Chapter 399: Chapter 399: I’ll protect you... always
This Chapter contains explicit language, mature themes, and emotionally intense scenes. Reader discretion is advised.
...
For a heartbeat, Cyrus forgot how to breathe. Isabella moved against him, her warmth melting through every defense he’d spent years building. His hands hesitated at first—trembling, uncertain—then finally settled at her waist. She was real. This was happening.
Every muscle in his body went taut. He had dreamed of this—her—in the quiet hours of the night when he swore he’d never give in. He had promised himself he’d protect her, not touch her. But now she was here, lips on his, heartbeat against his chest, and all the distance he’d kept felt like punishment.
He pulled her closer, fingers spreading across her back as if to anchor himself. She whispered his name—once, softly—and it undid him. The sound carried through him like a prayer, leaving him raw and wordless.
When their lips parted, he pressed his forehead to hers, voice rough with disbelief.
"You have no idea," he murmured, "how long I’ve wanted this."
She smiled faintly, brushing her thumb across his jaw. "Then stop thinking," she whispered back.
He didn’t.
His lips trailed down the curve of her throat, tracing a slow, reverent path. His hands slid upward, mapping the lines of her ribs, thumbs grazing the swell of her breasts through the fabric before slipping beneath, his touch bare and warm. He treated her like something precious, each movement deliberate, unhurried, as if afraid she might dissolve under his hands.
Isabella’s breath hitched; a soft, broken sound escaped her as her back arched into his touch. Her fingers tangled in his hair, clutching, guiding, needing. He bent lower, closing his mouth around the soft peak of her breast, tongue circling slowly, maddeningly, until another gasp trembled from her lips. He switched sides, giving equal worship, teeth grazing just enough to make her shudder.
Her nails scraped lightly down his shoulders, urging him on. His palms skimmed down her waist to the edge of her underwear, fingers tracing the seam before sliding the fabric away, slow enough that she could stop him if she wanted. She didn’t. He drew the cloth down her thighs, eyes never leaving hers, as if asking a question without words.
When she lay bare before him, he paused. Just for a second. To look. To breathe. To let it sink in. Then he shifted, fitting himself between her thighs, his body pressed to hers, heat against heat. He was already hard, poised at her entrance, and the sight of her—open, trusting—made his chest ache with more than desire.
He leaned down, their foreheads touching again, his voice low, rough.
"Tell me if it’s too much," he murmured.
Her breath trembled out. "I trust you."
He moved within her slowly, letting her body learn the rhythm of his. The sound of their breathing filled the room—soft, uneven, rising with every motion. Each thrust drew a quiet gasp from her throat, each breath he took came out ragged, as if loving her took all the air he had.
"Cyrus..." her voice cracked on his name. "Don’t stop."
He bent lower, lips brushing her cheek, then her mouth, whispering between kisses, "Never. Not while you want me."
She clung to him, hands threading into his hair, pulling him closer until their skin met with every pulse of heat. He pressed deeper, reverent, the movement slow at first, then stronger, the rhythm between them tightening into something that felt inevitable.
"I love you," he said against her ear. "You hear me? I love you—more than my breath, more than my blood."
Her eyes fluttered open, wet and dazed. "Then show me."
Something ancient stirred in him—the serpent blood, the power older than his vows. A tremor rolled through his frame, his body answering the call of the bond that bound their kind. Heat spread across his spine, his heartbeat pounding like thunder beneath his ribs.
"Isabella," he breathed, voice shaking with awe. "You feel it too, don’t you?"
She nodded, lost in him, her head tilting back as the change took him. The air thickened, alive with energy, the glow of the bond wrapping around them like light caught in water. She gasped his name again, clutching him as the energy surged through both of them.
He moved with her until she was trembling beneath him, until sound became light and every breath between them was a cry of release.
He was close and that was when his cock grew into two in Isabella. Isabella barely felt it since she was in bliss and surprisingly. Snake beastmen were very slick in nature.
The more she moved the more she pushed him to the edge and then. He released inside of her pinning her down.
Instinct took over—he bit down gently at the curve of her neck, marking her with the ancient seal of his kind. She arched against him, a cry of pain and pleasure twined together, and the power that linked them flared bright and wild.
When the world finally stilled, he stayed over her, chest heaving, lips pressed to the mark he’d made. His hands shook as he cupped her face, brushing his thumbs along her cheeks.
"It’s done," he whispered. "You’re mine now... and I’m yours."
She looked up at him, eyes wide, dazed. "So that’s what it feels like?"
He smiled faintly, kissing her again, softer this time, almost shy. "That’s what forever feels like."
She laughed breathlessly, resting her forehead against his. The room smelled of rain and skin and the faint metallic scent of his mark. Outside, the night wind shifted, carrying the echo of something new—the pulse of two hearts beating in the same rhythm.
...
Cyrus lay still, barely breathing, afraid that even the smallest movement might wake her. Isabella’s head rested against his chest, her hair spilling over his skin like silk, her body soft and warm in his arms. The faint rhythm of her heartbeat pulsed against him, steady and real. His lips curved into a quiet, contented smile.
For the first time in his life, he felt peace. Not the kind found in silence or solitude—but the kind that only came from her.
She had chosen him. Not by duty, not by chance—but willingly. She had let him hold her, touch her, become one with her. The mark on her neck glowed faintly against her skin, proof that she was his, and he was hers.
His hand moved up to brush a loose strand of hair from her face. She stirred slightly, murmuring something in her sleep, and instinctively tightened her hold around him. That small gesture alone undid him.
He lowered his head and pressed a kiss to her forehead—gentle, reverent. "Sleep, my love," he whispered, voice soft with awe. "I’ll protect you... always."
And as the moonlight bathed them in silver, Cyrus closed his eyes with a smile that refused to fade. For the first time, he wasn’t just a warrior, or a leader. He was hers—and that was enough.