Page 94 of A Vow of Blood and Tears

I couldn’t hold back the breathy gasps and silent moans, the only sounds I could make, as my clit rubbed against him with delicious friction. I gripped one of his twisted horns, giving myself leverage, and dug the nails of my other hand into the velvet skin of his back.

Bane groaned, sucking harder, pulling deeper, the heat of his cock tangible as it twitched under my increasingly erratic thrusts.

His lips came free with a pop, his breath warm on my neck. “Gods, ancestors…fuck.”

Hearing that word snarled in his deep voice as he strained against me was too much. I was already on the edge, the wet lave of his tongue over his bite not just tipping me, but hurling me over into a mind-shattering orgasm.

He held me tight as I shivered, coming to pieces in his arms, gasping against his shoulder. All I could do was hold on as the flood of pleasure tore through me.

As the languor sank into me, my whole body slumping against him while I panted for breath, I still felt the throbbing hardness of him. I wanted to fix that, to give him what he’d given me…

But Bane tipped my head to the side, that forked satin tongue once more swirling over my wounds.

Why?I asked, feeling like bricks were tied to my hands. Everything was so heavy.Why can’t I do this for you?

Deep inside, buried beneath the venom haze and the soft glow of release, there was a tiny seed of fear… but not for his fangs.

Maybe he didn’t find me sexually appealing. He was free with compliments, and he clearly enjoyed my blood, but maybe it was just a matter of not having had a woman in some time. Maybe any warm body would have this effect on him.

I tried to stomp on the seed, but it refused to die.

Maybe he didn’t want to do this with someone he’d been forced to marry. I was not someone he’d chosen from the heart, but a consolation prize after Antonetta’s death.

Bane held me against him, his palm pressed over my slowing heart.

“I want you more than I can say,” he whispered. “More than you know. But you see that I am not like most men. My entire body is warped.”

I don’t give a damn, I tried to sign, but my hands wavered.

“If you keep doing this, I don’t think I can stop myself.” He let out one of those low laughs, the faintest tinge of bitterness to it. “But I meant what I said. I don’t want to hurt you. This will take time… not only for my own shame, that I’m no longer a man in the sense you understand, but because I don’t want to tear you apart.”

I managed to raise my heavy head from his shoulder, gazing into those brilliant gold eyes. My hand cupped his cheek, though I didn’t remember moving it there.

At least the seed of fear had withered once more.

There’s more than one way to do this, I told him, or tried to tell him.It doesn’t have to hurt. And you should feel no shame. You are what you are, and what you are is beautiful.

The floating sensation returned as Bane lifted me fully onto the bed, curling around me. His enormous arm encircled me, hand still over my chest.

“Sleep, my lady, precious one.” His deep voice sounded miles distant, echoing over empty lands. “There’s time to worry about this later.”

No, I wanted to say,I want to figure this out now, before you decide you don’t want me, but the haze was too strong. I was floating in warmth, anchored only by Bane.

My mind followed my body into darkness.

I woke slowly,my limbs stretched out and loose, once more well-rested thanks to the venom haze and the release he’d given me.

And Bane was once more absent, the divot in the nest of blankets empty. I stretched out a hand; the linens still had a tinge of warmth. He’d left in the last hour, before the sun rose.

Despite that, I smiled; now I knew that this entire time, he’d been waking up early just to learn the priests’ tongue, for no other reason than to understand me.

For the thousandth time, I asked myself what I’d done to deserve this life, and came up without an answer.

But if he was doing that for me, then I would get on with the work I could do for him.

I dragged myself out of bed and dressed, intending to wash and dress in the Tower of Spring, which I’d hardly seen in the last week except to perform the necessary ablutions. I briefly wondered about asking Bane if I could simply use the bath in this tower, and keep my clothes in the wardrobes here, but… if he wasn’t ready to have actual sex with me, then he likely still wanted his own space. Somewhere to escape me.

Although things usually looked better in daylight, today that fear was harder to crush. Twice now he’d given me physical pleasure and taken none for himself. He could talk of not wanting to hurt me, but still…

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