Page 34 of Bitten by Bloodmoon (Mateless Shifters #2)

Lumi

I ’ve lost my mind. There are a million reasons why I shouldn’t fuck Nyx, and more reasons we aren’t mates. But I can’t think of a single one right now with his naked body hovering over mine as he kisses me like I’m the oxygen he needs to breathe.

Nyx must be able to tell how serious my intentions are through our bond because he doesn’t question them. He doesn’t call out any of the reasons we shouldn’t do this.

My fingers dig harder into his back, and he allows a little of his weight to press against my body. The hardness and length of his cock pressing against my lower stomach shock me.

He wants me, too.

A darkness dances through my mind. “Of fucking course, I want you. You’re breathtakingly beautiful.

Your long white hair, your red lips, your body, elegant like it was sculpted by the gods, with every curve designed to perfection.

You’re brilliant, and brave, and impossibly stubborn.

You’d give up everything for the people you love. You’re everything.”

I rake my teeth over my bottom lip. Please, let him be my mate. Let this man be real. Let me let go of the pain, the heartbreak. Don’t taunt me with this man, only for him to not be my mate and break my heart again like Ambrose did.

Kille—

I slam my mind shut on those words that like to haunt me about him.

He kills, but he’s not a killer. I don’t forgive him for killing my friend, but I know there’s a reason why.

It will allow me to forgive, to stop hating him even a little bit.

I’m just not sure I’m ready to fall that hard for him yet.

I don’t need to forgive him to fuck him.

He lowers himself even more, kissing me harder than before with a seriousness to the kiss that tells me we are really doing this, but he’ll stop the second I say the word.

“This isn’t real. You can’t be real,” Nyx says in my head. I love that he can keep kissing me while still telling me his thoughts.

“It’s real. This isn’t a dream,” I say to remind myself of that fact, too.

His hands are bracing himself on either side of my body as he kisses me, still holding some of his weight off of me. It’s as much to keep his hands from touching me, from exploring my body too quickly.

“Touch me,” I beg.

“Where?”

I imagine his hand splayed across my lower belly while he debates whether to palm my breasts or dip his hand into my pants.

The second I think it, he starts doing it.

He slides his broad hand under my shirt until I can feel it against my bare skin.

I can feel his hesitation in deciding to snake up or slither down.

“How can you read my mind so well? Am I thinking the words out loud to you?”

“I don’t know exactly. Even if you’re not talking to me directly, I can hear some of your thoughts and definitely vibes. Especially if they are about me,” he replies.

I kiss him harder, my tongue sliding into his mouth.

“Like right now, I know you want me to do this.” His hand slides up my body until he reaches the edge of my bra. He grabs the top of the cup, dragging the fabric down until my breast springs free. He wastes no time palming my breast with his broad hand.

His touch is cool, like ice; his thumb teasing over the peak of my nipple.

“Yes,” I say.

He smirks against my lips, his body growing harder as he touches me.

“Gods, you smell good,” he says as he kisses down my neck.

I arch into him. “Smell so good that you want to take a bite?”

He stills, his fang scraping lightly over my carotid. “Are you scared if I say yes?”

“No.” My pulse jumps up.

“You are, but you’re happy about it. You want me to, just to find out if it will feel good.”

“Last time, I was passed out. I didn’t like you. I was traumatized. Maybe it would feel different now.”

He drags that fang up and down my neck as his heated breath hits my skin, such a contradiction to the icy touch of his fingers against my nipple that he hasn’t stopped tantalizing while we speak in each other’s minds.

“You’d like it, but I’m not going to.”

“Why not?”

He hesitates. “The most important reason is that I don’t want to accidentally kill you. Your blood is intoxicating. I could lose control and drink all of your blood.”

I suck in a sharp breath. Killer —that fucking word again. I shake it out of my head.

“I’m not afraid.”

“I know, which is why we could be mates. The lack of self-preservation runs deep in both of us.” He frees my other breast, and a breathy moan slips out as he sweeps his chilled fingers over my flesh.

“To be completely honest, I’m terrified of you, but in the I want you despite everything sort of way. ”

“You, scared of me? You’re kidding.”

“Not even a little. You’re capable of being the most incredible thing that’s ever happened to me.” He pauses for dramatic effect. “Or you’ll be the one who kills me.”

“Right now, you’re the one killing me.” My eyes roll back in my head as he pushes my shirt down so he can kiss over my nipple, fang dragging over my peak just enough to send a sharp breath through my body, but not enough to draw blood.

My hands are tangled in his hair as I hold his head to my body, never letting go.

“If you keep doing that, I can’t do other things that I know you want me to do.”

I bite my bottom lip, stifling another cry, and then release his head just enough for him to sink lower down my body. Grabbing onto the hem of my pants, he slides them down just enough to get a view of my wetness.

His dark eyes look up at mine for just a second, asking for permission.

I nod, too speechless to speak or even think yes.

His tongue dips between my folds expertly, finding the little bundle of nerves that instantly has my body on fire.

With every lick of his tongue against me, he worships my body, dragging my soul along with it.

More warmth spreads over my icy body, melting away the snow that’s held me together for so long.

Nyx looks up at me from between my legs, locking eyes with me, and I can see his desire swirling. No one has ever looked at me like he’s looking at me now.

And then I’m being flooded with his thoughts and everything he wants to do to me. Starting with devouring me.

Gods, what am I doing? I shouldn’t be doing this. I’m going to regret this for so many reasons, the main one being that I’m going to want to do it again and again. It’s only going to make the whole ‘Who is my mate’ debate more confusing.

A cascade of heat ripples up my body, and I tremble in his arms. I’m so close already to spilling over the edge of insanity. So close to exploding with his tongue on my cunt. So close to screaming out something I shouldn’t say just because he can do beyond impressive things with his tongue.

Fire electrifies my brain, almost burning me up as it hits my head so fast. I cringe, about to tell Nyx that he’s sending his thoughts too fast, when I realize it’s not Nyx in my head.

“Ambrose?”

The licking stops. Time stops. My heart aches for the man between my legs when I realize I just called out my ex’s name while he was giving me pleasure. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

But with how intense my head felt, I know that whatever Ambrose is trying to tell me is going to trump everything else.

“Ambrose, talk to me?”

“War—the Moonfire witches and Moonlight pack are coming. Be prepared. Only one species can break the curse. A war is starting. Five minutes.”

Nyx is staring at me intently, already figuring out what’s going on. “What did Ambrose say?” Although he’s serious in his tone, he’s not angry that I still hold a connection with Ambrose, even if I am. It felt like the timing was purposeful.

“He said the witches and Moonlight pack are coming in five minutes. They know that only one species can break the curse. A war is starting.”

Nyx nods, looking at me with his dark, chilly eyes. The heat in both of our bodies is stifled but not gone.

“You get to choose. Who you go with. Who you complete the marking ceremony with. You get to choose, no matter what the seers or fate say. I won’t let him take you if you don’t want to go.” He pauses. “And I’ll let you go if you want to go. You’re not a hostage.”

“What about our deal?”

“We can honor our deal whether we are together or not.”

He climbs off of me, and I feel the weight of what we just did and almost did being interrupted. Warm shockwaves are still tingling through my body. My body is still aching for a release that I know will never come.

I yank my bra down and my soaked panties up. Nyx vanishes and returns fully dressed a second later.

“Sylara knows. She’s telling everyone to prepare. Sending for the vampires, too,” he says.

“Now what?”

“Now we prepare for the fight.”

“And who wins in a battle between witches and vampires?”

“No one wins until the curses are broken, but we can get them to leave our territory. We can keep our pack and coven safe. We can live to fight again tomorrow, to find a way to break the curse for everyone so there can be peace.”

I nod. “They should know that. I want to break the curse for all creatures, even if the seers say that I can only break the curse for one.”

“Just be prepared that they might not want to listen. Sometimes the only way to get others to listen is to win the battle.”

“I thought you just said there are no winners?”

He sighs. “Don’t listen to me, I’m not good with words. I prefer to use the one skill I’m good at—killing.”

“Why do you always refer to yourself as a killer when I’ve never seen you kill any more than Ambrose or any other alpha?” I challenge.

For a moment, I think he’s going to answer. And the answer will probably tell me something important about him that I’m missing.