Page 61 of Mane Attraction
“Forever and always,” he echoed, pulling her into his arms for another kiss that tasted like promises and pink ocean spray and the beginning of their happily ever after.
Lev broke the kiss with a gentle finality, his deep blue eyes holding a new intensity that shimmered with the heat of the suns. He drew her up from the sand where they knelt, his grip on her hands firm and sure.
“Come with me,” he said, his voice a low command, sparking a fresh wave of anticipation in her core.
He didn’t wait for a reply. He simply turned and led her further down the pink shoreline, their footprints a trail of mingled sand behind them. Xelene’s mind still spun from the proposal—the weight of his mother’s ring on her finger, the echo of a legacy she now carried, and the overwhelming certainty that this was where her story truly began. She followed, her hand locked in his, her heart a drumbeat matching the rhythm of the waves.
They rounded a natural curve of rock, and the landscape opened to reveal a secluded paradise. A natural hot spring nestled against a smooth stone outcrop, its crystal-clear water steaming gently under the dual sunlight. The air smelled of minerals and salt, and the privacy was absolute.
“My secret place,” Lev murmured, drawing her close again. His arms encircled her waist, pulling her flush against the hard planes of his body. “No one ever comes here. It’s just for us now.”
Then he kissed her again, and this time it was different. Gone was the tender reverence of the proposal; this kiss was purepossession. His mouth claimed hers with a hungry urgency that ignited every nerve in her body. Through the mate bond, she felt his desire roar—a raw, primal need that flooded her senses and made her own hunger surge back to meet it. The feedback loop of sensation was instantaneous, intensifying until the kiss was a live wire, sparking and burning. She felt like they might combust from the sheer voltage of it.
He broke away just as she thought she might. His hands moved to the straps of her yellow sundress. “I want to see you,” he said, his voice rough with need.
He peeled the dress from her shoulders, letting the soft fabric fall to the sand. His fingers traced the line of her collarbone, then slipped lower to hook into the waistband of her panties. He drew them down slowly, his gaze a physical caress as he revealed her completely. Xelene stood naked under the twin suns, the warm air kissing her skin. A wave of liberation swept through her—she felt cherished, yes, but also utterly free. This was hers. This moment, this man, this life.
Her own hands rose, answering his challenge. She reached for his simple t-shirt, pulling it over his head with a decisive tug. His chest was a stunning landscape of muscle and strength, sun-kissed and scarred from battle, a testament to the warrior he was. Then her fingers worked the button of his khaki shorts and pushed them down along with his boxers. He stood before her, gloriously bare with his arousal thick and throbbing, a blatant declaration of his want for her.
He’s all mine,the thought crashed through her with a joy so fierce it threatened to overflow her heart.Forever.
“Let’s get into the water,” he instructed, his alpha authority wrapping around her like a warm cloak as he guided her toward the spring’s edge.
The first touch of the heated water was a revelation. It enveloped her legs, then her hips as she stepped fully into thepool, its mineral-rich warmth seeping into her muscles and bones. Any residual tension—the lingering ghosts of Crispin’s attack, the strain of the trial, the weight of her old life—dissolved in the steam. This felt like a baptism, a renewal. The past was washed away in this private, sacred water, leaving only the clear promise of the future they would build, side by side.
He followed her into the spring, the water rippling around his powerful form. He pulled her close again, and his mouth found hers once more. This kiss was all-consuming. Their tongues danced, growing tired after several minutes, yet unwilling to stop. The desire between them wasn’t diminishing; it was a fire that grew hotter with every day and every touch.
She soon broke the kiss and pushed him back against the smooth stone side of the spring. She reached down, her fingers tracing the line of his hip until she found his hard cock under the water. Her hand closed around his impressive length, guiding him to her entrance.
“I need you inside me,” she said, the words a raw admission.
She slowly sank down onto him, taking all of him inch by exquisite inch. The sensation, even after countless joinings over the past two weeks, still made her gasp. The perfect fit, the overwhelming fullness, the rightness of it—it was a pleasure that reinvented itself every time.
She’d thought, in her old logical way, that perhaps they might take a day off, that the frequency might become mundane. But the mate bond, and the man it bound her to, had made her insatiable. Her hunger for him was a constant, low hum in her blood, and it sang in triumph as he filled her completely.
Once he was fully seated within her, stretched and filled to the brim with that overwhelming rightness, she began to move. He met her rhythm, thrusting upward in a counterpoint that was instinctual and perfect. They started slow, a deliberate drawing out of pleasure, savoring the intensity of the mate bond singingbetween them. She felt every nuance of his enjoyment mirrored in her own nerves, a profound depth of shared sensation.
But as her pleasure began to coil tighter, a spring winding toward release, she felt his own building through the bond in a synchronous climb. Her movements gained intensity, a faster, more urgent chase toward the peak. His thrusts answered hers, becoming harder, deeper, and faster. This primal rhythm was something she craved—it made the mate bond not just sing but scream in a chorus of pure ecstasy.
Her climax broke over her like a wave from the pink ocean itself. It was powerful, all-consuming, rocking her body with a force that stole her voice and then gave it back as a scream of pure pleasure. Her body convulsed, her inner walls clenching around him in rhythmic pulses.
Her orgasm triggered his through the amplified bond. He pulsed deep inside her, his release hot and claiming as his own climax shuddered through his powerful frame. He pulled her tighter against him, burying his face in the curve of her neck as the aftershocks of their joining washed through them, leaving them trembling and fused in the steaming water.
As the world slowly settled back into focus, Xelene lifted her head from his shoulder. She looked into his eyes, seeing his love and their beautiful future reflected in their blue depths.
“I can’t wait for our love story to unfold,” she whispered, her voice husky with emotion.
Lev’s smile was a slow, triumphant curve. “Oh, my queen,” he said, his thumb brushing her cheek. “It’s just the beginning, and it will be the love story most talked about for generations.”
XELENE
Xelene stood before the ornate mirror in what had once been her guest suite, though calling it that now felt almost absurd. Six weeks ago, she’d arrived on Nova Aurora as Lev’s reputation consultant, armed with nothing but professional ambition and a portfolio of crisis management strategies. Now, she was about to become his queen.
The ivory silk gown that embraced her curves was a masterpiece of Nova Auroran craftsmanship—hand-stitched with golden thread that caught the light of the twin suns streaming through the windows. The bodice hugged her torso with intricate beadwork that seemed to shimmer with every breath, while the flowing skirt pooled around her feet like liquid starlight. It was everything she’d never dared to dream of wearing, yet it felt so overwhelming right.
“Hold still, dear,” Margaret Warren murmured, her fingers working deftly at the corset laces. “We need to get this just right.”
Xelene’s mother had been crying intermittently for the past hour, tears of pure joy that she didn’t bother to hide. The transformation in their relationship since Xelene had chosen to stay on Nova Aurora was remarkable—gone was the politedistance that had characterized their interactions for years, replaced by a warmth that felt genuine and unforced.
