The Messenger( Iva) novel Chapter 287

Light and Darkness-2

Attia set her down on the stone bench and turned on the water.

The warm spray cascaded over their bodies, washing away the evidence of their passion. But Lori found herself wanting more, as her heat was still ravaging her body.

She reached for him, pulling him against her, her hands sliding over his slick skin.

“Again,” she whispered. “Please. I need you again.”

Attia’s eyes darkened.

He pressed her against the cool marble wall, lifting her legs around his waist. The water streamed over them, warm and soothing, but the heat between them was anything but gentle.

He entered her in one smooth thrust.

Lori cried out, her head falling back against the wall. The angle was different, deeper, and she felt him in places she hadn’t known existed.

“Attia-”

“Shh.” His lips found her neck. “Let go. I have you.”

She did.

She let go completely, surrendering to the pleasure, to the passion, to the overwhelming reality of being completely and utterly claimed.

He moved inside her, slow and deep, each thrust sending waves of pleasure through her body. The water cascaded over them, hot and relentless, a perfect complement to the fire burning between them.

And then she felt it.

He was swelling inside her.

Growing larger, thicker, stretching her in a way that made her gasp.

“What-”

r

“Shh,” he murmured against her ear. “It’s okay. Just relax, it will be a bit painful if you resist it.”

His knot began to form, locking them together, binding them in a way that went beyond mere mating.

It was a claiming. A declaration. A promise that they would never be parted.

Lori felt the pressure building, felt the intensity soaring, and she surrendered to it completely.

They climaxed together-one final, perfect release-and then collapsed against each other, still bound, still joined.

The water continued to fall, warm and soothing, as they stood there in each other’s arms.

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Light and Darkness-2

“No one will ever take this away from us,” Attia murmured.

Lori looked up at him, her eyes full of love and trust and hope.

“I know,” she whispered. “I know.”

Claim

The morning light streamed through the curtains, soft and golden.

Lori stirred in the massive bed, her body aching in ways she had never imagined. She felt sore, exhausted, but also deeply, completely satisfied.

She turned her head.

Attia was watching her, his dark eyes soft and full of intensity.

“Good morning,” he said, his voice low and warm.

Lori smiled.

“Good morning.”

He reached over and brushed a strand of hair from her face.

“How do you feel?”

She laughed softly. “Like I’ve been claimed. Thoroughly.”

Attia’s lips curved into a slow, possessive smile.

“Good. That’s exactly what I intended.”

Lori’s heart swelled.

She reached up and touched the mark on his neck-the mark she had given him last night.

“We’re really mated now,” she said softly and suddenly shy, despite everything that happened between

them. “Both of us.”

Attia nodded.

“Yes. And nothing will ever tear us apart.”

She believed him.

But as the morning light continued to creep across the room, a thought occurred to her.

“What about your family?” she asked quietly.

Attia’s expression hardened slightly.

“They’ll have to accept it,” he said. “We are mated. The bond is complete. There is nothing they can do to change that.”

Lori nodded, but she couldn’t help the flicker of worry that crossed her face.

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<Light and Darkness-2

Attja must have seen it, because he pulled her closer.

Claim

“Whatever they throw at us,” he said, “we’ll face it together. I promise. Don’t break your head with them.”

Lori pressed her face into his chest.

“Together,” she repeated.

And for the first time, she truly believed it.

But in the back of her mind, a small voice whispered.

*Nothing ever stays perfect forever.*

She pushed the thought away.

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