Page 118 of A Dawn Of Blood

“He’s alive,” he states with joy in his voice, raising his voice enough for everyone else to hear.

The relief I feel is so sudden and so great that it threatens to fry my brain, but I waste no time. I’m leaving nothing to chance, so I gently push Dryden away and move to check Cain for injuries.

It’s only when I start pulling away to do it that he shows he’s not entirely unconscious. He doesn’t open his eyes, but he does let out a low grumble, one arm snaking around my waist to keep me close, however weakly.

I almost start crying with relief. Instead, I take a deep breath and change tactics. I keep myself pressed to him as I start scanning and gently patting him down, stopping as soon as Ispot the blood stain near his hip. Quickly, I start unbuttoning the shirt.

“Why don’t we give them some privacy?” I hear Dryden say.

Cursing my shaky hands, I just keep at it. I sense people give me pats on the shoulder as they walk past, Raven whispering, “We’re all so happy for you, Anna.”

“Thank you,” I mutter just as I finally manage to get to the wound.

“We need to have an urgent meeting to plan the first step in healing the Empire,” Nuala tells someone, her voice growing more distant with each word.

Carefully, I place my hand over the wound and it almost immediately closes. I breathe a sigh of relief and slump back on the balls of my feet.

Almost as soon as he stops losing blood, he opens his eyes. Eagerly, I lean forward and start stroking his hair, whispering, “You’re alright, my love. Everything will be alright now.”

He blinks, his gaze still unfocused. As soon as it fixes on me, though, he expels a pent-up breath and pushes himself into a seated position. He grabs me and pulls me onto his lap, stroking my back, inhaling my scent and nuzzling his nose against my neck and my cheek.

We stay like that for what feels like an eternity. Then the touch of his hands grows more heated and his mouth finds mine. My heart skips a beat. Hungrily, I part my lips for him, our tongues touch and I feel him get hard between my legs.

He squeezes me tighter to him, eagerly chasing my tongue with his. My hands roaming the muscles of his chest and back, I take his bottom lip between my teeth and I pull on it, making him let out a low, dragged-out groan. He slides his hands down my waist, cups my ass and grinds me against him. Heat explodes inside me.

But it’s still the floor of the Main Hall we’re sitting on, so I pull away to whisper in his ear, “Not here.”

Dazed, he just blinks at me for a second, then he moves so quickly, I barely register what happens. At least not until I find myself pinned to the closed door of his room, my arms around his shoulders, my legs around his waist, and his forehead resting on mine.

There’s this tender look in his eyes now. “You love me,” he whispers, sounding as if he’s not stating a fact but asking, this lingering insecurity in the answer he’s going to get.

I nod, moving my hands to cup his face and lock eyes with him. “I do.”

Something flashes through his eyes. Triumph. “AndIloveyou,” he whispers. Keeping his eyes locked with mine, he speaks slowly, as if savoring the words. “I’m yours and you’re mine.”

“I’m yours and you’re mine,” I repeat after him.

The moment I do, I see him swallow roughly. Almost instantly, he starts work on my uniform buttons, but unlike last time, his movements are too eager to be anything but clumsy.

I’m just as eager as he is, but I still have to press my lips tight for fear of letting out a chuckle.

“Help me out here,” he grits out when this one button proves to be particularly stubborn.

I push his hands away and I make him look at me, reveling in the way his eyes darken and his fangs show when I start stripping for him.

By the time the uniform pools around my feet, the look in his eyes is feral.

I can’t help but smile wickedly.

The moment I do, a muscle in his jaw jumps and he comes to grab me around the waist, crushing my body to his. “You have the most amazing smile, Anna,” he whispers as he stares into my eyes. “When you smile at me like that, I…” He shakes his head,then threads the fingers of one hand through my hair, gritting his teeth. “I love it so much, it makes me want to blow my brains out.”

I chuckle.

He narrows his eyes at me. “Oh you find that funny, don’t you?”

I wrap my arms around his shoulders and rub myself against him a little. “I do. You’re funny when you’re intense like that, Cain, which is most of the time.”

“Yeah?” he drawls. Then he lifts me up, and the next thing I know, I’m falling down, my back pressing into the mattress under his weight on me. The way he looks at me threatens to make me lose my mind. Slowly, with a smirk, he works a hand between my thighs, making me suck in a sharp breath. “Well let’s see who has the last laugh, smartass.”

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