Page 179 of Shadowblood Souls
Dominic closes his eyes. The whiff of pheromones drifting through the air gives proof to his statement.
My nerves quivering in anticipation, I slide my fingers farther along the tentacle.
Its flesh is softer than the skin of his back, almost satiny. And when I dip my thumb cautiously right into the cup of one sucker, I find that surface has the texture of velvet.
My pulse thrums through my veins. An impulse grips me, and I can’t think of a single reason not to chase it.
What better way is there to show him how fully I embrace everything he’s become?
I curl my fingers around the tentacle and guide it toward me. Then I dip my head down to press a kiss against one pair of suckers.
Dominic shivers, but the thickening of the desire lacing the air tells me it’s not with discomfort.
“Riva,” he murmurs in an unusually husky voice.
The suckers are pliant against my mouth, embracing it gently in return as if they’re kissing me back. The crisp tang of Dom’s scent wafts over me, and my pulse thumps even faster.
I part my lips and flick my tongue over the hollow of one sucker.
A strangled sound escapes Dominic, and then he’s twisting toward me, grasping my shoulder. He buries his face in the crook of my neck, matching my kiss with the emphatic press of his lips against the sensitive skin there.
Heat sears across my chest. I wrench my head around at the same time Dom does.
Our mouths collide with a surge of heat and a longing that clamors through my veins. All I can do is emit an encouraging murmur and kiss him even harder.
Dominic loops his arm around my back and pushes closer, nudging my knees apart to give him access. While one hand holds me close, the other strokes down my side and along my thigh.
His breath wavers against my mouth. I tug him into another kiss, drinking it down.
I want him. I need him. The feral darkness winding through my blood propels me onward.
More. More. More.
Just like it demanded when I was with Andreas.
My muscles clench up despite the peal of hunger inside me.
Dominic freezes. When he starts to pull away, I grab his tee in my hands.
“No,” I mumble, my mouth still just inches from his. “I?—”
Words escape me. I tip my head forward, and he catches it against his shoulder, his arms coming around me again.
A tremor runs through his body. The same desire that’s baying for release inside me must be reverberating through him as well.
But he holds himself still, waiting for me.
My voice spills out haltingly against his shirt. “The only other two times I’ve gotten close with anyone, things ended really badly. The first time with the boy I kissed dying. The second time withmealmost dying, because of everything that happened after.”
Dominic squeezes me close.
“I can’t promise anything about what the guardians might have up their sleeves,” he says roughly, “but I’ve got no secrets left. You know everything there is to know about me, Riva. Things I’ve never even told the other guys.”
I let his words sink in. I believe them.
I’m scared. So fucking scared, more scared than I’ve been the entire time since that night with the train.
Am I going to let the fears own me, or am I going to take what I actually want? What every particle in my body knows I deserve?
