Page 388 of Hunters and Prey

“I know you can hear me, Skin. Your heartbeat is like a crazy drum. So, a little warning. This is going to hurt like a bitch, and then ... it’s going to feel fucking amazing. Cos, yeah. I’m that good, but don’t get any ideas. Keep your hands to yourself.”

What was he talking about?

“Just get on with it, dammit,” Dante hissed.

“Fucking hell, she reeks,” Vesper said.

My chest heated in embarrassment. Fucking Dreki senses.

“Vesper ...” Dante said, exasperated.

Something cool and wet laved over my neck wound, and a tingle seeped into my skin. He’d just licked me. And then his mouth latched onto my neck, and he began to suck. Needles pricked my skin, icy and sharp, and then fire exploded in my veins. My blood burned, searing my arteries as it made for my heart. A scream resounded in my head, and my body bucked, but it wasn’t in my control. The pain had me, it had me and it would incinerate me. There was no fighting it, so I rode the wave. As soon as I let go, the fire began to ease until it was a gentle smolder. Every nerve, every synapse ached and throbbed from the after-effects. Vesper’s mouth became the focal point of all sensation—his lips on my skin, his tongue lapping at my wound, his fingers gripping my shoulder, and his arm wrapped around my waist. Every tug drew a line between his mouth and my core. Every tug was like a lap at my secret place. A moan climbed up my throat.

“It’s working.” Dante’s voice was tight. “Don’t stop.”

Yes, don’t stop. God, please don’t stop. My hips rolled with the sensation of his mouth on me. My hands slid up, into silken hair, fingers digging into his scalp to hold him in place. His grip tightened, and he pulled me onto his lap, cradling me while he sucked on my flesh.

Was that me gasping? Was that my body rubbing up against his? God, he felt good. Hard and hot, and shit ... he was hard. And suddenly that hardness was everything. The hardness and his mouth were everything. His lapping strokes were firmer now, the movement echoing deep inside me, at the place between my thighs that begged to be touched and invaded. The phantom attention was too much, the sensations too much. Tiny shocks of pleasure that built and built until ... I shattered with a cry, legs locked together.

“Enough!” Dante’s voice was a whiplash.

My eyes snapped open, and I was drowning in a sea of cobalt blue fringed by midnight lashes. Inky hair fell across a bronze forehead. The lush lashes swept down in a blink, breaking the spell, and Vesper’s clever mouth quirked in a wry smile. “Looks like someone enjoyed that a little too much.”

His tone was light, but his heaving chest and bright eyes told a different tale. He’d been affected by the intimate contact too.

“Anya, how are you feeling?” Dante crouched beside me, gently tugging me from Vesper’s grip.

Vesper released me easily and stood. “She’s fine. The poison has been purged. Hoorah for Vesper the Great.”

Was he mocking himself? I reached up to touch the spot where the Rednap had mangled me to find it smooth and unmarred.

“Anya? Say something.” Dante pinched my chin between thumb and forefinger, forcing me to look at him. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” My voice was a rasp that grated on my ears. I cleared my throat. “Who do I remind you of?”

The question popped from my lips unbidden, probably a reflex to cover the fact I’d just come while having my neck sucked on.

Dante’s expression shuttered. “Vesper is going to take you home. He’ll escort you back to our stronghold with your father and your friend.”

He hadn’t answered my question, but asking it had done the trick by shifting the uncomfortable focus from me to him. Clever me.

Vesper let out a breathy chuckle. “We should get moving. Oberon has ordered his people to leave us be, but with the climate as it is, there are many who will risk his wrath just to fill their stomachs.”

Dante pulled me to my feet. His huge frame dwarfed mine, which was a nice change considering it was usually the other way around. Standing beside him made me feel feminine. For a moment, his expression was unguarded and open, for a second there was longing in the liquid amber depths of his eyes, but the moment was brief, leaving me wondering if I’d imagined it.

“Be safe, Anya.” He ran an index finger down my cheek, leaving a trail of heat in its wake. “Until we meet again.”

Heck, damsel in distress was totally not my modus operandi, but in that moment donning a dress and swooning sounded pretty appealing. He turned away and walked off into the trees without a backward glance, and then he took a left and winked out of existence.

What the heck? “Where did he go?”

Vesper reached down to grab his weapons belt. “Onto the leyroads. Our deal with Oberon allows us access to ley travel. It’s fast, effective, and gives us a distinct advantage over the Bloods.”

“Leyroads?”

He finished buckling his belt and caressed the handle of his sword. “Paths infused with arcane magic. They’ve been used by the ancient folk to move between this world and their own since the dawn of creation. Unfortunately for you, only Dreki have permission to use them, so we’re going to have to do this the old-fashioned way.” He set off west. “Come on, we need to find a river or stream. I need to wash the taste of you from my mouth, and you need to bathe.”

“Well, excuse me for being locked up and forced to fight.”

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