Page 34 of Heir of Blood and Moonlight

Bastian groaned, and his body stiffened. He pulsed his release out onto my hand, then relaxed. But through it all, he continued to stroke me. To stoke my pleasure onward, keeping me drifting along over those gently cascading waves of the sweetest extended climax.

I pulled my mouth away from his wrist and opened my eyes, gazing up into his eyes, the golden sunbursts barely visible around his pupils. I tilted my face up toward his, offering him my lips. He finally ceased his stroking between my legs and bowed his neck to claim my kiss.

“I’m so sorry,” he breathed, breaking the kiss and resting his forehead against mine. “I shouldn’t have done it, but apparently, I really am a selfish bastard.”

My brow furrowed, and as the haze of desire faded, clarity returned to my mind. I blinked and looked around, totally confused as to why, exactly, I was slumped on the shower floor, cradled between Bastian’s legs. “What happened?”

“You offered me the blood bond,” Bastian said, raising his head and leaning it back against the tiled shower wall.

Without his head to shield me, water sprayed on my face. I raised one hand to block the spray while I turned my face away from the showerhead. Memories flashed through my mind like still frames from a movie. Me, biting my own lip until I bled. Offering Bastian my kiss, and with it, an eternal bond. Bastian claiming my lips, accepting my bond.

Bastian reached out one arm, leaning forward slightly to turn off the water. “And like an idiot, I accepted.”

My breath caught, and my stare locked onto the glowing silver bonding sigil encircling his wrist. It was just like Gavin’s with the phases of the moon. “You don’t want it?” I whispered, my heart sinking into my stomach.

“What? No, Soph—” Bastian pressed his fingers against the side of my jaw and angled my face toward his once more. “That’s not what I meant.” His eyes searched mine, his dark brows bunching together. “I bound my life to yours the second I attacked that wolf shifter. This—” He glanced at his wrist. “This just makes it official.”

“Then, what?” I shook my head.

“I shouldn’t have accepted the blood bondright now,” he said. “Gavin warned me. He warned me not to do it. He knew you weren’t ready. But I did it anyway because I’m selfish and I didn’t want to risk losing you, and—” Again, Bastian rested his head back against the shower wall. “Fuck, he’s going to kill me.”

“He won’t kill you,” I vowed. “I won’t let him.”

Bastian’s eyes shifted to the doorway, fear flaring in his eyes.

“What?” I searched his face. “What is it?”

“He’s back.” Bastian awkwardly rose to his feet, helping me up with him.

“Indeed I am,” Gavin said, darkening the doorway from the bedroom.

19

Gavin’s eyes were bright,shimmering like quicksilver, and his presence felt more potent now that he’d had his fill of mortal blood. His gaze skimmed over me, latching onto the hand Bastian curled around my waist. Onto the silver sigil shimmering around Bastian’s wrist. He clenched his jaw, then blinked, and his focus shifted up to my face.

“Micah is very concerned about you,” Gavin said, his voice carefully controlled. “Perhaps you should dress and return to the living room to ease his worries.”

My eyes opened wide, my lips parting. “Of course,” I said, stepping away from Bastian and rushing out of the shower.

Gavin angled his body to the side to let me pass into the bedroom.

I paused in the doorway and peered up at him, but his focus was locked on Bastian, who hung back in the shower. A quiet rage filled his silver stare.

“Gavin . . .”

He clenched and unclenched his jaw, but he didn’t tear his attention away from Bastian.

Acting on instinct, I raised my hand and traced the lines of the bonding sigil I had branded into his neck mere hours ago. The soft silver glow of the marking flared brighter at my touch. I curved my fingers around the side of his neck and stroked my thumb along the column of his throat.

“Look at me,” I said, my voice quiet but oddly resonant.

Coerced by the power of mywill, Gavin dragged his stare from Bastian and looked at me. The corners of his mouth tensed and then ticked higher. “You’re growing stronger.”

“Good.” I studied the sharp angles of his face—his high cheekbones, his bold nose, his sinful, proud lips—and wondered why some other queen hadn’t snatched him up before the Sun uprising. He was stunning and powerful, both as a vampire and as a man. His presence commanded attention, making him a natural leader. Perhaps he had been too young at the time of the attack to have already been claimed by a queen?

“Don’t hurt Bastian,” I told him, my voice still ringing with power. With mywill. “The blood bond—it wasn’t his fault. It was mine.”

Gavin narrowed his eyes, his resistance to my command clear in the hard set of his features. But finally, he dipped his chin in assent.

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