Page 34 of Kiss of Magic

Her blood flowed over his tongue, mixing with the taste of her juices. It was a heady combination and he growled deep in his throat as he fed from her.

The venom from his bite flowed into her system and she was powerless to prevent another climax, hard on the heels of the first one.

“Darian!” she cried out, her senses reeling. “Gods… oh…”

Her head fell back as she was overtaken by pleasure, rendering her incapable of thought or movement. All she could do was revel in the perfection of the moment.

He sealed the twin punctures on her thigh with his saliva and freed himself from his trousers. He was aching unbearably now, his shaft throbbing with an urgent need. He crawled up her body, as deliberate as a predator, and positioned himself between her legs.

Tala was almost insensible with pleasure. He kissed her, her lips soft and moist beneath his. Then he drove his length into her and she enveloping him like hot silk.

He groaned as the last throes of her orgasm pulsed around him. He barely had to move – her climax was enough. She clenched around his shaft and he was lost. Joy rushed through him as he filled her with his need, his desire, his unending love.

They lay on the floor in a tangle of limbs. Darian stroked her hair.

“You’re going to go back to Nush’aldaam whether I want you to or not, aren’t you?” he said eventually.

“It killed me not to join Blake on his mission. It made me realise I can’t just sit back and let other people take all the risks. There’s too much at stake, Darian.”

“But if I were to lose you…”

“If you force me to sit out this battle, then you’ve lost me already.” She touched his face tenderly. “I love you, vampire. Tothe end of days. But I need to do this. I need to fight. And in order to do that I… I need to come off the fertility herbs.”

She watched him anxiously.

“If you stop the process now, we would have to start again,” he said slowly. “It would set us back months.”

“I know. I’m sorry Darian. Please don’t hate me.”

His heart gave that peculiar double thump, the one that told him beyond all doubt, as if he had any, that she was his chosen mate. Hate her? He could never hate her. She was the one he would always put first – before his people, before himself, before everything – even if it caused him pain.

And because of that, he knew he’d already lost the argument.

“Then stop taking the herbs,” he said gruffly. “If we end up in a battle, I want you at full strength.”

“We?” she said uncertainly.

“My darling shaitun, you don’t think I’d let you have all the fun, do you?”

Her heart lifted.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“We will try again when the time is right. But first let’s make the world a safer place before we bring a child into it.”

Relief washed through her.

“Thank you, my love. Thank you for understanding.”

He held her close and hoped his fears would come to nothing. That the gods-damned hunter would do his job and get the seal closed.

Because if anything happened to his mate, he wouldn’t be able to bear it.

Sixteen

Baltimore

Blake automatically shielded Dani. He pulled her into his chest, curling his body round hers. Glass ricocheted in all directions – he heard the shards whine past his ear as they were deflected by his barrier tattoo.

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