Finally, her body sang.
He lifted her up off the floor, and she yelped in surprise but kissed him back. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he continued to kiss her, surely bruising her mouth, but she did not care.
‘Bis, there’s something I want to tell you, to show you,’ he said, breaking away, but she hardly heard him. The moment his mouth was gone from hers, she wanted it back again. She pulled him closer, kissing him again, and he forgot whatever he was trying to say.
He walked her to the bed, then promptly deposited her there, and she laughed against his open mouth, positively giddy. She had been numb for so long she had forgotten what this felt like, but now it was all coming back, coming alive, every beat, every pulse, every inch.
His body slid over hers, a wondrous weight. She undid the buttons of his waistcoat, and he shrugged it off. He tasted like spiced maple sugar, and she felt fizzy all over again.
‘I’ve wanted to do this for so long,’ he breathed, kissing her jaw, her throat. ‘I almost did so many times.’
‘You should have,’ she said, her fingers tightening in his hair.
‘Suppose I’ll have to make up for it now,’ he said, making her gasp with the way he kissed her just above her beating heart.
‘Is that a vow?’
He brought his face up to look into her eyes. ‘All my vows are yours.’
Her heart soared. She pushed him off her, turning with him so she was on top. He sat up, and she straddled his lap, running her hands through his hair as his long, elegant fingers moved across her skin, pressing deep enough to hurt, yet still gentle.
She knew he would not hurt her. He was handling her with care still, even as she felt how desperate he was, how much he wanted her.
His hands slid up her thighs, slipping beneath her dress, and she ripped his shirt off.
‘Hope you didn’t like that one,’ she said, throwing it aside.
‘I rather did,’ he replied with a laugh. ‘Though not nearly as much as I like you.’
She laughed, and then he grazed his teeth against her neck, which promptly made her stop laughing. She closed her eyes, body aflame as her hands roamed over his chest. There was so much to touch and explore.
His skin was hot, burning hers, and his heart was beating wildly fast.
Too fast.
‘Your heart is beating rather quickly,’ she managed to say.
‘I wonder why,’ he replied, words slurring. His hands were on her waist, fingers digging in as he pulled her even closer. He sucked on her jaw, and she couldn’t think straight.
‘Xander, wait,’ she gasped. Despite how heavenly this all was, something felt wrong.
She opened her eyes the same time he did, and he let out a startled cry. She shifted off his lap, and that was when she saw.
The veins of his forearm were dark blue.
Her face must have been horrified, for he looked down. His eyes widened with alarm.
‘Shit,’ he said.
Her hands were red, hot from his skin; she hadn’t even noticed. ‘No. No, no,no.’ She scrambled off the bed.
Xander fell back on the bed, groaning, and Bisma rushed to find the freeze potion, but she was shaking.
He cried out with pain and the sound speared through her.
‘Xander, hold on!’ she called, her voice high.
Where was that blasted potion?
