And then I fuck her like I know she wants to be fucked.

“Yes, Ilian, harder!”

With a growl, I oblige. Zhuliya moans as I slam into her body, water splashing everywhere with each savage thrust.

Her legs wrap around my waist, squeezing like a vise as her pussy clamps around my aching stoyuk.

Mine.

“Don’t stop—please, don’t stop!”

Zhuliya sobs against my throat, smothering her screams of pleasure as I rut into her. Her nails dig through my fur, the sharp points biting into me.

Marking me, making me hers.

I lean back to look down at where our bodies join, my stoyuk slamming to her at a punishing pace.

Her tan skin lightens at the juncture of her legs, and I love seeing my dark length disappear inside her warmth.

“Look at me,” I command gruffly.

Zhuliya lifts up with my aid until we’re eye to eye. Not once does she flinch from the intensity of my bright gaze.

“Good girl. I want to watch your eyes glaze over when you unravel, and I fill your pussy with my cum.”

Her mouth goes slack and her eyes become hooded. That alone nearly has me exploding into her tightness.

Watching her face, I reach a hand down to toy with her clit. Zhuliya’s teeth work her lower lip as she clings to me harder, and the sight drives me wild.

She’s a feast for the senses—the feel of her soft skin, the sound of her breathy rasps, the taste of her sweet lips, the scent of her arousal, and the sight of her taking me all in.

I could stay like this forever, lost in her body, but the tingle inside of me grows—I’m close.

Quickening my pace, I rub a claw roughly against her nub, eliciting a cry from her lips. With a feral howl, I pinch the little nub just as I slam deeply inside of her one last time.

Zhuliya’s eyes widen as her pussy spasms around my stoyuk, shocked by the unexpected ecstasy I’m wringing from her body with my claw.

The wonder etched onto her face combined with her fluttering pussy tumbles me over the edge, and I roar my completion as I work my hips faster into her wet heaven.

Her pussy continues to milk me long after my own pleasure abates, but I don’t pull out.

Instead, I rest my head atop of hers, holding us together and thanking all the gods that she’s finally mine.

Just as she was always meant to be.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Zhuliya

Ilian and I check into a hotel because I’m too embarrassed to look Sakura’s parents in the eye.

Let alone the Japanese Prime Minister that I forgot was visiting.

I’m fairly certain that my Ithaqua and I are banned from the Yamamoto bathhouse for life. Hopefully, Sakura can forgive me for making an awkward situation worse.

The fact that Dairfyn won’t leave until she’s agreed to be the ambassador for her country isn’t helping at all.

“Stop fretting,” Ilian growls, scooping me up and tossing me on top of the bed.

He dives in after me, and I squeal like the girl that I am.

“Knock it off! You’re going to break the furniture here, too!”

“Right. We should bring the bed covers down here and sleep on the floor. We don’t need another Berdsk incident—although I did love chasing you.”

I blush. “You know I thought it was a dream.”

Ilian shakes his head, his lips curling into a satisfied grin. “I still can’t believe you spent months fantasizing about me.”

“And I can’t believe you still think you’re a monster.”

His expression grows shuttered. “I’m working on that. Ever since you’ve accepted me as your mate, I feel like maybe the memories passed down to me through my mother aren’t accurate anymore.”

“Why didn’t you ask Aisyth where your kind is? I think it would help if you spoke to another Ithaqua—that’s not a god or goddess—for some closure.”

He shrugs. “I was too preoccupied to think to ask it.”

“We could always try summoning her. Are we connected like we were to Ulyen and Ekana?”

“I’m not sure, but I doubt she would come. Aisyth doesn’t create maps so you can summon her, but so you can seek her out.”

“If there are many maps that she’s inspired for her followers, how does she know where to be in case one of them does seek her out?”

“All the locations she chooses are sacred to my goddess. She feels the pull of anyone approaching and knows to come.”

“It was one heck of an adventure, going after her. We never would’ve gotten so close if we didn’t go to find Aisyth. It’s funny how the very thing we were aspiring to break only got stronger.”

“Indeed it has. Every time you think about your love for me, I feel it through the bond, solidifying our connection even more. Eventually, we’ll be able to read each other’s minds.”

“What?!”

“Kidding!” Ilian tickles my sides until I’m breathless. “As time goes on, we’ll be able to more astutely pinpoint the reason for the emotions we’re feeling from one another.

But it will never replace the most important element in our relationship—one we ignore for far too long.”

“And what’s that?”