Page 88 of Fated In Ruin

“Easy for you to say.”

“No,” Riordan snarled through bared fangs, “this isn’tfucking easy. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, because every part of me wants to go in there and rip that bastard away from her and drive a knife through his heart.” I reared back, reevaluating his coldness for what it was—pent-up fury.

“This is worse than torture, and things will get a whole lot worse before they get better, but…let’s survive these next few hours, then we’ll—you and me together—decide how we handle Draven.”

Seeing my friend as unhinged as me—albeit locked down beneath a veneer of cold calm—made me feel incrementally better.

And when Evie came out of the house, a little paler, a little pinker in the cheeks, I decided to follow Riordan’s lead and crossed the yard, taking her hand. “Now it’s your turn.” Her eyes went wide when I tugged her closer. “You feed him, I feed you. That’s how this works, mate. Let’s go.”

“But I need to help.” She glanced toward Fiona, looking like she’d swallowed a bucket of poison as she instructed Malachi on where to reinforce the ward, her brother making unhelpful, smart ass comments the entire time.

From the frustration on Malachi’s face, I decided Eldric could keep up the good work.

“You know how to reinforce a magical ward that has existed for almost four hundred years?” I asked innocently, secretly pleased when she shook her head. I bent my head and nipped her ear. “Then let me take care of you, before the mated male in me loses his fucking shit in front of the whole world again.”

Because I’d be goddamned if I used the same room, I led her in the opposite direction, to Domonic’s old study, a room I despised on principle, but far enough off the beaten path we wouldn’t be disturbed.

“This is nice.” Evie swiped her finger through the layers of dust with a nervous smile. “So romantic.”

I leaned my ass against Domonic’s old, heavy desk, gripping the edge to keep from launching myself at her. “You know me, always ready to sweep my mate off her feet.” Her tentative smile turned real and something inside me loosened.

I wanted nothing more than to pull her into my arms, to tell her everything would be alright. That we’d beat Ravok and never have to worry about him again. To cover the scent of her arousal—arousal from Malachi’s bite—with my own scent and make this about the two of us again.

But it would never just be the two of us again.

“We need to talk about everything, I know we do,” she murmured, finally crossing the room to me, wrapping her arms around my waist to stare up into my eyes. “But…”

“But Ravok is coming.” I dipped my head and tasted her lips, wishing I had time to lick and bite and mark every gorgeous inch of her, but…Later.

“There isn’t a lot of time, but…I need something from you, Evie. I want your fangs in my throat. I need to know I can give you something…he can’t.” Fuck, I hated how my voice broke, how fucking desperate that sounded, but when her hand came up and cradled my cheek, I closed my eyes and sagged against her.

“This is hard, Evie. I’m angry and I’m confused and I’m scared of losing you. Everything is about to change and I can’t stop it from happening.”

“You’re not losing me, because I’ll never leave you.” She cradled my face between her palms, touching me so gently, something inside me broke. “Look at me. Blake, look at me, please?”

What she didn’t know was I couldn’tstoplooking. She was so fucking beautiful, my heart ached. Her eyes were the color of a stormy sky, her pale skin flawless, her full pink lips parts slightly, the points of her white fangs barely visible.

“I love you. I have loved you since the second our eyes met across that room, remember? In that moment, I felt like I’d finally come home, and I’ve never stopped feeling that, not once. You protect me. You cherish me. You and I were meant to find one another and I will never, ever let you go.”

At some point, I’d closed my eyes again, my chest collapsing beneath the weight of too many emotions. She was too fucking good for me. Too fucking good and that’s why she was going to leave me and…

Something tugged at the end of the mating bond, like a giant hook around my heart, pulling me up from the depths. When I opened my eyes, she was still there, staring up at me, her eyes lined with tears.

“Don’t do that,” she murmured. “Don’t you ever think you’re not good enough, Blake Marten. You are my anchor. My rock, and until I met you, I never knew what it meant to love someone so deeply I didn’t know where I ended and they began.” She ran her lips up the side of my throat.

“Now, what was it you said about feeding me? Because that’s an offer I definitely can’t refuse, my love.”

I tugged her against me and tipped my head back, offering myself to her. There was more to say, but…the dark edges of my feral violence had settled, doubts quieting, all my worst fears softening into something that felt more like…the possibility this might turn out okay.

I hissed when her fangs sank into my throat, hard and fast, greedy for my blood and I felt a surge of male satisfaction at her first strong pull, followed by a deep, contented moan.

I let her feed until a dark halo of power hovered around her, until she lay supine against me, her weight supported by my arms, her tongue gently laving over the punctures.

I lifted her up, cradled her against my chest and went outside to face a monster.

Or, as Evie called him, abad guy.

I might be a petty bastard, but I didn’t give a rat’s ass about Ravok right now.

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