Page 83 of Bright Soul

I would’ve walked out of that room as his mate if circumstances allowed, but there hadn’t been a moment between us yet where he could fully trust himself. “You don’t want to take a bite of my soul anymore, right?”

“Not in the slightest,” he said. He took my free hand and pressed a kiss to the mark of protection on the inside of my wrist. There was a prick of pain, soothed by the brush of his tongue, and then that bit of magic was gone.

“Hey!” I protested.

“I will replace it with something better,” he said. His hands moved to my hips, nudging me closer. A coil of his tail drew his weapons out of the way. “With the mating mark, I will always know when you need me, and in what way.”

“Will it work the other way around?” I asked. He flicked open the button of my jeans, dragging the zipper down with the tip of his claw.

“I only know one answer, based off the experience with a different human mate. Shall we see what happens with us rather than look to the past?”

“Okay.” Cool air hit the damp fabric between my legs when he nudged my jeans down, and I trembled with anticipation. It was finally happening. I could have Phaeron without fear of his control snapping at the wrong moment.

He hooked his thumbs through the thin straps of my panties. “I think I’ll begin my worship of you here,” he said, dragging them down ever so slowly.

“You should try me in your other form,” I suggested. My cheeks heated as he paused and tilted his head.

Then a grin split his face. “Naughty witch. I know what you want,” he teased. With a murmured word in his native language, his features shifted into the alien angles of Soiluire. He flicked his forked tongue out with a wink.

I nodded eagerly. When he’d been stuck like this, I couldn’t help but wonder what he could do with that tongue and how the rest of his body differed under his clothes. Maybe he’d indulge my every wicked thought as soon as today.

Solid shadows unfurled around us, helping him angle and anchor my legs. My knees rested on his palms, and his claws dimpled my skin while he held me spread open for him. He laved his way up my inner thigh and peppered the path with grazes of his sharp teeth. I was already moaning for him before he reachedmy aching center and delved between my pussy lips with one stroke of his tongue.

I nearly jolted off him from the shock of pleasure. That tongue was a lot longer than I expected, and its forked end fluttered over my clit just so. His answering growl vibrated through me, his grip on my knees tightening. I felt him mumbling against me, and it became English halfway through, “…Don’t move, Cress. My horns.”

He tilted his head an inch to the side, and the hard point at the end of his spiraled horn jabbed in a sensitive spot close to my ass. “I won’t,” I yelped.

He answered with a Soiluirian purr and tugged my thighs just a bit wider. Now I noticed the ridges of his horns against my skin and the occasional brush of the tips, but with me as still as I could bear, there were no more unwelcome pokes. Only the glide of his tongue and lips as he feasted on me.

I would’ve expected him to need a bit of time to get used to his old body since he’d been modified to be more human-like centuries ago, but he used that tongue like he’d never been parted from its length and flexibility. By the time he wiggled it up my channel and stimulated every inch, I was trembling in place.

Shadows held my hips steady, and when he noticed how close I was, he circled his mouth to mimic how I’d chase the high of pleasure. His horns were the most natural handhold, so I clutched them with both hands as I came hard, back arching and toes curling.

He cleaned my pussy with slow, sure strokes and a rumble deep in his throat. It seemed he genuinely liked the taste of me, and I flushed pleasantly at the thought. When he retracted his magic and placed me back on my shaky legs, my bare soles hit the carpet, and I glanced down, impressed. He’d worked off myshoes and bunched-up jeans while I was otherwise distracted, leaving me bare from the waist down.

For the moment, he remained on his knees, licking the glistening remains of my pleasure from his face while adjusting the impressive bulge that tented the front of his pants. His toothsome grin put his usual viciously pleasure-filled smile in context. This was who he was, the wolf-like shadowborn that lurked below his princely manners.

“You’re incredible,” I told him.

He shifted, blunting his sharp alien features back into human-like ones. “What was that, bright soul?”

I pulled off my shirt and bra. “Come and get me,” I invited instead.

His gaze brightened with predatory interest. It wasn’t really that far from the couch to the bed, but I walked backward to the edge and sat while he prowled after me, shedding clothes on the way. He slid his arms on the bed, leaning in to cage me with his body. I ran my hands up his chest, feeling soft skin and dense muscle. Several lifetimes of fighting scars patterned him, faded by time but still notable to the touch.

He was a breath away, the heat of him resting between my legs. “This is permanent, Cress. You’ll wear my mark for as long as we both live,” he said against my lips.

“Are you asking if I’m sure?”

Instead of a kiss, he rested our foreheads together, gaze soft on mine. “You must understand this is a lifetime of devotion I promised you. Some may find that…” He circled a hand, searching for a word. “…intense.”

Maybe it was. By most metrics, our relationship had been a whirlwind, but I didn’t need more time. No matter how unlikely our pairing was, we fit together. “We’re meant to be, literally light and dark,” I murmured.

He brushed a hand through my hair, breathing out his lingering tension. “You complete me, bright soul.”

The next thing I knew, he was lifting me to carry around the bed and laying out so I straddled him. His shadows were reaching for the bedside lamp. “Could you keep it on? I want to see you,” I said.

“Not the request I expected.” But he retracted his magic, his pupils slitted in the golden light. His hair pooled over one shoulder, dark and glossy as ink.

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