Page 162 of Eternal Ruin

He gripped her bottom lip between his teeth, making her gasp. Susenyos applied firm pressure, turning her surprise into a low moan, and testing the soft skin, enjoying his lack of fangs. He didn’t need to be careful with her. Not anymore.

“I can bite you without losing control,” Susenyos said after letting go, as if he’d just come to the realization.

The light imprint he left on her swollen lip faded with each second.

Kidan’s hazed eyes shone, words sharp yet breath fluttering. “Or, you couldnotbite me at all.”

A pleased shine took to his pupils. Impatient, she inclined her chin so their lips brushed. A deep, hidden part of him sighed in relief.

Finally.

Kidan’s arms found their way around his broad shoulders and crossed behind his neck. His arm slipped around her waist and pulled her to her tippy-toes, pressing her chest firmly against his solid build.

When he still did nothing, she nudged him forward. “Come on, I won’t die if you kiss me.”

How brave of her.

“I might,” he said.

When she grinned, Susenyos crushed his mouth to hers with a hunger no monster could echo. He possessed her lips and parted them with such urgency, he felt drugged. It was a heady experience, and nothing could ever make this moment more alive.

They gasped free at the same time, too quickly. Their eyes met. Both wide. As if they’d both suspected it’d be good but never thisgood.

He hoisted her up, and her legs wrapped around his torso. From the corner of his vision, the bulb flickered and exploded with a thrum of raw electricity. Her fingers were working to remove his jacket and throw it aside. It was remarkable she could do anything at all because he was quickly becoming useless.

His mouth was drunk with fire, and they’d made it to the bottom of the stairs but the bedrooms were still unbearably far.

“Remember,” he said, breath thick in desire, “when I said I’d want you in my bed?”

All he could hear was how deeply she breathed, her whole body ebbing and flowing. There was no air between them.

Her eyes simmered. “The day I stopped judging you.”

Susenyos wanted her to understand this was no game. This was real, different from their previous encounters.

“There’s none,” he whispered, staring deep into her open eyes. She didn’t see him as a monster or some evil to vanquish. A human to discard or a power to seize. A tender understanding settled between them, that neither was better than the other. They were flawed, and impulsive and riddled with mistakes but there would be no judgment.

He kissed her until he couldn’t breathe. And then some more.

58.

KIDAN

Kidan’s heart thundered against her rib cage. Susenyos set her down on her bed and the dusk light irritated her eyes, but his outline was taking shape, strong jaw and framing twists.

She observed him like a painting come to life. His eyes caught the sun, not startling like black shining olives but beautiful still, the color of earth, human. His hair had the frizz of a natural twist, no longer sleek and unmoving.

He grabbed the edge of his shirt, eyes fixed on her. Then pulled it off in one sweep. Kidan blinked from the hard naked stomach in front of her.

She scooted to the edge of the bed to examine him more closely. He was leaner than before, but what she didn’t expect were the bruises, black and purple, all over his dark skin. Gently, she ran her fingers over his taut stomach, along a particularly large discoloration, making him wince.

“I could kill him, you know,” she said, a surprising edge to her voice. “Do they hurt still?”

An amused smile played on Susenyos’s face. He grazed her cheek with the back of his fingers, making her tingle. “Yes.”

Kidan planted her next kiss right below his belly button making him jerk. “Maybe I can help.”

When she lifted her lashes up to him, he’d shut his eyes, a curve to his lips. “A little higher.”