Page 56 of Of Blood and Smoke

I choked on a laugh, making a sound almost like a dog. “Stop it, I’m not an idiot.”

“You know I’m not human. You’re trying to lie to yourself, but I know you know. You can feel it.” He trailed a finger along my hairline before tracing a path to a spot between my eyebrows. When he paused, I looked up and met his gaze. He watched me with a little gleam in his eye and pulled his finger away. When I glanced up, there was a faint iridescent sheen in the air, like a tendril of smoke from a snuffed candle. The mist hung lightly in the air, shimmering in soft shades of yellow and peach.

“What is that?” I asked softly, quickly looking at him again before raising my hand. The sparkle moved gently, following my fingers as I waved them back and forth. It was magical and mystical, and incredibly beautiful.

Josiah swooped his hand, and the glitter disappeared, forcing me to gasp. “That’s your aura,” he said.

“My aura?”

“Yes. It represents you and your emotions, your chemistry. Everyone has a unique aura.”

“Where’d it go? How’d you do that?” Swiveling my head, I searched but couldn’t see it anywhere anymore.

“It's still there, you just can’t see it. I cleared your natural filters for a moment so you could and then I allowed your innate guard to fall back into place.” He lifted himself and sat next to me on the sofa.

It was futile to even begin to attempt a coherent thought; I couldn’t do it no matter how hard I tried. Josiah had just donesome kind of magic on me, and I just sat there and didn’t freak out. I knew I was supposed to, but I didn’t. Was this what shock felt like? “What else can you do? Are you a witch?”

“I told you what my parents are. I’m a crossbreed.”

“That means you think you're a vampire and a demon,” I stated, not expecting an answer. The odd, seemingly eccentric things he’d said occasionally began to make sense to me. The things about invitations, for example. There’d been others, but my mind was spinning.

“That means that not only will your blood nourish me, but your soul does as well.”

He tugged me onto his lap, so I was straddling his legs. I didn’t stop him. A sense of wonderment ran through me as I trailed my fingers over his face. He watched me while I traced his cheekbones and felt his skin. He felt soft and warm, and there was nothing to fear in his gaze, not when he returned my gaze so lovingly. He wasn’t cold or soulless, the two things I’d associated with vampires and demons.

I’d been terrified of him for a moment, and then all the fear had washed away. Had I really planned on running? My cheeks burned. I had; I had tried to run away from this, from him, from the man who’d been filling my thoughts for months now. Did it really matter if he thought he was some supernatural creature?

“You’re assuming I’ll feed you my blood.” What he was telling me was so fantastical it defied reason. I wanted to believe him; he seemed so sincere. It was obvious he believed it, himself.

His smile sent a shiver down my spine. “I’m doing no such thing. I know you will.”

He moved his hands to my waist, one of his rings dragging against the space between my pants and the hem of my shirt, and he pulled me closer. One of his glassy fingernails grazed the flesh of my neck, tracing a path up and down the column.

I relaxed into him, letting him soothe me. I was familiar with the legend of vampires being able to bend others to their will, but I knew that wasn’t what was happening here. Iwantedto be bent to his will. I wanted someone else to be in control for once and if it was Josiah, all the better. I knew if anyone other than this man had said these things to me, I’d be gone already, straight out my front door. Even though the future with him was uncertain, I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be, and I’d let him seduce me in a heartbeat.

“Where do you want me to bite you?” he asked, his voice low and smooth. “Here?”

First, I felt his lips gently skimming the soft skin behind my ear. Then, he asked again, his warm breath sending goosebumps scattering across my collarbone. “Or here?”

Trailing his tongue up, he stopped along the side of my neck, and I felt the delicate sharp prick of two teeth. “Tell me where to taste you,” he murmured.

I squirmed against his mouth and against his lap, his cock hardening beneath the soft material of his dress pants and pressing between my thighs. I’d angled myself for friction before I’d known what I’d done, automatically seeking him.

“The next time you bleed, I’m drinking you,” he told me, his tone leaving no room for argument. I knew what he was referring to and the taboo idea sent a flash of heat through my core, the idea not as unappealing as I would have thought.

“You... you won’t drain me, will you?” I managed to ask after a moan. Rubbing myself shamelessly against him, I fumbled with the buttons of his shirt with one hand while trying to loosen his tie with the other. With a start, I realized I almost didn’t care at this point if I died in his arms, as long has he relieved the pressure between my legs, and only if it were by his hands. It was fine if this man thought he was a creature of the night, as long as he got me off.

He smashed his lips against mine and thrust his tongue into my mouth, obliterating all other thoughts beside the feel of him, the taste of him. Somehow, I got his shirt off his shoulders and finally my hands were on him. His skin felt like satin and while I didn’t open my eyes, my touch let me know he was built like a god.

Every sweep of his tongue sent another dart of longing coursing through me, adding more weight to the heaviness burdening my core. “Josiah, please,” I begged him.

He flipped us around, tossing me onto my back, and he pulled his shirt from his arms. My eyelids fluttered open, and I took him in. His hair hung forward, thick and silky, highlighting the severe planes of his face.

I’d never seen him quite this free before, not without the mask he wore in public, not even in our private moments. He looked raw and beautiful, but wild. His sleek muscles were carved marble, the glossy strands of his hair unkept and begging me to grab a handful.

His eyes were frenzied with desire, their irises liquid smoke. I watched his lips separate, revealing a duo of gleaming canine teeth, their points impossibly thin and razor sharp. My heart slammed into my ribs as a combination of adrenaline and lust rushed through my veins.He’s going to bite me.

He slid the belt from his pants and dropped it on the floor, the buckle hitting the leg of my coffee table on its way down. He bent toward me and grasped the waist of my stretchy jeans, not bothering with the button or zipper, and ripped them off me. His chest rose and fell while his gaze traced my curves, ending at my panties. Dragging a fingernail starting from the satin band and along the silk, I heard them tear, and then they were gone.

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