Page 67 of A Heart Of Bitter Poison
I snort a laugh. “Yes, darling,” I call back to her.
“And by banging I meanonce, not six times.”
“Christ,” I whisper.
“And don’t forget the body on the floor. The Scythe wants to harvest the good stuff before it starts disintegrating.”
“How did you-”
But Ediye is already dancing down the hall. I can hear her smug little feet. “Once! Not six!” she calls out, and I press my fingertips into my cheeks as I let out a long sigh.
“God I love her, but she’s the worst,” I say as I start to squirm from under Ashen. He catches my waist and leans in to drag his lips across my neck. “What are you doing? You heard the woman, we’ve got to get going.”
“I did hear the woman. She said‘once’. I know better than to disobey her direct orders,” he says through kisses as his hand slips beneath my robe.
I laugh but I’m already gripping Ashen’s bare shoulders and trailing my fingers across his back. I press my lips to his throat as his palm slides down, sweeping over my breasts, flowing down my stomach until he reaches my center.
“Vampire,” he purrs, finding my entrance already so slick with arousal. He circles my clit in a light, teasing caress. “So wet for me, always.”
“Just like you’re so hard for me, always,” I say as I wrap my hand around his length. He moans as I stroke his shaft.
“Painfully so, and more often than I care to admit.”
Ashen claims my mouth in a bruising kiss as we touch and tease one another. I lose myself to his warmth and the desire that coils low in my belly. Romania, portals, cars, it all disappears until all that exists is Ashen’s hands and his mouth and thisneed, this need that never abates.
Ashen breaks the kiss and rests his forehead against mine, his breath coming in a ragged cadence. “If we were smart, we would do this in the shower to appease both Ediye and the Scythe with our time management skills.”
“Agreed,” I say, breathless and desperate. “But I can’t wait that long.”
“Thank fuck for that.” Ashen slides into me and we both gasp as my body envelops his warmth. His fingers still circle my clit as he thrusts into me, driving in deep and hard. I rake my teeth across his shoulder in gentle, fangless bites until Ashen’s hand lays on my cheek, gently guiding my mouth closer to his neck. “Take more,” he whispers.
I let out the breath of a laugh across his skin. “The more I take, the more I want.”
“I know.”
“You aren’t playing fair.”
“I never said I would.”
I angle my head to catch his gaze. He smiles, and though he’s teasing, he’s also being honest. And if I’m being honest with myself, I do want more. Nothing tastes the same, or feels the same. I don’t know if it’s the magic of bloodfate, or centuries of loneliness catching up with me, or a reckless desire to seize the things that I want even though they might be bad for me. But when my fangs draw down, I know I won’t decline. I can’t.
I place a kiss to Ashen’s neck before my teeth slide into his skin. I pierce just deep enough to take from him safely, and then draw in a mouthful of blood. The electric energy courses down my throat, this taste that’s so distinctly Ashen’s. It’s a delicate sweetness, a warm spiciness, a rich saltiness with undertones of copper. It fizzes like popping candy and it heats me from within, charging through my veins like lightning.
Ashen’s hand threads into my hair, holding me to his neck as I take another pull of his blood. His motion steadies to a more rhythmic pace, less thrusting but somehow more powerful. “Christ,” he hisses, the sound of his voice vibrating against my lips. “Why does it feel like this?”
I pull away and feel my brows draw together as I look into his eyes. “Like what?”
“Like you live in my veins. Like all the power of the realms is siphoning into me. Like I can feel your history, alive and vibrant, just beneath my skin,” he whispers as he sweeps away the hair stuck to the sweat misting my temples. His cognac eyes look achingly hopeful. “Is this what it would feel like?”
I’m still so caught up in what he describes that it takes a moment before I can respond. “What?”
“Is this what it would feel like if we were mated?”
I shake my head, ever so slightly. “I… I don’t know,” I whisper, and my heart fills with another kind of venom. Not anger or sorrow, or rage or loneliness or envy. It’s the painful sting of compassion. I suddenly understand how little has been trulygoodin Ashen’s life. The way he looks at me, like all his power and strength is resting in my answer, it’s as clear as polished glass. All this man has ever truly known is darkness and loss. What Ember once said is true. He’s looking for the light, and he’s hoping that I’m it.
“I don’t know, Ashen,” I say again, folding my arms across his back to draw him closer as I chase the release that’s slowly building in my center with every wave of motion. “Maybe one day we’ll find out.”
CHAPTER26
