Page 46 of Gua rdian of Blood and Shadow

“I’m just processing everything,” I lied, the words tasting like ashes. “So much has happened…”

Javier’s hands shifted lower, settling on my hips. When he pulled me closer, I went willingly, letting the familiar heat of his body chase away some of the chill in mine. His lips traced the curve of my neck, finding the spot where my pulse thrummed beneath my skin.

“You’re lying,” he murmured against my neck.

I sucked in a breath, my heartbeat erratic. But before I could respond, his fangs grazed my throat, making heat pool low in my belly despite the gravity of what lay ahead. When his teeth finally sank into my flesh, the sharp sting of pleasure-pain made me gasp, my hands flying up to grip his shoulders.

Our bond blazed brighter with each pull, memories flooding between us—him whisking me away from the massacre, teaching me to survive in the human world, helping me grow into someone who could bear the weight of a crown he’d always known I would wear.

“You are mine, Luna,” he growled against my broken skin, his voice rough with possession. “My queen. My purpose.Mine.”

The raw emotion in his voice nearly broke my resolve. Through our bond, I felt everything he couldn’t say directly—his fear of losing me, his frustration at threats he couldn’t simply eliminate, his desperate love.

His free hand slipped under my robe, pausing below my belly button, like he was giving me a chance to pull away. When I didn’t move, his fingers slid lower, delving between my legs with practiced ease.

I gasped, my hands clutching his shoulders as my knees threatened to give out. He stroked my clit, his touch both reverent and commanding, knowing exactly how to make my body respond.

“Javier,” I whispered, his name a prayer and a plea. My fingers tangled in his hair, holding him close as the world narrowed to his mouth on my skin, his hand between my thighs, the bond that tied us together.

He pulled back slightly, his lips brushing my ear. “I will never let you go,” he vowed, his voice a rough growl. “No matter what happens. No matter where you go.”

My breath hitched. Did he know? Could he tell I was planning to make a deal with Veris? To steal away in the middle of the night, without them, into the lion’s den? The thought of leaving him—of leaving any of them—twisted in my chest like a knife.

“I love you, my Luna,” he murmured. His words sent a shiver through me, desire and sorrow tangled together.

I surrendered to the moment, letting the shadows hide the tears in my eyes. I felt the others drawing closer, each bond burning with the same desperate need to hold on to me before something tore us apart.

Javier’s fingers moved faster, his rhythm relentless as he circled my clit with expert precision. His mouth returned to my throat, tongue lapping at the wound he’d made, and I felt the pleasure coiling tight in my belly. My body trembled, balancing on the edge of release, and I clung to him like he was the only solid thing in a world turning to liquid.

Pleasure crashed over me, sharp and consuming. He held me as I trembled, his arm wrapping around me like he could shield me from fate itself. But he couldn’t shield me from myself.

Bastian closed in, his hand settling on my back, heat bleeding through the silk of my robe. Ash and Thane moved in sync, taking up positions that enclosed me in a protective circle.

I leaned into Javier, the silk robe slipping off one shoulder as I surrendered to this. To them. “Help me forget,” I whispered. I needed this—needed them—before I did what had to be done. “Help me forgeteverything.”

Bastian turned me around in Javier’s arms and knelt before me, his hands sliding up my thighs beneath the silky robe. His touch sent shivers cascading over my skin. He looked up, his gaze locking onto mine with an intensity that made my breath catch.

His hands pushed the robe further aside, baring me to his hungry gaze. His lips followed, trailing kisses along my inner thighs. I gasped as his teeth grazed me—a hint of the beast he kept carefully contained. A promise of what lurked beneath his human form.

His mouth moved higher, teasing me with deliberate slowness until I wanted to scream. When his tongue finally found my clit, pleasure jolted through me like lightning. My fingers tangled in his dark curls, holding him against me as he devoured me with primal intensity.

Ash and Thane’s hands claimed my breasts, teasing and pinching my nipples while Javier lapped at the bite on my neck, the telltale tingling telling me he was healing the wound with his blood. The onslaught of sensations ricocheted through me, pushing me toward another peak with devastating precision.

Bastian worked my clit until my legs trembled and my knees threatened to give out. With a growl, he gripped my thighs and hoisted my legs onto his shoulders, opening me to him so he could lick the length of my slit in long, slow strokes.

I groaned, grinding against his face, wanting more of him. More of all of them.

Javier pressed his wrist against my lips, offering me his blood. I bit down without hesitation, his taste exploding across my tongue, tangy and bittersweet, like raspberries and dark chocolate. Power surged through me, ancient and wild, igniting every nerve ending just as Bastian refocused his attention on my clit. He sucked it, hard, and I came undone.

My orgasm hit like a tidal wave, pleasure ripping through me in violent waves that made silver light pulse beneath my skin. Bastian’s arms were like steel bands around my thighs, holding me against him as my body shuddered, Javier’s blood sliding down my throat and the endless assault on my clit making the climax stretch on and on andon.

Javier finally pulled his wrist away, and Bastian released my clit, instead grazing his lips back and forth along my inner thigh. Ash moved behind me, taking Javier’s place as the aftershocks of the marathon orgasm racked my body, his large hands settling on my shoulders with firm tenderness. His warm body pressed against my back, solid and reassuring. His lips found the nape of my neck, sending a shiver straight down my spine.

Ash’s hands traced down my arms, fingers drawing patterns on my skin that left trails of heat in their wake. Thane pressed in on my side, dark eyes burning as he lowered his head. He cupped my face, his thumbs brushing my cheeks as his lips captured mine in a kiss that stole my breath.

The silk robe slipped further open as Ash gathered the fabric at my hips, exposing more skin to the cool air. His teeth grazed my shoulder, sending another jolt straight through my core. I moaned into Thane’s mouth, surrendering to the sensations.

Together, they carried me to the bed, laying me down so the gaping silk robe pooled around me like dark water as they surrounded me. I lost myself in them—in how they surrounded me, consumed me, claimed me as theirs. Thane offered me his blood as Ash made sweet love to my pussy with his mouth, the two of them drawing out my next orgasm until my nerve endings felt singed from the overexposure to pleasure.

---