smile pulls at the corners of his lips. “I love you in the starlight way.”
“And I’m honored to be your mate.”
Something shifts on his face and he sits up. “Rosie…” He staggers to his feet, steps unbalanced.
“Are you okay?”
A beam of orange-gold bursts through the trees, painting his skin in brilliant light. He turns to look at me before his body shines with thousands of iridescent sparkles.
“Farron!”
His back arches and celestial light streams from all around him. Then with a great howl, the silhouette of a wolf shines behind him before dissipating like motes of dust in a sunbeam.
Farron falls to the ground, and I scramble over. “Farron?”
He lifts his head, and his auburn hair falls away from his face. I gasp.
His eyes sparkle with newfound joy, and his skin seems to gleam as if lit from within.
“Rosalina,” he says and cups my face.
Through the bond, I feel our shared realization.
Farron’s curse has been broken.
70
Rosalina
Farron and I walk through the forest hand in hand. I can’t help sneaking glances up at him; he’s always been handsome, but there’s a luminance to him that wasn’t there before. A tinge of nervousness flickers in my belly, and Farron chuckles to himself.
Thankfully, I brought two extra sets of clothes in my pack, so I didn’t have to put on my soaked outfit. We’re both dressed in simple traveler’s attire—trousers, long tunics, and Autumn cloaks—but he’s never looked more princely.
My body hums as we walk, a satisfied ache pulsing between my legs. So that’s what sex is supposed to be like. I’ll have to drink that tea Marigold told me about.
Other issues press on my mind. I have to ask Farron if he will return to Coppershire to confront his mother, his people. I informed him of what happened while he was lost in his beast, and that Dayton is safe, but we need to free the other princes.
“Watch out.” Farron pushes me back as we step out of the treeline. The edge of the forest shines with ice, and the hills are covered in blue frost. Tendrils leach down, weaving their way out of the woods like sickly veins.
“It’s all such a mess,” Farron whispers. “The frost is so close to Coppershire now. Kel, Dayton, and Ez are imprisoned by my own realm. My people are on the brink of war. And my mother believes me to be nothing more than a monster.” He shakes his head. “What can we do against such obstacles?”
I squeeze his hand three times. “Unite. Coppershire needs their High Prince.”
Farron opens his mouth to respond when a rumble shakes the ground. The sound of muffled shouts and commands carry over the wind, and a flock of birds screeches up into the sky.
We exchange a look and run up the crest of the hill. Farron lies flat and pulls me down beside him. I gasp, fear thundering through me.
A war camp spreads out on the chrysanthemum field beside the old ruins, a teeming mass of tents and soldiers. My heart sinks at the sight of the telltale blue fabric of their shelters and armor. “These are Winter troops,” I say.
“Dissenters, by the looks of it,” Farron whispers. “They bear no sigil nor flag.”