Page 76 of Veil of Shadows

We kissed one another desperately, our touches raw.

Finally, my soul seemed to scream.Finally.

His fingers coasted down my thigh to crook behind my knee. Levering it, he hooked my leg around his waist, and the hard length of him pressed against me. A growl of satisfaction rumbled in his chest, but he didn’t sweep my underthings to the side. His fingers stroked my skin, trailing along my sides, then cupped my breasts, all while he grinded against me.

Roll after roll of desire washed through me. He kneaded my soft flesh, claiming my body as though it belonged to him. Stars, but the male created awantin me that I’d never felt before. I wason the verge of coming when he ran a rough thumb over my taut nipple, and when I cried out, another satisfied sounding rumble came from his throat.

Goddess, Iwantedhim. Wanted him desperately.

“Elowen,” Jax rasped and ripped his mouth from mine. Our breaths heaved around us. “If we keep this up, I’m not going to be able to stop. I need you to tell me to stop if you don’t want this.”

His body throbbed. Every line of him was taut and felt like a bowstring about to snap. My body was just as ripe, just as wanting.

My mate.

But in some dim part of my mind, it registered what he was saying. If we crossed this line now, there was no return.

Yet I knew I could do it. I could give my virginity to the Dark Raider here and now. I could become his mistress, his true lover, hismate. We could complete the bond, but come next summer, he would still marry another. Even if the gods had fated us...he was still the crown prince, and even princes weren’t given everything they wanted.

I would have to watch him be with another. Marry another. Fuck another.

Cold reality swept through me, and I pulled back because just the thought of that made me sick. I didn’t want a short fling with him even if it would give me something to remember for the rest of my life. I wanted more. I wanted him.Allof him. Forever.

The realization that such a wish would never be granted hit me so suddenly that it was as if a stone brick had been thrown in my chest. “We shouldn’t.”

A pang of disappointment swirled around him.

“You’re to marry another, Jax.”

His nostrils flared. “I won’t.”

“You’ll have to.”

He huffed and tore a hand through his hair.

Tears threatened to spring into my eyes again, but in my next blink, he was there, cupping my cheeks, kissing away the stray tears that wanted to fall. “Elowen.” He kissed me softly. Reverently. “I want you. Only you.”

“We can’t, Jax. Not with how things are.”

His body stilled, and his breaths locked in his chest. Energy swirled around him, meshing with my own. It called to me. Begged me to give in.

But Jax’s throat bobbed, and he finally nodded. “All right. I won’t bed you, if that’s what you wish.” He pressed his lips to my ears and whispered softly, “But let me give you release, Elowen. I can scent how much you want it. Just for this one night, let me give you that. I won’t ask for anything in return. You owe me nothing. But I want to do that for you if you’ll let me. Please,mate. Let me at least give you that.”

A shudder ran through me.Release. From him touching me. I’d never experienced that with any male. Ever.

He waited. Waited for my consent. He’dalwayswaited for me to say yes. He was the only male who’d ever given me that gift over and over, time and time again.

My chin dipped slightly, and warring emotions again blazed through me, but he’d said one night. Just once. Surely only one time wouldn’t destroy me completely.

I finally nodded, affirming that I wanted what he was offering despite my better judgment.

A swell of satisfaction rumbled through his aura, even more so when I parted my thighs. Welcoming him. Wanting him.

A low growl rumbled in this chest, the sound possessive and raw. “You’re mine tonight,” he rasped.

In a flurry of his magic, my underthings were ripped off and fluttered to the floor. I gasped when I lay naked and bare before him, the chilled night air coasting over my skin.

Jax’s eyes heated, his gaze raking up and down my body, drinking me in. “So fucking beautiful.” He cupped one of my bare breasts, his hand squeezing its weight. “So perfect.”

---