Page 103 of The Demon's Discovery
“You won’t hurt me.” Her tone was stern, but I saw the flash of apprehension in her face.
“Greta. Please.”
“No. I’m not leaving you alone for this.” She shook her head, and I pushed my wings out, feeling like every nerve in my body was exposed to the air.
“You must!” I growled and paced, the curse throbbing under my skin. I heard her pulse, louder and louder as the potion worked and the need to spill blood,anyblood, became overwhelming. I lunged at her, my wife, my mate. She was wide-eyed but stoic as I grabbed her and sank my fangs deep.
Her faint moan registered as I gathered her to my chest, but I was not myself. I drank and drank, the tiniest part of my brain screaming that I needed to stop. That it was too much. But I couldn’t pull away.
“Vassago.”
She sounded far away, like she was underwater. There was nothing but the rage, the need, the sound of her heartbeat faster and louder in my ears. Her life flashed through me as I drank, memory upon memory.
“Take what you need,” she said, voice breathy. “I know I am safe with you. My mate would not bring me harm.”
My chest began to ache then, a hot stab under my ribs. The pain shocked me back from the red haze just enough for me to pull away. Greta was weakened but still alive when I pushed her away from me and forced my wings to take me straight up into the clouds. I beat them hard against the wind until there was hardly any icy air left to breathe.
It felt like my body was tearing itself apart molecule by molecule, everything hot and itchy, my mind battling for control as the bloodlust tried to take over one last time. My vision was fogged with red, the need for destruction riding hard down my spine.
I would let this thing shred me from the inside out, if I had to. If I had hurt her, it would be a kinder death than I deserved.
Time was irrelevant as I hovered in the cold sky, the observatory a faint pinpoint of illumination beneath me. Slowly, I realized that the lust wasn’t winning, and I was more in control than I had thought. I drifted lower and lower, lungs working easier, skin far less sensitive than it had been.
Relief pounded in as the slithery feeling started to fade as well, and I coasted back to earth feeling unusual but no longer a mindless beast. I crashed to the marble floor of the observatory, a tangle of feathers and limbs and crawled to her, dread curled in my gut. She was pale, but smiling as her eyes met mine.
“Dragonfly.”
I pulled myself on hands and knees to her and laid my head in her lap, feverish and shaking. Time became elastic again as I shook through the last of the terrible curse fighting the elixir within my veins. Apologies spilled from my lips, tears dampening her clothing as she soothed me, her hands petting along my wings. As though I deserved any of that after what I’d done.
Eventually, all that was left was her.
“Is it gone?” she asked quietly. I nodded tightly, trying to relax my fingers. They’d gripped her thighs so hard I worried she’d have marks. “Leave them,” she said, combing through my hair with her fingers, pushing it slowly away from my face and working through any knots that had formed in the long strands. “I’m fine. You didn’t hurt me.”
“But I did. I saw it. Greta, I’m sorry. So sorry.” I shook my head, burying it again in shame.
“You didn’t. Look at me, Vassago.Look,” she insisted, holding my face in her palm, pressing light, soft kisses to my cheeks, my lips, my forehead.
I forced my eyes to scan her beautiful face, her throat. There were a few droplets of blood on the collar of her shirt, clear marks from my bite. I cringed, fingertips brushing along the skin. She reached up and took my hand into hers.
“Look closer.”
Her cheeks were flushed with color and the bruising around the bite marks disappearing as I watched. I met her eye, relief rushing through me even though I didn’t fully understand. In her eyes I found no reproach, no fear. Only what I believed to be… love.
I hugged her tightly against me, tears in my eyes as I breathed her in. “I don’t understand, Dragonfly, but I am grateful. I adore you beyond measure and could never have forgiven myself if?—”
Her lips met mine again, and I felt her hands slip up my shirt. She pushed it up until it was off completely, before removing her own. She maneuvered us both until she could get to what she craved. Her need was evident in the easy glide, but I required more than the gentle sway she was giving me.
I tipped her backwards, keeping her knees pressed against my chest. The angle pushed me deep, and she moaned my name as her fingernails scraped down my back. I resisted the urge to call out my mist, wanting this moment just for us.
“Vassago.”
“You’re mine, Dragonfly. No matter what.”
“Yes,” she whined as I increased my tempo, then her back arched as her climax took control. I pushed her all the waythrough it before allowing myself to let go, and we both lay there in a puddle of limbs, panting into the cool night air.
We cleaned up as best we could before climbing back into our peaceful nest, her body curled into mine and my soul at peace for the first time in eons. As she slipped into sleep, head pillowed on my chest, I rested my fingertips over her pulse. I smiled, feeling humbled yet again. I had something rare and beautiful in my arms, and I vowed silently to care for it as best I could. Our heartbeats were matched, the same thumping rhythm both in her and in me. Which made sense, after all, since my heart and soul, my everything, belonged to her.
Chapter 40
