Blackthorn paused in front of me. “Yes?”
I glanced up at him from beneath my lashes, heat brushing across my cheeks. “I was just wondering... aren’t you...?” I swallowed and licked my lips. “Hungry?”
His eyes tracked the path of my tongue. “Famished.”
“You haven’t fed during dinner.”
Blackthorn was quiet for a moment. “No, I haven’t.”
I shifted in my seat on the bed, staring down at my feet. “Why?”
A finger tipped my chin up, lifting my gaze to his. “Once paradise has been tasted, how could I go back to anything else?”
I blinked up at him. My blush deepened at his attention. “Won’t you die if you don’t feed?”
“Yes,” he drew out.
I shook my head, pulling my chin out of his hand. “I’m not worth all that. Certainly not your life.”
“Never.” His hand grasped the back of my neck, pulling my head back forcing me to look at him. His eyes full of an anger I’d never seen before. “Never again do I want to hear you talk about yourself that way. You are worth more than that entire city. Certainly more than my life. Do you understand me?”
My hand came up clasping onto his arm, my back arching into his hold. “Yes.”
My heart pounded hard in my chest, but not from fear.
No one had ever said those words to me. Outside of my family, no one has made me feel as if I were worth more than what I could give them and yet here Blackthorn was, telling me I was worth his life and more. I didn’t know how to respond to it.
His grip on my hair loosened, and I reacted. I bolted up, my hand diving into his long black hair, yanking his face down to mine. Our mouths crashed together and, at first, I thought Blackthorn would push me away. Then his hands cupped the sides of my face, angling my head to the side, his tongue seeking out mine.
I kissed him like he was the very breath in my lungs, pressing myself closer to him. One of his hands slid down my face, cupping my waist. His large form loomed over me, and I wanted nothing more than to feel the press of that form against mine.
Sinking back toward the mattress, Blackthorn didn’t resist as I drew him down with me. My thighs parted, and my hips arched up to meet him. Eventually, I had to pull back to breathe.
Blackthorn licked at my mouth, playfully nipping at my lower lip before dragging his mouth across my jaw and down my neck. His mouth hesitated over the pulse in my throat.
“Do it,” I breathed, hooking my leg over his calves, my body humming for the pleasure that would come with his bite. “Please.”
It was the please that had him.
His fangs sank into my neck. I barely felt the bite this time, not being shocked by the pain. The sting quickly melted into pleasure, pulling a moan from me. My chest brushed against him as I arched my back. The hand on my waist stayed where it was while I burned for his touch.
“Blackthorn,” I panted, my leg pulling at him, body begging for him as his bite drew me higher and higher to that peak. “Please. I need...”
His head pulled away, fangs slipping from my neck, making me cry out in dismay. A trickle of my blood slid down his chin, his tongue dipping out to catch it. “Tell me what you want. Say it, my love.”
My mouth opened and shut, unable to form the words that would make him continue.
Blackthorn’s finger traced the line of my lips, his hips pressing down where I ached the most letting me feel him hard and ready for me. All I had to do was tell him.
Except I couldn’t. Not yet.
My body wanted him, yes. It was already addicted to the sting of his fangs in my flesh, the feel of his hands on me, the taste of him on my lips. I knew without a doubt I would be even more addicted if we moved forward, if he slid inside of me where only one had ever been before.
I couldn’t. Not now. Maybe not ever. Not while Rumple’s spell was still active.
Shaking my head, I let my legs fall to the bed. “I can’t.”
Blackthorn stared down at me, searching my face before he inclined his head and climbed off me. I quickly climbed beneath the blankets, tugging them up to my chin. Without a word, he finished getting ready for bed and slipped under the covers on the opposite side of the bed from me.
