He places his fists on either side of me before he lowly growls, "Say it again, Nefret."

"Take me," And with that, all the walls finally came down until it was only me and him. He holds my hips at place as the tip of his cock rubs against my clit. The sensation caused by it has me clutching the duvet hard enough to tear it apart.

My insides are screaming by now. His heated gaze skims all over me before he finally enters me with a gentle thrust. A tortured moan escapes my lips as I am filled more and more by him. My body is flushed to have him in. My walls wrap around his manhood, welcoming all the sensations that it brings with it.

He starts to thrust inside me deeper and faster while I hold on to him. I try to bring him down against my body but he takes my hands and pins them above my head before he starts to ravish me with his mouth. He seemed so dominating and controlling. I give into his unsaid demands knowing that I'll take everything I want from him later. His hungry mouth tastes each inch of my skin as he thrusts into me deeper and harder. My moans serve as a fuel to his desires, making the flames of our love rage higher and higher.

I like how his hard muscles flex as he thrusts inside me. His bleeding black eyes are marking me with their possessive gaze as he continues to watch me. It's hard to believe that we are finally together. I know that he is feeling the same because the urgency and desperation with which his fingers dig into my skin doesn't go unnoticed by me.

I reach my climax before he does, filling my insides with his seed. "Still Mine," he growls before his lips crash on mine and we kiss passionately for the millionth time tonight. His hold loosens on me before I decide it's my time.

I take him by surprise as I flip him on the bed beside me. In the next moment, he is lying flat on the bed while I am over him. I lick my lips before my canines start to elongate. He watches me silently as I lean down and attack his neck.

Meanwhile, I feel him enter me again. This time I take him in all the ways I wanted him. He seems to be getting more and more turned on by my actions. I know that he is impatient for his turn again because when I am about to cum again, he holds my hips steadily before he thrusts very deep inside me. I feel like I am on the peak of the mountain of pleasure.

I cry out in pleasure before I am being flipped over and he is over me again. We want more of each other. Our kisses don't seem to be enough yet.

"I love you," My mouth speaks on its own before everything stops. Only our harsh breaths could be heard as we look at each other. Those three words sound so new and powerful. It seems like they have another meaning to themselves. It grows so silent that for a moment, I could believe that time has stopped and the waves in the sea have turned concrete. Nothing exists except him and me.

"I love you too," the next thing I know is that we are sinking our canines into each other's neck. I dig deep into his flesh, tasting his blood before pulling back. Suddenly, I am pushed back before Vesta is taking over me. She is buzzing with excitement and her needy thoughts fill my mind completely. I still want to be with him and never let him go but something in me tells me that we'll be there longer than forever so I let myself drown in unconsciousness for this moment, knowing that when I come back, he'll still be there.

Always.

~

I wake up to the morning sunshine entering the bedroom through the huge window. It seems exceptionally sunny outside today. I feel him behind me right away. His warm body and low snores accompanied by the sparks has my stomach filled with butterflies. One of his arms is draped over me protectively and also as if to make sure that I don't leave him again.

He is instantly awake when I try to move slightly. "Where are you going?" He questions urgently behind me. His voice is heavy and husky due to sleep. It sounds like the first note played on a musical instrument which had never been played in a long time. The strings are rusted but still, they manage to remind one of the melodies it could produce. I find myself getting turned on by it.

"Nowhere," He is turning me around to face him when I take time to answer. His silver eyes regard me possessively as he holds me close to his arms before we are kissing again. I could feel him getting hard against my stomach again. The way he is rubbing himself against me gives away that he wants me right now but I push him back unwantedly this time.

"No!" I squeal when I feel him rubbing his manhood against my juncture between my legs. He gives me a tortured look when I give him the clear signs that I don't want him now but secretly I want to spend the rest of the day with him in the bed.

"We need to talk, Arles," I tell him as I try to move away but he is hell-bent on not letting me go without having me once more. "We can do it after I have you," His smooth, husky voice sounds so seductive and enchanting when he speaks close to my ear. I almost give in the temptations but I press my lips thin and shake my head at him as I sit up while he is still laying on the bed, looking at me. I can't help but admire him.

He looks so beautiful and attractive, laying on the bed, surrounded by the sheets. His hard muscles peak from underneath the duvet. When the sunlight falls on him, I am reminded again that he is a God who's mine. He must have sensed my feelings through the bond because he smirks lightly before he nears me. He seems very playful this morning.

I can sense his feelings through the bond too. I am finding it hard not to flush in front of him due to the thoughts he is having about me.

"I know you want me too. Let's do it," He says huskily but this time I shake my head again. It's not the time to get distracted.

"What happened last night?" I speak instead and suddenly, he is out of his playful mood. He gives me a hard look before he drops backs on the bed and stares at the ceiling.

"You defeated Ishtar and stripped her off her powers. It broke the curse and..." he looks at me as he completes the sentence, "the bond," I know that he is angry about the latter part. I can feel it in bond and something in me tells me that we'd be discussing it later. I sit still and listen to him as he continues, "You got hurt but I was there to take you out at the right time."

"And?" I croak after silence falls between us.

"And I discovered that I still love you and want you more than before," He is suddenly over me, attacking me with his mouth. "Ah... Arles," I protest when he is all over me.

"I promise I won't take long," He whispers against my ear but we end up being in the bed for a couple of hours more. I am raw and sore between my legs by the time we are done. He finally lets me go before he gets up for a shower and to get dressed for the day while I rest.

He places a kiss on my forehead before he leaves. I feel exhaustion take over me as soon as he leaves. I sleep throughout the morning before I wake up in the afternoon and take a shower. His scent is so strong on me; it still manages to stay after I shower.

He comes to check on me soon after I am dressed. He tells me that he has planned a grand ceremony in a week to celebrate a new beginning of Zaeris after the upliftment of the curse. I know that everything doesn't end here. There are new responsibilities and matters in hand to be looked at. He'll be busier than before but I'll be there to help him in work as I'll soon exercise my power as queen again.

He soon leaves before I am visited by Archander. He looks at me amusedly before I am being accompanied to the garden by him.

"Now the curse is gone, they can plant trees here and make this place not look like a graveyard." I comment but Archander simply shakes his head beside me before he speaks gazing in the distance, "The curse may be gone but it has its own after-effects."

"Like what?" I ask curiously. I never thought about this. I look up at him to find him in a daze but he answers anyway.

"The soil here is still poisonous. The dead will still be dead. What's lost is lost forever." Suddenly, the realization dawns upon me. Even if the curse is lifted, I cannot bring the dead back. I cannot bring all the females back. Some people will never have their mates back. Somethings can't be mended.

The thing with the soil can be fixed but it will take years and years for it to become fertile again and produce life out of it. The truth struck me so hard at this moment. I thought that lifting the curse will be the end of everything but turns out, everything starts from here.

Suddenly, someone clears their throat behind us. Both of us snap back out of our daze before we turn back and are faced with a stern and hard face which belongs to Lyco Suilius. He stands tall above both of us. His wide physic reminds me of the trunk of a banyan tree.

"I want to have a word with your highness," He speaks to Archander but his harsh, stormy eyes are trained on me. Archander nods before he walks away.

"Your highness," He bows his head lightly at me with his hands crossed in front of him.

"Lyco," I acknowledge him, tipping my chin a bit higher on instinct. He keeps his head down as he speaks with his rough and powerful voice. I have heard it before. It's commanding and could easily make any ordinary person cower away but when he speaks this time, I am surprised by the gentleness in it.

"I should not be admitting it but it's against my principles to not acknowledge true potential when I see it and to admit it when I am wrong as soon as I realize it..." He trails off before he raises his head and looks me in the eyes as he continues to speak, "You won most of the ministers easily as soon as you came here but not me. I was very skeptical about you. I perceived you as a naïve and ignorant girl due to your reckless actions..." I am offended by his words but I press my lips in a thin line and listen to him anyway.

"But yesterday, you proved me completely wrong."