Page 90 of Demon Bound

“I know.”

“I am yours.”

“I know.”

He gripped her hair to gently pull her head back, exposing her neck. He pressed deep into her, then lowered his mouth to her throat. She felt his teeth on her, and she tensed.

His lips sealed over her skin, and his teeth pierced her, taking her blood. She climaxed in a flood of pleasure as sharp pain burst across her throat.

Azreth moaned, his hips rolling against her, luxuriating in her clenching heat. His teeth released her, and she felt trickles of blood drip down her skin, which were quickly caught by his tongue. She lay still and allowed him to lick and suck her as her limbs trembled with exhaustion. She felt his teeth scraping her, as if some part of him was imagining taking more than just a little of her blood, but his touch was careful and restrained.

Suddenly he moved up to kiss her cheek, a stark contrast to the pleasurable violence they’d just been engaging in. One by one, the hands disappeared. Azreth wrapped an arm around her waist, pressing her body against his in a desperate, hungry embrace. It was an awkward gesture, not exactly sexual. She realized he did not exactly know how to express love or nonsexual desire. Those feelings were new to him. She said nothing, but put her hand behind his head and touched his hair, content to be held by him.

His tongue caressed the wounds on her neck in long, sweet strokes, and she sensed a spell sealing the punctures.

“I love how you taste,” he said.

“What do I taste like?”

“Like life.”

Her hand wandered behind his horns again, rubbing him the way she might rub behind a cat’s ears. His eyes fluttered closed.

Something invisible and magical was warming the air around them. It had been slowly growing in intensity since she first began touching him, and now she could feel it permeating her skin, entering her with every breath. It was the polar oppositeof the heavy, oppressive rage and despair and fear she’d felt when she’d first met Azreth in Nirlan’s dungeon. It was light and effervescent, bright and energizing.

It was Azreth. It was his joy. And it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever felt. She had never expected that his happiness would be as palpable as his anger was, but it was, and more.

“I am yours,” he said again.

She replied with a different wording of the same sentiment—her preferred wording, which declared devotion without subservience, as they both deserved. They were each other’s, and they were free. “I love you.”

He pulled back to look at her, a small crease of concentration between his eyebrows.

“I love you,” he said carefully, testing out the words. There was something uncertain in his voice, but there was nothing uncertain about his emotions, which had unfolded to fill the space between them.

Chapter 28

When the road forked and the caravan veered east, Raiya and Azreth parted ways with them to continue north to Frosthaven.

Raiya wasn’t particularly surprised when Jai insisted on accompanying them, and Madira insisted on accompanying Jai. Raiya told them they should have stayed with the caravan where they would be safe, but privately, she was pleased. She enjoyed their company. Even Azreth seemed to brighten a little when he saw them following.

Clouds moved in as the day went on, darkening the sky and hastening the oncoming night. At this time of year, as fall came on, the sun set in late afternoon. When it became too dark to see well, Azreth conjured a ball of mage light to float above them as they walked. Raiya hugged herself to ward off the chill.

“I spy something that begins withS,”Jai said after there had been silence for a while.

Madira sighed. “Not this again.”

“It’s not like there’s anything else to do.”

“Sword,” Madira guessed impatiently. “Steel. Sparrow. Stream.”

“Snow,” Azreth said.

Everyone looked up. It had indeed begun to snow. Tiny flakes fell here and there. Azreth held out his hand to catch one and then lifted his hand to peer at it, only to find it had instantly melted on his skin. He looked disappointed.

“Back home in Kuda Varai, snowfall is said to be a sign of bad things to come,” Madira said. No one replied, but the tension in the group was obvious. Everyone grew quiet.

Raiya was the first one to spot Frosthaven on the horizon. Dark shapes of walls and roofs rose up in the distance. It looked darker than she remembered, with only a few scattered lights dotting the town.

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