Page 20 of Outcast Island

My effort is rewarded by the tempering of emotions that sizzle the air. I feel like I’m swallowing a pill of fire, and it burns all the way down, but I make it settle. I order it to behave, just like Magnus does when he commands others to submit.

In turn, I command his rage to submit tome.

To my surprise, it does. The flame settles into a manageable flicker inside my chest, and it nestles there, content, as long as I don’t push it out.

Magnus releases a long sigh. “Little diamond, I don’t deserve that. I don’t deserve you to take this burden from me. It is not yours to bear.”

“Is it not?” I ask. “If you want me, then you will inherit all the wrath of the Älva Nest.” I have many brothers who do my father’s dirty work. I didn’t stand a chance as the sole Omega heir, with all the responsibility of breeding falling to me. Any Omegas my brothers choose to mate will allow them to splinter off into their own nests, creating new bloodlines that they will rule. If my father wishes to keep his legacy, then it ismywomb that must be filled by an Alpha who accepts abandoning his nest and becoming initiated as an Älva vampire.

And I’m pleased to know Magnus would do no such thing.

“Of course I want you,” he says as he grazes his fingers over my swollen sex. My mouth parts at the faint touch that is barely a caress before he grips my thigh again, as if to restrain himself. “But you don’t need to take on this burden. Not if you don’t want it,” he reminds me. “We are merely magic-bonded. And I apologize that it happened the way it did, but that was the only way to protect you. It is reversible, so now that I am more stable, I can undo it if you like, but it will hurt.” He presents his wrist to my mouth, making my eyes widen as I eye the attractive veins wrapping around his muscles. “But you should eat first.”

“You want me to feed on you?” I ask, bewildered by the offering.

Blood is precious. Vampires don’t share with each other except for very intimate situations.

Or to show dominance—often in a fight to the death.

He takes a deep breath. “As long as one of us doesn’t feed, a blood-bond won’t lock into place. I promise I won’t feed on you, not if you don’t want me to.”

I find myself believing him. If he wanted to force me, he would have by now.

He brings his wrist closer to my mouth. “But I think you should eat before I break the connection, because our bond is what is keeping you out of pain right now.”

I realize that he’s right—I’m not hurting like I was. His hands on me are doing more than soothing me with his talented fingers.

His magic seeps into me, mingling with mine and unwinding the knots in my stomach. The slicing pain I had been feeling is now a dull ache, as if my body has quieted with the expectation of what’s to come.

Everything Magnus is doing right now is exactly right. It’s what my instincts are telling me how it’s supposed to be between an Alpha and Omega.

It makes me feel safe.

But is that the illusion I already fell for once before?

What happens when he loses control again and needs to massacre another pack of vampires? Can he really maintain that sort of existence?

But… I like being treated like a queen.

I like being cherished and listened to.

I likethis.

“And if I don’t want you to undo the magic-bond?” I ask as I pull his wrist to my chest. My words are so quiet that I’m not sure if Magnus even heard me, despite his sensitive hearing.

He massages my breast, seeming unable to resist since I put him there.

The hand he has on my thigh creeps toward my core, and I widen my legs for him out of reflex.

“Then I will give you what you need, my Omega,” he says with a revived purr rumbling in his words. His fangs graze my throat, and I realize I’ve exposed my neck to him again, this time an invitation that I fully mean. “But first, I’ll test your limits, little one. Because if you’re going to be my Omega, I need to know how far I can go.”

What little restraint he had been exhibiting seems to slip as his knot swells and throbs even harder at the base of my spine. He massages my breast as his other hand returns to the apex between my thighs.

Then he slips two fingers into me, and I seestars.

CHAPTER 7

GUÐRÚN

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