“That’s what you want?” His eyes were dark, piercing. Laced with want and need and a burning hunger.
I nodded, my heart racing in my chest.“Yes,”I whispered. I didn’t hesitate. I didn’t need to.
He stepped forward, his eyes locked on mine, and everything in me screamed for him. To take what was already his. And when he finally did, I knew there would be no turning back.
CHAPTER THIRTY
One minute his lips were pressed to mine, and the next my world was tilting on its axis. I felt my surroundings spin as my legs buckled underneath me before I dropped onto the mattress on my bed, confused and more than a little out of sorts. As the foam dipped beneath me, I questioned just how much champagne I’d had to drink. I wasn’t entirely sure how we’d made it from standing under the street light outside to inside of my bedroom but I decided not to question it. Since Halloween last year, I’d come to learn that anything was possible. No matter how far-fetched it was.
Thallor knelt in front of me, not speaking, not looking up at me, as he placed my ankle on his knee and began to undo the strap of my heels. I watched as he moved, entranced by such an inconsequential action. His skin touching mine sent sparks of heat roaming up my leg and deep into my core. Trying not to stare and failing miserably, I noticed his fiery red hair seemed to burn with the same intensity I felt raging inside me as he gently placed my now bare foot down before taking the other into his lap.
I didn't consider myself to be an inpatient person, but the speed at which he was moving felt cruel. He worked slowly. Painfully slowly. Devoting attention to each strap like he had all the time in the world. Which, thinking about his immortal lifespan, was probably true. As tantalising as I’m sure my ankles were, this wasn’t the Victorian era, and his time would be better spent roaming the more intimate parts of my body.
I could feel myself itching to be closer to him. To bridge the distance between us so he would finally put me out of my misery. Although if every other time was anything to go by, I’d be tortured to the brink of my own sanity before he put me out of my misery at all.
Placing my other foot on the floor, Thallor moved with the precision of a predator hunting its prey. Whether he was struggling to keep hold of his control or not, I could see the makings of greyish flecks speckled across his arm–the only telltale sign of the true demon lurking inside him.
I’d come to learn that Thallor struggled with who he was at his core. Feeling torn between who he wanted to be and the monster he saw himself as. But my love for Thallor was all-encompassing. There was no bad to be seen when I looked at him. Just something untamed. Wild. But also, captivating and beautiful. I knew he grappled with keeping control of that darker part inside him, especially when it came to me.
But he was truly everything I’d ever wanted. Some people like to make love gently, but I craved something wilder. All-consuming. Up until Thallor, I didn't know it was okay to ask for what I wanted. I'd never wanted soft, careful touches that everyone else seemed to need; I wanted to be ruined. Where I spent so much time in my own head, the only thing I wanted was to escape my mind and exist solely in my body, coming alive under the control of another. And with him, I got just that. We were like a raging fire, where every touch, everymovement stoked the flames of desire until everything around us burned.
Looking up from my feet, Thallor’s gaze hooked on mine. Gone was the soft, tender male who’d afforded me such gentleness and care; in his place was the male who owned my heart and commanded my attention. He stood to his full height, movements slow and tormenting as his eyes remained locked on mine. I stared back greedily, heat rising to the apple of my cheeks as I bit my lip, the thought of what was to come filling me with a spark of excitement and anticipation.
“Stand.”
Slowly, but surely I rose to my feet, letting the intoxicating smell of him engulf me as I stood to face him. His eyes, hungry and brazen, traipsed every inch of my body, his heavy-lidded gaze like a hand between my legs. I brought my hands up to his chest, but he caught me before they made contact, fingers wrapping firmly around wrists. Thallor cocked his head to the side, eyes dipping to where our skin met for just a moment before meeting my eyes again.
“Did I say you could touch me?” he growled, voice dropping painfully low. His lip curled upward at the sides, flashing a hint of his sharp fangs as he leant in close. His breath, hot and a little too tormenting, tickled at my jaw and neck. “Feeling needy today, Quincey?”
I swallowed down a whimper, hoping he couldn’t hear the way the breath hitched in my throat. Letting go of my wrists, he brought his hand up, the pad of his thumb grazing my bottom lip, before tilting my head upwards. When his lips collided with mine, they left little room for question. His movements started off restrained, his tongue dancing across mine in slow, languid circles as he swallowed down the gasp that left my lips.
Finally getting everything I wanted, I smiled into his mouth, bringing my hands up to the back of his neck before lettingthem trail into his hair. Thallor’s hands coiled down my body, sending pleasure down my spine before finding my waist and tugging me into him so I could feel just how much he wanted me. Just how much he needed me. And like every other time he had touched me, I went willingly, melting into him and letting him know exactly what I needed without hesitation or shame.
The pressure of his lips on mine was unyielding. The deeper we kissed, the rougher his hands got until we were caught in a fever of desire, with me at his mercy. With every passing moment, with every frenzied gasp and pleasured moan, the more I could taste it. The want. Theneedon his skin.
Thallor tugged at my dress as we kissed, and my hands lingered at his neck before I slid them down his chest and worked to undo the buttons of his shirt.
“Thallor,” I moaned as my own impatience gnawed at my skin, wanting him to hear how desperately I needed him. I silently cursed my inability to move quickly as my shaking hands trembled over the buttons I was working on. With Thallor, my own desire had shocked even me. I’d never felt like this with anyone before–feeling so helplessly gone for him.
After the conversation we’d had that night, both resolute in our feelings for each other, the desire between us felt overwhelming. Whether it was out of the need we both felt or just a growing frustration, one I could completely understand, Thallor let out a low growl, before using his magic to undress us both. I let my gaze linger on his chest, entirely captivated by the strength and detail of his muscles. Seriously,no oneneeded that many abs, but if someone was going to have them, I was glad it was him.
I dropped science, the kind of science that explained things like this far too long ago. I was sure there was something about muscle memory or dopamine–some scientific explanation or physiological theory tucked away in a textbook somewhere thatmight help me explain why Thallor’s lips on mine felt the way they did. Even when considering more philosophical or spiritual concepts–ones about soul mates or fate–I wasn't sure if anything could really capture it. Not the way it felt in that moment anyway.
He lifted a hand slowly, angling my chin upward until his gaze was locked on mine, his eyes heavy with unspoken want, a sincerity behind them. My nipples peaked under the weight of his stare as my skin erupted in goosebumps. Every nerve in my body seemed to respond in kind, coming alive with every passing moment. It was the way he looked at me. Awe-struck—a look of wonder. As if simply being in my presence might bring him to his knees. Which stirred something in me.I definitely want him on his knees.
“Fuck,” he groaned as he drank in the sight of me. “You are the most beautiful thing I have ever laid eyes on.” Thallor’s hands moved from my chin to the nape of my neck as the other rose to palm at my breast.
If I ever felt shy, insecure, or unconfident about how I looked, Thallor shattered those thoughts tenfold. He did it with everything he said and everything he did. He did it with every disbelieving, almost pained kiss.
I swirled my tongue in response and nipped at his bottom lip, internally beaming at the thought of him wanting me just as much as I wanted him. When he palmed at my breast again, I tried to swallow down the moan, but it escaped me in a desperate whimper that had him groaning into my mouth.
In one smooth, sure motion, he had me pinned beneath him on the bed. His gaze was dark and hungry as he hovered above me. I could feel the heat radiating off him as he pressed himself between my legs, my hands moving across his taut muscles as he did. Comparing him to somethingMichelangelocould have created felt like an understatement. It felt like it didn't do himjustice. He was just so unbelievably beautiful that I could barely think of anything else but him.
I felt his breathing grow more erratic as I traced my hands down his body before he pinned them at either side of my head. I huffed in protest, but he just smirked at me, a glimmer of the personality I knew so well slipping through the cracks.
“Don’t move your hands until I tell you to.” He continued to trace every curve of my body with his mouth as if needing to commit the feel of it to memory. His hand explored me with feverish enthusiasm as if he hadn't done it every day prior. His mouth settled over my peaked nipple, and he sucked me into his mouth once again, biting down hard. A gasp escaped me as his teeth sank deeper–a wave of euphoric pain coursing through my body. His bite was firm, hard, but not enough to break skin as his tongue roved over me.
He continued to work his way down my body before settling between my legs. He pulled me forward with a force that took me by surprise, something between a high-pitched scream and a giggle escaping me. But he swallowed it down with one slow, warm, languid kiss before settling between my legs again. He let his thumb trace over me in slow circles, and I writhed under his touch, arching upward into him.
