Page 79 of To Ashes and Dust
“What do you need,mea sol?”
Confliction flitted across his eyes, and for a moment I feared he might try to bury it. “I’ll be fine. I just need rest.”
“Don’t lie to me,” I said firmly, cupping his cheek.
His eyes softened, but the worry remained. “I need to know you’re really ok, that you’re not just saying you are.”
I stifled the fear of what would happen to me now that Eris wasn’t here to keep my condition in check. I could be honest about one thing, though. Without her presence, I felt free, unburdened. “I’m ok, I swear. Honestly, I feel better than I’ve felt in months.” I lifted my eyes to him. “Nowyoube honest with me.”
His eyes raked over me, and I could see it, that predator lingering just beneath the surface.
“You need to feed, don’t you?” He swallowed, eyes averting from mine. I tugged at his chin, forcing his gaze back to me. “Tell me what you need,mea sol. Let me help you.”
“You. I need to feel you, to taste you.” He lowered his face to mine as his finger slid along my neck to my chin. “Yes, I need to feed, but I need...”
The conflict surged across his face, and guilt slammed into me. It was because of me he fought his needs, because I’d been attacked.
“I’m yours,” I whispered back when he couldn’t bring himself to say another word, our breaths mingling.
His hands slid down to my hips, and I gasped as he gripped me. “Gods, I love hearing you say that,” he rasped against my lips before capturing my mouth with his.
The exquisite taste of him never dulled, every kiss just as glorious as the first. He pressed me back against the dresser, his leg sliding between my thighs. I drew a sharp breath, my back arching, heart leaping as his tongue slipped passed my lips. The invasion was divine, and I met his hunger with my own until he withdrew, pulling my lower lip between his teeth. His fang grazed the sensitive skin, nearly piercing it.
“Sorry,” he breathed, face scrunching as he momentarily fought with himself.
I lifted my hand to his face. “Damien.”
His eyes shot open, meeting mine.
“Don’t hold back,mea sol. Take what you need.” His muscles tensing beneath my touch as I slid my hand up his chest until I reached his shoulders. His features softened, and his lips brushed against my cheek in the most tender of kisses. My heart thrummed, air flooding my lungs as I inhaled deeply. His kisses trailed along my jaw, moving lower until he found my throat. His tongue glided along my neck, and I moaned, head tilting back.
“Gods, I love that sound,” he groaned against my skin, and my blood turned molten in my veins. “There are so many fucking ways I want to take you.”
His words sent shivers rippling across my body, liquid pooling between my thighs as his fangs dragged along my throat, teasing at the pleasure I knew awaited me. His hand snaked up my back and his fingers ensnared in my hair, tilting my head. The embers in those ash eyes almost glowing as they reflected the dim light, his gaze piercing through me. God, did it make me melt.
“And I wouldn’t just take from your throat,” he breathed, his control crumbling but holding. My chest heaved, body melting. “Do you want to know how I’d take you,mea luna?”
I swallowed as his eyes held me captive, that predatory instinct he harbored rising to the surface. The words slipped from my lips in a near whisper. “How?”
His fingers glided along my skin to my breast, and my breath hitched. “I’d take from here…” They continued down to my hip. “Here...” His hand descended farther, and I inhaled sharply, heated anticipation coiling deep and low when his hand slid to the inside of my thigh. “Here...” His breathing turned ragged. He cupped me through my jeans, and my body jerked in response. “AndGods, will I enjoy devouring you here.”
A moan spilled from my lips as he slid his thumb against that throbbing concentration of nerves between my thighs, the feeling muffled by too many layers of clothing between us.
He tilted his head, his eyes burning into me, and my world threatened to catch fire. “Would you like that?”
I couldn’t think straight, my knees quivering. With each passing second, I grew more and more desperate to peel him out of those clothes, to touch every glorious inch of him, but as I reached for the waist of his pants, hands as soft as a brush of wind wrapped around my wrists, pulling my hands back against the dresser. My gaze dropped, his hand still in place between my legs, his other entangled in my hair.
Shadow magic.
The phantom hands, made of dark mist and shadow, gripped my wrists, their thumbs brushing against my skin in tender strokes as he held me in place. A low sound rippled from his throat, and I met his gaze, my body coming alive. A wicked grin curved one side of his mouth, revealing a fang, and I nearly forgot how to breathe.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself now. You didn’t answer my question.” He lowered himself to my ear, his breath causing me to shiver. When I didn’t answer, his hand grasped my hip, and he pulled me forward, grinding me against his leg as my body buckled. “Would you like that,mea luna?”
“Yes,” I gasped, hot air spilling from my lungs in a breathy moan.
I lifted my eyes to him. He was different. Something inside of him had been set loose, but I wasn’t afraid, because I knew, in the deepest parts of my soul, that he’d never hurt me. He kissed me deeply, the shadowy hands releasing me as he furiously worked to remove my sweater, nearly tearing it apart before I helped him pull it over my head. He threw it aside before his hand found my breast and my head fell back as he pulled my bra down impatiently, the straps trapping my arms at my sides as his lips found their way to my chest.
He struck, fangs sinking into the tender flesh of my breast, and I gasped as the faint sting melted into something wickedly delicious. His moan spilled out over my skin as he drank, tasting every ounce of pleasure flooding me. It didn’t last long enough, and he broke the connection a few short moments later. My body sagged against his, my skin tingling, electric currents dancing across every inch of my body. His arm wrapped around my waist as he absorbed my weight. I lifted my eyes, my chest heaving as I tried to regain control over my body.
