Page 63 of Red Ruin

“It’s my job to try,” I remind myself. “Just relax and let me steer. There’s so much long-term damage.”

I hook my thumbs around his jaw. Holding Vhex steady with my silks, I tease his tip against my entrance.

I need to focus, but I’m so slick that just his texture curls my toes. The liquid heat makes every little motion feel loose, leaving me clenching on emptiness.

I’ve never been so wet.

Fuckingnever.

I fight to hold back, trying to ignore the prickling venom melting me from the inside out.

Guide-sex isn’t supposed to be about me.

It’s a service I provide.

Then I can give my all without expecting to receive anything beyond Vhex’s animal need.

Skin-to-skin, I can’t help curling deeper into his being.

Vhex’s soul isn’t tangled the same way as Remy’s—it’s more burnt twists than true knots. That tightly coiled magic will be a joy to fix compared to the magic veins themselves.

His meridians are shockingly scarred.

The walls are pitted and eaten away like they’ve been flushed with acid.

Or with hellfire.

Any casual use of his magic must be agony.

Andholy fuck.

I bet Vhex hasn’t been able to use half of his real power.

How strong will he be after I make him whole?

I comb carefully through his head as I pet his velvety horn. “How have you been surviving like this?”

“Like what?”

“Your meridians. They’re toasted.”

“That’s normal?”

We’re so entwined, his casual resignation scoops a hollow in my gut.

“No. It’s not. I’ll start from your spinal meridian and work outward. You should feel the difference fast,” I speak firmly, hoping it sounds like I’m giving a prescription and not breathlessly rationalizing why I need to ride his cock.

I stroke down his stomach, more or less business until I hit his special ridge. It’s mostly made of muscle. Before I can explore, Vhex strokesmewith the bony extra piece that seems free to move beneath his skin.

“You like my fin?” Vhex teases me with that rigid hardness, pushing it in and out, then back and forth. His cock twitches as he smirks. “It’s for you.”

I bet.

In the right position, that thing will beall overmy clit.

Clenching my teeth before I can groan, I palm his shaft and guide his tip inside.

His venom has me drenched.

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