Page 35 of Barely Breathing

“Tell me you don’t want this,” he growls against my mouth. “Tell me you don’t feel what is between us.”

I should. By all the gods, I know I should. But instead, I lift my leg along his thigh as an invitation.

“No more lies,” I demand between kisses. I keepa fist around his shirt, torn between pushing him away and pulling him closer. “No more?—”

He takes my hips and lifts me easily against the wall. I feel the length of his arousal, and the promise of what’s to come rushes through me. My heart beats so fast I hear the blood rushing in my ears, and I know he can hear it, too. It’s the sound of my mortality. Costin moans, the sound more monster than man, and I shiver in anticipation.

His lips slide across my cheek to my neck. Fangs lightly move over my skin, but he can’t bite me when I wear the amulet. It gives me a sense of pleasure knowing I can make him lose control like this, make him fight against his nature.

“No more Paul,” he whispers hotly. “I don’t want to hear his name on your lips.”

The possessive growl in his voice shouldn’t arouse me. Heat pools low in my belly. It feels so good to be claimed by him.

He carries me to the bed, laying me across those damned crimson sheets. They’re cool against my back, and I feel like a fool for being here willingly. I can’t tell if it’s fear or anticipation as I wait for my mind to slip into a mesmerized haze. Costin is so powerful and in control. He makes me feel helpless and yet safe at the same time. It’s a dangerous combination—this trust I have in him despite everything and this need that goes deeper than physicalattraction. Every time I try to pull away, we end up here, drawn together like moths to a volcano that will probably destroy us both.

“No more talk of werewolves.” His mouth trails down my neck. “Just us. Nothing else exists.”

There is a begging in his tone I haven’t heard before.

The amulet grows hot, trying to warn me to be careful, but the sound of my heartbeat drowns out Draakmar’s whispers. Costin’s hands slide under my shirt, his touch making me arch in pleasure.

“Promise me,” I manage, even as my fingers work to undress him from his shirt. “Promise you’ll tell me everything.”

He leans back just enough to meet my eyes. His expression becomes unreadable. “You don’t want everything.” His thumb traces my lower lip. “Some truths are better left buried.”

“That’s not your choice to make.” I wrap my fingers around his wrist, stopping his caress. “I’m not a child anymore, Costin. I’ve faced Draakmar. I’ve survived your sister. I can handle?—”

“My sister?” There’s something dangerous in his tone. “What do you know about Elizabeth?”

Shit. I forgot that timeline was erased. Before I can think of how to explain, he’s already pulling away, his expression closing off.

“What aren’t you telling me?” he commands.

This might actually work in my favor. The fact Elizabeth is having issues doesn’t seem to be new information to anyone. Things are starting to make more sense after seeing the memory Costin had erased from my past. Elizabeth was scheming even then. It’s not like I have to protect her and not tell him. “You first.”

“You want honesty?” Costin’s mouth finds mine again, harder this time. He pulls back only long enough to say, “Here’s the truth. I want you.” His hands move under my shirt, making me shiver. “I’ve waited years for that prophecy to end and for my promise to be fulfilled.”

“That’s not—” My protest cuts off in a gasp as his lips move over my neck and across my collarbone. His tongue traces patterns on my skin that feel like ancient symbols. “That’s not what I meant by honesty.”

“No?” His fangs scrape lightly over my breast through my bra, sending ripples of pleasure over my body. “Then tell me to stop.”

I can’t. His touch sets my skin on fire, and I’m lifting into his caress before I can stop myself. My fingers fumble with his shirt until he simply tears it off and tosses it aside. The sight of his bare chest, perfect and pale in the dim candlelight, makes my breath catch.

“Tell me you don’t want me.” His voice is roughas he undresses me with vampiric speed, leaving me bare beneath him. The cool air tightens my nipples, and his eyes focus on my chest.

The feelings I’ve been trying to suppress since he kissed me at the gate leading to werewolf territory surge forth.

His mouth replaces the cool air on my nipple, tongue circling one peak while his fingers tease the other. The contrast between his cooler touch and my heated skin makes me gasp. He needs to feed. Blood would warm him. None of that matters right now. My hands tangle in his hair, holding him closer.

“The sounds you make,” he murmurs against my skin. “They are like music to me, every sigh, every whimper, every plea.” His mouth trails lower across my stomach, making my muscles jump. When he reaches the inside of my thigh, I nearly come off the bed.

“Costin, please!”

“Please, what?” His breath fans across my sensitive clit. “Tell me what you want.”

“You.” The word comes out breathlessly. “I want you.”

He moves back up my body, and before he settles over me, his clothes have disappeared, so there is nothing between us. His weight presses me into the mattress.

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