Page 109 of Our Sins in Blood (Coven of Sin 1)

“Then why not claim me, here and now? Take your penance in flesh. I want you too. It has to be written in the stars or some dumb shit like that because I’m aching for you to claim me as yours, Sterling. From the second I saw you, I wanted you so bad it scares me.” I dropped my tone to a whisper and leaned my brow against his. My eyelids drifted shut when I felt his cool palms on my blazing cheeks. “It still scares me.”

Sterling’s lips planted a kiss on my nose, sweet and innocent, his mouth lingering on my skin as he spoke. “How could you still want me, knowing that I won’t claim the throne simply because I can’t bear to sit where he once did? And I can never give you children.”

“Sterling, I came to you tonight because I was going to ask you to turn me. I was prepared to never have kids.”

He leaned back, a look of horror stretching his marble-smooth features. “I would never turn you. Ever. Nor would I allow anyone else in this coven to do so. After I was turned, I swore to never inflict that sort of pain on anyone else. Especially not anyone I love.”

My pulse launched into a full gallop. “You…love me?”

“We might have just met, but my intuition is a deep and complex thing. I trust it more than I trust anything. So yes, Ruby. I wanted you the moment you saw your father’s mark and desired to cover it with your own. Then when I touched you…” He reached for my face, his fingertips kissing the apples of my cheeks. “And saw you for the first time… I loved you.”

I melted into him, pulling myself into his lap. His arms folded around me, gathering me against him. It felt so good sitting there against him that tears of joy seared my eyes. His lips moved to my brow, then he began planting a trail of gentle kisses on my eyelids, the bridge of my nose, my cheeks, my chin. It was like he was feeling out my face to get a mental image, but this time he was using his lips instead of his fingers.

I wanted him to kiss me and hold me like this forever. While I craved Vincent’s brutality, Eros’ sweet torture, and Corry’s normalcy, Sterling’s devoted reverence was the icing on an already sinfully delicious cake.

When he pulled back to look at me, I could see the thought in his eyes as he pieced together the mental image of me from all he’d just mapped with his mouth, and when the most tender smile that was so beautiful formed, a little gasp slipped out of me.

His brows twitched upward in question. “What is it?”

I touched his still smiling lips. “There’s magic on your lips, Silver Prince.”

He blinked. “Magic?”

“It’s the first smile you’ve given me that hasn’t looked pained. Like you’re actually happy.”

The smile stretched wider, and he kissed my mouth, pouring something truly freaking amazing into the connection. Whatever it was, it stretched deep down inside my being, touching all of me. I shivered in his arms, relishing in the beguiling magnetism pulling us together.

Sterling broke the kiss, his breath fanning over me, salty and sweet. “I am happy, Ruby. Now lie down. I want to do something I have been aching to do since the second you came into my room.”

My breath hitched, a thrill flitting through my body, making my every nerve tingle. “And what’s that?”

“Take off your clothes, and I’ll show you.”

Chapter fifty-two

Sins in Blood

Takeoffyourclothes,and I’ll show you.

Holy fuck, those magic words really did just come out of his beautiful mouth.

The energy in the room shifted in an instant. One moment, it had been romantic and sweet, filled with gentle kisses that hadn’t been demanding or filled with any kind of sexual tension. But as soon as Sterling’s words had slipped past those painfully delicious lips, the atmosphere in the attic grew hot and heady with something that made my skin prickle and my breath come out in short pants.

A flutter of butterflies took flight in my belly, making my whole body tingle. Everything inside me screamed for me to throw myself at Sterling, to let him dominate and claim me. But that was just my perverted vampire instincts talking. I was a hot mess of need, and my vagina was begging to be filled because of all these hormones. They were telling me to make it rough and fast. Maybe that’s how it would be between Vincent and me if the asshole ever got Lexi’s head out of his ass. And sex with Eros had been just that. Hard, rough, and fast. He’d been perfectly in control the entire time, and I was just clay in his hands. Well, until the end when both of us got swept away in the endorphins.

But Sterling was a whole different kind of beast than his brothers, and with him, it had to be different.

I wanted it to be slow and erotic, and sensual. If we had to hole ourselves in this attic for days, that would be just fine with me. I was hoping he wanted to make this last as long as I did, to drag it out until we were both trembling, sweating, a tangled mess of need, and when we finally brought each other to that long-anticipated edge, we’d both go tumbling over together.

Pulling myself out of his lap, I got to my feet and danced out of his reach as his hand swiped for me. “Get back here. I gave you an order, Miss Baxter.”

“Oh, an order is it?” I laughed, watching with unbridled excitement as he slowly got to his feet, stalking toward me with purposeful strides. Predatorial energy dominated the air around him, making my mouth dry and my knees weak. “If I’m going to be queen, shouldn’t it be me giving the orders?”

He tried to resume his serious expression, but I could see the shadow of a teasing smile lurking at the corner of his mouth.

“You forget I am an Elder and the current executor of the estate. Even when you’re queen, there will be rules you’ll have to follow.”

“Pft. I already told you, I’m no good at following rules.”

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