Page 91 of The Reign of Blood

“You got us all the way up here for one, and for two, you crashed through my window.” She gives me a pointed look to accompany her facts, and I grin.

“That I did. Anything else?”

Her fingers reach for my neck, trailing over the black markings that grace my skin. My teeth grind together as I try not to react to her touch like my creature desires. I can’t stop my eyelids falling to half-mast as her fingers dip below the collar of my shirt.

“I feel like your tattoos represent something. I just can’t piece together what exactly,” she admits, stirring my cock to life with the simple fact that she’s even thought about it.

“That’s correct,” I reply hoarsely, and she grins from ear to ear. It feels like the first time I have had a chance to see her carefree and calm.

“Check me out. Two for two.”

“Any guesses?” I ask, adjusting us so we’re flush with one another, our chests touching with every breath, and she shakes her head.

“No. I don’t want to make a fool out of myself until I’m certain.”

Fuck, she’s too fucking beautiful. “Do you want a hint?” I offer, dragging my thumb over her cheek, just as I did earlier on the dance floor, relishing the softness of her skin against my touch.

“That’s cheating,” she breathes, jaw slightly slack as she looks up at me with the most mesmerizing glint I’ve ever seen.

“I can’t wrap my head around you,” I admit, watching as her eyelashes flicker, subdued as she practically sways in my hold.

“Then don’t.”

I take the invitation without a moment’s consideration. Crushing my lips to hers, our mouths mold to one another’s. She’s tantalizing, running her tongue over the seam of my lips, sending a shudder through my limbs as I cling to her more tightly.

Delving past her lips, her tongue slides along mine, practically bringing me to my knees, but my creature rises beneath the surface, rushing us across the room. Her back slams against the wall harder than I would like, but she doesn’t react. If anything, she arches against me, needy for more.

My cock throbs, my creature snarling in my ears, but the desire is muted by the fear and panic, forcing me to jerk back a step. Then another. And another. Until I’m almost across the room.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” I ramble, raking my fingers through my hair, tugging at the ends, desperately needing control to come back to me.

“Another hint?” she asks, eyebrow raised as her tongue sweeps over her bottom lip.

“Another way you loosen my grasp on my control,” I retort, panting for breath as a smirk curls the corner of her mouth.

“That feels like a compliment.”

“I don’t know what it is,” I admit, and it’s the truth. I can’t think straight right now, which only serves to leave me even more confused. Wiping a hand down my face, I try to at least harness my breathing, but even that feels like a struggle.

“Are you okay?” she asks, concern etched into each word as I shake my head.

“No, but I don’t think I ever have been,” I reply with a snicker, but it rings dark through the air.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

I shake my head again, at a complete loss.

Taking a deep breath, I inhale through my nose and exhale slowly through my mouth. After a couple of passes, my heart rate starts to calm down. When I focus my attention back on Addi, I startle.

“Why are you taking deep breaths?” I rasp, and a guilty look shifts over her face before she clears her throat and shrugs.

“I just thought it might help if you could subconsciously hear it in the air, too.”

Well…fuck.

Turning toward the opening, I focus on the castle in the distance. I sense her moving, but I don’t turn to see where she is as I focus on the cool air drifting around me.

“Are you doing that?”

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