“It’s never enough.” All my worries about this new world dissolve in a rush of need. He doesn’t disappoint. Tendrils of darkness spread from his body and snake under the covers. When they touch me, they feel like the night was woven into the softest silk. Channels of lustrous darkness slip between my toes, around my ankles, wind up my thighs. When they converge and course over the most sensitive part of me, I toss my head back on a gasp. He’s there, forming over me, completely naked, with nothing between us but my nightgown.
I reach down and slide it up and over my head so that we’re skin to skin. He burrows his face in my neck, my hair. His lips find mine, his tongue stroking in. By the time he works his hips between my heat-slick thighs, I’m wet and ready. He reaches between us and groans.
“Oh little bird, you have been thinking of me.”
“Always.” I arch against him, wrapping my legs around his hips and trying my best to draw him closer, to force him to give me what I want. But he holds firm.
His rumbling laugh tickles my skin as he trails his kisses down my neck and across my collarbone. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were feeling impatient.”
I grind against him, the tip of him sliding against my slit. So close. Every cell in my body wakes up and yearns for more friction, more contact, more everything.
I groan. “Stop teasing me. I need you. I swear I’ll combust.” I lick along his jaw.
“We wouldn’t want that. Let’s see what we can do with a spark.” He enters me in one violent thrust. It’s almost painful, and if I were still human, it might have ripped me apart. But I’m not human, and the fast, rough fullness almost sends me over the edge. It’s an invasion. A masterful taking and giving of pleasure that leaves us both breathless and trembling for a moment.
I press my forehead to his. “I swear on my life, being with you, Damien, is like discovering I have wings, every single time.”
He nuzzles the side of my face. “If you have wings, then I must have died to be graced with an Anglyre like you to carry me to the Darklands.”
I have no idea what an Anglyre is, but I sense it must be close to angel and that’s good enough for me. I grab his back and start moving against him, driving him deep and deeper again. We move as opposites. We move as one. This dance between us, it’s no longer new, but in many ways, time has only made things better. I know him, how he moves, what makes his lips part with pleasure. I flip him over onto his back and rise above him, riding him harder and faster, until the tendons in his neck strain with his pleasure. So do his shadows. They wind around me, teasing my breasts, my ass. Shadows thread into my hair. My god, the cool vibration is everywhere.
I crest, and it’s as if I’m thrown into the golden light of dawn. It’s blinding and powerful. I feel him under me, responding to the arch of my back, the way my inner muscles work him with every shock wave that ripples through me.
My skin glistens with sweat. My heart thunders in my chest. And his arms are around me, holding me like I’m the most precious gift of his life. Like without me, he wouldn’t exist at all.
We wake to the rising moon, and I climb from bed to watch it, grabbing the silk nightgown and pulling it over my head as I walk to the railing for a better view. Tenebris is perpetually night, but here, the moon is so close, so bright, there is a clear differentiation between day and night. The moonrise is as spectacular as a sunrise on Earth, shedding blue, silver, and purple light across the horizon.
Damien’s warm finger slides under one spaghetti strap of the nightgown. “Where did you find this?”
The cream silk strains across my chest and hips. It’s a good thing the queen doesn’t want this back because it won’t be the same after I’ve worn it. “Nevina gave it to me along with a few dresses. I appreciate the kindness, but they barely fit. We’ll need to find a place where I can buy some clothing in my size, eventually.”
“Nevina brought it to you? Not Brahm or one of the servants?” By his tone, I sense this surprises him.
“A servant carried the dresses for her, but she came herself. Demanded I eat a translation charm, by the way. I can understand your language now.”
“You understand Aediadic?” he says in his native tongue.
“Yes, I do. Every word of it. And speak it too,” I respond in his language.
He curses under his breath.
“You sound upset. Why? Did you want to keep me in the dark?”
“No, little bird. Only, I wish it were your spell and not hers. I’ve not had time to grow to trust her yet. Perhaps I’m set in my ways, but ingesting dark elf magic still gives me pause.”
I shrug. “You weren’t here, and I had to make a decision. I thought it would be a bad idea for me to offend our hosts. Scary, though, considering I’m a vampire and don’t normally consume regular food. Anyway, it didn’t hurt me, and it worked.”
“No side effects?
“None. Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask you about that. The spell tasted good to me. Can vampires eat regular food if they want to, like shades can?”
He considers the question for a moment. “I’ve known a few to partake in wine and raw meats. Unlike with shades, I don’t believe you take any nutritional value from it. But if you enjoy it, it won’t hurt you.”
“That’s good news. I don’t want to appear rude or stand out at meals. Nevina was already curious about what I am.”
“She was? In what way?”
“She figured out that I must have been the one to open the portal between worlds. She wanted to know about my abilities, my powers. She didn’t say so directly, but I believe what she really wanted to know was if you planned to challenge them in any way. It’s a new kingdom. I guess some of the citizens still haven’t accepted her.”
