Invoking a God
I wake the next day to soft lips and rough whiskers trailing down my bare stomach.
For a brief moment, I leave my eyes closed and let myself forget where I am, but there is no forgetting who I am with.
I can sense him, sense his every movement. I can feel his very essence inside every cell and pore in my body.
Our connection is so strong now that it’s difficult for me to decipher my own thoughts from his, but something about him seems...
Different.
I suck in a sharp breath as a powerful, otherworldly energy surges around us until it’s buzzing and crackling in the air like a live electrical wire.
My skin prickles when I realize it’s coming from my mate, and it causes the hair on the nape of my neck to stand as if a predator is lurking nearby.
Focusing on my breathing, I attempt to sort through the garbled thoughts that begin assaulting my mind. The sudden urge to bolt is overwhelming.
“Mate,” my wolf growls. “Mate will not hurt us.”
Even as she tells me this, I am hyperaware of the massive hand that moves up my body to splay across the column of my throat. His thumb brushes back and forth over the sensitive mark his teeth left last night, making liquid heat pool between my thighs.
My mate’s mouth continues to travel lower, over one hip bone across to the other one, and I bite back a moan, lost somewhere between fear and anticipation.
I squeeze my eyes shut as if it would shake the strange feeling, but as soon as I do, two vivid crimson orbs light up the darkness behind my eyelids.
The hand around my throat tightens and my breaths turn erratic.
Then, a deep, gruff voice growls in my mind, silencing all other thoughts.
“Min kvinne. Min ástvinur. I have been asleep for so long.”
My heart pounds violently in my chest. The voice’s accent is so thick, so ancient that I know it isn’t Aeros.
It can’t be Aeros.
Can it?
I open my eyes and look down at him. His dark hair is draped over his face, shielding his sharp features from my view, but he seems oblivious to what’s going on inside my head.
“You tremble beneath my touch,” the harsh baritone rasps once again. “Do you fear me, mate?”
“Who...who are you?”
My question is answered with a dark chuckle that sounds more like a guttural growl. “Min ástvinur,” he breathes, and a keening cry slips past my lips as two thick fingers ease inside me, stretching me wide. “You know who I am.”
My brain struggles to put two and two together, but the answer I am searching for is right there for the taking. I just didn’t want to believe it could be true.
“Say it, min ástvinur. Say my name.”
Those probing fingers begin to move inside me, curling up to hit a spot that makes my eyes roll back, and I barely manage to choke out...
“Fenrir!”
My outburst causes Aeros's movements to still, and his eyes slowly drag up to meet mine. When he pushes his dark hair out of his face, there is no mistaking it.
My mate’s lips curve into a wicked smile as he removes his fingers from me.
I watch through half-lidded eyes as he brings them to his mouth, humming deep in his throat as he sucks them clean.
“For an eternity I have longed for your taste,” he rasps. “I have yearned for your touch. You are mine, min ástvinur."
A possessive growl rumbles in his chest before he lowers his head between my legs, and after one long, slow swipe of his tongue, he sinks his teeth into the soft, wet flesh.
I scream, my back arching off the bed as strong spasms lash through my body. The orgasm shakes me to the core, and in one fluid movement, he removes his teeth and flips me over onto my stomach. Strong hands grasp my hips before lifting my ass high into the air, and my pulse quickens as I feel his gaze rove over my backside.
“Så våt for meg, min ástvinur,” he groans as he begins to caress my wet slit. His free hand settles on the back of my neck, pushing my upper body into the bed.
His movements are possessive, dominating, and fuck me, but I like it. I really like it.
I moan as his hard length nudges against my entrance, and I try to rock backward to take him inside me, but he holds me completely still.
My pulse thunders so loudly in my ears, I barely register the knock at the door. My mate growls furiously, and cold air rushes over my bottom as he climbs off the bed.
The haze of desire dissipates quickly as I realize this could turn ugly fast. Whoever is behind that door has no idea who is currently inhabiting this room.
“No! Wait!” I yell, and he turns back to look at me. “Bring Aeros back. Now.”
He snarls before stalking back over to me. My breath hitches as his hand threads through my hair before his grasp tightens, pulling my head back so that I’m looking up at him.
Hungry, ethereal eyes stare back at me for only a moment before his mouth descends onto mine. The kiss is nothing like Aeros’s, gentle and sweet. No, this kiss is all teeth and tongue. He completely dominates my mouth with punishing abandon.
When he finally pulls away, he growls again, his muscles flexing beneath his skin. “I will go. For now. But know this, little one, I will always be just beneath the surface, and I will take what is mine.”
There is a sudden shift in the air before Aeros’s eyes dim back to their normal state.
Swallowing the knot in my throat, I reach for him. “Aeros?”
He gives me a gentle smile before taking my hand and bringing it to his lips. “Yes, my love?”
Another knock, louder this time, sounds at the door. Aeros cocks his head to the side quizzically before wrapping a blanket around the lower half of his body.
When he answers the door, I instantly recognize Inga’s voice, and Aeros only grunts in response to whatever she is saying before he moves to let her inside. A few other females pile in behind her and begin draining the large basin before filling it with clean, steaming water again.
“Thought you might need another bath,” Inga smiles as she throws me a wink. My cheeks heat at her insinuation, but she only gives me another small smile before returning her attention to Aeros.
If you only knew.
“King Ulfhednar, Alpha Rowan has requested your presence. He is very eager to speak with you. The feast begins in two hours' time."
My mate nods before taking a stack of clothes from her hands.
Inga gives me one last smile before she and the other females depart, and I climb out of bed before padding over to Aeros. “Are you sure you are ready for this? Everything is moving so quickly. I...I am worried about you.”
Lowering his head, he kisses me slowly, letting his soft tongue lazily glide over mine. After a few moments, he pulls back and leans his forehead against my own. “I am ready. More than ready. As long as you are by my side, I will always be ready for anything.”
He gathers me to his chest before lifting me in his arms. He's silent as he carries me to the basin before easing into the warm water. His lips press against his mark on my throat, and I lean my head back against his firm chest.
I sigh contentedly, but I can't deny I am a little unnerved by the events that unfolded earlier.
Even now as I close my eyes, those ravenous, crimson orbs burn holes in my mind, a reminder of the beast that lies in wait just beneath the surface.
