Page 81 of Cursed Shadows 1

He draws away from my exposed cunt. But he doesn’t pull from me entirely, he only starts to move over me.

Lips travelling the length of my body, his head is hung in defeat. And as he climbs over me, his hands press into the cushion and shift my sagged weight.

I blink wearily at the darkness that steals the sky away from me. Each whisper of his glistening mouth over my dress is a caress. I feel the heat of his breaths, how ragged they are as he fights for control—but control of what, I don’t quite know.

Does he fight to keep from fucking me or killing me?

Then my lashes flutter as he reaches my face.

Mouth hot on the line of my jaw, he licks his lips slowly—and I’m dough in his hand. The kiss he places there on my jawline never quite comes. It’s a promise, one that moves up to my parted mouth as he leans over me.

His lashes gently shut on the fog of desire in his eyes, and his lips press against mine. Soft, so soft. The memories of our kisses flood my mind.

I taste me on him.

My lips part just as his do.

The air is thick around us. No sound penetrates our bubble of delusion and fantasy. No Sacrament or shame or slight to ruin this between us.

Then I make the mistake of gasping the smallest breath of anticipation against his lips, into his mouth—

He stiffens over me.

Can feel his muscles clamp one by one, as though turning to stone, and a ripple of sudden anger pulses through him.

He inhales something deep and grounding through his nostrils.

Twisted, his mouth hardens against mine.

I don’t dare move.

He’s just been thrown back into the blizzard of reality—and that he was about to kiss me, now, after what I did to him.

A kiss is so much more than anything he just did to my core.

A kiss is love.

He’s not back on the field near my home anymore. He’s here on the tower with the halfling who watched him bleed, as she held his heart in his hand, and she laughed at him—in front of the entire High Court.

Tears prick my eyes. I swallow thickly.

But it does little good. His mouth latches on—but not to mine. He finds my shoulder and he bites.Hard.

Teeth pierce my flesh and a hollow cry rips through me.

The wet heat of blood spills over my neck, down my shoulder. I arch against him, legs tense over his hips, and the shout that’s trapped in my throat turns me rigid.

His teeth slip out from the fresh wounds. He doesn’t draw away, not as his growled words rumble near the blood spillingover my skin and onto the cushion, “You underestimate me. The lengths of betrayal and hurt I will reach, all to poison us. I will commit such atrocities that it’ll be impossible for either of us to forgive each other.”

My hands come to his chest. I don’t push against his pecs, but I hold and feel the frantic pounding of his heart against my palms.

Despite his words, despite the threat in them, he gives no fae promise. This is no bargain. He isn’t bound to his threat.

Is it Aleana’s words that spur me on, or even the sheer desperation I have for him?

Whatever it is, I expose myself. I’m vulnerable, and I don’t hide that as I whisper something pained and shaky into his ear, “Help me.”

I feel his frown as he turns his face to my cheek; I feel the dampness of my blood and orgasm on his lips that brushes my skin.

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