Page 57 of A Touch Of Death

Just as I open my mouth to explain further, a blinding smile breaks out over his face. It's unexpected to say the least. After causing his animals to break through and take the reins, I would have expected a different reaction to the heart-stopping smile he's giving me.

Despite my confusion at the reaction, my lips can't help but twitch like his smile is trying to draw one from me. He drops a quick kiss on my mouth before moving back with the same beaming smile and says, "So I guess this means you kind of like us, then?"

I bite my lip to stop the smile that wants to break free. Warmth trails up my neck, and I feel it settle at my cheeks. Nix's grin turns salacious, and I release my bottom lip to breathe out a response. "Not particularly. I just ran away from my mates because I decided being miserable without them is how I wanted to live my life."

Nix's head falls back with boisterous laughter, and I watch with rapt attention as his Adam's apple bobs up and down. His head moves back down until his eyes meet mine. With a smile that has my heart racing in my chest, he says, "I like that."

"What?" I ask, my voice sounding huskier than before.

He leans in and rubs his nose against mine before moving his head until his lips meet my bare shoulder. He trails butter-soft kisses over my shoulder until he reaches the crook of my neck. When he pulls away a fraction, he quietly says, "You calling us your mates."

His breath tickles my skin, and I shiver, dropping my head back with an audible thud. He presses a kiss just behind my ear before dragging his lips back down the column of my throat, dragging out another shiver from me. My hands flex across his back, and I pull him impossibly closer.

My eyes flutter closed with theattention,every nerve in my body becoming so aware that every touch grows sends a shiver through my sensitive body. Just as he reaches my collarbone, effectively turning me into a puddle, he moves away and asks, "You know what I'd like the sound of more?"

"What's that?"I manage to force out.

"Calling youmine."

My eyes pop open, my gaze colliding with Nix's. Despite the smirk he's sporting, his eyes hold a seriousness I've never seen before. My breath stills in my lungs, and my mind grows fuzzy. If I thought my heart was hammering before, I don't even know how to describe what's happening to it right now. It's almost as though it's taken up acrobatics in my chest with no hope of it slowing down. He wants to call me his? Does he mean...?

"You really want me? You're okay with the mating bond?" I ask, my voice unsure yet hopeful all at once. I've quickly come to realise these guys mean a great deal to me already. They rescued me, cared for me, brought me into their home and made me feel like I was a part of them. They've burrowed into the crevices of my heart where there's no chance of removing them. Now that I know I've created a tether between me and each of the guys, it feels like it's exactly what I was supposed to do. The Fates may have played their hand in it, but these guys? Well, they already feel like mine. It's just taken me this long to figure it out.

His lips pull up in a confused smirk. "Why wouldn't I be? I've wanted you since we saved you on the muddy river bank, and you called me your hero. If it wasn't already obvious, you're stuck with us, babe."

I'm grinning the biggest smile I've probably ever had appear on my face, and my eyes mist with happy tears. Nix grins back at me, and it's like the world stands still for this very moment.

I move my hands to reach up and cup his face, my thumbs brushing over his surprisingly soft beard. A low purr-like growl starts up in his chest, the vibrations seeping intomychest where he's pressed up against me. His hands tighten in my hair, pulling my face closer to his until our noses brush against one another. With a deep voice that does everything for me, he says, "Say you'll be mine, Novia. Be my mate."

I'm barely able to nod with the firm hold Nix has on me, but he catches the movement easy enough. He flashes me another grin before his lips are claiming mine with a feverish intensity that leaves me breathless. My hands crawl further until they're tangled in his hair, gripping tightly as he devours me.

Nix's hands move from my hair, travelling slowly down the length of my body until they rest over my ass, squeezing and pulling me closer at the same time. In a move I'm not expecting, he grips me snugly and lifts me by my ass so I'm forced to wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist.

My breath leaves me in a whoosh of shock before I laugh against his mouth and kiss him harder. The hold I have on his hair grows tighter, and a deep growl escapes him. That noise alone has me needing to get closer, as if there was even a sliver of air between us. The hands on my ass cheeks tighten, and liquid heat pools between my legs.

Nix carries me easily to the bed, his mouth never breaking away from mine, blessing me with his mind-shattering kisses while he lays me down gently. As he does, the towel that had been wrapped around me comes undone, falling open the moment my back hits the comforter. He keeps himself hovered above me, his eyes leaving a trail of heat across my naked body as he looks over every inch of me. Instead of feeling self-conscious, my body warms, and I feel his eyes roaming my body like a physical touch.

His hand moves from besides my head and falls gently onto my waist, his calloused fingers creating a gentle trail on my skin. He glides his hand upwards over my ribs until he's cupping my breast in his hand. His thumb flicks over my already pointed nipple, making it even harder. I gasp, and my eyes flutter closed at the sensations it creates, blissed out on Nix's touch.

"You're fucking beautiful," he rasps. My eyes open to find his gaze on my face, and the look in his eyes has my core clenching and my need wracking up even higher. His stunning blue eyes are heated, desire pooling in their depths. His hand trails further up my body until he reaches my pointed ears, and without warning, strokes a finger along my ear. My body shivers, and my eyes flutter closed with a moan. The touch is soft, but I feel it all the way to my core.

My hands find their way to the waistband of his jeans, slipping under his shirt and gliding up over his abs and chest, pushing up his shirt with me. Nix takes the hint, moving back far enough to yank the shirt over his head and throw it behind him. He's left in nothing but his jeans, and breathing suddenly becomes difficult. He's absolute perfection, muscles straining his skin in a way that has me wanting to rub my hands all over him.

So I do.

With gentle strokes, I feel every muscle, while the veins in his arms that have popped out with the strain of keeping himself braced above me. I glide my fingers over his broad shoulders and down his chest, the tips of my fingers briefly making contact with his nipples before he loses it.

"Fuck it. Can't wait." It's all the warning I get before he's ravishing my skin, trailing harsh nips and open-mouthed kisses down my neck, over my chest, and down the valley of my breasts. I'm panting and wriggling beneath him by the time he gets to my aching centre. His breath fans over my pubic bone, and when I look down the length of my body, I see a sinful smirk on his face before he attacks me like a starving man.

A sound that resembles a mewl leaves my mouth when his meets my core. My back bows on the bed, and my hands fist the sheets as his tongue sneaks out and laps at my slit, rendering me mindless and begging for more. Nix's hands clamp down on my hips when his tongue flicks at my clit. I. See. Stars. My eyes roll to the back of my head, and my thighs clamp around his head when he nibbles and sucks on the sensitive bundle of nerves.

An orgasm is suddenly creeping up on me, building until it's teetering on the edge. My left fist tightens in the sheet while my right hand grips onto Nix's hair as he draws me nearer and nearer to the cliff I find myself begging to fall off.

"Please. Please, Nix," I plead, my back arching further when his motions become more frantic, and a deep, guttural groan vibrates from him to my clit. Swiftly, he pulls one hand away from my hip and thrusts a finger inside me, pumping along with his tongue. The intrusion is a surprise, but a very welcome one when his finger crooks inside me, rubbing against a spot that has me panting and gripping Nix harder.

A second finger joins his first, and, after one thrust, I'm shattering around his fingers. My walls tighten, and an orgasm washes over me with such intensity that I lose my breath entirely. My eyes close as the feeling of utter bliss rushes through my body, leaving me a boneless heap on the bed.

Movement at the bottom of the bed has my eyes slowly opening, only to find a very naked Nix standing in all of his glory, watching me with hungry eyes. As if I didn't just shatter to pieces, my pussy throbs, and need builds within me suddenly, pulling a gasp from my mouth.

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