Page 110 of The Dagger and the Flame
He pulled back to kiss her neck, gently grazing her skin with his teeth. Her blood sang as he nipped and sucked there, marking her, before chasing the bite with his tongue. Sera’s thoughts spun away from her as some frantic, baser part of her took control. She dropped her hand to the waistband of his trousers, pressing against the hardness she found there. His gasp dissolved into a low groan.
She palmed him through his clothes as he turned her cheek to the wall and traced the shell of her ear with his tongue. His other hand roamed under the folds of her cloak and then her sweater to find the swell of her breasts. He made a noise of ragged approval, thumbing her until she was limp in his arms. He took her mouth again, the hot brush of his tongue stoking the primal fire inside her.
She moved her hand faster, his breath shallowing as he braced himself against the wall.
‘Fuck,’ he grunted, pressing his knee between her legs to pin her there. He tore his other hand from her breasts, trailing his fingers along the bare skin of her midriff. Her cloak flickered, echoing her anticipation, and as his fingers dipped beneath her waistband she became vaguely aware that they were glowing now like twin flames.
She bucked her hips – grinding out a plea – and he chuckled against her lips. His fingers slipped lower, and he stifled a groan when he found her already wet for him. She cried out as he pushed deeper.
‘Good, spitfire.’
She was so close already, she dropped her head to the crook of his neck, silently begging him to finish her. His fingers moved deeper, in a slow rhythm, his tongue expertly working her ear as he wrenched a string of moans from her.
She whimpered against his shoulder, her breath stuttering as she rode his hand. ‘Ransom…’ she gasped. ‘I’m… going to…’
‘Yes,’ he growled. ‘Give it to me.’
His command was her undoing. She shattered in his arms. Biting down on his shoulder as she fell apart, she buried her cries in his skin. He held her tight against him, his breath rough on her cheek as he watched her ride the swell of her pleasure. Her blood roared with ecstasy, the light from her cloak erupting and flooding the alleyway like a sunrise.
At the sound of his jagged gasp, she raised her head. His eyes were closed, his face slack with pleasure. She could still trace the hardness of him where they were pressed together. As he slipped his hand from her waistband, she saw that his knuckles were absent of shadow-marks. She grabbed the other hand, examining his wrist and forearm. There wasn’t a single whorl left.
Her cloak – herpleasure– had obliterated every single one of them.
When she looked up at him, he was smiling at her, a faint dazed look in his eyes.
‘I can’t believe they’re gone,’ she whispered.
He only stared at her, as if she was the most precious thing he had ever seen. A slant of sunlight breaking through a storm. A lone star in a cloud-swept night.
He blinked the haze from his eyes. ‘Run away with me, Seraphine.’
Her breath caught. ‘W-what?’
‘Run away with me,’ he said, with devasting simplicity. ‘Tonight. Tomorrow. Yesterday. I don’t care.’ He gently brushed the hair from her eyes. ‘We have the same dream. Let’s chase it together.’
Sera’s heart thundered at his words, as if it was trying to crash through her chest to answer them. But in the afterglow of her pleasure, reality was filtering back in. She tugged her top down and pulled her cloak around her, trying to stop herself from screamingyes!to the man who had just made her shatter into pieces. She had a cloak of flame and an army of monsters and a plan to save the whole damn city, and she was standing in an alleyway with a Dagger and seriously considering pissing it all away.
She had to finish what she had started tonight. She had to go. She had to ask him to wait for her.
Then another shape dropped from the darkness, and Ransom’s warning shout sounded just a moment too late. The blow came from behind, the force so blinding it knocked all thought from Sera’s mind and sent her spiralling into blackness.
Chapter 41Ransom
Ransom caught Seraphine before she hit the cobblestones. She flopped like a doll in his arms, her cheeks still pink from the rush of her climax, her full lips swollen from his kiss. The sight of the angry welt blooming on her temple kindled in him a quick and terrible rage. He rolled to his feet, cradling her against his chest.
Lark dropped the rock he had used to knock her out. ‘Is this what you callhandlingit?’ he demanded. ‘You were supposed to get rid of her, not screw her in Dufort’s front garden.’
Ransom rounded on him. ‘Have you been following me?’
‘Obviously,’ said Lark, with a rare burst of anger. ‘And a good thing, too. Otherwise I might not have noticed that giant army of monsters your murderous little girlfriend just dragged over here to kill us all. They’re all standing frozen out in thedamn street, like they’re waiting for her next order. It’s beyond terrifying.’
There was a distant flutter as Nadia swung down from the next rooftop, landing neatly between them. ‘You have a lot of explaining to do,’ she said, by way of greeting. She smoothed her dark hair back, her silver eyes flaring as she peered down at Seraphine. ‘Is she dead?’
‘Not yet,’ said Lark, flexing his fingers. Shadows darted across his knuckles, but he kept his eyes on Ransom. ‘But after she dragged all those monsters into our quarter, I don’t see any way around it.’
Ransom stiffened as Lark stepped forward. It took every ounce of self-control not to maul him right there, to act like the sight of his oldest friend looming over the girl that had just obliterated every last shred of pain in his body and soul didn’t make him want to rip the fucking walls down to bury him. But he was no fool. He was outnumbered, two to one, without an ounce of Shade to protect him. To protect her.
All they had left between them was that cloak, which so far, Lark had failed to question.
