Page 20 of Gua rdian of Blood and Shadow

Another dark chuckle shook Javier’s chest, and his next thrust was harder. His next harder still, until the slap of his body against mine and the sloppy, wet sounds of him fucking me filled the room alongside our heavy breaths and throaty grunts.

The pressure within me built and built. I squeezed my eyes shut, reaching. My breathing turned ragged. So close, the orgasm right there, a blinding star just out of reach.

Javier pulled out of me suddenly, and I sobbed my displeasure. His hand on my neck shifted higher, gripping my jaw and turning my face toward his. The fingers digging into my pubic bone inched lower, sliding between my lips and pressing down on either side of my clit. He pushed back into me with excruciating restraint, like he could sense just how close I was to shattering.

Javier’s gaze roved over my face, the press of his fingers on either side of my clit taunting me with each slow, deliberate stroke. If he just pinched his fingers together or thrust into me harder…

But he knew exactly what he was doing to me.

I had never felt so seen. So understood. This vampire—this man—was so in tune with my body that he could hold me captive in this blissful agony forever.

“Do you see?” Javier grazed his lips along my cheekbone. “Do you see what the bond does to me? It’s not the same for you as it is for the rest of us. You have a shallow awareness of each of us, but we only have you.Ionly have you, Luna. I can feel how close you are to coming, just as I can sense your every discomfort, your quiet agony, as if it were my own. It’s not so easy to give you space when you’re always inside me.”

Javier thrust into me harder, deeper, emphasizing the depth of his side of the bond. My eyelids fluttered shut, breath hitching. Javier buried himself inside me, then stilled.

“Do you understand what you’re asking of me?” he rasped against my cheek.

I nodded, tears leaking from the corners of my eyes. The agony ofalmostwas breaking me. In that moment, I would have told Javier anything he wanted to hear.

“Good,” he breathed. And then he circled my clit with his fingertip, pressing hard enough to let me know this was it.

I choked on a strangled scream as my insides liquefied. My knees buckled, but Javier caught me. He held me tight against him, one hand curved around my throat, the other between my legs. The press of his fingers against my pulsing clit amplified the pleasure as the waves radiated out from my core. I trembled, my limbs boneless.

Javier waited until the pleasure ebbed and my body relaxed to pull out of me. I regained my footing, and his hold loosened enough that I could turn around to face him, my hands settling on his chest, his on my hips.

I glanced down at his erection jutting up between us. My brow furrowed, and I raised my eyes to meet his.

“I can wait for thecommunion,” he said, his features tense, his gaze guarded. “I don’t want to make you sore, and healing your aches with my blood could trigger your bloodlust. The others may not be able to resist coming to you then, and you need to speak with Isador before thecommunionso you know how to channel the amplified power into a request for another vision from Selene.”

“Oh.” I frowned, hating the idea of leaving him unsatisfied after what I’d just experienced. His body practically vibrated with tension, and I sensed his raging desire through our bond. No way I was leaving him like this.

I lowered myself to my knees before him, dragging my hands down his torso. His jaw clenched and unclenched.

“You don’t have to—” He sucked in a breath when I gripped his shaft. His cock twitched in my hold. “Luna,” he breathed, reverent. His fingers threaded into my hair, his hands trembling.

I licked my lips and locked eyes with him, watching his reaction as I leaned in. As I parted my lips. As I pressed the gentlest kiss to the head of his cock.

His fingers clenched in my hair, and he stopped breathing altogether.

I gripped the base of his shaft and opened wide, flattening my tongue to glide along the underside of his cock as I took him into my mouth. The salty taste of his arousal hinted at the flavor notes of his blood, making my darker hunger stir.

Expression rapt, Javier drew in a shaky breath, his stare glued to my lips, to his cock disappearing inch by inch into my mouth.

“Mmmmm,” I hummed, savoring the taste of him and basking in his reaction.

The history between us added layers to every touch. My love for Bastian was fluttery and fresh, and I was still in the falling phase with Gavin, Ash, and Thane. But my love for Javier was deep and weathered, seasoned by all the pain and heartache we had experienced together.

I poured all that love into the way I touched him. The way I gazed up at him. The way I sucked him.

Javier’s breath hitched, and his hold on my hair tightened, becoming painful. “Luna, I—” His features tensed, his body going rigid.

I shifted my hand from his shaft to his ass and pushed forward, taking him the rest of the way into my mouth. The head of his cock pressed against the back of my throat, triggering my gag reflex. My throat convulsed, squeezing him. Heightening his pleasure as he shot out his release. I drank him down, feeling an influx of the same magic that was in his blood. Again, my bloodlust stirred but reluctantly resettled, leaving me in control.

I pulled back, choking as I suppressed a cough.

Javier dropped to his knees in front of me, his hands cradling my jaw. He gazed at me with such wonder and love that my heart warmed. He leaned in, kissing my swollen lips tenderly.

“I failed you,” he said hoarsely. “You depended on me, and I abandoned you.”

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