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He moved his tongue into her mouth, exploring her, wanting to feel her softness.

Perhaps for the last time.

Her tongue moved against his as she explored his mouth in return.

I love you, he wanted to say.I will love you long after my last breath.

But he was far past the ability to speak, to form words. His hunger surged, and his power swelled, stretching out toward his mate.

His magic stretched out without his willing it, caressing against her very core—where her essence lived deep within her. It wasn’t her soul nor was it strictly her physical energy. It was the energy of her spirit and body intertwined in one. Everyone’s essence tasted different. And as an erox, he could only access it when her spirit and body were one in pleasure. At the peak moment when her body succumbed to ecstasy.

And if he could give her nothing else before he was gone, he wanted to give her that.

He wanted to go slow, to touch her and coax her over the edge. But his hunger was too vast and his body too weak. It was all he could do to hold on to her, to kiss her and pull her essence forth.

His power latched on to her, and he felt her being pulled to the brink of pleasure.

I love you,he thought again.

Then she was moaning into his mouth, and the beast took over.

His power fastened on to her essence, summoning it from deep within her. It needed no coaxing as their bond had her essence flowing faster than ever before. Then it was pooling in his mouth, tasting of lilacs and a cool autumn breeze. There was something else there, too. Something that hadn’t been there before. But he was too far gone to wrap his mind around what.

He felt his cock harden, and he nearly came just from the taste of her.

He sucked the essence in, pulling one draft and then another. As he did, his vision started to clear, and he felt steadier on his feet, leaning on Arabella less. Then his hands were moving, cupping her face before sweeping across her back like he couldn’t pull her close enough. Like he couldn’t get enough of her.

Even if they spent hundreds of lifetimes together, he’d never have enough of her. Though they wouldn’t even have one.

“That’s enough,” came Magnus’ voice.

A slice of scarlet magic pressed between them before it burst, and Elias was forced backward.

Looking at his mate for the first time with clear eyes, he studied her face, memorizing her swollen lips and her large brown eyes—eyes that fixed on him like she could see the core of who he was. He also saw the purple smudges under her eyes.Guilt swelled in him that he’d taken from her when she likely needed rest more than anything else.

He wanted more time. But time was something they’d never have.

Elias stared at Arabella, his tongue heavy with unspoken words. And she stared right back, her chest heaving beneath her black leather corset like she’d just run miles to get to him.

He knew what came next.

“My previous orders are to be obeyed.” Magnus’ words were infused with the syphen’s power.

As the sorcerer spoke, Elias’ eyes were torn from his mate. Once more, he was forbidden to look at or interact with Arabella.

“It’s time we were off,” Magnus said, turning.

Elias’ feet moved on their own accord—each step taking him farther away from his mate.

Magnus lingered as the doors swung open, Arabella’s wall of shadows gone.

“Enjoy your stay in the Twilight Court,” the sorcerer said over his shoulder. “I’ll see you again soon.”

“You fucking bastard,” Arabella called somewhere behind them. “I’ll kill you for this.”

“Unlikely,” Magnus said. He started to move but paused again. “There’s something else you might not know since you’re still so new to this world. I’ll share a little-known fact with you. Many know that a mating bond will be broken if the couple don’t accept it. But did you know that a mating bond can be severed if the bond isn’tconsummatedin the waking world? Funny the way magic can be. It’s sounpredictable.”

As Magnus strode out of the throne room, the other erox closing ranks around them, he spoke the words that shattered any hope remaining in Elias’ heart.