My fingers tighten around the phone 149

Aria’s POV
I drifted through gossamer light, suspended between worlds as the Moon Goddess’s revelations crashed over me in
relentless waves. Each word she’d spoken carved itself into my consciousness, dragging me back to that fateful night with merciless precision. The memories unfolded before me—vivid, raw, inescapable—like a film I couldn’t turn away from no matter how my soul begged for reprieve.
The puzzle pieces of my fractured past clicked together with brutal clarity. Ethan and I had completed the mate bond that
night, but there was no force, no violation. His eyes had sought mine in the dim light, his voice rough with desire yet
gentle with concern as he’d asked for my consent. And I—or rather, the part of me that was Cassandra—had answered
with eager certainty. Cassandra had severed our connection completely, swallowing my consciousness.
The cost of her protection burned through me now—six precious years stolen from all of us. Six years where I couldn’t
recognize my true mate, where Lucas had grown without knowing his father. The injustice of it kindled a fury deep in my
chest, white-hot and consuming.
My gaze darted frantically around the shimmering space, searching for any trace of the Moon Goddess’s dual face or
Cassandra’s tawny form, but all I could see was Ethan. His presence dominated the memory, magnetic and inescapable,
drawing me deeper into the scene with each labored breath.
\—
His lips found mine again, warm and urgent, reigniting the kiss we’d barely paused. My back hit the mattress as he eased
me down, his touch careful but electric. “If you want me to stop, just say it,” he murmured, his voice a low rumble against
my skin.
I swallowed, my pulse racing. “Don’t stop.” The words tumbled out, shaky but certain, as his fingers brushed across my
bare chest. A soft moan escaped me, unbidden, and I felt my body respond before my mind could catch up.
“Goddamn, you’re beautiful,” he growled, his lips grazing my nipple. It was the same feral edge I’d heard in the hospital
that night, and it sent a shiver racing down my spine. My back arched instinctively, pressing myself closer to him, craving more of his touch. One hand cupped my breast, his thumb teasing the peak while his tongue traced slow, deliberate
circles around the other. I squirmed beneath him, a breathless laugh slipping out as pleasure sparked through me. He
grinned against my skin, a knowing glint in his eyes. “I want to taste every inch of you.”
His hand slid lower, rough fingertips trailing along my ribs, dipping across my stomach, and hooking into the waistband
of my sweatpants. My breath hitched as he tugged them down, inch by torturous inch, until I lay bare before him.
Exposed. Vulnerable. His gaze roamed over me—hungry yet tender—and I felt pinned beneath it, powerless and
emboldened all at once. Heat crept up my neck, and I moved to close my legs, my hands lifting to cover myself. But
Ethan caught my ankles gently, holding me open for him.
“You’re the most captivating woman I’ve ever seen,” he said, his voice a reverent whisper. His eyes drank me in,
committing every curve to memory. His calloused fingers glided up my legs, lingering behind my knees, sending tingles
racing through me. Then his hands gripped my thighs, pulling my hips to the edge of the bed, parting me wider. My
cheeks flushed, a dizzying mix of want and embarrassment flooding me. He smirked, leaning closer. “I love how you blush
for me.”
“Please,” I whimpered, my core clenching around nothing. The emptiness ached, a hollow I didn’t know how to fill. Could
he sense it? Would he know what I needed if I asked? My hands twisted in the sheets, desperate for something—
anything—to ease the fire building inside me.
Ethan pressed a kiss to the inside of my thigh, kneeling between my legs. My breath caught as I watched him—this
powerful, unyielding man—lower himself to me. His lips brushed higher, and when his teeth grazed the sensitive skin
where my thigh met my hip, a soft cry slipped from my throat. His fingers shifted, parting me gently, and he pulled back
just enough to take me in. The intensity of his stare made my heart stutter.
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“I already know you were made for me,” he said, his voice rolling over me like distant thunder. My body trembled,
anticipation coiling tight. His breath ghosted over my core, hot and teasing, and I could barely think through the need
clawing at me. “Please,” I begged, my voice breaking. “Touch me.”
1/2
He didn’t hesitate. His tongue swept over me, a low growl vibrating in his chest as he murmured how good I tasted. Each
flick against my sensitive nerves felt like a claim, pulling me under a tide of pleasure I couldn’t fight. I hovered on the
edge of something vast, something just out of reach. The sensation swirled inside me, spiraling higher but never
breaking, never enough to quench the blaze at my core. “More,” I gasped, clutching at the sheets. “Please, I need… I
need you to fill me.”
“I’ve got you, baby,” he rasped, his voice rough with desire. One long, heated finger slid inside me, spreading my arousal
as he worked me open. My hips bucked, and he groaned, pinning me down with his free hand. When his lips closed
around my clit and a second finger joined the first, I teetered on the brink. His tongue flicked once, twice—and then I
shattered, crashing back to earth with a cry that echoed in my ears.
“Fuck,” I breathed, my body trembling from the aftershocks.
“Fuck,” Ethan said that too, his tone raw and unguarded. I propped myself up on my elbows, meeting his gaze. His eyes
blazed with a need so fierce it stole my breath. He swallowed hard, his voice dropping to a ragged plea. “I need to be
inside you. Tell me to stop if it’s too much.”
I sat up fully, our faces level now. My fingers traced his lips, swollen from me, glistening with evidence of what we’d just
shared. I searched his eyes, hunting for answers to questions I couldn’t even name. My hand slid along his jaw, down his
throat, resting at his collarbone. His chest heaved beneath my touch, like he was holding his breath, waiting. I tugged his
shirt up and over his head, my hands shaking as I took him in—broad shoulders, sculpted muscle, a perfection that
ignited something primal in me.
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My finger brushed his navel, and his hands gripped my thighs, digging in just enough to make me gasp. Our eyes locked
again, and the hunger mirrored there matched my own. With steadier hands, I undid his belt, his jeans, letting them fall
away. My fingers hesitated at his waistband, my breath uneven. He caught my wrist with one hand, the other tilting my
chin up. “Baby—”
“Mate.” The word burst from me, but it wasn’t just mine. Cassandra’s voice wove through it, fierce and certain. I felt the
bond snap into place, a thread from his soul to mine, undeniable. “You’re my mate.”
“Yes,” he said, his thumb brushing my cheekbone, anchoring me to him. “But that doesn’t mean we have to do this now. We’ve found each other—we can take our time.”
I looped my arms around his neck, threading my fingers through the hair at his nape. His scent, his warmth, the steady
strength of him—it all wrapped around me like a promise. I didn’t want to wait. I didn’t need to. “I’m yours,” I whispered,
my lips brushing his. “Please.”
That was all it took. Something feral snapped in him, and he shifted me beneath him, positioning me where he wanted. He stood, shedding the last of his clothes, and grinned—a wolfish, hungry edge to it that made my pulse race. “Mine,” he
growled, climbing over me. “Goddamn, I love hearing you say that.”