Chapter 80: You are born to be mine.

Soren kissed her again, his tongue seeking hers with bruising, demanding rhythm. He wanted to consume her, erase the pain she had suffered all those years because of him, and eliminate the memory of Theron from her mind.

His hand moved with urgency, fumbling with the fastenings of her nightgown.

"I’m going to make you feel everything." His voice dropped to a low, predatory rumble that vibrated through her very bones. "I’m going to make sure that you never feel lonely, never experience the emptiness again. I’m going to fill the void I ever left in you."

He was breathing as if he had just run miles, his chest heaving against hers. His palms slipped upward, grazing the underside of her breasts as he pulled her closer.

The friction of skin against skin and the heat of her body against his sent jolts of lightning through his nervous system, shattering the last remnants of his composure.

"You are born to be mine," he growled. "Only mine."

He buried his face in the curve of her neck, his teeth grazing her collarbone with a sharp, possessive bite. He was marking her, claiming her.

"Uh..." she whimpered softly.

Sensing his aggression had caused her pain, he kissed her shoulder gently as if caressing her skin. He wanted her to know that he was no longer the distant, untouchable figurehead but a man who was entirely, helplessly hers.

"Keep your eyes on me," he commanded, but it sounded more like a plea. His voice was breaking under the strain of his own desire.

Her eyes met his. In that gaze, he saw the reflection of his own madness. It was a terrifying, beautiful collision of her need and his desperate, unrefined hunger.

"Say that you want me," he rasped, dropping his forehead against hers yet again, "as much as I want you."

"Yes," she whispered. "I want you."

The words were the final spark that set his entire being ablaze.

He let out a throaty laugh. "Elowen."

His lips left a lingering kiss on her cheek. "I’ll give myself to you. Completely."

He shed the last of his clothing in haste, his eyes never once leaving hers. He looked at her with pure, unbridled impulse. When he moved back over her, the heat of her body against his felt welcoming.

Elowen didn’t hesitate this time. She clutched his arms as she met his lips.

Soren kissed her back with a ferocity that was nothing short of primal.

"Take me, Soren," she whispered against his lips. "I want to feel you."

He gripped her wrists, pinning them above her head. His heavy form pressed over her with a possessive, grounding strength. He wanted her pinned, wanted her unable to move but into him, into the storm he was unleashing.

"I’ll let you feel me. Every part of me."

He drove into her, his movements fueled by a hunger that demanded to be satiated right now, in this very instant.

His eyes remained locked onto hers, dark and wild, refusing to let her look away.

"Um..." Elowen couldn’t keep her eyes open as the intensity of his thrusts threatened to shatter her.

"Look at me," he ordered.

Soren wanted her to look at the man he had become, not the one who had been distant and cold, but the one who had hopelessly fallen in love with her.

Elowen parted her lips as if she were trying to say something. But the friction of their bodies, the searing rhythmic violence, left no room for thoughts. What was left was only sensation.

She wanted to look at him, but it was hard to keep her eyes open.

"Don’t hold back." His breath came in ragged snarls. "Come for me."

He was driving into her with a relentless force, as if he was trying to bridge the years of silence and neglect. Every thrust was a desperate attempt to drown out the ghost of their past and the crushing weight of his own guilt.

He watched her face with a burning intensity, searching for the exact moment her composure broke. He wanted to see her unravel, to feel her surrender to the sheer, overwhelming reality of him.

"There... Feel me."

His hands shifted from her wrists, sliding down to catch her hips, his fingers digging into her flesh to hold her against the force of his movements.

"Soren..." Her strained and breathless voice acted like petrol on fire.

He shifted his weight, driving into her with a final intensity, his movement becoming frantic and unrelenting. He wanted to be the one who pushed her to the edge, the one who shared in the explosion of her release.

"Give it to me. Give me everything."

His entire body was taut with the effort of riding out the storm of his own nearing climax. He felt her internal muscles clenching around him.

"Uh..." She shuddered as a wave of pleasure hit her.

Witnessing her crash beneath him, the final veil of his restraint crumbled.

"Elowen." His voice cracked as the tension in his core reached a breaking point.

He delivered several heavy, soul-shattering thrusts. A tidal wave of electricity crashed through his senses, leaving him breathless.

He collapsed against her, his sweat-slicked body pinning her to the mattress. His forehead rested against the crook of her neck, his heart hammering against her ribs.

He didn’t pull away immediately. He stayed there, savoring the feeling of having her in his arms.

Elowen hugged him, her fingers gently caressing his hair.

Slowly, Soren shifted his weight, propping himself up on his elbow so he could look at her.

Her face was flushed from the aftermath. She looked even more alluring.

Soren reached out to push a few strands of hair that stuck to her forehead.

"Are you alright?"

Elowen wasn’t used to this kind of tenderness. She had grown accustomed to his coldness and indifference.

In the past, whenever they had shared an intimate moment, Soren would turn his back to her as soon as he was done. He had never bothered to ask whether she was comfortable or whether she needed anything.

Now, he looked at her as if he couldn’t bear to take his eyes off her.

Her already flushed cheeks grew even warmer under his steady gaze. Feeling self-conscious, she pulled the blanket over her naked form.

"Don’t look at me like that."

Soren’s eyes darkened. Her attempt to hide only made him want to pull her closer. He lowered the blanket.

"Don’t hide from me. Every inch of your body is mine to see." He held her close to his chest and lowered his head, kissing her neck hard until a bright red mark appeared on her skin.

"Ouch," Elowen whimpered. "That hurts."

Soren pulled back slightly to look at the mark he had left. A satisfied glint flashed in his eyes.

"That’s perfect," he mumbled, caressing the reddened skin. "It’ll remind you who you belong to and how much I want you."

As he looked at her blushed cheeks, he wanted to pin her down again and do everything he had done a few moments ago. But he stopped himself.

He wouldn’t exhaust her, not when he knew a small life was growing inside her. He tucked her head beneath his chin and wrapped his arms around her.

"Sleep now. I’m here."