Page 78 of Land of Shadow

He tenses beneath me, his grip on my thigh growing wonderfully tight. “Careful, Doctor.”

“Maybe I don’t want to be careful.”

“Careful,” he says again, his voice low and husky. “I’m not the sort who’ll walk away and leave you sleeping, untouched.”

“Because you’re bad.” I hiccup.

“Very.” His hand slides higher, rounding to my inner thigh. “The worst.”

“You don’t have to convince me.” I shudder, pleasure licking along my skin like flames.

“I wouldn’t mind trying.” His fingers dip along my leg, rubbing circles on my skin, only the fabric of my pajama bottoms separating us.

My eyelids flutter closed. I want his touch higher, I want it deeper. God, I want, I want, Iwant. But why does it have to be him? Why is he the one that sets me on fire, that makes my breath hitch and my mind go blank?

“Because we’re bound,” he murmurs.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You did.” His fingers venture even higher, so close to my core.

A low rumble in his throat sends goosebumps along my flesh, my nipples hard, my skin damp and sensitive.

“Look at me.” His voice is a river, rolling over me, washing away my rough edges until I’m smooth beneath his touch.

I tilt my head back, my eyes opening and meeting his blue gaze. With the quickness of a striking snake, he kisses me. His mouth sears me, taking my breath away as I cling to his neck. He gives me no quarter, his tongue claiming mine as he turns my head and slants his mouth over me. It’s everything. I can’t think of anything but him, of the heat rising inside me until I’m certain I’ll be blackened and charred from the inside out.

A moan rises in my throat, and he grips me harder, his body so tight and strong beneath me. I’m lost to him, to this kiss. The vertigo is back, but this time it’s complete. I’m falling. I don’t know which way is up.

When he pulls away, I gasp in air even as I reach for him again. As if I need him more than oxygen. A craving.

“I told you, Doctor. I won’t stop.” He grips my hair, pulling the strands until my neck is exposed to him.

When he kisses me there, I arch into the heat of his lips. But then I remember. Through the haze of lust and alcohol. I remember what he is.

“Don’t!” I yelp.

He freezes.

Slowly, he pulls me upright until our eyes meet. Coldness lives in his now. The scorching inferno from only moments ago is gone.

“You think I’d hurt you?” he asks, his voice low and silky.

“I-I don’t know.”

He releases me, placing me on the couch as he stands. Looking down at me, he’s all angles and darkness. Not even his eyes have their feline glow.

“When you want my bite—and you will—I won’t go easy on you.”

I’m at a complete loss of how to respond to him. My head is spinning, and I almost regret stopping him now that I’m sitting here alone, cold seeping into me. “I don’t know what that means,” I offer weakly, my head beginning to pound.

He smirks, a glint of teeth in the dark. “You will.”

22

“Where are you from?” I’m sitting on my sofa, my feet up under me when he strides in. I’ve made a vow to myself not to mention what happened the night I was drunk. I’m pretending it didn’t happen. I simply added it to the previous night when he almost had me naked and begging. Never happened.

“What?” He has blood spattered on his shirt.

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