Chapter 26

Drake walked out onto the rocks, watching the waves crash around him. They were green, the exact color as his mate’s eyes.

She isn’t your mate, he reminded himself. And she never will be.

In the distance, the gnarsharks circled. He wondered how long it would take them to finish him off.

Zantharian males who didn’t mate would die, but some refused to wait for the inevitable. They found other means of ending the suffering. Gnarsharks were the option he found most palatable.

He knew he still had a couple of days left, but he couldn’t stand seeing what he could never have. Jamie was so beautiful, and he knew he wouldn’t have the strength to refuse her if she submitted to him.

Drake couldn’t risk her accepting him out of pity. He would not be a burden to her for the entirety of her life. When she tired of him, as she eventually would, he’d be stuck to her like a lodestone.

Noruma forbid if she ever preferred another male. He would not be able to allow him to live, and she would never forgive him.

This way was easier. A short swim, and then eternal darkness.

Drake was surprised when he felt the wind of an approaching vessel. He turned his eyes to the craft as it landed next to his own.

The hatch opened and a figure stepped out. The sunlight lit her from behind, setting her hair ablaze. Jamie.

The hatch closed behind her and once she was a few steps away, it took off. Drake caught sight of his brother at the controls before the ship whipped away. Fuck.

“What are you doing here?” she asked when she got close enough to him.

He didn’t respond. She came to stand beside him, catching sight of the circling fins in the distance. “What are those?” she asked, shading her eyes with her hand.

“Gnarsharks,” he said at last.

“Sharks? You came out here to look at sharks?”

He watched her in silence and saw realization hit her.

Then he felt her fist hit him. Hard. In the arm.

“You asshole! You lied to me. You said you were going to rest. Instead, you come out here, ready to feed yourself to sharks rather than mate with me!”

Drake wanted to laugh. As if he would choose a painful death over the bliss of her embrace. “You know it’s not like that. But I refuse to force myself on you, and I knew you were too kind to refuse me once you knew the consequence was my death.”

“But you didn’t even bother to ask me how I felt about you.”

He stared into the distance, feeling that life was absurd. “It doesn’t matter.”

“The hell it doesn’t!” She grabbed his arms, pulling him low enough for her to grab his face. “I love you!”
His eyes grew big, his heart thumping in his chest. He wanted to grab her, to crush her to him. But doubt clouded the issue.

“You’re just saying that.” His voice was little more than a whisper. “You are sacrificing yourself to save me. I won’t allow it.”

The crack of her hand on his cheek rang out. “You bastard. How dare you say that!”

Drake pulled away, his eyes stormy, but before he could speak, she gripped his shoulders and pulled herself up until he was forced to hold her.

“I love you, Drake, regardless of whether or not you’ll die without me. I love your bravery, your wit. I love the way you protect me, but you still respect my opinions and accept my wishes even if they run contrary to yours. I love your spirit, your strength. And I love being in your arms.”

He looked deep into her beautiful green eyes, seeing the truth in their depths. Still, he had to be certain.

“You don’t know what you’re saying. If we do this, you’ll be with me until you die. I won’t leave your side willingly. And there is a good chance that we’ll have a child.”

She smiled. “A beautiful child with your skin and my eyes. A cousin for Sylvie’s precious bundle of joy. I know.” She pressed her lips against his. “I want that.”

The words unlocked something inside him, allowing joy to pour in. “I love you,” he said simply, seizing her lips in a blazing kiss. “I love you, Jamilla Cohen, since the moment I first saw you.”

She smiled, then pulled his head down to reunite their mouths in holy union. His emotions crashed over him like the waves against the rocks.

Looking around him, he could find no safe place upon which to claim her, so he carried her to his ship, not setting her down until he reached the bunk. He laid her down gently and she wasted no time divesting herself of her clothing.

He stared down at her at a loss for words. She was sheer perfection, made for only him, and he wanted to remember this moment forever.

Jamie held out her arms to him and he smiled. Ripping off his sarong, he joined her on the small bunk.

Drake put his mouth on Jamie’s. Taking her tongue into his mouth, reclaiming it again. He kissed her until she began writhing underneath him. He knew she was ready to take him.

Drake moved himself and began sucking on her neck, moving down to her breasts and taking each nipple into his mouth. Jamie let out a small gasp as he did so.

“That feels so fucking good.” She said.

Drake smiled and slid his hand down to her pussy and rubbed her clit. “You’re so wet.” He said.

“Only for you.” She said and moved her hips in the same motion as his hand. They were always in sync when it came to love-making and it made the experience so much more intense.

“I want you inside of me.” She whispered.

His cock was throbbing. He took it in his hand and moved it slowly along the shaft while staring at Jamie. She moaned at the sight of him.

He moved so he was in between her legs once again and began to slowly enter her. He slowly pulled himself out and moved himself back in. He could tell it was driving her wild and continued to repeat the motion.

Drake put his thumb on her clit and massaged it gently as he thrust deep inside of her, picking up his pace. His body was getting tense, he was on the edge of losing it.

“Are you sure?” He asked, pausing. He wanted to be certain before he changed their lives forever.

“I’ve never wanted anything more,” she said, her eyes meeting his. “I love you, Drake.”

That was all he needed to hear. He thrust deep inside of her and watched her eyes glaze over with pleasure. He thrust himself inside of her harder and deeper another time, and then another. Her back was arched and she threw her head to the side as she began to come around his cock.

He knew he was not going to last much longer. He could feel how tight she was. Her walls clinging to his cock from her orgasm.

“I love you,” he moaned as he pushed deeper. “I will never love anyone the way I love you. You were made for me, created for me. You are my mate and I am yours. And I never want this to end.”

“Claim me.” She shouted as she arched her back up and moved her hips in the same motion as him. “Make me yours.”

Everything she was saying drove him to thrust harder.

“Fill me with your seed,” she whispered, and those were the words he needed to hear. The words that sent him over the edge and into the most intense orgasm of his life.

The pleasure exploded inside of him and for the first time, he released inside of her. Her eyes widened as she felt him, then she clutched him close, succumbing to another powerful climax.

When he’d come down from the peak of pleasure he covered her face in tiny kisses. “I love you! I love you so much! I’ll never leave you!”

Jamie giggled. “I love you too, you big idiot. It’s a good thing I came after you, or you’d be sleeping with the sharks right now.”

He laughed. “Thank you for coming after me. And thank you for making me the happiest man in the universe.”

“You’re welcome,” she said with a smile. “And now, you owe me.”

“Owe me? How could I ever repay such a gift?”

“Only by loving me until the end of time.”

Drake stroked her hair back from her forehead, kissing it gently. “Deal.”