Page 17 of Born of Blood and Ash

Even though I knew Nektaswould never lie about Ash’s well-being, I couldn’t rest until I saw it with myown eyes. I sat beside him as he slept, waiting for the spell to lift. Thehours stretched on for what felt like an eternity, but eventually, the skybeyond the balcony doors lightened, blushing with soft hues of pink andlavender. The light of dawn seeped in, slipping over the stone floor.Gradually, the golden beams kissed the foot of the bed.

It happened so fast.

A blast of energy rolled off Ash, sending me scooting towardthe edge of the bed as it blew my hair back from my face. The temperature inthe chamber dropped. His eyes flew open, his irises pure, crackling silver.Thick, swirling shadows appeared beneath his thinning flesh as he sat upright.Eather rose inside me as his lips peeled back over his fangs. A primitive,feral growl emanated from his throat.

“Ash.” I scrambled onto my knees, reaching for him.

Our gazes locked as shadows raced across his chest. The lookin his stare was wild, nearly feral. I wasn’t even sure he saw me.

I clasped his cool cheeks, shivering. The snarling growlraised the hairs on the nape of my neck, making my heart race. Tendrils of darkeather snapped at the air around us.

“It’s okay,” I told him. He went completely still. “I’mright here.”

A stuttered heartbeat passed, and then his mouth was onmine. The kiss was brutal, a clash of teeth and tongues. I could taste thepanic and fury, feel the raw desperation in each agonized sweep of his tongueas his hands fisted my hair. He kissed me as if he sought to prove to himselfthat I was, indeed, with him. That I was okay.

I didn’t know the exact moment the urgency became one ofphysical need or when the terror and anger turned to lust, but I felt him losehis grip on restraint and sensed the moment he changed. I felt it.

His flesh hardened and cooled even more. Energy rippled fromhim, buzzing over my skin and stroking my essence. A jolt ran through me as Ifell back on my rear, the hem of his shirt gathering at my hips. Throughstrands of tangled hair, I saw that his skin had thinned even more. The shadowson his cheeks and chest deepened, joined.

My heart thudded as I stared at him, recognizing the hardline of his jaw, his wide, expressive mouth, and the cut of his highcheekbones. But like when I’d awakened from stasis, he was shadow and smoketurned to stone, his flesh the color of midnight streaked with churningmoonlight.

Air caught in my lungs as wispy tendrils of mist liftedbehind him, spreading out from his upper shoulders and thickening, formingshadowy wings made of pure energy.

Tiny bumps erupted over my skin as our eyes locked. Therewas nothing human about the way he looked, how his chest barely moved, or hispiercing stare as shadow-laced eather slipped to thebed.

I felt no fear, even as the essence strained against myskin. I looked up at a Primal of Death: beautiful, terrifying, and mine.

Remembering the warning he’d given me the last time he’dlost his restraint, I shivered with anticipation and red-hot desire. My bloodheated, becoming a fire that filled my veins. My nipples beaded beneath theshirt. A throbbing heaviness slid down to center itself between my thighs.

Ash’s nostrils flared, and when I inhaled sharply, I caughtthe heightened citrusy scent of arousal.

There was no need for words. My breath was already comingout in short, shallow bursts as I leaned back and spread my thighs, offeringmyself to him. I shivered as the cool air kissed my heated, damp flesh.

Only a pinprick of his pupils was visible as his gazelowered to what I offered. His stare was so heavy and intense that my breathcaught once more, and my hips twitched.

Ash lifted his head, and a heartbeat passed before he struckwith predatory grace. His weight pressed me to my back, and I caught a glimpseof his wings sweeping down and brushing the bed. A cry of pleasure tore from mylips as his cool length pressed into me. I stiffened, unaccustomed to hislarger, Primal form as he filled and stretched me. The brief sting of painfaded as he seated himself deep inside me, causing my back to arch as I tookhim. Gods, he felt like he was everywhere. His presence inside me was almostoverwhelming, nearly too much as I panted.

I slowly became aware of his stillness. His chest movedthen, rising and falling rapidly against mine as he trembled.

Opening my eyes, I looked up at him. He tipped his chin downand stretched his neck from side to side. “Ash?” I whispered.

“I’m…” The hand by my head fisted, then his eather-filled wings flickered before collapsing in a showerof glittering sparks. “I just need a moment.” He shuddered, causing my toes tocurl at the sensation. “I…I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t.”

Eather pulsed from his eyes before he slammed them shut.“You don’t know that.”

I did.

I was always safe with him.

I watched him battle himself, and that hidden, darkly sinfulpart of me didn’t want him in control.

“Ash.” I slipped my hands over the smooth, cold planes ofhis cheeks as I lifted my hips. He groaned, and I thought of the wicked wordshe’d said when he last lost control. A wave of wanton desire flooded me. “Willyou fuck my pussy?”

“Fucking gods,” he snarled, his hips jerking.

Then, he did.

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