I hold my hand out to Nash, trying to draw him to us, but he shakes his head. Because he wants to watch, or because he’s afraid of unleashing himself?
I kiss each of the twins, then drop to my hands and knees and crawl toward Nash. His breath catches at the same time Malachi and Hart curse when gifted a view of my ass.
The low candlelight dances across the shadows on Nash’s face, and he licks his lips as if he can already taste me. When I reach him, I slide my hands up his legs, his powerful muscles contracting under my touch. He parts his legs, allowing me closer, and I skim my lips over the fabric of his breechesstraining along his inner thighs. His hands clench at his sides as I get higher and higher. Almost there…
Suddenly, I’m tossed onto the sofa on my back, and he’s on top of me, pinning my hands above my head as he settles himself between my legs, pushing the evidence of his arousal against the delicate lace.
“You don’t scare me,” I whisper.
“I should.”
“I died, and you brought me back with the power of your words. The time for running from whatever you are has passed.” I arch my back, rubbing against him. He growls and settles more of his weight against me. He’s driving me crazy. “Nash, please.”
He grins, those sharp and elongated teeth present once more. They’re not an illusion or a trick of the light. I skim my lips across them in acceptance of everything he is. Can he not feel my heart next to his, thundering for a taste of him?
“Brother, you need Theo,” Hart interrupts.
Nash snarls and pushes his tongue between my lips to flick against mine, and I wrap my legs around his hips, rocking against him. Desire unfurls from my core and spreads through my veins, lighting me up from the inside. My hands tangle with his so he’s no longer holding me down—I’m holding him hostage against me.
“Nash, stop,” Malachi growls.
No, don’t stop. Go away.
My pulse thunders with anticipation of this pairing. I need him to claim me to complete what we have. I need him to cure the deep ache he’s created. That we never got to do this before I joined the stars haunts me. This isn’t want or lust; it’s need and love.
My tongue catches on his fang, nicking the flesh and making copper taint our kiss. Nash’s body stills, his mouth freezing over mine, and for the first time, I sense the danger he poses. It stilldoesn’t scare me; it’s merely an acknowledgment of who he is. An acceptance of what he is.
He moves off me so fast that a cool breeze skims across my bare flesh, making me shiver. My chest rises and falls as I blink at the shadows on the ceiling and try to collect my thoughts.
“Daphne, are you okay?” Malachi asks.
“I’m fine.” I squint at the corner of the ceiling where the shadows shift with a presence. I sit up, gazing at the creature staring down at me with hunger. His eyes flash red, making my pulse thunder. “Nash?” I whisper.
“No sudden movements,” Hart advises. “And whatever you do, do not run.”
Run? Where would I go? My feet hit the stone floor, and I take a few steps toward him.
“Easy,” Malachi says. The twins are in step with me, but giving us space like they’re ready to intervene should shit go sideways. This is Nash, my dark knight with an enormous heart. He isn’t the villain.
Nash tracks my every movement, and I can feel my pulse calling to him, the way it throbs in my neck. A flutter of temptation. How is he doing that?
I stop beneath him, his body transformed to wisps of shadows that kiss the air as if they are scenting me. My hand lifts, and my fingers play with the darkness that is quintessentially Nash. The crimson orbs focused on me flare as I embrace everything he is. He’s expecting me to run screaming. Silly knight.
I wiggle my fingers in demand. “I can’t reach you up there,” I point out. “And we all know how heights aren’t my friend. Remember the library incident, or the time I floated to the ceiling and dusted the cobwebs?”
His head tilts at a strange angle that makes my neck ache as he absorbs my words. “Calamity, what are you doing? Don’t antagonize him,” Hart snaps.
“I’m not.” I smirk. “Are you scared of me, Nash?”
“Dangerous words,” Malachi mutters from my other side, but they’re laced with amusement.
Nash doesn’t move. I shrug with my hand still outstretched. “If you are afraid of your future, just say so, but don’t hide out in the corner like a weirdo. It’s unlike you, Nash.”
“What in the Blazes is she doing?” Hart groans.
“Accepting him the way he’s accepted me.”
I can feel the way Nash stretches toward me, desperate to take what I am offering but terrified of it at the same time.
