Page 8 of Bound By the Wraith: Northern Realms

Moonlight made it clear for him to spot her. She was running in the darkness and he appeared in front of her, enraged she was putting herself at risk.

“Cillian,” she panted. “How did you…”

“What’re you doing out here?” he demanded, shaking her. He’d lost her way too many times and running around at night on a moor was not safe. “A proper lady shouldn’t be running around on the moors unaccompanied. There are highwaymen, thieves.”

“My father says I cavort with demons,” she whispered. “Are ye the devil?”

Cillian smiled slowly, reaching out to touch her cheek and running his fingers over her soft skin. “Aye.”

She smiled, blood blooming in her cheeks. “I am not scared.”

“You should be,” he whispered ferociously, pulling her closer. “I’m no good.”

“I know who you are. I’ve been here before. Loved you before. I will not let them part us this time around.” Cali laid a hand on his chest. “Your heart beats. You are not a monster.”

“Only for you,” he growled and he kissed her, sinking in the warmth of her arms, her love. A shot ripped through the air, striking her in the back, her blood spilling out over the blue satin of her empress gown.

“No,” he screamed.

Cillian stepped back, hating the memory that came to him. One he’d thought he locked away.

He reached out and ran his fingers through her hair to ground himself and chase away those nightmarish memories of a time she was ripped from him. Touching her head, he could see inside her mind. A flash of an erotic dream she was having. It was him, though blurry. It was a repressed memory of one of their shared moments in time.

A very heated moment.

Her naked underneath him, his mouth on her pussy, tasting her. His blood heated to an inferno, his cock hardening against the confines of his tight leather pants. That was a memory he was all too willing to recreate.

Her eyes fluttered opened, her gaze locking with his. There was a pink flush to her cheeks and he could feel her hot breath on his skin as he hovered over her. No words were said, not that he could formulate them at this moment, which was strange for him.

As much as he wanted to be with her, he couldn’t tell her anything, he couldn’t have her. She had to want to come to him. And he wasn’t going to scare her to death by pouncing on her.

Reluctantly, he pulled away, when all he wanted to do was be with her, to keep her pinned to this bed and make her scream with pleasure. To make her forget everything else so that she would stay with him, but that wasn’t the terms of the deal.

He couldn’t do that.

This was a game he had to play. A very careful game.

“Where am I?” she asked, scooting up to a sitting position. The flush of arousal from her dreams still stained her creamy skin.

“My realm.”

“Hell?” she asked, her voice trembling.

Cillian rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “Do I look like a demon to you?”

“Yes,” she said bluntly.

A smile twitched on his lips and he glanced in the mirror that was in the corner of his room. His pale skin, his dark eyes, his pointed ears—he could see it. At least his horns were hidden. Those only unleashed when he was angry.

“Well, I suppose you have a point, but no, you’re not in hell. You’re in my realm. It’s part of the underworld, but it’s neither here nor there.”

“You rule an entire realm?” she asked.

“Mine. Yes. Each wraith has their own little niche that borders around what you mortals like to call hell and heaven, though it’s a bit more complicated than that. I’m the only one with a realm, however.”

“Well, go on. Explain it to me.” Cali crossed her arms.

Seriously? She wanted an explanation now?

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