Page 102 of A Heart Of Bitter Poison
“Harder,” I whisper as my nails drag down his back.
Ashen’s eyes are bright with crimson flame as he thrusts in punishing strokes and increases the pressure around my neck. His voice comes out as little more than a hiss between his clenched teeth. “God save my soul. I wish you understood the power you have over me.”
I smile and it must look so sinful on my lips, because his eyes flare with sparks and I feel their heat as though they’re raining down on my skin. “No one is listening but me, Reaper. Now squeeze like a proper demon and give me every last drop you’ve got.”
He pauses just long enough for me to wonder if I’ve broken him. I cackle a wicked laugh and dig my fingernails deeper into his skin, getting ready to hold on for the ride.
“Oh, vampire. You are in imminent danger.”
“Of being fucked blind, I hope.”
“You have no idea.”
There are no more words after that.
Ashen slams into me. I’m surrounded by the sound of our skin slapping, of desperate grunts, of my back sliding up and down against the stone. I smell the paraffin on the torches and Ashen’s scent, ink and tobacco dried in the sun. I smell my arousal and our sweat and the damp rock walls of the humid subterranean room. But all I see is him. I don’t take my eyes from his, not even as he squeezes tighter and tighter and the edges of my vision blackens.
My back arches off the stone as a shattering orgasm tears through me, burning every nerve, twisting every muscle into knots. My pussy throbs around his length as my body grips onto his. A growl slips between Ashen’s teeth and his hand tightens around my throat. I feel his cock thicken and pulse as he spills into me, his body shuddering. It feels as though it’ll never end, and I don’t want it to. These waves of pleasure that we ride together, the feeling of him sliding within me as we come apart together, the feeling of being filled with him. If only I could trap time, I would live right here forever.
After longer than seems possible, Ashen’s strokes begin to slow and he gradually lifts the pressure from around my neck until he takes his hand away to kiss the bruises left behind. My vision clears with every restorative breath I take.
“You said killing me got old, but you are very clearly still trying,” Ashen says, his voice as rich as honey as he kisses the shell of my ear. I giggle as he nips at my ear lobe and I wrap my arms across his back, drawing him down to me. We lie for that for a moment as we recover our breath, but when he lifts his lips away from my ear to lay a kiss on my mouth I hear it.
A noise. Footsteps, growing closer to the room.
“Company,” I whisper, and Ashen meets my eyes for only an instant before he’s sliding out of me to grab a robe from a hook on the wall.
“You will be safe,” Ashen says as he holds it open for me to slide my arms in. There’s too much urgency in his voice for me to be overwhelmed with reassurance. “Just take my lead. Do everything I say.”
Nerves suddenly wipe out the pleasure I took just moments ago, even though I feel his cum and my arousal drip down my inner thighs as a slick reminder of what we just shared. Ashen ties the belt of the robe and catches my hand as the footsteps draw closer to the door.
“Trustme,” he begs as he squeezes my hand between both of his. “It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be really hard. But I have faith in you.I love you, my Lu. Do not forget it.”
The latch of the door clicks.
Ashen drops my hand. The flame in his eyes snuffs out as he stands straighter and looks down at me with cold indifference.
That switch is flipped. The one where the man I know becomes the one I don’t. And I’m suddenly unsure which one is real.
A sluice of dread drips down my spine.
I can’t feel him. I can’t feel him beneath my skin.
Two Reapers enter the room, dressed in black uniforms that seem more formal than the guards I’ve seen before.
“Bring my armor,” Ashen says to them over his shoulder, his hard stare not leaving mine. “Summon the Council. Tell Eshkar and Imogen to meet us in the Kur.”
“Sir?”
“Tell them the Master of War has returned with their prize. The finished weapon that will win our war against the Realm of Light.”
CHAPTER39
Iwatch in silence as Ashen changes into a tunic and black leathers. He straps matte black armor across his chest and shoulders. I notice gold designs carved into the edges and recognize the pattern of vines and leaves from the gilt edges of my journal that’s somewhere back in Romania. I flick my eyes to Ashen’s but I feel nothing but remoteness in his gaze. My heart shrinks behind my ribs.
I’m not given clothes. Not even shoes. I just stand and watch, naked beneath my silk robe.
When Ashen is ready, he grasps hold of my upper arm and leads the way through the door. The two soldiers cast wary glances in my direction as we pass them, but they keep quiet as they fall in line behind us. We climb the black stairs with nothing more than the sound of footsteps and armor echoing off the stone.
