Page 46 of Something Worth Keeping
“Perfect.” Cillian angled his hips, found the spot that made Julian scream. Once found, he hit it again and again. The shadows around Julian’s cock tightened, matching the pace of Cillian’s thrusts. “Look at you. Taking everything I give you.”
“More,” Julian demanded, coherent thought already dissolving. “Want…need…more.”
“I know what you need.” Cillian leaned down, careful not to crush him despite the feral urge to cover Juliancompletely. Their foreheads touched. “Can you feel it? The bond flowing through your whole body?”
Julian nodded, unable to form words. Cillian could feel it too - threads of light and shadow weaving between them, as permanent as DNA. The claiming would leave marks. Not visible ones, necessarily, but Julian would carry Cillian’s essence in his cells, his blood, his soul. And Cillian would burn with Julian’s brightness until the stars went cold.
“Come for me,” Cillian commanded, shadows, voice, and bond all amplifying the order. “Let me feel you.”
Julian shattered. His release hit like a supernova through their connection, pleasure so intense it bordered on pain. Cillian felt every second of it - the muscle contractions, the spike of endorphins, the way Julian’s mind went white withecstasy. It triggered his own climax that hit him with the force of a truck.
Cillian buried himself as deep as possible into his mate and let go. The shadows pulsed with each wave, marking Julian inside and out. The bond blazed between them, sealing them together permanently in a way nothing could break.
Julian’s voice gave out halfway through his second orgasm. He collapsed boneless against the bed, his chest heaving, skin flushed and marked with shadows that wouldn’t fade for hours.
Cillian carefully withdrew, immediately gathering Julian against his chest despite the sticky aftermath. His shadows gentled, morphing from possessive claim to protective cocoon. Julian’s heartbeat thundered against Cillian’s ribs - too fast, but already beginning tosynchronize with his own supernatural rhythm.
“Still breathing?” Cillian managed, voice hoarse.
“Barely.” Julian’s fingers traced lazy patterns on Cillian’s shoulder, the only movement he seemed capable of. “That was...”
“Too much?”
“Perfect.” Julian tilted his head up, exhausted but smiling. “Though I may need a few minutes before we do it again.”
Cillian laughed, not the rusty, restrained laugh of old, but full, rich, buoyant laughter, so foreign the sound startled him. When had he last laughed like that? “You’re insatiable.”
“You literally just claimed me with shadow tentacles. I think you’ve forfeited the right to call me insatiable.”
“Fair.” Cillian’s shadows retrieved a blanket, tucking it around them both. His human form was reasserting itself now that the immediate claiming frenzy had passed, but threads of darkness still connected them at multiple points. “How do you feel?”
Julian considered, ever analytical, even in the aftermath. “Different. Like there’s a frequency I can hear now that didn’t exist before. Is that the bond?”
“Yes. You’ll feel my emotions as echoes. Physical sensations sometimes, in moments of extremity.” Cillian pressed a kiss to Julian’s temple. “And I’ll feel yours. We’re linked now in a way that can’t be undone.”
“Good.” There was no hesitation at all. Julian shifted closer, tucking his head under Cillian’s chin. “I don’t want it undone.”
The simple acceptance pierced through Cillian more effectively than any weapon. He tightened his hold, shadows curling protectively. His beacon. His mate. His.
“The marks will fade by morning,” Cillian murmured against Julian’s hair. “The internal ones are permanent.”
“I know. I read the literature.” Julian yawned. “Thoroughly.”
“Of course you did.”
“Though the literature failed to mention the shadows would be quite so...” Julian trailed off, searching for the word.
“Enthusiastic?”
“Everywhere.”
“They’re part of me. They wanted you just as desperately.” Cillian ran his hand down Julian’s spine, satisfaction pooling warm in his chest. “Do youunderstand now? Why I’ve been holding back?”
“Yes. And I’m demanding you stop.” Julian’s voice was already drowsy, exhaustion finally catching up. “No more restraint. Not with me.”
“As you wish.”
Julian’s breathing evened out within minutes, the bond allowing Cillian to feel the exact moment he slipped into sleep. The trust implicit in that simple action - falling unconscious while still covered in a guardian’s shadows, claimed, marked, and completely vulnerable - caused something fierce and protective to surge through Cillian’s ancient soul.
