I nodded slowly. “Only a little when you touched it.”
His shadows encased him completely as his horns extended and a guttural growl vibrated his chest. He stumbled back and grabbed his index finger, pulling it back until it folded over, touching the upper side of his hand and the bone snapped.
“Stop!” I cried, jumping forward and pulling his grip off his finger and wrapping my arms around his neck as his hands fell to his sides. “Don’t hurt yourself! What in Kalista are you doing?”
“I hurt you by hurting him. I didn’t think you would feel it like a regular matebond. It was a rejected bond. I didn’t think… I had no fucking idea,” he mumbled, still not moving. “I hurt you.”
“No you didn’t.”I pulled back and pushed against my toes.
Tugging his face toward mine, I pressed my lips against his. The heat of my lips met with the metal rings on his bottom lip, and shivers danced down my spine.
The desperation that throbbed through me at his pain caused my mind to jumble and this was the only solution that came to mind.
A few seconds passed before he let out a low, almost sensual growl, and his hands cupped my backside as he responded. His lips moved against mine and he nipped at the bottom lip. One of his sharp teeth snagged and sliced it.
I gasped as pleasure radiated from the cut down to my lower abdomen. He pushed his tongue into my mouth, coating both of our tongues in my blood. The kiss lasted a few blissful moments before I moved my hands to his chest and pushed slightly to break the kiss.
“Damien,” I breathed. “Please don’t hurt yourself. It hurts me when you do.”
His entire body was frozen as his dark gray eyes widened. “Little bird.” His fingers hovered over his lips. “You kissed me.”
My face burned hot as I nodded. “I couldn’t stand to see you hurt yourself like that.”
“Holy fuck,” he murmured. “My little bird just kissed me. Have you ever kissed anyone before?”
“No.”
A slow, genuine smile spread across his lips. “I have something for you.”
“What is it?” Butterflies swarmed my belly, and the temperature in the room only increased.
He reached into his pocket and grabbed something before holding his hand up with something inside it. I opened my palm under his hand and he dropped a bone.
To be exact, he dropped Grayson’s pinky bone.
My mouth dropped, and I blinked once, twice, and a third time before shutting it. “You took his pinky bone and gave it to me?”
“I made him suck it clean,” he told me, his eyes twinkling. “Turn it over.”
I gripped it in between my thumb and index finger and flipped it over to reveal a white wolf with its head cut off carved into it.
Pressing my lips into a line didn’t hold back the chuckle that escaped me. “It’s a little... unorthodox, but I know it’s your way of showing me you’ll protect me, so thank you.”
“I hate to interrupt,” Kian squeaked from the other side of the door. “But did he really just give you Grayson’s pinky bone?”
“Yeah, he did.” I curled my fingers around the bone with a small smile.
“That’s, uh, sweet. Good job, Damien. Anyone who hurts her should pay the price,” he said.
Damien brimmed with pride, puffing his chest out. “Thanks, necromancer. You’re not so bad.”
Why did I find everything these men did so attractive?
FOURTEEN
Thorn
Faeweren’tsinister,contraryto popular belief.
