Page 84 of The Last Slayer
“Funny way of showing it.” My teeth bared in an ugly smile. “Maybe you should’ve adopted a more honest approach. You know…like any normal person. But wait, you’re not even human. I guess being a demigod really puts you above everything—morals, ethics, honesty…everything.”
His eyes darkened. Anger swirled in their depths before they become blank. “Not a wise thing to say, now that you’re one of us.”
“Never claimed to be wise, and I’m certainly not one of you!”
I made the first move, and a mad dance of steel began. Ramiel held back while I attacked. Wyverns landed around us, forming an arena, and I knew that even if I somehow beat him, I’d have to cut my way out of Besade. I wondered how many I could kill now that I had a heartstone.
The sun climbed higher in the sky, its movement languid. Sweat tasted salty on my tongue. I lost count of the blows we’d exchanged. My blouse clung to my skin, but Ramiel wasn’t even sweating. He looked as if he were doing a routine morning exercise, nothing more. My joints warmed, and blood pumped into my muscles. I felt as strong and quick and tricky as I ever had. But I couldn’t advance past him, and he didn’t push me back. At the rate we were going we’d have fought forever, like Besade’s bas-relief figures.
Finally, Ramiel shifted and made a long thrust at the hollow of my neck. I gasped. Although we were fighting in earnest, at some level I didn’t think he’d actually go for my life. I lunged backward and raised my sword from below to fend it off. I angled my head, just so, to avoid the rising tip of his sword and getting my jaw split in half.
Ramiel dropped his sword and jumped toward me. Before I could blink, his hands closed over my wrists. He squeezed until my blade slid from my grip and hit the ground, and then his weight brought both of us down. He twisted so that he absorbed most of the impact of the fall and rolled us over and over, away from our weapons, stopping when I was on the bottom.
Seeing their liege victorious, the dragons surrounding us gave a mighty roar and took flight. My chest rose and fell rapidly. The scent of rich soil and crushed mint mingled with man and sweat. The sun cast a platinum halo around his hair, which framed his face and fell around my head like curtains. He wasn’t even breathing hard.
“Let me go,” I said, trying to jerk my wrists from his grasp.
His teal-green eyes bore into mine. I struggled against him. Instead of trying to squash my resistance, he kissed me.
People talk about it, of course—the rush of intense sensitization to everything around you after a battle. But that was the first time I’d really felt it. Ramiel’s kiss, coming so soon after we’d been at each other’s throats, was like a firebrand and sent my blood singing.
His lips on mine were hungry and demanding. His tongue probed my mouth and savored me. He tasted of wine, berries and something I labeled lust. I refused to consider another four-letter word that began with L. He held my wrists over my head. The helplessness of my situation added to my excitement. My sex grew damp. I’d never allowed someone to exert any dominance over me, and it provoked a fierce sense of freedom.
He rubbed his erection against the juncture of my thighs. A small moan escaped through my clenched teeth. Ramiel’s mouth created a warm trail down my jaw, toward the sensitive skin of my neck. His breath felt so hot against my bare skin, I almost flinched. My pulse beat rapidly, like a trapped animal, and the air caught in my throat.
He imprisoned my wrists with one hand and with the other ripped my blouse open. Buttons popped and flew away as if shot from catapults. His free hand fumbled with my pants while his mouth suckled an exposed nipple. My back arched, my legs rubbing restlessly against his.
I wanted him.
The need startled me. Didn’t I hate him for his deception? How could my body surrender to his so shamelessly?
He finally pushed my pants down my legs until they bunched around my ankles and tied me further. He grabbed a wrist in each hand and went down on me.
God, the ecstasy!
It was as if he existed solely to pleasure me and I to receive it, revel in it. My toes actually curled. His tongue and mouth suckled and licked the swollen lips of my labia. Then they moved up and waves of pleasure were washing through me so violently I thought I’d snap in half.
He was breathing hard. He licked his lips and flipped me over before I had a chance to come down from the heights of orgasm, entering me smoothly from behind. I gasped at the invasion, thick and imperious. My face rubbed against the soft dark soil, and its rich scent filled my nostrils. I wanted more, and he gave it to me, harder and faster.
I convulsed again, and he finally let go and joined me with a guttural cry. The sweat on his skin mingled with mine when he fell on top of me.
Raw Sex crackled in the air. He gathered it carefully and gave it to me. I opened an eye.
“You can keep some,” I said in a hoarse voice I didn’t recognize as my own.
He shook his head mutely.
Power rushed into my body, causing my heartstone to pulse more strongly. But the magic of the moment disappeared just as quickly as it had come. Suddenly feeling exposed and vulnerable, I struggled under him until he lifted himself off me. I covered my body with my hands and sat up. My suit was irreparably damaged. Again.
The problem was that Ramiel had yet to force me to do anything I didn’t want. He’d said he wouldn’t, and he’d kept his word, regardless of my protests to the contrary. I’d wanted his body. I’d wanted to save Valerie no matter what. I’d wanted to see Leh.
And I was having a hard time accepting that I’d done all this on my own despite what I knew about the supernaturals and their devious ways.
God I still wanted his body.
“I have to go.” I didn’t look at him. I couldn’t.
“Ashera—”
