The musk of earth enveloped me, exploring and glorifying in our pairing. My missing piece. The one source I couldn’t access. My final connection.
We didn’t have an Earth Fae priest to guide us through our vows, only the element itself. The earth touched my heart and gave me the words I needed to say. Although, I had most of them memorized by now.
I opened my eyes to find Sol gazing down at me in wonder as vines danced all around us, sprouting flowers from my world as well as from his in a flurry of color. My other mates kept their distance but would witness this bond with us, the final seal on all five elements.
Inside the oasis Sol had crafted.
With the afternoon sun shining overhead.
Healing energy flourished around us, the campus grounds restoring themselves from the hurt inflicted upon them by Elana’s dead army. We lost lives today. They would not be forgotten. I felt the breaths of their souls warming the spirit plane, their circle of life flowing the way it should, and blessing the union occurring today.
The one to my earth mate.
Flowers whispered the words on a breeze, encouraging me to continue my vows.
But I already knew what was needed; I’d merely chosen to bask in the beautiful moment, to absorb the elemental bliss dancing around us.
“I give unto him my unyielding promise, my vitality, and the seed of my heart, which, together, we will nurture and grow, and accept his in return. My element is now his just as his is now mine, to the fae heavens may we never part. And I shall never forsake him for another, my earth forever belonging to him and to him alone.”
He palmed my cheek, his opposite hand remaining above mine and pressed to the base of our tree as we lounged in the flower bed he’d created for this moment.
Water trickled nearby, courtesy of Cyrus’s fountain.
Flames twirled in an arch several feet away, one we’d walked beneath to reach this special place in our oasis.
A light breeze filled with love tousled our hair.
And the Spirit King blessed our union in the plane harboring our souls.
My earth mate grinned, his happiness an aphrodisiac that heightened the moment almost as much as his vows did. Each word was low, purposefully uttered, and rumbled across the ground beneath his intense power.
I shivered.
Smiled.
Leaned into him for more.
And closed my eyes as the sweet embrace of energy from the earth flowed over me, encasing me in the element I so craved.
It was the piece I needed all this time, its healing essence making me one with this world.
Fire.
Water.
Air.
Spirit.
And finally, earth.
Sweet, sweet earth.
I sighed, reveling in the finality of the bonds, my lips seeking Sol’s with a hunger only he could sate. My mates would protect us, would give us this moment, would allow us to prosper beneath the bright blue sky.
Our bond slid into place like two pieces of stone carved for one another.
The butterflies clothing my being fled, revealing all of me to Sol’s gaze. “Don’t make me wait,” I whispered, my fingers sliding through his thick hair as I pulled him down on top of me, my head cradled by the flowers decorating the tree roots. “Take me, Sol. Don’t hold back.”