She swallowed. “What is it like?”
Rune tilted his head.
“To…” She cleared her throat. “To be… with a god, I mean.”
Perhaps foolish to ask now, when last night she had nearly found out. But if she had laid with him, would something have changed about her?
Rune’s mouth curved into a slow, feral smile. Even the shadows stilled around them, listening. “To lie with a god is a metamorphosis. It is taking his essence within yourself and that is…” He leaned in but she held her ground, breath trembling as she met his gaze. “Devastating,” he rumbled. “So terrifyingly addictive you may even forget your own name.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re jesting.”
“I never jest about pleasure.” His voice slid lower, hypnotic as he stepped closer.
“Then…” Alora swallowed. “Have you lain with mortals?”
His eyes grew feral. “I have. And none were prepared for all of me.”
Heat gathered low in her stomach at the implication. She thought again of last night and the feel of him in the dark. There had been something overwhelming about the way his bodypressed against hers, as though he carried more than a single form should contain.
“Can you imagine it, Alora?” His tone purred against her ear though he hadn’t moved. “Surrendering yourself to my mercy, my mouth on you, soothing everywhere you ache? Pleasing you until you beg me to stop? To be with a god is a curse in itself, for I would ruin you for any other man.”
Her heart pounded wildly, a thrum spiraling through her as she thought of his mouth, his touch, his tongue. The moment in the cottage had been mind-numbingly amazing. But would lying with him truly be world-shattering to say she would never desire another?
“Yes,” Rune rumbled, pinning her against a tree. “Once you take me, no other would ever satisfy you again.”
Alora scowled, ignoring her blush. “How can you read my thoughts without your magic?”
His grin turned wicked. “Your thoughts are all over your face.”
She tried not to squirm as more questions spun in her head.
Rune already knew. “Ask.”
She cleared her throat, holding his gaze despite the flutter in her chest. “Is …mating… different for demons?”
Rune’s mouth curved slowly.
“Calla mentioned an imprint when m-mates are chosen,” Alora stuttered, looking away. “And… other things.”
His hand came up, fingers warm and unyielding as he tipped her chin, forcing her eyes back to his. Up close, she saw the subtle shift in him. The way his pupils darkened, as though his true instinct had surfaced.
“For you to mark me,” Rune murmured, voice lowered, roughened, “would mean you claim me as yours, freely and forever. It is an intimate bond, much more carnal than the one we have now.”
Heat coiled low in her belly as his reaction rippled through the bond. Want. Possession. A sharp, answering desire he didn’t bother to mask.
“And I have no interest in sharing you with a harem, wife.” His thumb brushed beneath her jaw, a touch that lingered a heartbeat too long. “I am more than enough.”
A current swept over her.
“But if you would like to have more than one of me to please you, I would be happy to comply.”
Her eyes widened.More than one?
A sly smirk curved his mouth with dark amusement, the bond humming with every sinful memory. “I believe we are far enough away from the Ruins.”
Pushing him back a step, Alora quickly marched on. His low laugh followed her. He truly was a depraved, lustful, boorish?—
She slowed to a stop on the edge of the woods. “You’re mistaken.”
