Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
He takes my shoulders and smooths his thumbs over my collarbones. “Rylan says condoms will affect things.”
I blink. Of all the things I expected, that wasn’t on the list. “What?”
“There’s magic even in our semen,” Rylan says from his spot next to the window. “It can’t hurt to add it in, along with the blood.”
I blink again. “That sounds like one hell of a line.”
Did he smile? It’s hard to say. Wolf nudges him with his shoulder. “You’re playing fast and loose, old friend.”
“No, I’m not.”
Wolf laughs. “Whatever you have to tell yourself.” He turns to me. His eyes are already crimson and his smile is more than a little deranged. “You ready, love?”
No. I’m not even close to ready.
Malachi steps between me and the other vampires. “Breathe, Mina.”
“I’m breathing.” I sound more like I’m wheezing. This is a mess. How am I supposed to get to some point of magical orgasm-to-end-all-orgasms when I feel so skittish, I’m half a second from turning around and running out of this room like my hair is on fire? I look up at Malachi. “Bite me?”
His eyes widen just a fraction and it’s as if my nerves trigger something in him. The strange expression he’s been wearing since Rylan showed up disappears and he gives me a slow smile. “Where’s the fun in that, little dhampir?”
It seems like it’s been forever since he called me that, but I can’t help leaning toward him in response. “This isn’t fun. This is serious.”
“I’m going to kiss you now.” He makes no move to close the distance between us farther. “And then Wolf is going to touch you. And then Rylan. Okay?”
Is he asking permission now? I’ve already agreed to this. There’s no reason to walk me through this like I’m an innocent. Except I am damn near an innocent when it comes to this kind of stuff. Having sex a handful of times does not prepare one for whatever this is supposed to be. “Okay,” I say softly.
“If at any point you want to stop, we stop.”
Behind him, Wolf laughs. “She won’t want to stop once we get going.”
Malachi ignores him. “Do you understand?”
Does he understand by constantly putting this in my hands, he’s stripping me of the ability to fully let go? I can’t pretend I’m just a butterfly being swept along before a gale-force wind, praying that it doesn’t rip me to pieces. It’s so much easier when you don’t have a choice, and Malachi insists on giving me one, over and over again. I kind of hate him for it. I kind of love him for it, too.
I take a shaky breath. “Yes, I understand.”
Instead of pressing me farther, he leans down and brushes a light kiss to my lips. And then another one. I’m so tense, a soft touch might make me shatter, but the third kiss comes with a hint of his teeth against my bottom lip. I jump and the motion presses me to his chest. He wraps his arms around me, and I relax into what’s becoming a familiar sensation of being held by Malachi. He’s so fucking big. He makes me feel weirdly fragile in a way that isn’t entirely unpleasant. Maybe it’s because he’s so careful with me, careful with our respective differences in strength. I don’t know. I just know I whimper against his mouth and slide my hands up his chest.
That’s when I feel Wolf behind me, lifting my hair off my neck. His lips are cool as he kisses the newly exposed skin, and I shiver when his fangs lightly scrape me. Malachi shifts his arms a little and then Wolf’s gripping my hips in the newly created space. They buoy me between them, until I feel pleasantly dizzy from Malachi’s drugging kisses and Wolf playing with the sensitive skin at the base of my neck.
Malachi tenses and the scent of blood teases me. He breaks our kiss and leans his head to the side, barring his neck. I catch sight of a long cut and of Rylan behind him, holding a knife. It’s almost enough to jar me out of my pleasure-soaked state, but Wolf uses his body to press me closer to Malachi, uses his mouth on the back of my neck to guide me to the fresh cut.
I moan at the first taste. Rylan’s blood might be more powerful, but I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of the way Malachi’s zings through me. I drink from him until the cut closes and then I can’t quite help giving his skin one last lick. It feels like my nerve endings are sparking and I lean up to try to catch Malachi’s mouth.
He turns me in his arms and then Wolf’s there. He kisses me before I can fully register they’re moving me around like a toy between them. Malachi coasts his hands over my sides and around to my stomach. He cups my breasts through my robe, lightly pinching my nipples.