Page 35 of A Bond in Flames

“Yes.”

“Is the water safe?” I asked again, even as my belly went wild with nerves and excitement.

“The poison evaporates when it leaves the body. It’s safe.”

“Good.” I dragged off my shirt and then removed my underwear. “Step back,” I said. “At least four paces.”

He growled low but reluctantly did as I said, tracking me as I walked to the bath and got in. He was barely holding himself back; I could see it in the way his muscles twitched and his breathing grew heavier with every passing second.

“Your body is perfection,” he said. “Fuck, female, I want to lick every inch of you.”

I lifted my gaze, letting it move over him as I slid the soap over my skin. “I like the way you look as well.” Understatement of the century.

He stood straighter, a pleased light flashing through his eyes. “Cup your breasts for me. Play with your nipples. Do it,” he said.

This was going to be a challenge; gods didn’t like to be told what to do, but that was the only way this was happening. Still, I did as he asked, cupping my heavy and achy breasts. “I’m only doing it because I want to and not because you told me to. I’m in charge here, remember?”

“Will you ride my face, little witch?” he said, his hands still fisted at his sides. “I’ll fucking beg you for it, if you like? I’m desperate for a taste of you, Zinnia. You have no idea how much.”

Death had a dirty mouth, and yeah, it was working for me—big-time. “Are you in pain?”

“Yes.”

“You can stroke your cock if you like.” A vision of Death stroking himself filled my head, and my inner muscles clenched.

“If I touch my cock now, I’ll come, and the next time will be inside my wife’s sweet little cunt.”

I flushed hot all over, so turned on, my next breath shook out of me. “Go to the bed and lie on it,” I said.

He gave me another flash of his teeth, a look that said he was frustrated and entertained by my demands all at the same time. He strode to the bed and sat. His head dipped so his eyes were shadowed by his brow. “You need to know that after you fuck me, Zinnia, I will have you my way. I’ll claim you so often and so deep that even when I’m not inside you, you’ll feel me there. Every single day.”

I was trembling now from how much I wanted him. It was getting seriously hard to hold my composure. Every word he said was stripping away my armor. This was probably a terrible mistake, but if my mortal life was reaching its end, I was making the most of every moment, even if it scared me. I knew what was about to happen between us—for me, at least—would be life-altering, soul-searing, earth-shattering, and I’d be a fool to pass that up.

“Lie back,” I said and mentally gave myself a pat on the back when my voice didn’t tremble like every other part of me was.

He lay back, his abs tightening as he did, then slid his hands behind his head. His gaze slid over my chest—what he could see of it above the water, anyway. “Now what, wife?”

Jesus, now he was being cocky? Or, at least, he was trying to be. He was still trying to maintain some kind of control. I got the feeling he hadn’t been in this position, letting someone else lead, many times in his long life. He’d called me wife sparingly in the past, choosing consort more frequently, probably because wife seemed more intimate, more claiming, and considering when he chose to use it, he felt the same. I licked my lips because they were dry as hell. Had there ever been anything in existence as utterly beautiful, as awe-inspiring, as Death, hard and naked, lying on his back and waiting for me to have my way with him?

I rose from the water, and the cocky look on his face vanished. He ate up the sight of me, his cock jerking against his flat stomach. I grabbed the clean towel draped over the back of a chair, and slowly, carefully, dried myself off. “That feels better,” I said and dropped it.

“When was the last time you were fucked, little witch?”

“It’s not question time right now, Mors.”

His nostrils flared. “When we’re together like this, you can call me by my name, and I can ask you as many questions as I like.”

Fair enough, I guessed, but talking about me sleeping with other males wasn’t really something I wanted to get into right now. “Do you really want to know the answer to that?”

“Yes. Tell me.”

I moved closer, standing at the end of the bed. “A couple years ago, I guess.” I shrugged. “I’ve been busy.”

“Who were you with?”

“No one special, just some guy I met while I was on the road. It used to get lonely, and he was nice. We had fun,” I said, trying to get across how little the encounter meant.

His eyes darkened, the blue swirling with black. “I want to tear his limbs from his body.”

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