Page 95 of When Bones Whisper
Easing his fingers out of her, he lifted his shuttered eyes to meet hers, pupils dilating back to their normal shape.
She tipped her head back, panting, watching as he swirled his tongue over his fingers, eyes closed.
“You were perfect,” he purred, his fangs retreating into his gums. “I’ve never finished just from doing that before.”
Rubbing her legs, he climbed on all fours, layering himself over her. His lips were glistening with her desire, and he pressed them to hers, kissing her softly before rolling onto his side.
“Are we still going to play in The Hunt tomorrow?” she asked, turning onto her side as the weight of what had just happened settled over her.
“Are you able to participate?”
“What do you mean?”
“How is your pain?”
She grazed her fingers over her joints. Ever since embracing magic, she’d barely felt but wisps of it. “Mostly gone.”
“Then why would we not?” he asked, raking fingers through messy, dark waves.
“Because, you’re going to catch me in seconds,” she said, pointing out his unfair advantage.
“What would be the fun in that?”
“So you’re going to hold back?” she asked, hope charging in her voice.
“Not at all,” he said in a low growl, bringing his mouth to the tip of her ear. “You’re going to have to find a way to stop me.”
“If I can’t?”
“Then you’ll lose, and I’ll have to sacrifice your tender heart.”
Her muscles stiffened, her chest heaving in a breathy gasp. “You told me you don’t want me to die. That you just want to chase me.”
“Iwantyou towin, but if you do not Iwillhold you to our agreement.”
“Are you quite serious? After everything that has happened between us?”
“Did you think you were going to fuck your way out of this?” he asked, grazing his fingers over her hips, dropping lower until she stiffened. “I’m disappointed.”
“So am I,” she spat, tears welling in her eyes, fingers flexing. “I thought you cared about me.”
“Ido.” He edged closer to her throbbing, messy folds, her hips begrudgingly rolling when he reached the pinnacle. “Find a way to win like your life depends on it.” After pressing a kiss to her throat, he whispered a breath to her earlobe and added, “because it does.”
“I should never have trusted you.”
“I gave you what you asked for. A way out,” he rebuked from the bed, lounging back against the pillows with his hands behind his head. “It’s astounding how much you underestimate yourself when you took out the most powerful witch of all time.”
“Using the energy I siphoned from hundreds of people she slaughtered,” Charlotte added. “I don’t have access to that kind of power now.”
“Even if you did, incapacitating me would be against the rules.”
“I can’t use magic?”
“Not on me.”
Tucking her bottom lip between her teeth, she held her breath before climbing out of bed. She opened her mouth to protest again but sighed instead. There was less than sixteenhours until The Hunt and she wasn’t going to get anywhere by arguing with him.
She recalled what Hartley and said. Witches used magic to hide themselves during The Hunt, so she would do the same.
