Текст книги "A vow of blood and tears"

Автор книги: Cate Corvin

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Текущая страница: 24 (всего у книги 41 страниц)

Chapter 30 Bane

With the dancers swirling through the ballroom, the giggles and loud conversations audible over the music, I wouldn’t have guessed from the sight of merriment that Visca had taken all the legions east and south throughout the night, leaving us undefended.

Did the human nobility not know, or not care? I eyed one of the older human men, Enoch fel Barrick, a man who had lived and fought through the Forian War and knew perfectly well what it meant when a keep was emptied of its guards overnight.

But he held a glass of wine, red-faced and laughing at something Kajarin had said, about two seconds from flinging himself down the front of her bodice. All of the humans were celebrating, taking advantage of the free-flowing wine, dressed in their best and giving no sign whatsoever that anything was amiss.

I wasn’t sure whether to feel happy or irritated about that. Happy because Visca hadn’t wanted to cause a panic, irritated because the threat was most certainly not gone, and if it had been up to me, I would have told my people to light a candle on Bloodrain and say a blessing for their ancestors, and canceled the party altogether.

I ducked under a low-hanging crimson banner and found Wroth in the corner, half-lurking behind a column.

“You didn’t have to come.” I spoke low, knowing he would hear me clearly even over the music and laughter.

His ears twitched backwards, laying flat against his skull. “And miss out on watching my precious wife try to fuck her way through every gentleman in the room?”

I bit my tongue. Reminded myself that I couldn’t interfere with his life or his marriage, that their union was necessary, even if they hated each other.

“My apologies.” Wroth was gruff, his tail lashing.

Once he would’ve been the life of this party, the brightest laughter of all. It felt wrong to find him hovering in the shadows, keeping himself aloof and unseen, seething in hate and bitterness.

“I’ve said all I can say. If you’d rather stay on the wall, the guards remaining won’t say no to another pair of eyes. I would’ve stopped the celebration with Visca gone—for all we know, Hakkon wanted us to send the legions out, leave ourselves open.”

Wroth tipped his head as he watched the dancers swirl past, his eyes bright. “Would it be such a terrible thing if a warg made it in?”

“You don’t mean that, brother.”

He shrugged. “Perhaps I don’t. But somehow, I can’t bring myself to care either way.”

I held back the sigh that wanted to escape.

Nothing you can do, Bane. We all agreed to this. We all knew what it would take. He has another chance in a hundred years, if that. 

I searched the crowd for that bright spark of flame against the crimson banners, and found her. Gliding across the room, her face set in a scowl, in Miro’s arms.

And there it was, the bitterness Wroth felt every minute of every day: jealousy. But unlike Wroth, I could push mine aside, because Cirri was mine and no other’s.

From the look on her face, she was about five seconds away from pushing Miro off a balcony. But I couldn’t deny that they made a striking pair: her lovely fire against his dark shadows. They were like an illustration in a storybook, handsome prince meets lovely princess, and that rather made me want to kill him for it.

I felt Wroth’s gaze touch my face. “Go rescue the girl,” he said roughly. “At least one of us has something to cherish in this life.”

“Things will get better,” I told him, the only thing I could think of, and all he did was snort in response.

Well. I deserved it, I supposed.

I cut straight through the dancers, completely confident that they would spin around me rather than risk touching me, and I was right. Several stumbled to avoid running into me, and I had to hide my smile.

My gaze fixed on the one point in front of me that mattered: the sight of Miro tipping my wife back, the long tail of her complicated braid nearly brushing the ground, and the sight of her clenched jaw.

Miro’s green eyes raised to see me, and he jerked Cirri upright. I fought back a burst of satisfaction at the sight of her fisted hand, but the ancestors knew Wyn would kill me if I allowed a fight to break out in the middle of her celebration.

I wrapped my hand around Cirri’s fist.

“I’m here to rescue you,” I told her, and was rewarded with a brilliant smile.

Thank you, she said fervently, and she swept a dismissive curtsy to Miro, who gave me a broad grin.

“She’s all yours, my Lord,” he said, and as he pushed through a few dancers to grab a fresh glass of wine from a passing servant’s tray, he raised it to me. “Cheers.”

“What’s he so happy about?” I asked, squinting after him. Miro drained the glass as he lurched towards the humans grouped on the far side of the room.

Cirri’s eyes rolled upwards, but she signed slowly. He’s happy for your patronage of his art. 

I’d paid him in five gold pieces, a fortune to a new artist. With a shrug, I slipped my hands around my wife’s waist, annoyed by the boning in the corset that kept me from flattening my palm to her body. “I suppose I paid well.”

Is it any good? she asked, letting me lead her. She moved well, following my steps, though it was obvious she’d never been trained in formal dancing.

Cirri looked up at me under her eyelashes, and I thought of the terrible mistake the painting had turned out to be.

“A little too good,” I said, clearing my throat, moving carefully so I didn’t crush her toes. “True to life. I can’t say I like the boy much, but he has skill.”

She nodded, her eyes going distant. We swept into the fray of dancers, given a wide berth by all those around us. For several songs we danced in silence, simply… enjoying each other’s company.

What a strange notion, that I enjoyed the presence of the woman who had been thrown into my life by the vagaries of fate. In all my wildest imaginings, holding my bride while we danced had not even been the slightest consideration.

I should not be so hard on Wroth, when I alone had been fortunate enough to land in such a position. Guilt gnawed at me, that I had asked them to give up their lives to my grand idea, and yet I had not suffered the same consequences.

And gods knew… I should have. It was so obvious that I deserved none of this, especially as we swept by the wall of windows, and I saw our reflection there, a twisted mockery of what she and Miro had looked like.

Her, so beautiful, all in red like a rose, but almost overshadowed by my beastly features, my terrible size.

The reflection burned itself into my mind. When I was with her, sometimes I forgot that I wasn’t a man.

My hands, with fingers too long and tipped with claws, cupping her waist. My primeval face. A monster, clutching the beauty close, keeping her caged.

I looked away, trying to erase that image. In the heat of the ballroom, Cirri’s cheeks turned steadily pink, a few drops of sweat at her temples. She waved herself with her hand, bits of hair escaping her braid and curling around her face.

I swept her towards the edge, pulling her from the swirling mass.

“To hell with this. Want some air?” I asked in a near-whisper, and she nodded, giving Wyn a furtive look.

She’ll kill us if we leave early. 

“Then we cannot let her see.”

Cirri looked at me with a half-smile, signing slowly for my benefit. Shall we put one of the drapes over your head? Surely nobody will notice an enormous red lump creeping out.

“If you’re willing to risk her ire by destroying her decorating, I’ll do it.”

She laughed silently. I’m not brave enough to risk it. Let’s run.

I looked out over the crowd, waiting until Wyn’s attention was caught by a red-headed vampire in Auré’s retinue and she’d turned her back to us, and grabbed Cirri’s hand. “Now.”

She dashed out the door, heels clicking, hand pressed over her mouth as her shoulders shook. I was right behind her, hunched over to avoid Wyn’s wrathful attention, and led her up the stairs.

“Second floor, balcony, go,” I whispered, and Cirri dashed upwards, her skirts whipping around the spiral staircase just ahead of me.

She stopped at the top, the door opening onto a wide terrace that overlooked the Bloodgarden, her breath coming in little gasps. The faint strains of music echoed through the still night.

In the open central courtyard of the keep, with the garden spread before us and the full moon high overhead, I could almost believe it was a fairytale, one in which I wasn’t the beast, but the prince.

And here was my princess, leaning over the balustrade to touch the bloodroses that had grown high.

For a moment, I was speechless at the sight. Could she really be mine?

Cirri turned around, face still flushed. I want to ask you something. 

“Ask away.” I joined her at the balustrade, glancing down into the darkened garden. Nothing moved in those shadows. “For you, I am an open book.”

Cirri licked her lips, eyes darting between me and the garden. Once or twice her hands moved, but she cut off her words each time she started.

Finally, she held out both hands, palms down, and bobbed them up and down in an outward movement.

I stared at her, understanding the motion, but my mind failed to make any sense of it. Surely she was not asking…

Children, she said again, then rested her hand on her lower stomach for a moment. Are you… do you want them? 

“I can’t say…” My voice was rough. I cleared my throat and tried again. “I can’t say I thought it likely, so I didn’t anticipate asking. But yes, if I could have all my hopes and dreams answered, I would want children.”

Her cheeks were redder than ever. With me?

I took her hands, ran my thumbs over her palms, felt the calluses on her fingertips. “That goes without saying, my lady.”

Cirri swallowed hard, staring down at our interlaced hands.

“I can’t see them with anyone else,” I admitted softly. “There’s so much I can’t see with anyone else. But if you thought… if you thought I would demand that you bear them, if you didn’t, well, want them, especially with me—”

Ancestors, I was rambling.

She shook her head, pulling her hands away. I do want them, with you. Someday. When things are better.

Cirri took a breath, closing her eyes and pressing her hands to her flushed cheeks. I was feeling hot myself, my cock aching hard, imagining filling Cirri with seed and her belly swelling round with my child…

Something I had not envisioned for myself. They had been one of the things I was sure I would give up forever.

Bane. There’s something else. 

“Anything.”

She opened her eyes, the deep green nearly black in the moonlight. The light haloed her, limning her pale skin and crimson hair in silver.

She rose onto her tiptoes, laced her hands around my neck. I held her waist, always pleased when she dared to kiss me, her soft lips moving carefully over mine.

Kisses, children, the gift of her blood… if my life was proof of anything, it was that nothing in life was fair. I didn’t deserve her, but having her made me want to live up to that worthiness.

She made a soft sound, a sigh, nipping at my lower lip until I opened for her. Carefully, so carefully, I slipped my tongue around hers, holding still so she wouldn’t cut herself on my fangs.

Cirri’s weight pressed against me, her hands sliding down my shoulders and over my chest.

She stood upright slowly, opening her eyes again. Peering into my soul, it felt like, reading something there.

Bane, she said, faltering.

“Anything, my lady. Don’t be afraid.”

She raised her chin, firming her shoulders. When I came here, I was afraid. Nobody could understand me. But you learned. When I’m with you, I feel heard. I don’t feel invisible anymore. 

I opened my mouth, and she put a finger to my lips.

What I’m trying to say… She took a deep breath, hands trembling. When I see you, the whole world becomes bright. Everything feels possible. I adore you beyond words. 

“Surely you know that I feel the same. Cirri, you’re everything I hoped for. Everything… I thought I would lose. Most days I wake up and I can’t believe you’re real, that this is my life.”

The faintest, shaky smile crossed her lips. Then you do know how I feel. There’s not a single day I wake up and don’t want to be with you. But… this is hard to ask.

“For the third time, anything,” I growled, cupping her face with utmost caution. “And the third time is always the charm.”

I would give her anything. Books, palaces, children. Jewels or silks. All the paper in the holds, anything else she desired.

She could ask for anything and I would give it with open hands.

The sight of my terrible hands around that beautiful face… it was that image I had in my head, the tainted reflection of the princess and the monster in the glass, that made my stomach drop to my feet when she finally asked.

I want to be with you forever, she said, staring up at me with those eyes. This doesn’t have to end. I want you to keep me, Bane.

Anything but chaining her for eternity. Anything but forcing her to live through the times when things were bad… when I wasn’t even capable of pretending to be civilized.

When I was truly a monster to the bone.

But the same monster roared at me now, screaming and rattling the bars of my mind—it knew I would never give her up. It knew it was selfish, and delighted in that fact.

It knew I would say yes. I loved her, and I would give her anything she wanted.

I want you to give me your blood.

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Chapter 31 Cirri

My heart raced, slamming against my ribs as Bane gazed down at me.

“Cirri…” he breathed.

I believed that I loved him. No, I knew I loved him. Somewhere along the way I had stopped seeing him as a hideous beast, and I saw only the good in him.

And I wasn’t willing to lay down one day and let death have me, ripping me away from all I loved.

My only fear was that he didn’t feel the same. Maybe he adored me, but it wasn’t a love strong enough to want me forever.

Fear iced my spine, my palms going clammy.

I want to be with you, I signed, unable to stop my hands from trembling. I feel that I am your true mate, Bane. Nobody else. Only me.

He exhaled slowly, taking my hands, and the fear was choking me, an almost physical presence in my chest that threatened to crush my heart and lungs.

Bane was going to tell me no, that I had it all wrong. That I wasn’t a true mate, not worthy of centuries with him, that the horrible portrait of me was the only memory he would ever want.

His eyes gleamed, amber and soot, flashing with his predator’s nightshine as he looked at me.

I swallowed, my throat tightening. Even if he told me no… I refused to cry.

“You feel that because you are,” he said softly. “You are the only one for me, as I am the only one for you. There will never be another.”

For a moment I couldn’t place his words. I’d been expecting a rejection so deeply that it took my mind a second to catch up.

Then… you’ll give me your blood? I asked, reclaiming my hands to speak. You’ll keep me?

He hesitated. “Cirri, we’re both old enough to know that life is not a fairy tale. You have only seen… what I’ve allowed you to see. This is not all there is to being a fiend.”

Bane touched his face, the same tentative gesture I’d seen him make when he was ashamed of himself, when he didn’t want to speak of what he was.

“There will be times when I’m not myself. Not civilized.” His lips drew back, exposing his fangs. “Times when I’ll be a danger to you, as much as I am to anyone else.”

I already know that, and I still want you. I lifted my chin, staring at him.

Bane dropped his hand, making the face that meant a smile. “I know, and I want you despite knowing what I am. I am a very selfish man.”

Then be selfish. Keep me for yourself. 

He exhaled, staring out over the balcony into the darkened Bloodgarden. I allowed him to think, keeping my hands still, admiring him as he considered.

He was beautiful to my eyes, monstrous as he was. The silver moon on his ashen skin, the perfect symmetry of the organic armor of his body, even the strength in those broadened jaws and clawed hands.

Once I might’ve found the nobleman’s clothes a silly affectation for a being like him, but now I saw my lover, as handsome as any lord.

“I propose an agreement,” he finally said, his deep voice pitched low.

I tipped my head. I’m listening. 

“As I said, life is no fairy tale. We’ve both experienced our fair share of disappointments.” He took a breath, looking at me. “I don’t want to be one of yours. Live with me for a year and a day as a human. See me as I am, both the good and the awful. When that last day comes, if you still want me, I will not hesitate. I will make you mine for eternity.”

I gazed up at him, reading the emotions in the ash-scattered gold of his eyes.

He wanted me. The crushing weight lifted from my chest.

And I could agree. Life would not always be roses. We would disagree, fight—as our vows had claimed, there would be hardships. There would be pain to temper the sweet.

A year was nothing next to eternity. If it would prove to Bane that I was sure about him, more sure than anything in my life, a year was a perfectly reasonable compromise.

You must do the same, I said. You must see me as I am, every virtue and flaw, before you decide. 

He smiled slightly. “My lady, I’m already sure. My only fear is that you’ll wish one day to be free. Once you’ve had my blood, there is no freedom. I will feel you, every second, for as long as you live. And I would never be able to let you walk away.”

Never, I said fiercely. One year and one day, Bane. And then I’m yours.

I rose onto my toes, gripping his shoulders, and kissed him. I wasn’t careful, and the tip of a fang caught my lower lip with a bright flash of pain. Blood welled, a single crimson bead, and Bane’s forked tongue lapped it away.

He grunted low in his throat, pulling me closer, and I opened my mouth for him. The prongs caught my tongue, wrapping around it and stroking, teasing me as he’d teased my clit to an orgasm with the prehensile tips.

I gasped into his mouth, my body crushed against his, and I felt his cock throbbing hard against my belly.

There is one flaw between us now, I signed, grazing my teeth over his tongue as he withdrew. We’re not in bed. If you’re willing to take me, I want you willing to give yourself to me. I want to fuck my husband, Bane. I want to feel all of you. 

Bane’s eyes were wild, burning with inner heat as he stared at me.

How can we have children one day without practice? I smiled up at him sweetly.

Without another word, he scooped me up in one arm, clasping me against him.

He launched himself upwards, clinging to the stone walls of the keep with his clawed feet and one hand. My arms tightened around his neck, the crimson petals of my skirt flapping out into the open air, and my stomach flipped.

It was a long drop to the Bloodgarden below.

But Bane’s arm was clamped around my waist, securing me to his side. He climbed with smooth confidence, claws digging between the stones, as easily as a man might walk.

He growled as he climbed towards the Tower of Winter, clinging to the sill of the open window to the bedroom, and carried me inside. I was reminded of human wedding traditions, how a groom would carry his bride over a line of silver and rowan dust on the way to bed, but this was a beast carrying a woman off to his tower.

I shivered with anticipation, burying my face between his neck and shoulder.

He landed on the floor with a heavy thud, adjusting his grip until he cradled me in his arms, gazing lovingly into my eyes.

He shook his head. “I don’t know why, but I love it when you say ‘fuck’. It does something to me.”

I giggled despite myself, a flurry of nervous breaths, and unlooped my arms from his neck to speak. Maybe because that’s what I want you to do to me. 

He growled, carrying me to the bed. I half expected him to toss me in, but he put me carefully on the floor. “This comes off.”

I reached behind my back, feeling for the laces of the bodice, my knees shaking with anticipation, hands shaking with the desire to get this damn dress off already.

But Rose had knotted them too tightly. I tugged at a lace, my fingers picking ineffectually at the knot, until the entire bodice suddenly loosened.

Bane held up a claw. “I’m impatient.”

So am I. Take that off. I want to see all of you.

Bane tugged the shredded laces away, tossing the loose panels of the bodice to the floor, but his hands slowed as he moved to the crimson underdress.

He stood behind me, his breath ruffling my hair as he slipped the sleeves over my shoulders, peeling the dress away inch by inch. A hungry rumble resonated from his chest as it slipped over my breasts and down my waist.

A tickle touched my spine; his tongue flicking over the nape of my neck, down my back, as he tasted me. The edges of his fangs grazed flesh, not quite hard enough to draw blood, but enough to make me shiver.

I stepped from the gown, turning to face him. His eyes roved over me, gleaming with a ravenous light.

Now for you.

He shrugged out of the brocade overcoat, and I stepped forward to unbutton the shirt beneath. His breath was raspy, and he raised his hands to trace his claws over my shoulders, caressing the edges of my breasts and teasing my hardened nipples.

I pushed the shirt aside, exposing the wide, hard planes of his chest, the thick muscles of his abdomen. Bane shrugged it off, peeling his trousers away and throwing them aside.

In the moonlight we gazed at each other. He was primal, powerful, every limb delineated with muscle, his shoulders and back weighed down with the horns and spines. My eyes slid lower, taking in the heavy thighs, his steely cock with its ridged length and barbed crown.

Heat blazed to life inside me, overcoming my nervousness. I abandoned myself to the sucking pool of lust, veins aflame, and as one we crashed into each other.

I kissed him with abandon, uncaring of the flares of pain in my lips when his fangs cut me—he licked the blood away, healing me before scars could form.

Bane picked me up, his hands cupping my backside as he carried me to the bed. He sat down hard, straddling me on his lap, the thick shaft between my legs cradled against my wet core.

I was already throbbing with need, gasping as his tongue clasped mine again.

“Slow, lover,” Bane breathed, grasping my hips before they could rock forward. “I want to give you what you want, but I don’t want to hurt you.”

I dredged up willpower from places I’d never known existed inside me before, and leaned back from him. He kept his hands on my hips, holding me in place as I signed.

Then let’s play our game. Let me fuck you. Let me control it.

A lustful snarl escaped him, and his hands tightened almost painfully. “I shouldn’t have told you what that word from your pretty hands does to me.”

I laughed. You know I won’t hesitate to use it.

“That’s what I’m afraid of, you devious little creature.” He dragged my hips toward him, the rippled underside of his shaft sliding over my clit and startling a gasp from me. “You’ll always get your way.”

Let me do it, Bane. We’ve waited long enough. Another thrust, his sliding length gliding across my wet sex, and I couldn’t stop myself from bucking against him.

“Yes,” he rumbled. “But before I submit to your whims, I want to taste you.”

He did toss me in the bed then, flipping over and throwing me into the mess of sheets and blankets. Those clawed hands caught my ankles, holding my legs apart.

His throat moved as he swallowed, eyes on my core, and his tongue flicked out against my ankle, down my calf, until he brushed a Bane-kiss, all fangs and snout, against my inner knee.

A frisson of heat spiraled through me as he lapped a trail down my thigh. I dug my nails into the blanket beneath me, anticipating the sensation of his forked tongue…

He parted me, and those independent, twinned tips stroked my core, delicate at first—a slick wet touch, exploratory.

Then they moved apart, capturing my sensitive, tingling clit between them where his tongue split.

It squeezed, the fork capturing me, the tips delving downward to plunge inside me and stroke. I gripped the bed so hard I thought my nails might break, trying not to buck up against the fangs poised over me.

I’d never wanted the ability to scream aloud like I did now. All I could do to show the frenzy inside me was pant for breath, letting my body speak for me louder than words. I couldn’t totally lose myself to abandon—not with the sharpness of his mouth and hands—but I couldn’t hold back, either.

Bane kept his hands on me, preventing my thrusting hips from driving too close to his fangs. He made growling sounds of satisfaction, his eyes on me as the tips of his tongue plunged in mercilessly, the bifurcation squeezing in a slow, rhythmic beat.

My core was soaked, feeling swollen and needy, and I didn’t want to shatter into orgasm before I’d gotten my wish: to feel him, all of him, and have him release inside me.

Bane, I signed with one hand. Crescents from my own nails stood out red against my palm. Let me.

I couldn’t think of the words. There was nothing but the rising tide of heat in my core, the endless teasing of my clit that was driving me rapidly to the edge.

But he slowed. The tips of his tongue withdrew, and he dragged the prongs over me in a long, smooth motion. My legs shook, muscles turning to jelly.

“There is no question that you’re delicious,” he said, his voice rougher than usual by far.

I took a deep breath, willing myself to hold on for a little longer. I’d been curious about him for so long that having him at my whim now was driving me mad with lust.

Lay down, I told him, patting the bed. I straddled him when he obeyed, stretching out the full length of his solid body.

He was large, no doubt about it. But I was willing to try.

I ran my hands over his chest, savoring the smooth heat of his skin, the velvet texture. My fingertips trailed over the exaggerated ridges of his stomach, moving lower—the striations grew closer together as I descended the V of muscle.

In the moonlight, his eyes flashed warily, less amber and more the color of a pale autumn moon. “Go slow, Cirri. Don’t hurt yourself.”

I wrapped my hand around his cock, running my fingertips over the ridges. They were cartilage like his armored shoulders and sides, the same toughness, with only a hint of give.

The head, with its flared crown… it gave me pause. The barbs weren’t sharp by any means, blunted at the tips, but once he was inside me, he would be locked in place.

I tipped forward, angling myself until the smooth head nudged against my center. Bane sucked in a breath, and it was his turn to dig his fingers into the blankets, to hold himself as a trembling statue beneath me.

I was wet, heated and ready, but he was still massive. There was no comparison to the humans I’d experienced. My hips sank down, the pressure increasing as the crown of barbs fought to push past my entrance, a hint of pain lurking.

For a moment, fear and disappointment lurched inside me. He was right, it was too much; there was nothing to be gained here but hurt. We’d never be able to experience this.

But my wetness coated him, and with a final jolt of pressure he pushed inside me. Bane grunted again, every muscle twitching with the urge to hold himself back.

I paused, a quiver running through my legs. There was no way to rise, no way to pull free; the pressure of those barbs, curled against my inner walls, seemed to fill me entirely.

No way back, so I went forward. Lowered myself another inch, the ridges of his cock somehow smooth enough to slide over, textured enough that I felt every inch with extreme clarity.

Gods, I’d never felt anything like it. He might not be able to pull free, but the texture inflamed me, stoking the neediness higher. I kept going, lowering inch by inch, hyper-aware of each one.

When I reached what I thought was my limit, I rose up again—the ribbed cock testing my willpower to the limit, his barbed crown making me shiver as it lightly grazed my channel. It stopped him from pulling out, the barbs feeling like they’d expanded, locking him in place.

His eyes flashed with nightshine, his hips convulsing upwards once. “Gods, fuck me.”

I am, I signed smugly, and sank back onto him a little.

Bane snarled, hips jerking to drive him deeper—there was another jolt of pain. The shine of his eyes vanished when he closed them, his entire body going still. He took deep, even breaths, a fine sheen of sweat on his forehead.

I loved him, that he would make this effort for me.

But it wasn’t possible to take him fully. He was larger than a human male, with those barbs, and there was no way that more than a few inches would make it inside.

Bane. I stroked his chest.

He opened his eyes to mere slits, gleaming yellow.

Bite me. Give me a drop of venom.

“Are you in pain?” he asked, a low rumble in his voice.

I debated downplaying it, trying to brute-force my way through, but if he guessed… he would never try again. It would be horribly disrespectful to lie after he’d pushed his own worries aside and granted me this wish. A little, yes. You’re too big. 

His eyes opened wider. “I can’t…”

I have an idea. Flip us over. Lay me down under you, but don’t push further. 

His breath grew faster as he gripped me around the waist, carefully maneuvering our locked-together bodies around until I laid under him, nestled in the bedding heated by his skin.

He remained arched over me on his hands and knees, and I wriggled, adjusting myself until his cock was angled to push in just a little more.

Bane groaned, his hips pulsing forward—he slid forward until he came to an abrupt halt, half of his shaft still outside me.

That’s as far as you can go for now, I said, swallowing any feelings of shame. It had been worth it. I’ll do the rest.

He nodded jerkily, his chest heaving, and slid out slowly only to thrust again.

I wrapped my hand around him, stroking as he pumped into me. The pressure eased, the rasp of barbs and ridges becoming more pleasure than pain.

The low growls he exhaled on every breath drove me mad, the glow of his eyes matching the heat burning in my core. The desperate urge to take more filled me, even knowing it was impossible.