Page 91 of The Dark Lord's Guide to Dating

She eyed the container warily. “And if I fail?”

“The essence will explode and consume everything within several yards,” I said lightly, though it wasn’t an exaggeration.

Her gaze flicked from me to the vial. “You’d risk that here?”

“I have faith in your potential,” I replied.

Cautiously, she extended a golden tendril of magic toward the vial. I watched every twitch of her face, her wary curiosity, the tension in her parted lips.

“It’s alive,” she breathed, sounding startled.

“To an extent,” I said. “Shadow essence is semi-sentient. It responds to will and intent.”

She reached out again, allowing the darkness to curl toward her magic. I saw the moment she nearly withdrew, but she held firm.

“Don’t retreat,” I urged, my voice dropping. “Control it.”

She maintained the eerie connection, drawing some of the shadow essence into herself. The vial trembled ominously, the black fluid straining against the glass.

“Careful,” I started. “Too much, too?—”

A crack, and the vial shattered in a razor hiss. The freed essence exploded, expanding into an inky cloud that swirledtoward her. Arabella let out a frightened gasp as she tried to form a barrier. But instead of blocking the blackness, her magic pulled it in. My eyes widened in raw fascination as she absorbed it into her very skin, an otherworldly glow rippling across her body.

It was too much. I moved on reflex, grabbing her hands. My energy surged over hers, helping stabilize the flood of swirling darkness. Our connection flared hot and intimate, more personal than I’d ever intended.

“Breathe,” I rasped, forcing my voice steady. “Use my energy to balance out the shadows.”

Arabella drew on me just as she’d drawn on the shadow essence, forging a conduit I felt in every cell. Gradually, the swirling darkness settled inside her instead of splintering her from within.

When the danger finally passed, sound rushed back into the room—the ragged cadence of our shared breathing, the faint crackle of errant magic fizzling across the floor. Shadows and golden motes drifted around us. I was holding her protectively against me, and she was holding me back. Her fingers clutched my shoulders, the molten heat of her body flush against mine.

I didn’t let go. Couldn’t. The raw power still throbbed between us, a thread tugging me closer with each heartbeat.

“That,” I said, breathing hard, “was not what I expected.”

Arabella remained within the circle of my arms, her eyes dark with a mixture of shock and desire. “What did you expect?” she asked softly, her gaze flicking to my mouth.

“I assumed you’d repel it,” I said, forcing my focus to her eyes even as my gaze kept drifting lower. “Not absorb and integrate it.”

“Is that… bad?”

“No,” I admitted, my thumb brushing a slow circle along her hip, feeling the shiver that chased my touch. “It’s astonishing. You continue to surprise me, Arabella.”

A smudge of shadow clung to her cheek. I lifted my hand, intending only to wipe it away, but the moment my thumb grazed her, the world narrowed to that single point of contact. She leaned in ever so slightly. When my thumb moved to the corner of her mouth, she parted her lips.

I don’t know who moved first. Maybe we both did. One moment we hovered on a knife’s edge. The next, my mouth crashed onto hers.

Her lips yielded, soft heat melting into mine before pressing back with a desperate, answering hunger. I ran my tongue along her bottom lip, and she opened her mouth in a breathy moan that went straight to my groin. She arched against me, and every rune carved into my bones sparked alive, singing at the feel of her. My hand slid from her cheek to her neck, then lower, tracing the curve of her waist through the training leathers, memorizing the shape I’d already dreamed about.

Arabella’s fingers threaded into my hair, a fierce tug that sent lightning down my spine and ripped a low growl from my throat. I backed her into the table and lifted her onto it. She seized my collar, dragging me closer until her thighs wrapped around my hips and the last sliver of distance died between us.

I ran my hand along her leg, savoring the impossible contrast of hard muscle beneath supple leather. The damned material was in the way now, and I wanted to rip it off her. I palmed her breast, relishing her sharp inhale, then dipped to taste the faint salt at her collarbone, branding the spot with my tongue. She tugged me up again, devouring my smirk in a kiss so scorching it threatened to unravel every scrap of control I had.

My hand slipped beneath the loose edge of her jacket, tracing the seam where leather met hot skin. She gasped into my mouth.This was the prize I had sought through every lesson, every taunt, every sleepless night.

Tell her the truth, a traitorous voice hissed.

I answered with a deeper kiss, plunging my tongue savagely into her mouth. Truth could wait. Her hands found the edge of my shirt and ran under it to caress my abdomen. I cupped her ass and ground my arousal into her, letting her feel me through our clothing. She arched into me. Desire roared, yet even as it devoured me, I slowed. My hands moved to her waist, and I tore my mouth from hers long enough to find air.

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