Page 82 of The Blood that Binds Us

I find Sin through the smoke and ash, taking on three men on his own in the city’s center. The scent of blood is heavy in the air, some of it metallic, some of it sweet, all of it absolutely mouthwatering. Power washes through me like a live current, thickening my skin as if it were impenetrable, fueling my magic with sparks of chaos and drowning my thighs in the arousal from it all.

Sin is hunched slightly forward, his weight light on his feet, and I wonder how I never noticed howbeastlyhe is, as if he can’t fully hide the animal lurking within him. He bests the three of them with ease, but exhaustion is apparent on his face. With no more enemies to cut down in the ring of fire I strung around him, his eyes find me on the rooftop. His breathing is heavy, and I note the blood seeping through the cracks in his armor. I reach for the small vial tucked under my chest plate and pop the lid open with my thumb. His lips part slightly as he watches me dip my nose to it and inhale deeply, inviting him inside of me. Not breaking our stare, I dip the pointed tip of my tongue into the bottle, tasting him.

Pleasure rocks through me.

He goes unnaturally still as he feels my power surround him, and gently, I cradle his collective with my own and deluge him with healing magic. He doesn’t wince as his wounds close over under his armor. He’s too focused on me, his own caster’s high nudging forth the same feelings thrumming inside me. He wets his lips, and it takes every ounce of self-control I have left to not jump off this roof and devour him right there in the city street, listening to the cries of the rebellion as they fight for their final breaths.

I force myself to tear my gaze away from him to check on the others, and pleasure sweeps through me again as I watch us slaughter the men that once thought they could enslave me. And as our side finishes them off one by one, zone by zone, I inhale the fire magic back into my lungs.

Sin orders for our injured to be tended to immediately and to begin retreating. I watch with admiration—at the very presence he commands—and if it was possible for me to become more aroused, I do as he wipes the red from his face and runs a hand through his long hair now damp with rebellion blood. He watched as I slaughtered his enemies without mercy, crushed their bones with the force of my will alone, and witnessed their energy flooding my core. He didn’t so much as blink as he beheld my transformation, or scoff as I grew slick with more than just their blood. Hewantedme.

And I am going to have him.

The deep rumbles of victory drums possess my body, the music gripping my hips and dancing behind me as if we are one. I throw my head back and cherish the rhythm moving through me with each beat of the war instruments. Each strike of the drums a body that fell at my feet, the memory of their anguished cries singing in my blood like colorful songbirds. My pulse quickens and slows in sync with the tempo. I don’t remember a single time in my life I have felt thisgood. Limitless. Like my body belongs to me and me alone.

It must be the wee hours of morning by now, but none of us have slept since returning to the castle. Bonfires have erupted across the grounds, men dancing and drinking merrily around them, laughing as they pound their wooden cups together in celebration. Some of the maids and servants even find themselves amongst the crowd, cheering with the others and swaying to the music.

I dance through it all. High on luscious chaos, the remnants of blood magic guide my hips in slow, rhythmic circles, and I dance, and I dance, and I dance. Sin doesn’t hide his staring. Maybe it’s his own soaring caster’s high that grants him the confidence to not shield his watchful gaze for once. He mingles through the courtyard—playing their games and sharing their drinks—more carefree than I’ve ever seen him. But his eyes never drift far from me. And when his soldiers take turns dancing beside me,behindme, his glowing irises darken with indignation, sending a jolt of heat between my thighs every time. I wave the men towards me, one after the other, just to glimpse that fury in his eyes and relish in the pleasure each tic of his jaw sends through me as his need to possess my body like his beating war drums deepens.

Maybe he’s keeping tabs on me to make sure I don’t suddenly snap with the swell of blood magic and decide to take out half his army before they can blink. Or maybe he just likes the clothes I changed into when we returned—a deep purple dress with twin straps that tie behind my neck, the neckline plunging between my breasts. The hem is longer in the back; the front short enough to glimpse the cuffs of the thin stockings fitted around my thighs underneath. And judging from the Black Art’s wandering eyes, I’m betting on the dress.

I wonder if he’s thinking about how deeply I kissed him, surrounded by his enemy’s limp corpses, and how rebellion blood tasted on my mouth. Our eyes lock across the courtyard again, and I tilt my head back and slowly,slowly, drag my tongue across the fronts of my teeth, reminding him how just hours ago, it was my tongue onhisteeth.

Caressing my hand across the bare skin between my breasts, I hold his stare for a beat longer, then turn and head for the castle.Come and get me, Blackheart.I open the door to his study with magic, mine now able to overpower the locking spell he used, and leave it ajar as I hop onto his desk. Facing the threshold, I spread my legs, the skirt of my dress bunching at my waist, and slip my hand between my thighs.

I smell him when he’s on the stairs, his cedar and peppercorn scent alone enough to dampen me under my fingertips. It takes all I have not to moan at the sight of him when he steps through the door, his eyes instantly glued to where I touch myself. I lean back and spread my legs wider, my cunt crying at the sight of the pulse thrumming in his neck. Pushing off the desk, my wrist flicks to the side, and the door slams shut behind him. Sealing him in here with me. Sealing our fate. Because something tells me we’re not walking out of this room the same as we entered it. And eyeing the bulge straining against Sin’s pants, I’m not certain I’ll be doing much walking at all anymore.

I trace my tongue across my upper lip, thinking of all the places I want to taste him under his clean black shirt, and all the spots Ineedhim to taste me. His chest rises and falls in rapid succession, his feet still planted on the ground, but his eyes glazing over with lust. Ever the strategist… the warlord of Aegidale knows if we give in tonight, it changes the game forever. I may not be familiar with battle tactics, but I’m quite certain fucking the enemy on your work desk isn’t recommended. I raise one eyebrow at him as I swirl a finger in my wetness, daring him to make his choice.

The action breaks him.

Sin rushes me, grabs my waist with both his hands, and pushes me back until my ass presses against the desk. My fingers curl in the loose fabric of his shirt, and his mouth crashes into mine with hunger, like he can’t get enough of me fast enough.

More—I need more.Desperate to feel his skin against mine, I unfasten the buttons of his shirt and rip it down over his muscular arms. Something feral breaks free in me as I behold the sight of his bare, sculpted chest, his obliques like chiseled stone from a lifetime of swordsmanship. Sin’s not just beautiful.

He’s devastating.

His hands find the laces along the back of my dress and without care, he drags a now lengthened claw down them, and the bodice busts free. I untie the straps behind my neck, and he yanks the top of the dress down, baring my full, swollen breasts to him. Sin slides a callused hand down the side of my stomach, the tips of his shifted claws digging into my skin, and he cups my breast with the other. He devours me with his mouth, kissing everywhere he can put his lips—my neck, collarbone, chest—and I bury my hands in his unbound hair. Need burns through me like a raging fever, his mouth a soothing balm to the inferno scorching within me.

I cry out as he flicks his tongue over my nipple, and moan deeply when he takes it into his mouth and bites down. Not hard, but enough to send my toes curling inside my shoes. And then he grabs me under my thighs and lifts me onto the desk, the balls of my feet curling over the sides. He steps between my spread legs and presses his lips to the shell of my ear as he strokes a finger across my slit.

A growl of approval rattles from deep in his chest. “So wet for me, little witch.”

He retracts his claws, then plunges a finger inside me, both of us unleashing rhapsodic sighs as he begins to pump in and out of me. My hands tangle in his hair, and when he hooks a second finger inside, my head falls back as waves of pleasure wash through me.

“Sin…” I pant, unable to finish my sentence as he presses his palm against my clit, sending a tidal wave rippling through my core.

I rock against his hand, completely at his mercy as he curls his fingers up to hit the spot I need him to and… and…Goddess above.No. Not yet.

“Sin—stop!” I call out.

He stops immediately, and I almost whimper when he slides his fingers out of me, leaving me painfully empty. His breathing is labored when he presses his forehead to mine. “Did I mistake your intentions, love?”

I shake my head against his. “No, it’s not that. There’s just something I need to do first.”

I force myself to pry my hands from his hair and place them on either side of his face, tilting his head down to look at me.

“I am not here with you right now because of any spell. I’m here because I want to be. Something about you sets my soul on fire, Singard, and I’m ready to burn.”

---