Page 34 of Blood Feast

No! Your blood…He heard her swallow.The magic will feed on it too.

Let it,he said.You need me.

I don’t want to hurt you.

He took a step nearer, almost gouging his hand on an icethorn bush. The black rose vines shot out and constricted around theother plant. He observed as they snapped off the branch that had threatened him and yanked the icethorn bush out of his way to clear his path to Cassia.

Your magic is having an overprotective response, not a threatening one.

But how do I stop it?

Lio thought fast. She was channeling a potentially unlimited quantity of magic out of the Lustra. None of the techniques he relied on when he suffered inundation would work for her. She needed somewhere to put all that magic until the Lustra’s defensive instincts calmed.

Well, he knew of one place she could put it. Safely—perhaps.

I want you to try channeling all of this magic into me.

Lio, no!The wall of roses thickened with the force of her refusal.I won’t experiment on you.

We’ve drawn on the letting site together before. You know how I enjoyed those experiments.

It wastamethen! It obeyed me. Right now it’s…ready to kill.

The image of the dead heart hunter flashed in their Union.

Let me come in,Lio pleaded.Let me hold you.

I have no control right now,she warned.I can’t promise what I’ll do to you once you’re within reach.

I know that, and I’m choosing to come in.

Her lust coiled through him, and his fangs lengthened in readiness. He stripped out of everything but his medallion, dropping his clothes next to hers, where she appeared to have torn them off before the vines had closed around her. Cold air and the heat of her thirst sent a frisson over his skin. His own Craving stirred, tightening his body.

What if you need me to stop?she asked.

My magic can hold its own with yours, my Grace. I could stop you if I needed to.He ran his power deeper into her thoughts.

He heard the soft rasp of her tongue on her lips.

How would the Lustra’s defenses like a taste of his blood? He reached out and tried pricking his finger on one thorn.

The roses shivered and stretched, parting to welcome him. As soon as he stepped inside, the thorn wall tangled tight again, enclosing him in roses on all sides. Through the barrier of vines overhead, a single moonbeam reached.

A shape darted through the shaft of light at immortal speed. He glimpsed her eyes, two glowing rings of green-gold around her dilated pupils.

Then she was upon him, her Hesperine strength carrying them both to the ground. He landed on his back with her nails digging into his chest. Vines caressed his arms and legs, coiling around his limbs.

The roses held him down for her as she struck his jugular. He felt the impact of her fangs all the way to his groin, suddenly, painfully hard. Oaths ran through his mind, but he was speechless. He threw his head back so she could dig her canines in deeper.

She ravished his throat, sucking and biting with desperate moans. Silken rose petals teased the inside of his thigh, but no thorns pricked him. Only her fangs pierced him, drawing pleasure-pain up out of his veins.

She ran a grasping hand down his body, finding his erection. Her firm grip made him hiss with pleasure. She put him where she wanted him, fitting them together with a rough stroke of her hand and a buck of her hips.

Her bite tightened and, anchored on his throat, she came down on him fast and hard. Wet heat closed over his shaft in the cold air. He arched against his bonds, pushing up into the grip of her new body’s taut muscles.

Their breaths clouded in the air, and warm blood trailed down his neck for their bed of roses to feed on. Fragranceweighed heavy on his chest, and unbound Lustra magic saturated his arcane senses. He heard leaves sliding against each other and the snap of new vines spreading.

Bring all that magic into me,he said.

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