Page 124 of Kiss of Light

He rose to his feet, aching for his own release. Wordlessly he unzipped his trousers. Then he picked her up, bracing her against the tree as he buried himself to the hilt in her hot wetness.

Rough bark rubbed against her spine as she wrapped her legs around his waist. She barely registered it. She could only feel him.

He pressed his face against her neck, lost in the exquisite sensation of being inside her. His fangs lengthened.

“Lemar,” she breathed. “Feed.”

“I don’t need to,” he managed, even as his eyes blackened.

“I want you to.”

With a groan he bit down and tasted her again. This time the wetness on his tongue was iron-rich and salty.

His movements became more ragged as pleasure threatened to overwhelm him. He tried to slow the pace, wanting to draw it out, wanting to make it last, but Tala had other ideas.

Her hands clutched at his back and she ground against him, helpless in the grip of her delicious passion.

“Faster,” she gasped, and he was powerless to resist.

He closed the punctures on her neck and drew a swollen nipple into his mouth, biting down on it as he drove into her. She screamed as she started to climax.

He felt her body clenching around his erection and it undid any last shred of control he had left.

He came with a rush of such perfect release that his heart thudded once, twice, three times in succession, leaving him weak with happiness.

Fifty Two

She leaned against his chest, her skin cooling in the aftermath of their love-making.

“We should go,” he said gently as he cradled her, nipping at her ear lobe. “Your screams may have alerted someone.”

“That was your fault,” she said in mock reproach. She picked up her dress and pulled it on over her curves.

They made their way through the trees back towards the path. Tala was still barefoot. She’d dropped her sandals when Lemar had carried her into the forest and she couldn’t be bothered to look for them.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Anywhere you like. As long as we’re together.”

“Lemar, nothing’s changed. I can’t have children. Your father made it very clear that the ritual won’t work on me because I’m not Vetali.”

“My father wasn’t being entirely truthful.”

“What do you mean?”

“I confronted him after you left. He admitted there have been other non-Vetali mates in the past. Apparently it happens sometimes as a way of shaking up the bloodlines.”

“Other shaitun?”

“No, you would be the first. But he told me something I never knew before. My mother’s brother fell in love with a non-Vetali.”

“Your uncle?”

“Yes. His fated mate was a siren. I never met him because he left Palissandra to be closer to the coast.”

“A vampire and a sea-shifter?”

“Odd combination, I know. But it worked. Somewhere out there, I have a half-siren cousin.”

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