“Then you’d better fuck me while you do it so I don’t notice.”
He groaned and bent his head again to kiss her. Reaching down, he scooped up one of her legs below the knee and spread her up and open to him. She was still stroking his shaft, and she aligned the head with her entrance, lifting her hips and angling them so all he had to do was push forward.
“Suyin,” he moaned against her lips.
“Yes,” she moaned. “I need it. I need you.”
But he stopped. He lifted his head and looked into her eyes. He needed her to understand this first. “I will never hurt you again,” he swore. “I will never lie to you again. I will never make you feel betrayed again. From now on, you come first for me. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she said, and her eyes were soft. “I trust you.”
There it was—that tender look he’d once chased and fought to understand. This time, it was only for him, and he would guard it like the most powerful, secret knowledge that existed.And it was powerful. It empowered him to know he had conquered her heart and earned her forgiveness. She had given the gift of herself to him and only him.
He would spend every moment of the rest of their lives proving she’d made the right choice.
He bent to taste her lips again as he sank into her body, her tight core squeezing his shaft. She clutched the skin of his back, her nails biting his flesh hard enough to leave marks. She cried out his name, her chin tipping back and exposing the soft column of her throat.
He dropped his head and fixed his teeth around her neck. She moaned, chanting, “Yes, yes, yes,” and he took that as the green light to bite. His fangs broke her skin. Her powerful Cambion blood filled his mouth with a rich flavor that made his head spin. He thrust faster, sinking into her as deep as her body allowed him to go.
She gasped at the pain from his bite, her nails digging deeper into his back. All of a sudden, they were sharp. Sharp enough to pierce his skin and draw blood. Sharp like … claws?
He pulled his teeth from her neck, lifted his head, and then blinked in surprise. Her eyes were pure black, sharp fangs framed her mouth, and her skin was faintly tinted with a purplish hue.Purple.It was his favorite color.
“You were right,” she said with a fanged grin. “I can shift.”
He groaned at the sight of her. He’d never seen a more stunning thing.
Needing her even closer, he shoved his hand under her back and picked her up. She tightened her arms around his shoulders as he sat back on his knees, setting her atop his thighs so he could sink even deeper inside her.
She cried out, throwing her head back so her black hair danced across her back, and he bent and licked up the bloodtrail coming from the puncture wounds in her neck. Her legs spread apart across his thighs, and he held her in place as he moved inside her, her arousal soaking his shaft to the base.
She gripped his shoulders, her claws sharp against his skin, and tilted her head forward to face him. Their gazes met. There was a look of uncertainty, of vulnerability, in her eyes. Her body trembled on the verge of a climax.
He knew what she needed, and he told her with his gaze,I see you. I see you and I have you. You’re mine, and I’ll never let you go. Fall and I will catch you.
And she did. Her body shook, and her cries cut off as she gasped. He felt her clench around him, her inner muscles rippling with waves of release.
The sight of her surrender undid him, and he soared into his own climax. And he experienced his own moment of uncertainty. Because this was about so much more than a physical release.
But she was right there with him, riding the waves of her own pleasure, her beautiful, lithe body spread out and vulnerable before him, her surrender complete. And that was all he needed.
They came down from the high together, clutching each other, their skin slick with sweat and their intermingled releases. He wrapped an arm and his tail around her hips and held her close, his shaft still inside of her, flexing with residual pleasure. He stroked her hair with his other hand, smoothing it off her sweat-slicked neck. Bending, he licked another trickle of blood from her closing wounds.
Her eyes shut, and she sagged against him, resting her head against his shoulder. He kept stroking her hair. She hummed softly, and then she turned her head and pressed the softest kiss against his skin.
And for the first time, Murmur gave thanks for the soul he’d evolved that gave him the capacity to love her.
Hours later, they lay sprawled in Suyin’s bed. He’d made love to her a second and third time until they’d both worked out the tension from their time apart and could finally rest.
“Why didn’t you use your ghosts to restrain me?” she asked. She lay with her head on his chest, his arm around her, and she traced the line between his pectorals with a light touch. She was back in her human form, her fingertips soft as she stroked him. “I know how much you like that.”
“Do you?” he asked, petting her hair.
“You know I do.”
“Hm.”
“What?” She lifted her head so she could meet his gaze. There was a red mark on her cheek from being pressed against him, and he smiled at the sight.
