Page 103 of When Bones Whisper
Chapter Twenty-Nine
She brought her fingers to her throat, moving her hair to the side. If she was going to have any chance of getting away, she had to get him to bite her.
His gaze followed the path of his fingers as he traced them over her lips, down her throat and to her waist. Slowly, he lowered her against the wood railing, his eyes burning as he pressed his lips to her neck, the rough edge of the mask scraping her delicate flesh.
His fangs grazed her skin, and she gasped. The demon’s voice tried to break through, but was muted in his presence, her thoughts focused solely on him, the man who was goingto sacrifice her.
Closing her eyes, she waited for pain, but his lips met her clavicle with a kiss, his moan resonating into her chest. Aware of the glass bottle of Alexander’s blood pressed between her breasts, she guided his head from moving any lower.
“Bite me,” she said, revealing her throat to him, not only because it would poison him, but because she craved it. “I want to feel you in my veins.”
Surprise flashed in his dark eyes when he lifted them to meet hers, his lips falling open.
“Please,” she pleaded, focused on the sharpness of his fangs pressing against the soft flesh of his bottom lip.
Burying his head in her neck, he whispered her name against her skin like a prayer. “My Charlotte.” His fingers sank into the dark, unruly curls as his fangs pierced her with careful precision. As he lost himself in her blood, a haze of pleasure erased the pain, heat coursing through her limbs. Shockwaves scattered through her body, tingling into a pool, soaking her undergarments.
Pulling back, he wiped the trickle of blood kissing his lips on the back of his sleeve, smearing it over his jaw. “You taste like Heaven.”
She swallowed thickly as something within his carnal stare sharpened on her, like a predator setting his sights on helpless prey. Yet, the danger lurking just beneath his skin only spurred the lust consuming her higher.
“Then drink more,” she offered when her blood didn’t affect him. How long did it take to work? Her mouth dried at once, her papery tongue thick in her mouth.
Unless Katherine had tricked her, and it was some strange test. Did he know?
Her stomach clenched as the ridges of the balustrade dug into her back as he leaned her backward, dark eyes sparkling in the dim candlelight.
“Patience, little lamb. I want to devour other parts of your first,” he said with a deep growl, laying himself over her.
In the haze of his recent, brief bite, confusion muddled her sharp mind. Blood trickled from her throat, down to the swell of her breasts, veining into the ivory neckline of her dress.
He wrenched her against him, the sudden movement making her gasp, and she instinctively locked her legs around his hips. His arms wrapped around her, drawing her close, before his lips met hers in a surprise, ferocious kiss, his fingers tangling demandingly in her hair.
After a few seconds, their lips separated and panted only a hairsbreadth away. “I never want to let you go.”
Swallowing thickly, she replied with a croak in her voice, “But I lost the game.”
His fingernails cut into the curve of her ass as his hands squeezed her tighter, holding her up as if she weighed nothing. With the nose of the wolfs mask pressed against hers, he asked, “Do you think I would let anything happen to you? I wasn’t going to before this game and I’m sure as Hell not now.”
His words nestled deeply in her battered heart, warming her, but then why did he make her do this at all? “You said if I didn’t win you would hold me to our agreement.”
“If I told you the truth, you wouldn’t have tried,” he said, nuzzling her cheek.
Her brows shot up in a high arch, mouth falling open in a breathy gasp. He was never going to hurt her? Buzzing hummed over her skin as she drank in his eyes, her abdomen clenching, a sudden dizziness swallowing her thoughts.
After a few seconds of processing his admission, she asked, “Then why bother with The Hunt at all?”
He laughed softly, then his deep tone vibrated in her throat when he brought his lips to meet her neck. “I told you before. I wanted a reason to chase you, to hunt you so I could claim you as mine. You were so damned clever that you almost got away. I’m proud of you. Maybe I should start calling you a fox instead of a lamb.”
Stomach clenching, sparks darted up her core and into her head. “I thought becoming mortal was the most important thing to you?”
“It was until I met you.” Bringing his fingers to her back of her neck, he squeezed gently, holding her gaze on his. “Don’t you see? You’ve imprinted yourself so deep in my damned soul that no knife could ever be sharp enough to remove you. Your light has haunted me since our first meeting and every thought I have is embedded with your essence. I am utterly and completely consumed by you, so completely that if I ever die and the bugs feast upon my flesh, all they will taste is my love for you.”
The air froze in her lungs, unable to be swept into a single breath. Wide eyed, she stared at him, the invisible tether binding their hearts pulled tighter.
He dragged his thumb across her cheek. “Breathe, love.”
Nodding, she sucked in a deep breath, never breaking eye contact as warmth filled her up, spreading through her slowly. She wanted to believe him. His words were so beautiful, so intense, but were they genuine?
