Page 74 of Taste of Fate

“Yes, Cy?” A wicked smile twitched on her lips. Oh, the little tease.

Before she could blink, I pressed up from the floor and had her stretched out on the bed with each hand pinned next to her head. Her chest heaved with each breath and the pulse fluttered in her neck so sweetly. When I lowered down, it was all I could do to keep my face hovered above hers and not pressed against that sweet vein.

“Be good for me,” I said, injecting as much sternness as I could muster. “Or I’ll keep you on the brink of orgasm for days. That first time was just a small taste of what I’m capable of.”

Tavi flushed. Her teeth sank into her lower lip and she writhed underneath me like my warning turned her on rather than struck any kind of fear in her. Fuck, she owned me and she damn well knew it.

“How about just a small taste of me?” Her chin lifted, baring to me the long, beautiful column of her throat.

I lowered and kissed her with a groan, relishing in the softness of her lips and the pulsing of her blood through them as well.

“You’re my fate.” The lengths of my fangs pressed and dragged over her lips as I kissed her. “I can never have just a taste of you. I will devour you.”

Clothes came off in an impatient rush, discarded to the dark corners of the room, maybe shoved between the bed and the wall, I didn’t know or care. All that mattered was my naked, breathtaking blood mate. She was hurt, exhausted, anxious to see her friend alive. And she needed me to take some of that away.

I re-pinned her hands in place, pressing her down into the well-worn mattress with another searing kiss. This bed wasn’t as comfortable as mine, but I’d make sure she slept like the dead when I was done with her.

Eventually I had to release her and bring my hands under her, around her back. Our skin sliding together made the most incredible friction. Every point of contact needed to be more. I needed to touch and acknowledge and worship every square inch of her.

Skin on skin was the most exquisite feeling. Tavi was soft and warm everywhere, from her lips to her leg hooking around my hip. A sudden realization brought on a huff of laughter, muffled by my mouth against her shoulder.

“What’s funny?” Tavi nipped my earlobe as she said it, one hand dragging over my scalp while the other ran up my back.

“You’re the first person I’ve been completely naked with,” I admitted.

This wasn’t a quick hookup in a club, a thrilling, but ultimately shallow moment in time with a stranger. This was real intimacy I’d never had before.

“Same here,” she breathed.

I pressed up to my hands to take in the full view. She was perfectly visible in the dim lamplight and what a sight she was. Her arms, legs, and chest were golden and freckled from sun exposure, but the rest was a creamy pale closer to my own skin tone.

“So I’m the only one who’s seen all this?” My head dipped to pull a nipple into my mouth, the peak taut and stiff from the gentlest graze of my fangs.

“Yes.” Her answer came on a soft gasp, her skin flushing red where my mouth teased her.

“I’m the luckiest man alive then, human or vampire.” I dragged my mouth over the swells of her breasts, never wanting to lose contact with her skin. “I love how your skin changes color where not even the sun has seen you.”

A laugh burst out of her. “You mean my tan lines? You like them?”

“Whatever they’re called, I love them.” My eyes lifted to meet hers. “I love you, Tavi.”

“I love you, Cyan. All of you.” Her knuckles stroked over my cheek. “Even the parts of you that you’re ashamed of.”

This woman. Fuck me, I would never deserve her. I had no words to respond with, just my body to please her. Every cell and scar down to her name and the vow carved into my chest. I pressed her palm against her name in my skin, over my heart that she might as well held in her hands.

I ravaged her mouth for the last time before making my way down her body. Tavi shivered as my fangs dragged over her skin. Her body tensed, anticipating my bite, but I was serious about not making her recovery longer.

Even so, that didn’t mean I completely ruled out having a taste of her.

I grabbed handfuls of her ass, lifting her to my mouth as I kissed the soft curve of her lower stomach. Every inch of her was delicious and I was saving the best for last.

My mouth skimmed over her injured thigh, dragging my tongue for some extra healing to her tender skin. Tavi’s breath quickened, her hips shifting from the attention on such a sensitive area.

“You’re the bravest, most fearless fighter I’ve ever met.” I skimmed my fingers to the insides of her thighs. “The way you just rode into battle for someone you loved. It’s the honor of my life to know I’m one of those someones.”

“Well,” her breath hitched as my touch teased her sensitive skin, “You might not have been this morning, but…”

I laughed, not in the slightest bit offended. It actually amazed me that I could laugh at the dumb shithead I had been before, rather than mentally beat myself down. Being with Tavi was truly healing.

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