Page 86 of The Powers of Nyx

“Are you okay?” she asked, tracing a finger over my cheek in that same gentle caress as before. “Did I hurt you?”

I gave her a soft smile. “I have a better idea.”

She frowned, hesitantly releasing me as I pulled myself off her lap. Through the bond, I caught the impression of her lust heightening.

Slowly, I dragged my sweater from my body, revealing the soft planes of my stomach. My breasts tumbled free as my bra came off next. Maeve inhaled sharply as her eyes darkened.

There was a different hunger there, one similar to before our date. It was intoxicating, knowing she desired me as much as I did her.

Meeting her stare, I trailed my fingers over the peaks of my breasts, thinking about a scene I wrote in my last novel. The heroine made all the first moves before leading her lover into their bed.

I needed to make the first moves with Maeve, to show her that despite her fears over her past, I was invested in her. That I cared about her as my mate, as my friend, and as my lover.

From my breasts, I moved my hands down to my tights, hooking my thumbs into the waistband of my pants. With a smile in her direction, I tugged them down, careful to keep my panties in place.

“Touch yourself,” she said, voice hard. “Tell me how you want me.”

I inhaled sharply and touched myself over my panties, feeling the wetness seeping through the thin material. All the while, I couldn’t take my eyes off Maeve. Her eyes grew darker, lustier. She licked her lips as I trailed my fingers over my clit, down to my inner thigh. “I want you to feed, right here,” I whispered, teasing myself. “I want you to feast.”

Languidly, she rose, and any worry I had disappeared as she did. In the blink of an eye, she was behind me, one hand cupping my breast, fondling my hard nipple, while the other followed the path of my fingers. “Then I shall feast,” she replied, nipping my earlobe, her fang sending a delectable shiver of need through me.

She pressed a kiss to my throat as the hand on my thigh rose to tease the seam of my panties, barely brushing against my aching centre. She laughed against my skin, her breath hot against my already feverish flesh. “You’re soaking wet.”

“So, you should do something about that.”

32

MAEVE

HERwords, the breathiness of her voice, undid something within me.

For years, I’d learned how to keep the monster at bay. Never had I thought I would be blessed with a mate; I thought my Sire had taken that from me during his years of torture. And yet the Goddess had blessed me with one.

WithIvy.

There was something so peaceful about having her in my arms, of feeling her soft, voluptuous flesh against my own. To know I could have her, couldtasteher, sent my beast into a spiral.

I did not want to hurt her, and that fear made me hesitate.

The same fear I’d been feeding since we bonded. What if I hurt her? What if I horrified her? It was one thing to be with her under the watchful gaze of her other mates. There, I’d been in control, because I knew Elias would tear me apart otherwise.

But we were alone in my office. And she was at my mercy.

Yet as she squirmed in my arms, her heavy breast begging for my mouth, while her wet pussy awaited my ministrations, I knew I could control the blood lust with her. My mate.

“You won’t hurt me,” she said, her voice almost a whisper. She glanced at me over her shoulder while taking my hand away from her wet panties. “You can’t. I know it.”

My dead heart stuttered a beat, slow and painful, as our eyes met. “I know I won’t hurt you,” I replied, giving her breast a gentle squeeze. “But I worry anyway.”

I couldn’t help but breathe in her scent again. The dark aroma of coffee and the sweetness of her coconut shampoo filling my lungs. I buried my face into the crook of her neck, smiling. “You are the most precious thing to me, Ivy,and I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I hurt you.”

Ivy shivered before letting go of my hand, allowing it to fall back to her panties. “I trust you fully, Maeve. I’ve never feared you, and I promise you now, I never will.”

I shuddered and cupped her wet pussy in the palm of my hand. I relished in the warmth of her body, the heat between her thighs. It was like a dream, having her now. Knowing soon, she would be spread out like a feast for me.

I nipped her neck, pulling back. “I want to feed from you as I fuck you,” I murmured, “and make you come on my fingers while I do.”

The bond between us burned, and her magic pulsated, begging to be released. Her arousal consumed me, bringing forth the beast of blood lust with a fiery need to claim her. The beast knew it needed to appease our mate. To give her what she needed.

---