I hate how flippant she is about her own safety—like her life isn’t precious, something I’m desperate to protect. I want to argue more, tell her how terrified I was watching that blade come at her, but I suddenly realize we’re talking too loudly. The canvas walls of this tent won’t keep our voices from carrying. I don’t care who hears us, but I know I should.
Aurelia stretches both arms over her head and yawns. “I actually feel great now. That potion must have gotten stronger from sitting in the bottle for so long.”
My eye twitches and I just grunt in response. I’m glad she feels so fucking great, because I still feel like I’m about to die.
Aurelia stretches some more, cracking her back, then her neck. As she turns her head, my eyes widen on the smooth, unmarked skin. Fuck, it was already fading, but the healing potion must have finished the job. “Your neck healed.”
Her dark eyes widen and she looks at me as she raises her fingers to her throat. “Is it gone?” I nod, and Aurelia exhales slowly. “You’ll have to do it again.”
Something wild claws at my chest from the inside, demanding release. I want to bite her again, now, but I know it hurt her the last time. Worse, I’m not thinking about it as something weneed to do for her protection. I’m thinking about how desperately I want to mark her as mine.
I glance at our notes on the table, silently asking if she wants to talk about it first. Not that there’s much to fucking talk about, this isn’t really a choice.
Aurelia seems to know that, because she meets my eyes, determination hardening her expression. “Just do it.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“It doesn’t hurt,” she says breathlessly.
My heart hammers against my ribs, and I swallow back a growl. I’m sure she’s lying, but I also don’t know what else to do. There’s no less danger today than there was a week ago when I first bit her, and it’s not as if we can admit now that we were never mates.
We’re already sitting side by side on the bed, feet on the floor, but I reach over and grip her arm, pivoting her body toward me until her knees bump against mine. I hold my breath, moving stiffly until my hand tangles in her hair, holding her head steady, and Aurelia stretches to give me better access to her throat.
By the fucking gods, I shouldn’t be so excited. I shouldn’t be practically salivating as my teeth sharpen to points against my tongue and I lean in, the scent of her skin filling my nose. Her pulse jumps visibly beneath the thin skin of her throat. I hover there for one suspended moment, my breath hot against her neck, before I slowly press my teeth against her skin.
Instantly, Aurelia’s spine arches. Her fingers curl, digging into her thighs as she squeezes her eyes shut. My muscles lock in place. Her sharp intake of breath echoes in my ears, and I can feel her pulse hammering against my lips. Fuck, shewaslying and now I’m hurting her.
I start to pull away, but her fingers suddenly tangle in my hair, nails scraping my scalp as she yanks me back against her throat. “Don’t stop.”
For a long second I freeze, my jaw locked in place. Her pulse hammers against my teeth, her skin hot and yielding. When I press deeper, the taste of salt blooms on my tongue, and she lets out a sound somewhere between a whimper and a moan. My own pulse hammers so violently I can feel it in my fingertips, my jaw, in my rapidly hardening cock.
“You like it.” I hear myself say hoarsely. It isn’t a question.
She nods tightly and lets out a keening whine.
Fuck, I can’t believe I didn’t notice before, especially given how many times I’ve seen her come.
In less than a second, all my anxiety vanishes. My skin burns hot, and I press my tongue flat to her throat, dragging it over the bite mark. Aurelia whimpers. Her fingers twist into my hair, gripping tighter when I draw the raw, broken skin of her throat between my lips and suck hard. Her body tenses, shuddering, then goes slack in my arms.
Good Gods. My entire body is shaking with the effort of holding myself back. Seeing her fall apart like this only makes me want to see it again, to touch her, to go back to the way things were before. It looks like she wants that too, but I’m not sure. This could be nothing more than an involuntary physical reaction.
“Do you want more?” I ask hoarsely.
She makes the same keening sound again, not quite a yes but not a no either. It’s not enough.
I reach up with the hand not gripping her hair and run my thumb over the fresh mark on her neck until she shivers. “You have to tell me what you want, little witch.”
“Yes,” she gasps.
I know I should need more convincing than that, but I don’t. I’ve been fighting myself all week to keep from touching her, and I can’t remember right now why I shouldn’t.
Gripping her by the waist, I pull Aurelia onto my lap. She straddles me, knees pressing into the bed, her hands landing on my shoulders. We’re close enough now that we can breathe the same air.
My gaze drops to her lips, parted and swollen where she’s been biting them. Everything in me screams to close that final inch between us, to cover her mouth with mine, but something in the back of my head knows that would be a disaster.
I’m sure if I kiss her ever again I won’t be able to stop.
Instead, I bury my face in the hollow of her throat, inhaling her scent. My hands travel down the length of her spine, over the curve of her ass, finally gripping her bare thighs beneath her skirt.
