Page 45 of Claimed By Fangs and Darkness

I slipped out of my casual, soft blue dress, leaving myself bare in a matching white bralette and panties. The energy in the circle was pleasurable, dark, and potent, immediately sending me into an altered headspace.

“Perfect,” Kylo praised. His slow trail of fingers down my sternum made me shudder. “Now please be a good girl and relax, stay still, and tell me what you need to tell me.”

I lay back, staring into the new moon and her accompanying constellations. Before, the lump in my throat would’ve been heavy with shame. Now, my voice was mine and only mine.

Through my hand on his torso as he kneeled beside me, I fed Kylo visions from the otherworld—the symbols or sigils Hekate had chosen for me. He gasped, his eyes widening in awe before he was able to bring himself back to center.

I let myself become a vessel, a conduit, placing my trust in this dark goddess and my Dark God.

“There’s my sweet girl,” Kylo praised, staring at my body as he wielded the needle dipped in magickal ink.

The ink was spelled to burrow into skin, to seek refuge in flesh and become a living, breathing source of magick. It was akin to a charmed piece of jewelry, but more permanent and melded with its host.

Kylo’s gentle touch filled me with ecstasy, his fingers tracing my curves, my bones, the swell of my breasts and my full lips.

As he lorded over me, it felt as though I was on a sacrificial altar. And while that should’ve terrified me, my body was reacting in opposite, predictable ways.

“I know exactly where this one needs to go,” Kylo said.

I kept my hand on him so the channel would remain open.

The words fell from my lips easily, no longer buried under my defensive fear. “A vampire hurt Idris, and I found out about it.”

Kylo paused, the needle inches away from the delicate skin over my left hip. “When you were thirteen, and he was…”

“Seven,” I hissed. “He was seven years old.”

Kylo placed his free hand on my upper thigh. “Breathe. I’m listening. Keep breathing.”

I inhaled deeply, the scent of pine and smoke ripe in the air. The needle touched my skin, just above my hipbone. I gasped. The pain was a mix of ice and fire, the ink rooting into my flesh as Kylo carefully drew.

The sensation melted into heady pleasure, making it even easier to continue speaking. “I heard my parents talking about how the vampire had ruined his purity. To them, it was an inconvenience and loss of material opportunity. Not the violation of a child.”

Kylo’s strong, powerful jaw ticked. His eyes lit up with rage.

“I’d been reading forbidden texts and talking to people outside of the coven when no one was watching. My mind had been opening, and I started to understand that there was an entire world outside of my coven. My mother taught me that my reality couldn’t be trusted. That everything inside me was wrong and stupid and selfish. I don’t know how I broke free from her abuse. But I know how greatly my shadow magick helped. The shadows whispered things to me—which books to steal, where to go in order to eavesdrop important information. My once dark and miserable life lit up with meaning.”

Kylo continued to draw, stopping only for a second to kiss above my heart. His touch on my thigh was a soothing source of comfort. I spoke through the pain, the mounting pleasure sweeping through to my core.

“When I overheard my parents admit what happened to Idris, everything clicked into place. Marrying me off to a born lord was one thing…”

Kylo’s wrath was palpable, and the pain increased as he pressed the ink harder into my skin. I gasped, nearly wiggling away. “Stay still, angel,” he rasped.

I closed my eyes.

“… but allowing a vampire to harm my brother was the last straw. I let the darkness overtake me. I told Idris to hide. I went downstairs, where the entire coven and their disgusting born vampire guests had gathered to celebrate a successful first harvest holiday. My magick exploded for the first time. I killed them all. The witches. The vampires. And my own parents.” I swallowed. “I took Idris and ran. I thought he didn’t remember that night, and I tried my best to forget it too. But the past refuses to stay buried without being processed—I see that now.”

The words rushed out, and then I clamped my mouth shut.

“Open those pretty eyes for me, Evie,” Kylo whispered.

I opened one eye and then the other. My hip was surging pain as if pierced with pure ice. A pool of wetness had gathered in my panties.

Kylo raked his eyes from mine down to the half-formed tattoo. “Don’t look yet. I want them all to be a surprise.”

I kept my eyes on his face instead. His features relaxed with an understanding that was steadily growing.

“Finally, it all makes sense,” he said. Sadness and wrath battled in his blue depths. “Thank you once again for being so vulnerable and brave, Evie. I see now why you blocked your power, why you tried desperately to keep yourself and Idris away from all vampires and all violence.” He shook his head. “You are a fucking miracle.”