“My Lord,please…”
It was with that pathetic little mewl, that all my self-restraint disintegrated. No living woman had ever begged to have me. It was just a dream for her, a fantasy. If only she knew she was dredging up my own fantasy from the grave. One I’d sworn to leave buried.
My little grave robber really had a way with digging up the past.
Crossing to the side of the bed, I pushed the lantern-sleeves of my black shirt up and peeled my gloves off. I set them down on the pillow beside hers and crawled onto the bed. The mattress dipped with my weight but she didn’t stir. No matter what, she wouldn’t wake until I ended the spell.
My little sleeping beauty. I reached out, my fingertips tracing her plush lips. I toyed with the ring adorning her nose. It was just a simple piece of jewelry, but fuck, why did it make my cock so hard?
My fingers continued their path down her face, tracing the edge of her jaw and skimming her delicate throat. It looked so dainty with the heavy collar around it. My eyes narrowed behind my mask at the sight of the skull amulet glaring back at me.
I grasped the chain and moved it to the side of the bed. I pressed my palm to her sternum, my long fingers pushing into the pillowy mounds of her breasts. Her chest was pale with a tinge of rouge dipping into the neckline of her nightgown. Dead flesh didn’t have that.
I swallowed thickly, biting back a primal growl as I honed in on the pound of her heart beating against my hand.
Hells. I wanted her. But if I woke her now, I’d have to build her trust enough to allow me to touch her.Ifshe let me touch her at all. There was a sinister part of me that wanted her to fight, to scream for me to stop even as her body begged for more. But I wasn’t as cruel or merciless as my brothers, and I couldn’t force myself on her. I wanted her to want it deep down.
Because more than anything, I wanted her to want me.
That’s why I couldn’t wake her, not yet. I couldn’t bear another rejection, not when all I needed was a small taste…
I pulled the covers down, my hand curving over her interior thigh and pushing the hem of her gown over her knee. A lump formed in my throat at the old wounds marking her flesh. She had scars, like me. Hers were likely from her trade. Scaling old wrought iron-fences if I had to venture a guess.
She was perfection. Even with her scars.Especiallywith her scars.
My hand drifted up toward her apex, closer, closer—Until my fingers brushed against her coarse patch of pubic hair. She’d been naked in the dungeon, since all the lost soul fragments had shredded her clothes. In my anger, I’d barely registered these details about her.
I’d make sure to never make that mistake again. I’d commit every inch of her to memory, inside and out. I’d know every part of her, and I planned to start learning right now.
With one hand still cupping her thigh, my other grasped the tie at her waist, gave it a tug and undid the wrap. I sucked in a breath. Just as I hoped. The pretty patch of hair between her legs was the same hue as that on her head. She was naturally raven-haired.
There was something about a pale-skinned, dark-haired woman that gripped me by the balls.
I lifted my eyes to her hips. Her pretty navel. Her soft, medium-sized breasts and her perfect rose bud nipples… My chest tightened when glints of silver caught my gaze. Two metal bars pierced her nipples, one pushed through each peak.
I’d lived a long time. No, lived wasn’t the right word. I’dexisteda long time. I’d seen souls of all kinds, so I wasn’t a stranger to body piercings. But they’d never appealed to me before. Not like this.
How could two little bars make me so painfully hard?
“Fuck,” I rasped as I Ieaned over her to pluck at one.
Her lips parted on a gasp. “Yes, My Lord. More, please. I need more.”
Need. Not want.Need.
My muscles seized and my jaw tightened as I gaped at her, trying to process the words. It was like my mind couldn’t comprehend the fact that this woman was begging for me in her sleep. Needing me. The magic was making her dream of me, but her actions within the spell were her own.
Just like that, the darkness inside me took hold. I straddled her upper body so her shoulders were nestled snugly against my thighs, caged between the V of my legs. I jammed my thumb into the laces of my pants and wrenched them loose. On the next ragged breath I had my cock out.
I was about to spit in my hand to use as lubricant, but I paused. The scent of her arousal permeated the entire room. She was oh so wet. With one hand still choking my shaft, I reached behind me and stroked my fingers through her soaking folds, gathering her wetness.
She whimpered, squirming beneath me. I smoothed her essence over my shaft and began to work my hand up and down, my palm sliding easily as I worked her into my flesh.
I groaned, tipping my masked face to the ceiling.
Her slick on my shaft was like a drug, leaching into my body and shooting straight to my brain. Making me feral. I’d waited too damn long for this. I’d been but a shell of myself, barely existing. A ghost among wayward souls.
Death falling in love with life was a tale as old as fucking time. I’d been warned. So many times. I couldn't help it. This was my weakness.Shewas my weakness.
