Page 46 of Veil of Shadows

His hand slipped around and cupped the back of my head. “Yes.”

“Oh.”

He closed the distance between our bodies as his hand seemed to engulf the back of my head. “But, you’re not expendable to me. And whatever I have to do in order to keepyou safe is exactly what I’ll do. Nothing more, and certainly nothing less. No matter how much it pisses you off.”

I swallow hard. “The interrogation tactics.”

He nodded slowly as the heat grew between us. “Yes, among other things.”

“Other things?” I asked breathlessly.

His forehead touched down against mine. “You are my mate, darling. For better and for worse. And I won’t ever let anything happen to you, no matter what it might make you think of me.”

My lower lip quivered. “I understand.”

He slid his thumb along my lower lip, and his soft touch silenced its quivering.

“There we go,” he whispered.

“Voss,” I whispered back.

“Hmmmm?”

I tilted my lips ever so slightly up toward his. “You promise that you’re not just torturing those vampires in that cave of yours?”

He paused. “I can say that we didn’t torture that one.”

“Jesus,” I said breathlessly, turning my head.

His free hand gripped my cheeks and turned my stare back to his. “I love the fact that you hate that shit.”

I blinked. “What?”

His thumb traced my lower lip once more. “I love the fact that you hate what we do in that cave. I love the fact that nothing we can say or do will ever sway you. Your moral code is one of the soundest things I’ve ever come across, and it makes you fucking beautiful, Bexley.”

Tears lined my eyes. “You… you think so?”

He captured my lips in the softest kiss imaginable.

“Oh,” I sighed softly.

“I know so,” his voice rumbled.

I fluttered my gaze up to his green stare and I couldn’t help myself. His voice enraptured me. His form towered over me. His muscles called to me, and the way his words stroked my heart made my soul come alive. Electricity filled my veins as I stood to my tiptoes, pressing my lips back to his. His free arm immediately snatched me up by my waist, wrapping around me as his other hand continued to cup the back of my head. He picked me up from my feet as if I were nothing but an egg out of a carton. His tongue pushed forth, parting my lips as my head tilted off to the side. He held me against him, cradling me like I was some precious porcelain doll. And as his mouth invaded mine, I allowed him to transport me.

“Bexley,” he growled down the back of my throat.

I finally brought my legs up and wrapped them around him. “Voss, please.”

He sucked on my lower lip. “Mmmm, I love it when you beg.”

I rolled my hips against him as my arms draped around his neck. “Take me. Please. I—I need you.”

And to my shock, he shook his head as he sucked on my lower lip. It pulled a confused moan from the back of my throat that made him chuckle, bumping his chest against mine.

“Why not?” I asked breathlessly as his lips trailed along my pulse point.

“Because,” he said as his voice rumbled against my shoulder. He kissed my bare skin softly, sending goosebumps fleeing across my skin. “I want to celebrate the autumn solstice buried in you.”

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