He sat down heavily on one of the chairs by the table with a sigh, his hands running through his dark hair as he looked her up and down. His eyes stopped on her bloody finger, his pupils flaring briefly. Adriana heard the breath catch in his throat as he placed his hand over his mouth and nose.
"You should have killed me," he said, his words slightly muffled behind his palm as his leg began to shake, a sign she knew that meant he was riddled with anxiety. "I am so, truly sorry, Adriana. You must promise me, if my control slips around you again, you will stop me."
She knelt down before him and took his hand in her non-injured one, keeping her wounded finger behind her back in an effort to help. She could not believe what he was asking of her. Though she knew she had been lucky in being able to bring him back, and that it may not be so easy if it were to happen again, the idea of killing him made her blood run cold.
"How long has it been since you fed?"
"Since the day before the barn," he quietly admitted, his breathing erratic. "The thought of feeding from someone else, it makes me feel sick to my stomach. I do not want to do that with anyone else, I cannot even imagine…"
He clenched his teeth in frustration, his head leaning back as he faced the ceiling to avoid looking at her.
"I told you before that I want you in more ways than one,” he whispered. “And tonight, with just that tiny drop of your blood, it was enough to tip me over the edge. And I can stillfucking smell it."
She quickly reached for the cloth, intending to wrap it around her finger in an attempt to make things easier for him. Before she could cover the wound, he snatched the cloth from her and began to gently wipe the drying blood from her finger, his touch tender as he held her hand in his, slowly cleaning away any trace of injury with precision.
“Xander, do not strain yourself.”
“Please, let me,” he begged, his focus remaining on her hand with concentration. “I want to help you. I want to prove I can. Besides, the sight of you on your knees is enough to make any man lose all previous thoughts.”
Adriana let out a small giggle, causing Xander to smile slightly, but she noticed it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Once he was content with his handiwork, he threw the cloth across the table, far enough out of his reach. Her hands came to rest on his legs and she looked up at him beneath her lashes as he held her chinbetween his thumb and forefinger. His eyes began to fill with that familiar warmth and adoration she had longed to see again.
“I am the first Lamia, the first Daemon, the strongest being on this earth. My power alone has the ability to shape or shatter this world. And yet you, Adriana, are my weakness. You. I cannot decide if you are my salvation or my torment. Here you stand, the beacon in my darkness, the sun that warms my frozen life. With every look, every touch, you are the harbinger of my downfall. You have the potential to ruin my control of everything that I am, everything I have tried to hide.”
Her mouth parted in a small gasp, the shock of his words crashing over her. She could feel her heart stumble a beat, her body flush with that familiar heat within her as she noticed the still present bulge in his trousers. He still wanted her, and she could see it was taking every ounce of his strength not to take her.
She leant forward, running her hands further up his thighs, noticing him tense under her touch, but he didn’t push her away. He needed to feed, but she also knew he needed to feel human again, and she was willing to give him both.
“We must make our weaknesses into our strengths,” she said, as she slowly unfastened his breeches. She reached in and wrapped her hand around him, pulling him free from the trousers that had clearly become uncomfortably tight. “That is what you told me. If I am truly your beacon, use me to find a way through this. Let me be the constellation that guides you through the darkest night. Let vulnerability be your strength, and let me be the light that pierces through your shadows. You have got this, Xander, and I have got you. Always.”
Xander’s eyes flared and his gaze dropped to her mouth, following the flick of her tongue against him. He gripped the arm rests of the chair, his knuckles white, as he chewed on his bottom lip.
She licked a long, slow path before swirling her tongue around his tip, her eyes never leaving his. As he let out a low moan, she wrapped her lips around him, taking in as much of him as she could and sucking lightly.
The wooden armrests he held began to splinter under his strong grip as his hips thrust forward. Adriana knew he was desperate for her to take him down her throat, but she wanted to take her time. She pulled back, her hand still wrapped around him, moving up and down at a torturously slow pace.
“And if you want Jonathon to watch you touch me, then I will let the entire town watch as I please you in return. You are mine, Alexander Duran, and I am yours.”
Her words seemed to unravel something within him, and Xander snapped. Her playtime was over.
He grabbed her hair, hauling her to her feet as he stood and bent her over the table. He pushed her skirt over her hips and tore away her undergarments, leaving her exposed to him. She felt his palm smack against her backside before his body leant over hers, trapping her against the wooden surface as his feet kicked hers wider apart.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to play with hungry Daemons?”
“I am not afraid of you,” she spoke sternly, truthfully.
He pulled her body flush against his, her back to his chest, and laced his fingers round the front of her throat. She looked up at him, noticing the small smile that played on his lips.
“No,” he said. “No, you are not. But I am of you. You are the death of me, Adriana. Destroy me utterly, if that is your purpose. Should you choose to break me, then be sure to leave nothing behind. If you are to be the one to ruin me, let it be absolute.”
He spun her around to face him and pushed her to sit on the table. Adriana widened her legs so he could stand between them, not wanting him to be anywhere else.
A familiar coldness spread through her mind, a soothing caress as he drifted through her thoughts. She realised he was searching for any signs that she didn’t want this, that she didn’t want him. But she knew he would find none.
Adriana could not find the words to describe how she felt about him, she wasn’t sure there were enough words in any language that would be sufficient. And so she reached up to untie the top of his shirt, and kissed him with everything she had.
She pulled the shirt from his body and kicked his trousers down as he tore apart every piece of clothing from her. His lips attacked her mouth, her neck, her shoulders, sucking and kissing his way down to her breasts.
She took in the Nocte brands that covered his body, the beautiful black swirls that resembled the shadows he controlled. They danced and intertwined across his tanned chest and shoulders, extending up to the base of his neck and down his arms, curling down to his fingers. Her eyes caught on the small scars that littered his torso, and the larger scar from an obvious bullet wound in his shoulder. She traced them with her fingers, wishing she could remove all the pain he had endured.
