Page 38 of The Serpent's Bride
“Don’t underestimate me.”
“Yes…I admit I might have done just that.” He lowered his head toward hers, his breath hot as it pooled against her cheek. His other hand snaked around her lower back and pulled her flush against him. He grunted.
She felt his desire pressing against her. He had deeply enjoyed the show, it seemed.
“But there is something you have to know, my violent little thing…”
Resting her hands on his chest, she couldn’t help but shiver at the sound of his voice as it went low like gravel.
His lips brushed against her ear as he whispered to her. “I don’t just kill people. I murder people, Monica. Innocent people. People who don’t deserve it. I murder them and Ilikeit. I love the smell of their blood. People call me the Serpent for a reason. Even my brother and sister fear me. That is who I am. That is who you are marrying.”
“You don’t scare me.”
“But I should, Monica—Ishould.”He lowered his head farther, kissing her throat, before scraping her skin with his sharp, dangerous fangs.
She jolted, pulling in a sharp breath through her nose at the sting. But it wasn’t a sound of pain. She didn’t recoil. Without intending to, she was leaning her head away from him, giving him room.Welcominghim.
“Tempting…so very tempting.” His tongue ran along her throat, along the vein. “But Mother would have my head.” Trailing slow kisses back up her throat to her ear, he nipped the lobe before whispering to her again. “But tomorrow night? Tomorrow night, we teach you the meaning offear.”
Instinct took over.
She turned her face to his and kissed him.
She kissed himhard.
With all the hate and all the desire she felt for him. They mixed together into a cyclone. Threading her hand into his hair, she fisted it and deepened the embrace, going up on her tiptoes.
The sound of surprise he made was like music to her ears. His hand slid from her lower back to her ass, grasping it hard enough that her eyes watered. He returned the kiss just as roughly as she was giving it—like a desperate and wild creature.
But who was out of control, she wondered.
Both of them? Or neither?
Finally, he broke the kiss, pulling his head back. She was breathless as she blinked her eyes open. By the moons and stars in the sky, by the lords of the deep Wild, sheneededhim. He tasted like a winter hearth—like spices and wood mixed with the coppery tang of blood.
It was addictive.
“Impatient…I like it.” He placed his hand to her cheek, resting his thumb on the hollow of her chin, his nail just grazing her lower lip that was swollen from the intensity of the kiss. “Twenty-four hours and you will learn just what kind of a monster you think you want to dance with.”
He pushed away, and she was quite proud of the state she had left him in. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have something to tend to.” He plucked the bottle of bloodwine from the table and headed to the door. “Good night, Monica. Good luck tomorrow. You’re going to need it.”
In his absence, the chill night air was free to wake her up out of her daze. Shaking her head, she combed her hands through her hair.
What was getting into her? Why did she kiss him?
Because she had wanted to.
No, because she hadneededto.
Tomorrow night, he’ll show you exactly the kind of monster he truly is, by his own words. Then, this lust of yours will shatter.Twenty-four hours and everything would be different.
But damn it all, if she didn’t want to follow him to his room.
“No, no,no.” She growled.
Storming back to her own room, she locked the door behind herself and decided she was going to have a hot bath in pitch darkness. It reminded her of her home before it had been taken from her. It was her favorite way to unwind. Sinking into the liquid in the dark let her pretend she was somewhere else.
Twenty-four hours, and she would have the real chance to prove to Raziel that she could keep up with him.
