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nThank you for all your support this month. It has been an incredible month for BEAST. Please continue to support Reth & Elia with your powerstone votes! Thank you! I can't wait to share more of the story with you!

n*****

nRETH

nReth groaned on her nipple and she gasped again. Her breath came in short bursts that she held at the peak of each slide of his fingers, her hips beginning to undulate in time. He could tell she meant to say no, to push him off, to let them join, but each new crest of the wave, each new jolt to her core just sent her gasping to the next. His breath rushed against the skin of her stomach as he shuddered and dropped his forehead to her chest.

nOne of her knees wobbled and she grabbed at his shoulders.

"Reth, I—

"

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"I have you, Elia, relax. Let go. I have you.

"

nWith a shiver, she leaned back into his hand, lifting one leg to hook around his waist, her voice breaking at each press. Reth pleaded with the Creator to guide him—she was almost there… almost there…

nThen Reth sucked her nipple into his mouth—hard. She arched back, eyes wide, unbreathing, as goosebumps washed over her skin in a wave. Then she cried his name, shaking and jerking, her knee giving out completely, but he caught her and swung her up against his chest, the mating call groaning from his throat as he lifted her and carried her to the sleeping platform behind her.

nHe didn't give her time to come down from the rush, as her climax edged away and her breath sucked in, he lowered her to the furs, took himself in hand, and pushed in, roaring her name as his entire being came alive.

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"Reth!

" she cried, tightening around him in a second wave that left her gasping and panting and threatened to steal his control completely. She clapped a hand to his neck, rolling her hips against him, mouth open, her voice a high keen.

nReth gritted his teeth and rode out her climax until she could focus again.

n

"You're… that was…

" she still panted as Reth took her mouth and invaded with his tongue in the same rhythm he rolled into her, and they both lost themselves to each other.

nHands stroked, tongues licked, teeth grazed—she clung to him and pulled him in, whimpering. He held her close and pressed deep, moaning her name, unable to think beyond the need to drive deeper, to possess her.

nShe'd curled her legs around his hips at some point, and without thought for her relative inexperience, he hooked one of them forward, pressing her knee back almost to her chest, then rolling into her again.

nThey both cried out, their heads dropping back as the contact changed, Reth swore as a great shudder rocked through him and he fought not to let it end, but Elia cupped his neck and pulled him down into a storm of a kiss and when she sucked on his tongue, the climax hit him at the base of his spine and he bellowed it into her mouth.

nHis hips still pounding, but the rhythm broken and disjointed, he gasped her name.

"Elia, my Elia—love—

"

nShe arched under him, her hands in his hair, until finally they both slumped.

nReth panted into her neck, gasping, holding her to him as he tried to remember his own name.

nShe shivered and clung, panting too, blinking away her delighted shock.

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"Holy—

" he cut himself off, swearing.

"Elia, are you alright?

" He was horrified that he'd lost himself so completely, not given a thought to taking it slowly for her.

nBut she snorted into his chest and kissed the space under his ear before she answered.

"Reth, I don't think I've ever been better,

" she said in a voice heavy with satisfied weariness.

nTrying not to be smug, Reth shifted his weight onto one elbow so he could lean over her, see her face.

nHer cheeks were flushed pink, and her hair flew wildly around her face, like a golden halo. But she raised a hand to his face and beamed at him, nibbling at his chin when he didn't kiss her immediately.

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"If you promise to do that to me every day, I might never leave this cave,

" she said, combing her fingers through his hair.

nReth's smug smile grew and he traced that line he was fascinated with, that followed her throat, down to her collarbones, her pulse throbbing under his finger.

"Elia, if I don't get to do that to you every day, I may hand my balls to the Women's Council and tell them to turn them into a purse.

"

nElia snorted, clenching around him in her laughter, in a way that made Reth groan again. Elia looked at him in wonder.

"Did you feel that?

"

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"Yes, my love,

" he gasped.

"I felt that. A lot.

"

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"Our bodies are amazing, aren't they?

" she said, stroking his chest, her cheeks pink again in the low light.

nHe kissed her softly and said against her lips,

"Yours is, anyway.

"

n*****

nELIA

nThey talked and laughed and kissed, and Elia hoped he would soon be ready to love her again. But at some point she dozed off.

nWhen she woke, the room was midnight dark. She lay on her side, her back curled into Reth's chest, his lips in her hair, his arm over her waist, their fingers twined. He'd wrapped himself around her, his body, his warmth hugging her from her shoulders to her knees. He sighed and, guessing that he was awake Elia made to roll over to face him. But he stopped her, kissing her shoulder once, then twice.

"Are you well, wife?

"

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"I'm very, very well,

" she said, leaning back into him and stretching. Sore muscles ached, but they were gained so deliciously, she didn't care. When she relaxed, her arm was back to trail her fingers in his hair, and his lips were at her neck.

nHis hand found her breast, and his breathing quickened.

nElia hummed happily and arched, nudging him with her backside where she could feel him coming alive.

nHe hissed.

"She-wolf,

" he growled, and she laughed, but did it again.

nHe took her hip in his hand to stop her moving, but as he kissed her neck and began to whisper what he'd like to do, that fire that had banked low in her belly crackled to life again.

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