Page 70 of A Hunt Bound in Blood

I removed my leg from between hers, soaking up the despairing whimper that seeped from her lips, and slid down her body, kissing her ivory skin, flicking my tongue over the goosebumps that rose with every stretch of her back as she fought for closeness, for friction. I dipped my tongue into her navel and chuckled darkly at her hiss before I continued lower. The heady smell of her arousal mixed with the spiced flavour of her emotions, and my mouth watered as I prepared to taste her. A week of wondering, days of wanting, and finally I was right where I wanted to be.

I gently tongued her damp slit through the thin, silky fabric, then blew a trickle of cold air over her clit. She sucked in a breath and rolled her hips towards my mouth, but I rested my arm across her lower belly to hold her in place. With my other hand, I pulled her underwear down—careful to preserve one of the few remaining articles of clothing she had left—and added it to the pile on the floor. Once she was bare beneath me, perfect and glistening, I blew again, revelling in the way goosebumps pebbled her thighs and along her stomach.

“I was right about you, princeling,” she rasped. “For all that you tried to fool me, I always knew you were cruel.”

I grinned and flicked my tongue, the barest of contact, over her slick folds. “What are you going to do about it, mage? Will you unleash that wild magic in vengeance?”

“Don’t tempt me, demon.” Once again, she pressed into my teasing ministrations. “I’ll force the ceiling of this mountain apart and summon a bolt of lightning to strike you where you kneel. Then I’ll summon a wave to wash away your charred remains and laugh at your ignoble end.”

Her answer evoked a proper laugh from me, and I bowed my forehead against her thigh as I revelled in this woman’s fierceness. Layer by layer, she was baring her soul, revealing parts of herself I suspected might be as new to her as they were to me.

“As much as I would love to witness it,” I said, kissing her thigh and moving my way up, “we’d hate to return our hosts’ generosity with a devastating flood.” I moved to her other leg and followed the same path of kisses as the first. “What can I do to avoid such a fate?”

“You know what you need to do,” she whispered.

“Hmm, perhaps. But a demon never makes a deal unless the terms are very”—kiss—“very”—kiss—“specific.” My mouth hovered above her centre, and I looked up over the flat plane of her stomach, the mounds of her breasts, to the dark eyes, molten with heat, staring back at me. “What do you want, Buttons? Tell me. Specifically.”

It was a dare, but also a request. I wouldn’t move further if she wasn’t completely sure.

I wished I could watch those last barriers behind her eyes topple, have her peel back those final layers, but they remained firmly in place. Before I could feel too disappointed, her mouth curled into a coy smile and she wrapped her sweet fingers around my horns in a way that made my entire body stiffen.

Years ago, when I’d still engaged in sexual encounters with humans, I’d kept my more demonic traits to myself so as not to scare my partners. In Karhasan, I’d never met anyone I connected with enough to showcase them.

Glory had no way of knowing how intimate a gesture it was to stroke her thumbs over the ridges. How incredible it felt, so much more sensitive for the rare contact, as though she were brushing every individual nerve that ran down my spine.

“What I want, Cammon Ruxo,” she said, and I swam through the haze of desire to raise my eyes to hers, “is for you to deliver everything you claimed to be capable of over all these days of smug looks and quips. I expect the loftiest of peaks. The most bone-meltingest of pleasure.” Her eyebrow quirked upwards. “Do you think you’re up to meeting the standards you’ve set?”

The returned challenge set my blood aflame. This woman. Every time I thought I had her figured out, she took me off guard. I wondered if that would ever change.

“Be careful what you ask for, mage, because now I have to, no matter how long it takes. I’d hate to have my reputation tarnished.”

Her eyes widened as I lowered my mouth to her sex, used my thumbs to spread her open, and dipped my tongue inside her. Her knee jerked, and I wrapped my arm around it, hauling her closer to me.

Her wetness tasted as good as her desire. Salty-sweet and light on my taste buds, a delicacy I couldn’t get enough of as I laved her. Her fingers tightened around my horns before they slid into my hair, and the light scrape of her fingernails against my scalp drew a growl from the depths of my being. My restraint was failing. I wanted to draw this out until she was a sopping, miserable mess. I wanted her to eat every taunt, every word of her challenge.

But doing so would torture me as much as it tortured her, and I wasn’t that self-destructive.

Putting us both out of our misery, I dipped my fingers inside her sex. Her tight muscles clenched around me, sucking me in, and the feel of her was enhanced by her moan as she rolled her hips for more.

I delivered.

With tongue and fingers, I savoured her, worshipped her, relieved to finally indulge in the temptation that had called to me since the first time I’d seen her glow in triumph. She took a second finger so well, and I curled both towards her inner wall, timing my pulsing movements with the flick of my tongue, sucking and licking in turn, guiding her closer to the first of what I intended to be many lofty peaks.

Her hold on my hair grew tighter, more demanding. Her breaths quickened, and her struggles against my bracing arm grew more frantic.

With one more tug of suction with my mouth, she soared. Her hips rose off the bed, and the muscles that clamped around my fingers twitched and danced. I eased my touch, following her lead when the sensations became too much, and slid up her body, kissing the same path I’d kissed down.

Glory released my hair and skated her hands down my back, brushing over my wings. Her fingers cascading over my feathers felt just as amazing as they did wrapped around my horns. I was caught up in her, enveloped in her scent, in her touch. A visceral need overcame me to return the favour. I needed her to drown in me. To have every one of her senses filled with me.

I slid my hands down her hips and hooked them under her thighs, hoisting them around my waist as I settled between her legs. My cock throbbed where it pressed against the dampness of her sex.

“Do you want this, Buttons?” I murmured into her neck.

Her tongue flicked over my ear, and the tip of her fang dragged across the lobe. It wasn’t enough to break skin, but the shock of pain was as delicious as everything else about her.

Her whispered “Yes” tickled the skin of my throat, her heels nudged my ass, and I slid inside her.

Glory