Page 95 of His Darkest Desire

He unclasped the latches and opened the lid. Fortunately, it had been sealed tightly enough that no moisture had crept inside.

Echo bobbed in the air in front of Vex. “The magus must see!”

“Must see what?”

“What Kinsley created.” The wisp gestured toward the book inside the box.

Delicately, Vex lifted the book from its place. He opened the cover and perused the pages, experiencing anew the waves of emotion that many of them induced. Then he reached something new, and he stopped, staring down at it.

A pair of black pages. Paintings that were not necessarily lifelike and yet brimmed with life stood out against the black—the wisps, each depicted with loving detail to capture their colorations and brightness. The painted wisps glittered with tiny metallic flecks.

Echo beamed in delight, spinning and swirling, and even Shade brightened a little.

Vex smiled. That she had brought his longtime companions such joy warmed his heart, but something else on the page escalated that warmth into heat.

A pair of crimson eyes stared out of the darkness. Eyes brimming with menace, wonder, intensity and depth, mystery and longing, passion. They were Vex’s eyes. And if this was how Kinsley saw them, how she saw him…

Moonlight broke through the clouds, falling directly upon Vex. He glanced up to glimpse the moon and a small patch of starry night sky. When he looked back at the book, the words Kinsley had written in silver ink shone.

There is always magic to be found in the darkness.

Vex brushed the tip of a claw across the flowing letters. His heart thumped, spreading molten heat through him. He rasped, “All the magic at my command will be yours.”

Echo’s voice, uncertain and soft, broke Vex’s thoughts. “Magus?”

“It is time we returned,” Vex said, closing the book and putting it back in the container.

“Is all well?” Shade asked.

“Better than I could’ve hoped.” Vex closed and latched the case, tucking it under his arm. “But I am long since due for a bath and a real meal, loath as I am to be away from Kinsley any longer.”

The wisps fell into place at his sides as he walked, their ghostfire flickering at the edges of his vision, but all his attention was directed forward, toward his home.

Toward Kinsley.

Immortal or not, Vex understood better than most that time was finite. He would not waste another moment with her. He would not spend another night alone, and he would not go another day with their mating bond unsealed.

He would share his bed with her, and he would do so as her mate—in every way.

Tonight, he would make Kinsley his.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The softest of caresses on Kinsley’s face lured her out of her dreams. Fingers traced her brow, her lashes, her cheek, nose, and lips, leaving whispers of pleasure in their wake. She breathed in deep, released a contented sigh, and smiled, turning her face toward that touch. It was warm and gentle, but firm.

She knew it, had felt it before.

“Awaken, my moonlight.”

She knew that deep, velvety voice too. It had been her protector in the darkness. It had shielded her from death’s clutches, had coaxed her back to life.

Vex.

Kinsley opened her eyes.

Vex was leaning over her. He lay on his side next to her, propped up on an elbow, crimson eyes bright amidst the shadows cast upon his face by the firelight. His black hair was swept back over his shoulder, revealing a long, curved ear adorned with a gleaming silver cuff. The scarred symbol beside his eye was stark against his green skin in the warm orange glow.

Her gaze trailed down the column of his throat to his bare chest. Shadows played upon the lean muscles there, contouring them into sculpted perfection.

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