Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 30165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
Within her clenching cunt, Nikolai’s cock grew harder, thicker. “Fuuuck, Katya, I think you are....” His words died in a groan as he rolled them in a messy tangle of limbs. Her head ended up right on the edge of the bed. “Oh, please,” he begged, “if there’s a God above.”
With a roar, her king buried his fangs into the yielding flesh of her breast and erupted within her, igniting her own spasming release. His hips jerked and pressed as his mouth sucked her boneless.
It was the most glorious, peaceful, contented moment of her life.
She had nothing to compare the experience to, of course, but she already knew nothing would ever compare to Nikolai. He’d proven himself a giving and passionate lover, and in a few short hours had turned everything she’d thought she known about herself on its head.
Their bodies calmed, their panting breaths the only sound in the room, Nikolai licked closed his bite on her breast and lifted his head to meet her gaze.
Out of nowhere, a starburst of tingles exploded where their bodies were still connected. The sensation raced through her, fast and foreign, and left her insides feeling like a puzzle put together all wrong.
Kate gasped and clutched to Nikolai, and only held her panic at bay by focusing on the sheer and utter joy reshaping her new lover’s face.
Chapter 11
Nikolai threw back his head and shouted a warrior’s cry of victory. Katherine screamed, the nails on her right hand digging marks into his back. He grasped her left, interlocking their fingers.
“Hold on, angel,” he gritted out.
All at once, the sensation disappeared, and Nikolai’s gaze cut to their joined hands.
Delicate black markings formed an overlapping pattern of endless square knots that wrapped around his right hand and continued onto her left. His heart expanded in his chest until he was sure it would burst.
For the love of all that was holy, he’d found his mate.
As he stared at the mating mark in awe and wonder, the dream he’d had upon waking after surgery came back in vivid detail.
On some level, he’d known.
Her blood in his veins had revealed the truth. No matter how much he’d fought the idea, tried to deny what he’d been feeling these last long hours, she was meant to be his. And he, hers.
“Nikolai, our hands,” she whispered, eyes wide and beautiful as she lifted their hands and studied the marks. “Is that—”
“It’s a mating mark, Katya, and the mark of a good mating, too. See how small the knot work is, how tight?” She nodded, her gaze meeting his before returning to their hands. “The blood magic between us is strong. It tells me things I already suspected, though I resisted them, and now I know for sure.”
“And what’s that?” she asked, dragging those baby blues away from their joined grasp.
“That you were meant for me. In every way, you are my equal. Hell, my better. I admire you greatly, Katya, and not just for saving my life. Me, my warriors, we put you in an impossible situation, one you handled with grace and courage. I hate that we met in this time of war and chaos in my world, and God does it scare me that you could get hurt. But there’s also no denying that the mere idea of you standing by my side through the good and the bad of it makes it…all so damn much easier to bear.”
He felt the truth of those words down deep, down into the dark places within him that had before so filled with grief and guilt.
Reaching out to stroke the hair off her face, he shifted, reminding him that he remained buried in her sweet pussy. Despite the incredible, mind-bending orgasm, his cock was still as hard as she was wet.
He rocked his pelvis, slow and gentle, and hummed his approval when she released a small moan and lifted her hips to meet his.
“What happened to your brothers?” she asked, her voice so full of that compassion he already associated with her. “On your back, it’s their names, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “They were killed in a battle with the Soul Eaters. Six months ago. They walked into an ambush, were outnumbered, and I couldn’t get to them in time.”
She squeezed his hand. “Oh, Nikolai, I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. It was my fault, and I will never forgive myself.”
She tilted her hips, just the littlest amount, and he couldn’t remain still. The soft give-and-take of their actions, of this new round of soul-bearing lovemaking, provided as much comfort as pleasure.
“No, I don’t believe that. How could it be your fault?”
He scoffed. “We call the part of the city where they died the meat grinder, because all the abandoned buildings provide nests for the Soul Eaters. We used to play poker to see who got that sector on patrol. Kyril and Evgeny died because I bluffed my way through a hand of seven-card straight.”