“Never.” There’s so much wrapped in that word. “I will never allow harm to come to you.”
I tilt my head to the side, expose my neck to him, and brace myself. “Then do it.”
CHAPTER18
He leans forward,lips parting to expose fangs made silver in the moonlight.
I don’t want to look, and yet I can’t avert my gaze. His eyes remain locked with mine until the very last second, when his face disappears from my view. His hot breath primes my skin for his lips as they slide across my flesh. I bite my lower lip and hold my breath.
There’s the smoothness of his fangs. He adjusts. Slight pressure that brushes up to the line of pain, yet somehow doesn’t cross. And then…
Then…
I exhale slowly, a flush rushing across my body as every bit of tension releases at once. My lids go heavy, the world blurs. Invisible pins prick me; I tingle until my hairs stand on end. I am aware of every inch of me and him—of the need growing in my lower abdomen to the point of insatiability. My hands move on their own, reaching for him. They slide over his forearms, grabbing behind his elbows. He tenses, but only briefly. Ruvan relaxes and allows me to pull him closer.
His hands shift. One sliding down, grazing my breast as he wraps his arm around my waist. His other hand remains at the nape of my neck, guiding me with subtle pressure, keeping me exactly where he wants me.
Why does it feel so…good?
We’re on the verge of becoming one. I ache. I pull him closer still. His arm tenses. Every bit of his corded muscle is mine to explore as his hot lips are planted upon me. My own lips are suddenly cold. Gasping in moonlight. Wanting his. Wanting more, even if I don’t fully know what “more” is.
His presence, his body, has become a second awareness, like a phantom limb, or my hammer in the forge. Like something that should be my own, but isn’t. Or maybe was long, long ago.
A low groan rises in the back of his throat, causing the muscles in my neck to tremble. My core tightens. My eyes dip closed. He holds me so tightly that I swear it will bruise and I do not care.
I want to shift closer, closer still. I want to sit in his lap. To straddle him. To lose my fingers in his moonlit hair as he drinks my blood and delights in my flesh.
The magic within him grows. My power is swelling within him. Life and magic slip from me to fill his form. His grip stops quivering slightly, and he drinks slow and steady, initial fervor gone.
We are two candles, but one flame. We cannot and will not let the other go dark. Not while one of us still burns.
My mind spins and I succumb to the delightful sensations. My grip goes slack. Warm…I am so warm and safe in his arms.
And yet, he begins to release me. He’s going to pull away. I’m not ready for it to be over. I want more. I want him to continue touching me, kissing me, with and without fangs. I want to feel everything that I was never allowed or never thought I should. I want everything that was denied me because if I don’t take it now, will I ever have it?
A whimper escapes my lips.
“It’s too much,” he murmurs, voice thick and heavy. It makes my breath catch. “I can’t take any more from you.”
“Do you have enough?” I whisper, opening my eyes. I hope he’ll say no.
He is himself once more, the ethereal being that my blood makes him. Starlight is good to him, outlining him in glowing white. His lips are a bright crimson. He licks them, eyes fluttering closed, as though he is savoring every last taste of me on his tongue.
It almost makes me want to lick myself off of him.
“You gave me more than enough.”
“Did I taste all right?” I can’t help but ask.
“Floriane, you taste…” He trails off. His eyes are shining brighter than the sun at dawn. He stares at me as if all the words of what he was going to say are written on my face. “You taste like strength, and hope.”
Hope. That illustrious thing that I’ve so rarely permitted myself to even be adjacent to. Maybe that curiosity of if, or how, I’m changing is what prompts me to ask, “Could you see my future?”
He tenses. He doesn’t want to tell me. I can almost catch a glimpse of what he doesn’t say as I see myself reflected in his eyes.
“Ruvan?”
“Even if I had the skills to do so, I would never look without your blessing.”
