Page 36 of The Reaper's Vow
Her blood bursts across my tongue. The taste floods my system like molten gold, every nerve ending lighting up as the ancient magic takes hold. Karina cries out, her back arching as pain and pleasure war across her features.
But she doesn't pull away. Instead, her own canines extend—smaller than mine but just as sharp—and she bites down on the same spot on my neck with surprising ferocity.
The world detonates. The tether snaps into place like a rubber band pulled too tight, connecting us in ways I never thought possible.
I feel her—not just her body pressed against mine, but the storm of her emotions. Terror tangled with arousal, confusion bleeding into something deeper. Her wolf calls to mine across the new link, a song of recognition that makes my beast howl with savage satisfaction.
The taste of her blood is intoxicating, addictive enough that I want more, but I force myself to stop. My fangs retract, leaving perfect crescents that will never fade, permanent reminders of what we’ve begun.
Karina releases my neck with a gasp, her mouth lowering to close her own mark on me. The contact sends a jolt of raw energy down my spine, and I have to brace against the wall behind her to keep from crushing her against me.
“Oh god.” Her breath hitches, shock etched across her face. “I can feel you inside my head.”
“The tether,” I confirm, holding myself steady while every cell hums with need. Her confusion filters through the link, but so does the calm pulse of her wolf, stretching beneath her skin even as her human mind tries to make sense of it. “It will fade if we don’t finish it, but for now…”
“You’ll know what I’m feeling.”
“Not just know.” I brush my thumb across the fresh indentations on her skin, and she flinches at the sudden spark of sensation. The reaction hits me too, a rush of warmth spreading through the bond until it settles low in my chest. “Your pleasure. Your pain. Every thought that makes your pulse race.”
Her breath catches, and through the tether I feel the flutter of uncertainty melting into something softer—an ache that’s half wonder, half yearning. It moves through me like a current, filling the space between every heartbeat.
I draw in a slow breath, letting the connection settle. “And I’ll feel it too. Every flicker of emotion, every shift in your breathing, every tremor when the world feels too much.”
Her eyes close, and for a moment we’re suspended in something wordless—her warmth flowing through me, my steadiness echoing back to her. The tether hums, soft and alive, a rhythm that matches the rise and fall of her chest.
“I didn’t know it would feel like this,” she whispers.
“Neither did I,” I admit. The truth vibrates between us, the link alive with shared breath and heartbeat, blurring the edges where one of us ends and the other begins.
For a moment, everything is still. The air feels charged, soft light spilling across her skin as I trace the faint shimmer where the tether hums strongest. Her emotions ripple through me—warmth, exhaustion, the lingering thrum of something tender that neither of us dares name.
Her fingers brush my wrist, tentative, grounding. “It doesn’t hurt,” she murmurs. “It feels… alive.”
“It is,” I say quietly. “It’s us.”
But then the bond flickers, just slightly, and her pulse stutters. A sharp jolt of pain echoes through the link, hitting me at the same time she gasps. I look down and see it: a thin line of blood welling along her neck, bright against her skin.
“Karina.” Her name leaves me on a breath as I step closer, the metallic tang of blood already coating the back of my throat. My thumb hovers near the wound—skin torn, still too raw to touch.
Dark stains spread across the collar of her shirt where my teeth had broken through, red droplets tracing down her neck even though the injury should have begun to close. I lean in before reason can stop me. My breath ghosts over the wound, and I let my tongue pass lightly across it, once, letting instinct and nature take over.
Her breath catches. She doesn’t move away. Between us, the connection hums to life—a low, thrumming pulse that syncs with my heartbeat. The bleeding slows; the flesh knits together, smooth again within seconds, leaving only a faint flush where the skin had been torn.
When I finally pull back, her eyes are half-lidded, her pulse slowing to something calm and steady. I rest my forehead against hers, my voice barely above a whisper. “There. It’s sealed.”
“Did you just lick me?”
Gods, she’s so fucking adorable with how little she knows about our world.
“Yeah,” I shrug before I take her hand, surprised when she doesn't resist. Through our connection, I sense her exhaustion and the adrenaline crash after everything she's experienced tonight. Her legs wobble slightly as I guide her.
“Where are we going?” Her voice sounds small, uncertain.
“You need to get cleaned up.” I push open the bedroom door.
My bedroom feels different with her in it. The space both too large and too small simultaneously. Her scent mingles with mine, creating something new that makes my wolf pace with satisfaction.
I lead Karina into the bathroom, my wolf still howling beneath my skin. The fluorescent lights cast harsh shadowsacross her face, highlighting the exhaustion in her eyes and the blood trailing from my mark on her neck. The sight sends another wave of satisfaction through me, even as I try to tamp it down.
