Page 39 of Until the Heart Stops
He guided me effortlessly in the steps, maneuvering us around other couples. Perhaps others looked at us, or at the dais where the strange immortal stood, but I only had eyes for him. I cataloged the way the candlelight gilded his hair, the sharpness of his cheekbones, the slope of his jaw.
“It won’t be long now, my darling,” he said so low I could barely hear him until he twirled me for the final time and my back hit his chest. “Wait until after the next dance and then go to the garden.”
When I was released and turned, his silver eyes danced with that new light within them. I gave the barest of nods before I curtsied and he bowed over my hand. This time, however, Callum flipped my palm up and pressed a kiss to the center of it before wordlessly guiding me back to the dais and vanishing into the crowd.
I waited impatiently as the quartet began the next. I knew Henry said something to me, but I could not hear it.
And when the song finally ended, I left without a word toward the darkness and the garden beyond.
Chapter 21
The moment Lilith stepped off the stones and into the garden, I slipped through the crowd.
My heart beat in my ears, louder and deeper than it ever had before, as if all my magic, my blood, mypowerthirsted for her. It had only been a week since we’d found Seth and brought him to Eamon, but his blood had changed me in ways I had not expected. Nor had I stopped to count the cost of such an act. I was stronger than ever before. My small bit of magic I’d kept from my humanity had grown until I felt like a child learning to control it once more.
Mael, thank the goddess, had not called on me since I’d returned, busy with matters of the Covenant and their bid to expand their reach outside of the borders of the continent. The moment he saw me he would know what I’d done and what I’d unleashed into this world. I only hoped that by that time I would be staring at a dead man.
Lilith did not move into the gardens as I expected, but toward the maze. My senses sharpened as she flitted behind the wall and a growl slipped between my teeth. Idarted to the entrance, but she was nowhere to be found. Her scent, however, was thick, her need so heady my cock jumped. When her footsteps echoed back to me all my control snapped.
I hunted her.
Silent as the grave I sliced through the maze, following her scent just as easily as if I could see her. Along the way I shucked my formal jacket and waistcoat. She was running now, her fingertips brushing the edges of the leaves as she turned right, left, and left again. A breathless laugh ahead told me she’d come to a dead end and, though I could sense her turning to go another way, she was too late.
I darted out, wrapped my arms around her waist and pinned her against the hedge with her back to my chest. She gave out a squeal, wriggling in my hold, but a rumble deep in my chest had her freezing in place, head tipping to the side to expose her throat in submission.
This fucking witch.
Her scent was too much, her heat, her heart, her body. It was all overwhelming to the point of insanity. I tightened my grip, fangs pressing lightly against her neck as I pushed harder against her backside. When her hands flew out to steady herself, I wrenched them above her head and spun her in place. Her pupils were blown wide, lips parted in a silent pant.
“Don’t fucking move,” I growled, moving her wrists into one palm and sliding my freed hand up the silken fabric of her bodice before strumming a finger across her nipple.
A whine slid from between her teeth but fire flared in her expression. “What happens if I move?”
My hand shot up to bracket her throat and her hips tilted, seeking out my cock even through the layers and layers of fabric. I leaned down until my teeth grazed theshell of her ear. “If you move, I will mate you, fuck you, mark you, and ruin you for all others for all time.”
Again, her head tilted to the side, this time in a conscious offering. “I’m already ruined, Callum—I’m already yours.”
The sight of her pale throat in the moonlight undid me. Just like that night in the forest when we unearthed Seth, I didn’t stop to count the cost. Instead, instinct had its claws in me as I surged forward, the hand on her throat flying to her hair just as my fangs sank into her delicate skin.
Lilith moaned loud enough I was sure if anyone was outside they would hear, but I was too far gone. This was the elixir I’d spent my entire existence looking for. Just as I’d predicted, Seth’s godly blood was only a pale shadow in comparison to this. My cock throbbed painfully and I thrust against her skirts in a desperate attempt to relieve the ache. She, too, was moving, fingers sliding through my hair before drawing up the fabric to her waist.
I let go of her wrists in favor of reaching between her thighs, only to moan through the thick blood pooling in my mouth. She was dripping and every other breath was a keening, pitiful whimper. I didn’t know what I needed more on my tongue in this moment: her blood or her cunt. I drew back and fell to my knees, ripping away the small piece of fabric covering her sex.
Both, I realized as I licked the need from her skin and closed my mouth over her clit—I needed both. My teeth scraped along the sensitive flesh before I moved higher to bite into the side of her thigh just at the junction of her hip. Blood pooled, flowed across her sex. A wanton moan had me gazing up. Lilith’s head was tilted back against the hedge, one hand tangled in my hair while the other gripped the vines. I lifted her leg higher,sliding it over my shoulder to open her further before returning to her clit, sucking it gently as I pressed two fingers inside.
She shattered with a cry, pulsing around my fingers needily. I groaned, bit my tongue and slicked it across the wound at her thigh to close the bite before surging to my feet. Protests slithered through the air, but they quieted as I lowered her to the soft grass.
“I need it,” Lilith moaned.
I undid the placket of my trousers, knelt between her thighs and pushed two fingers inside her again, curling and stretching. But she shook her head even as her hips tilted to take more.
“No—needyouinside of me.”
I chuckled darkly, adding a third. “I need to get you ready, darling, so you can take all of me.”
Reaching through the fabric of my trousers, I pulled out my weeping cock, fisting it tightly. Her eyes widened.
“It won’t fit,” she panted.
