CHAPTER 188: [188] AS I TRULY AM *

Xavier’s fingers traced the line where Calypso’s collarbone met her shoulder, the pale skin flushing beneath his touch. Her breath hitched—a sound that made his pulse skip—as he pressed his lips to the spot, tasting the warmth of divinity wrapped in mortal fragility. The chamber’s volcanic light cast shifting crimson patterns across Selene’s borrowed form, the body Calypso inhabited shivering even as its celestial inhabitant held his gaze with burning intensity.

"Tell me to stop," he murmured against her throat, fingertips skating along the bronze silk ties holding her gown together. "Say the word and I’ll—"

Her hands fisted in his hair, nails grazing his scalp in a way that made his mouth go dry. "If you stop now," she breathed, "I’ll turn you into something embarrassing. A toad. A soiled handkerchief." The threat lost its edge as her hips arched toward him. "Preferably the latter."

He chuckled low in his chest, the vibration making her gasp when he dragged his teeth across the tender juncture of neck and shoulder. "Your threats need work, goddess." The first tie came undone, revealing a sliver of skin that glowed faintly, like moonlight trapped beneath the surface. "They’re starting to sound like invitations."

"Then accept them properly." Calypso’s voice wavered as his mouth found the hollow behind her ear, her hands sliding down to clutch at his shoulders. The golden sparkles surrounding her coalesced into intricate patterns that mirrored her racing heartbeat—spirals fractaling outward with each shaky exhale.

Xavier walked her backward until her knees struck the bed’s edge, his hands spanning her waist as she sank onto the silk covers. The gown pooled around her like molten metal, exposing legs that tensed as his palms slid upward. When his thumb brushed the underside of her breast through thin fabric, her back arched off the mattress with a choked sound that wasn’t entirely human.

"C-careful," she managed, fingers twisting in the sheets as he pressed open-mouthed kisses along her inner thigh. Her legs parted instinctively, the motion sending her skirts cascading to either side. "This vessel’s... more sensitive than I—oh!"

The complaint dissolved into a gasp as he nipped at the delicate skin of her thigh, tongue soothing the spot immediately after. Xavier hummed against her, pleased by how her hips jerked at the vibration. "Sensitive here?" Another nip, higher this time. "Or here?" The underside of her knee drew a shuddering moan that echoed faintly in the chamber’s acoustics, bouncing off ancient volcanic stone to create a symphony of her pleasure.

Calypso’s hand flew to her mouth, eyes wide with surprise at her own uninhibited response. "Xavier Valentine," she hissed, though the effect was ruined by her trembling lower lip and the flush spreading down her neck to her chest, "if you don’t stop teasing me this instant, I swear by all the forgotten pantheons I’ll—"

"Stop?" He paused, glancing up the length of her body with deliberate slowness. Her hair fanned across obsidian silk like spilled wine, chest heaving as she fought to maintain some semblance of divine composure. Her eyes, luminous in the volcanic light, narrowed dangerously. "You want me to stop?"

A beat passed. Two. Three. Her throat worked as she swallowed, the glow beneath her skin intensifying until it pulsed in time with the chamber’s volcanic light. The air around them thickened with the scent of vanilla and cherries as tiny rose petals materialized and floated around them.

"No," she whispered at last, fingers flexing in the sheets until her knuckles turned white. "But if you tell anyone I said that—if you ever breathe a word about how I begged—"

He silenced her with a kiss that started at her navel and burned a trail downward. Her legs tensed around his shoulders as he reached his destination, his hands anchoring her hips to the bed when she tried to buck upward. The first tentative flick of his tongue drew a sound somewhere between a sob and a prayer—a sound he’d treasure alongside every other fragile noise she trusted him to elicit.

Calypso’s back arched as he found a rhythm, her fingers scrabbling against silken sheets before finding purchase in his hair. "X-Xavier," she gasped, voice fractured by the sensations rocketing through her borrowed nervous system. "That’s—I can’t—the feeling is too—oh gods!"

He dragged his tongue in a slow circle, relishing how her thighs trembled against his ears. Her breath came in shallow pants now, the air crackling with static that made his hair stand on end. When she came with a stifled cry, her legs clamped around his head as golden light erupted from her skin in fractal patterns that danced across the ceiling, transforming the chamber into a kaleidoscope of divine ecstasy.

Xavier gentled her through the aftershocks, pressing soothing kisses to her inner thighs until her breathing steadied. Her hand fell away from her mouth, revealing lips swollen from being bitten. Through half-lidded eyes, she watched him rise up on his elbows above her, her gaze tracking the movement of his throat as he swallowed.

"You taste like ambrosia," he murmured, thumb brushing a stray tear from the corner of her eye. Her cheeks darkened at the observation, the glow beneath her skin flaring brighter. "Divinity suits you."

"T-that’s not..." She swallowed thickly, fingers tracing the line of his jaw with something akin to wonder. "I wasn’t... prepared for this. The physical reactions in this form are... more intense than I anticipated. Everything feels so... immediate."

He caught her hand, pressing a kiss to the racing pulse at her wrist. "We can stop if it’s too much. There’s no rush."

Her legs tightened around his hips before he’d finished speaking, heels digging into the small of his back with surprising strength. Selene’s violet eyes—so like Calypso’s true form, yet anchored by mortal depths—blazed with determination edged in vulnerability. A single golden sparkle drifted between them, landing on his chest directly over his heart.

"Don’t you dare," she commanded, her divine authority breaking through the mortal vessel’s limitations. "I’ve waited too long for this moment."

The possessive note in her voice sent heat coiling low in his gut. Xavier leaned down until their lips brushed, the contact barely there yet electric enough to make both of them shiver. "As my lady commands."

When he entered her, it was with a slowness that bordered on torture for them both. Calypso’s nails scored red lines down his back, her breath coming in sharp bursts against his neck. Every inch gained drew fresh sounds from her throat—whimpers tangled with curses in dead languages, half-formed threats punctuated by choked pleas. Her legs locked around him as he seated himself fully, her forehead pressing against his collarbone as she shuddered.

"Xavier." His name spilled from her lips like a prayer, her hands framing his face as she forced him to meet her gaze. "Look at me. However this ends, whatever comes after—look at me now. See me as I truly am."

Her eyes held swirling galaxies in miniature, ancient wisdom pressed against the immediacy of mortal sensation. Xavier brushed sweat-dampened hair from her brow, watching as her pupils dilated further. "Always. I’ve always seen you, Calypso."

Their rhythm built slowly, achingly deliberate. Calypso matched each thrust with a roll of her hips that made his vision blur, her mouth finding the junction of his neck and shoulder. When her teeth sank into his flesh, the sharp burst of pain dragged a groan from his chest that seemed to startle them both.

"Marking your territory?" he managed, the words rasping against her temple.

"You taste like me now," she mumbled against his skin, the smugness in her voice undercut by the way her fingers trembled against his ribs. "Proof that for this moment, you’re mine as much as I’m—ah!"

He silenced her with a kiss, swallowing the fragmented words as their pace quickened. The bed’s wooden frame groaned in protest, volcanic light casting their entwined shadows across tapestries depicting forgotten battles. Calypso’s third climax crashed over her with a sound like shattering crystal, her body arching so sharply he feared she might break beneath him.

When release finally claimed him, it was with her name on his lips and her celestial light burning patterns into his eyelids. They collapsed in a tangle of limbs and sweat-dampened silk, her head coming to rest over his racing heart. Distantly, he noted the stinging scratches across his back—trophies he’d wear proudly.

Calypso traced idle patterns across his chest, her touch leaving faint trails of gold that faded moments later. "That was... adequate," she announced with regal hauteur ruined by the grin tugging at her lips.

Xavier snorted, pressing a kiss to her disheveled hair. "Adequate?"

"For a mortal." Her finger drew a spiral over his heart. "Of course, with proper training—"

He flipped them suddenly, her surprised laughter filling the chamber with musical notes that seemed to dance in the air. The sound cut short as he pinned her wrists above her head, his body hovering over hers.

"Proper training?" The words ghosted across her lips as she strained upward, seeking contact he deliberately withheld. "I think you’ve created a monster, Valentine."

Her answering smirk held millennia of mischief. "Only fair. You’ve awakened something in me." Her legs wrapped around his waist, pulling him flush against her.

"Now show me what else this mortal body can withstand."

Xavier chuckled. "Be careful what you wish for my love."