Page 113 of Dark Flame

His lips part, showing his fangs, as though merely threatened by my words. “You don’t know that for certain. Besides, have you not listened to a fucking word I’ve said? It doesn’t matter to me, and it shouldn’t to you. Morgan cares a great deal about you; I can’t imagine her kicking you out over something you had no decision in. The coven might be able to help you. I watched something truly miraculous tonight. Maybe they can do it again.”

“You don’t know that for certain.” I use his own words on him.

“You’re right, I don’t. But once again, I don’t really care, because there will never be a future where we’re not together. No matter how much you fight me, it’s you and me now. While you’re busy fighting me, I’ll fight your demons, banish those shadows. Whatever you need, Hellion.”

I reach up to cup his face, still not sure how to voice everything in my head. “The shadows don’t bother me when you’re around. I’ve always appreciated that about your presence. Although, after tonight’s revelations, what I’ve been thinking of as a good thing might not be. Might be one more reason to stay away.”

His eyes flicker, intense pools of endless ocean during the night. “It only proves my point. Between the two of us, I’m much more encased in Darkness, which means you won’t have to worry about harming me. I’ll battle it for ownership over you.”

“That doesn’t exactly sell me on the concept. What if I make you worse?”

“Worse,” he repeats, amusement tingeing his tone. “Hellion, I will drown in everything wicked, immoral, and Dark if it means you get to rise up and break free from the shadows. I’ll remain the villain if you get to be the hero. Never doubt that.”

His offer makes my heart skip a beat. “What if I don’t want you to?”

He ducks, his whispered reply imprinting on my lips. “When have I ever asked what you wanted? This time will be no different. I’ll do whatever it takes to save you from everyone and everything, even yourself. The fact you don’t want me to is all the more reason I will.”

“Alec…”

“Shut up, Hellion.” His low growl is all I hear, all I feel, before his lips take mine in a kiss so overwhelming, so sweeping, I’d believe it alone could resolve the battle between Light and Dark inside me.

Forty-Three

ALEC

Darkness isn’t choosy.We all have it, and it’s a fact I learned early on during my mortal life. But until becoming an immortal, I didn’t understand the true meaning of evil.

Evil is a spectrum, and we’re either tipped toward being bad or full-on depraved. One’s decisions determine the level.

Harlow’s concerns over becoming evil aren't possible. She has too much potential in her to go completely Dark, even if I’ll accept her regardless of which end of the scale she ends up on.

She has to embrace herself, no matter her chosen path.

I force her head back and tear at her clothes, ready to prove why being evil isn’t such a bad thing. Why when the coven tosses her out, I’ll make her my queen.

Once I have her bare, her clothes a torn mess on the forest floor, I lift her in my arms, winding her legs around my hips.

“Alec, what are you?—”

Before she’s able to think, to wonder, to be swept away in her own doubts, I shut her up with my mouth, my fangs nipping at her bottom lip. Her blood elevates the kiss to heights only meant for Heaven, a place far away from us both. My tongue sweeps over her lip, gathering the blood to push into her mouth, forcing her to taste how fucking delectable she is.

Using the tree to keep her suspended, I undo my pants and stroke my cock before lining myself up with her heat. I spread her with two fingers, my thumb stroking her to life, and thrust inside her in one hard move.

She moans, head thrown back into the tree. So natural, so beautiful. It bares her neck, and I don’t deny myself from tasting her. She’s getting swept away by the sensations while I’m lost in her taste, the feeling of her, and the bond growing stronger.

“Do you feel it?” I murmur, unhooking from her neck.

She turns her head, trying to catch my gaze. “Feel…what?” Her normally vibrant purple eyes are unfocused.

“Me inside you. A creature of Darkness inside his witch, a creature of Light.”

“Mhm.”

“If you allow me inside you, why can’t you accept your own Darkness?”

“It’s not the sa?—”

I thrust harder, my fingers bruising her hips as I push her down, effectively ceasing her disagreement.