Page 46 of Magic Hunted
I blanched when Ashir stepped toward me so close his body heat prickled my skin, like the first rays of sun on a frosted field. His hand rose halfway between us. I forced my gaze into his eyes, wincing at the heat boiling in their depths.
Stay true. Stay strong. I’d been through worse.
Only I hadn’t. The worst of Titan’s sessions didn’t compare to this.
His hand cupped my cheek, holding me immobile. His fingers slid into my hair and he pressed his chest against mine, crushing my breasts against his hard planes. His body heat seeped into me, spinning to the empty cavern inside me where the scar throbbed in the absence of their lights.
I tilted my chin up, drawn to look at him. If this was the last time he’d touch me like this, I’d sear it into my memory. Unwrap it on cold nights that would undoubtedly mock me with loneliness.
His thumb stroked my jawline, his gaze searing into mine. “We don’t need soul-lights to show you how much we want you. We’re not merely guided by a bond you think we don’t want. This is a decision made by us, not our animals, or magic. Just us. Males to the female they want because, make no mistake Haera, we want you without a shadow of doubt. We. Want. You.”
His chest throbbed with a deep growl as he bent and claimed my lips in his. His hand firmed to my nape as he banded his arm about my waist and clutched me against him. His tongue swept into my mouth. This wasn’t a kiss that asked. This was a kiss that branded. That possessed and all I could do was cling to him and crumble beneath the assault.
A low snarl sounded in my ear. Dias’ hands clamped around my biceps and spun me around. He crushed me to him, knee to shoulder. He tilted his head and branded me with his lips as he ground his erection into my belly. Showing me how much he desired me without words. He swallowed my startled yelp and then my groan as he thoroughly kissed all thoughts from my head.
I wasn’t sure how long he kissed me for when Savvas pried Dias’ hands off and tugged me against him, I stumbled but didn’t fall because Savvas held my whole weight in his arms.
Savvas smiled at me, the riot of curls falling over his shining caramel eyes. He brushed his knuckles down my cheek leaving a tingly heated trail, his full lips curving into a gentle smile. “You wear this look well. So soft. Sated. There’s no need to doubt how we feel about you. You’re the highlight of my life, Haera. If I have to kiss you a thousand times a day to show you how much you mean to me, I will, bond or no bond.”
He cupped my face between two hands and dipped his head, his breath caressing my mouth before he settled his lips to mine. He held me there, perched on a gentle kiss as I sagged in his arms. His heart thudded in his chest that expanded as he breathed in our mingled air. His hands trembled, as though he was barely keeping it together.
“I’ll gladly offer myself to you in any way you’ll have me,” he whispered against my lips before he took them with a gentle kiss that had the impact of a magic blast from Titan.
There was still as much pain. More agonizing, because my pulverized black heart writhed and twisted in the cavern inside my chest, no match for this tenderness. This patience. This level of devotion.
I hadn’t earned it. Didn’t know what do to with something so monumental offered so freely. The ‘whys’ torpedoed inside my head.Why do they still want me without the bond?It made no sense. I’d given them an out and they hadn’t taken it. Was I a challenge to them? Didn’t they value their own lives? Did they not understand the opportunity I handed them?
I shouldn’t be kissing them. I should push them away. Actions spoke louder than words ever could and yet my limbs were as weak as my will. I couldn’t summon the resolve to stop kissing Savvas. Confusion became a living force, clinging into the backs of the ‘whys’ and weighing them down. I didn’t understand why I was reacting like someone who didn’t know better because I did. I’d always known better. Living in the shadows as a spy suited me on more levels than what Titan had planned for me but I couldn’t stop kissing Savvas.
I just couldn’t stop.
I mentally pushed back the bricks in the wall that crumbled and fell. As soon as I’d shoved one back, another fell but when Savvas’ tongue slicked into my mouth I couldn’t feel a wall at all. There were no more questions either. Just the taste of him in my mouth and the tender movements of his lips on mine. The brush of his hand around my waist and the tangle of my hair around his fingers.
A crash startled me out of the warm place I’d fallen into without conscious thought. I blinked open my eyes and Savvas’ face filled my vision. His blown pupils. His shining, swollen lips. There was no smile on his lips. No carefree, blithe comment. Just a weighted gaze brought together by determined resolution.
“I felt a magical surge,” Taredd’s booming voice snapped through my rising horror.
I stumbled away from Savvas but only because he let me go. His hand slowly dropped to his thigh while my skin throbbed with the absence of his touch. My gaze slid from him to Ashir and Dias, wearing matching expressions of determination.
My heart tumbled and dropped into the chasm inside me. The scar in the barrier throbbed and I could almost hear Brais’ voice straining through the emptiness, joining with theirs.
Bond or no bond, they weren’t giving up.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Taredd strode inside, eyes narrowing on the alphas, sword gripped tight in his hand.
“Stand down, Taredd. All is…as well as it can be,” Shanyirra said, collapsing in one of her vine-woven chairs.
“Could someone explain what happened?” Taredd said.
I eyed him, expecting more of a reaction especially given I’d tried to kill him with my magic, but oddly he didn’t seem too perturbed. Or maybe he was, and was a master at hiding his reaction. It was hard to tell with the elf who had seen too many years for me to comprehend.
“Chosen saw our king in a vision. As did I through her,” Shanyirra said without preamble.
“What of him? What did you see?” Taredd said, his glowing eyes spearing me.
She’s worth it, brother. She’s wortheverything.
