Page 101 of The Vampire's Bride

“I’m not afraid of you, Valaric. You are my husband and I am your wife. I swore myself to you in the temple of the old gods.” She brushes her lips to my own and whispers our sacred vows against them. “I am yours, and you are mine.”

Her words melt away my control, and I capture her mouth in a claiming kiss. She wraps her arms around my neck as I pull her against me. So close there is no space between us.

I run my fingers through her hair. Gripping the long silken strands, I tip her head back, angling her mouth to mine as I deepen our kiss.

She moans as I stroke my tongue against hers. My nostrils flare as the scent of her arousal blooms in the air.

I lift her into my arms and push her back against the wall, cushioning her with my wings. She wraps her legs around my waist as I roll my hips against hers, the darkness within me reveling in her complete surrender.

A groan escapes me as the heat of her core seeps through the thin layer of fabric between us. My stav is hard and erect with the want to bury myself deep in her warm, wet heat.

I rip my mouth from hers and trail a line of kisses across her jaw and down her neck, grazing my fangs lightly over the pulsing artery along its length. I lave my tongue over the mark I left the last time I drank from her, tasting a hint of iron mixed with the sweet salt of her skin.

Desire burns through me like fire. She peppers tender kisses across my face as I carry her down the hallway and to the spiraling staircase to my chambers below. When we reach them, I seal the door shut behind us and walk to the bed.

Her mouth meshes repeatedly with mine as her delicate fingers unfasten my tunic, pushing it back from my shoulders. I barely manage to kick off my boots before we tumble onto the mattress.

Need floods my veins as she parts her thighs. A deep groan rises in my throat as I settle between them, pressing my hardened stav against the warm heat of her entrance.

Her exploring hands move over me, her delicate fingers tracing the muscles of my abdomen and chest.

The desire to join my body to hers is so intense it is almost painful. I burn for her. There are too many clothes between us, and I long to feel her bare skin against mine.

Panting heavily, I pull back and stare deep into her eyes. “Are you sure you want this?”

She cups the back of my neck, bringing my mouth back down to hers. “Yes,” she whispers against my lips. “I want you. Make me yours.”

CHAPTER 40

JULIET

Something inside him snaps, and Valaric captures my mouth with his, kissing me like a man possessed.

He dips his hand beneath the neckline of my dress, and I gasp as he cups my left breast, rolling the stiff peak between his thumb and forefinger. It’s too much and not enough all at once, and I arch into his palm.

I want more. I want him to touch every part of me, just as I long to explore all of him.

I run my fingers through his silken hair as he kisses along my jaw and down my neck. He stops when he reaches the mark he left with his fangs, and a low growl vibrates in his chest. “Mine.”

I’m breathless and panting, my heart pounding, not with fear, but with delicious anticipation as he continues down my body, his lips hovering above my heart. Closing my eyes, I wait for the telltale sting of his fangs to pierce my flesh.

I want him to mark me and claim me the way that a Vampire claims their mate.

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him that I love him, but my nerves are aflutter. I’ve never done this before and the words will not come.

As if sensing my hesitation, he lifts his head. “Tell me to stop and I will.”

“No.” I trace my fingers along the pointed tip of his left ear. Closing his eyes, he leans into my touch, growling low in arousal. “I want you, Valaric.”

His pupils are blown wide. All traces of their normal red coloring are gone, replaced by fathomless pools of black as he stares down at me with his fangs fully extended. “Say it again.”

I cup his face. “I want you.”

Valaric crushes his mouth to mine. He slices a line down my dress with his sharp claws, leaving me in only my lace undergarments. He stares down at me, his gaze full of awe and wonder. “Beautiful,” he whispers.

Reaching up, I press my palm to his chest, feeling every dip and curve of delicious muscle. He draws in a shaking breath as I move down to his abdomen.

My fingers fumble with the fasteners of his pants before he reaches down to help. When they are finally undone, I slide them over his hips, and he pushes them down the rest of the way.

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