Page 24 of Eternal Ruin

“We’ve done this before. Tell me what you want. Tell me where you want my mouth.”

A stifled moan slipped out of her, sending pleasure coursing through him. She wouldn’t admit it. Even at Cossia Day, he had to drag those three lovely words out of her. So he was surprised when she shifted, allowing their cheeks to make delicious contact, and planted angry fervent kisses—more teeth than lips, inch by agonizing inch, along the line of his jaw, leading to his own mouth. Kidan pressed their bodies closer, so they were flush against each other. He allowed himself to get lost in the heat of the moment, hand sliding across her waist, hips, and thighs. He’d always loved her like this, bold and unafraid. Taking from him what she wanted.

The urgency thrilled him into a momentary stillness.

Kidan froze as well. Reality snuck up on them, cruel and fast.

Her voice came out angry. “I told you to just do it.”

Susenyos nearly laughed. “So now it’s my fault you want to kiss me?”

She pulled back slowly, cheeks flushed, eyes clouded. “It won’t happen again.”

“If you want a kiss, all you have to do is ask, though I’ll say no.”

Her mouth opened slightly, making his smug smile stretch. Wriggling out of his hold, Kidan quickly buttoned up her collar.

“Because it’ll be the last thing I ever do?”

“Yes,” he said, enjoying the uneven rhythm of her heartbeat.

Though he could sense she was angry, her curiosity won out. “Why?”

“Because after a vampire kisses a human being, they often have to bury them.”

Kidan froze, jerking her head up. “Really?”

“Unfortunately, yes. A vampire bite releases memories and sometimes those memories are so euphoric, we can’t stop feeding. Pleasure can quickly turn into tragedy, so try not to kiss me, little bird.”

Her dark eyes narrowed slightly, but there was also a flicker of true disappointment. It nearly made him smile again.

Instead, he took a careful step back, cold common sense creeping in. He couldn’t let her have the houseandbe the source of his hunger and desire.

Ignoring the painful ache in his fangs, Susenyos put more distance between them. He needed to attend blood courting and get himself under control.

“So you’ll sign over the house to me?”

Kidan angled her chin, a challenge clear in her jaw. She was testing him, that much was clear. The problem was Susenyos wasn’t particularly fond of proving himself to anyone.

Her hatred of vampires and her assumptions had painted him as cruel and untrustworthy. Cruel, he might be, but trust was forged.Hadbeen forged between them with blood and yet, for some reason, she insisted on testing their fragile bridge.

Her brown eyes betrayed nothing but there was a pounding in her chest. Heavy, thudding. A familiar rhythm of panic he recognized from the Bath of Arowa, when she asked him to stay with her.

He angled his head, listening to the wild beat.

Dean Faris had more than won this round. She wasn’t actively denying his right in the will, which meant he couldn’t rile up the vampires of Uxlay to cause a riot. She was simply announcing a proposal that elbowed Adane House to the border.

Conniving as any true ruler. His father would have liked her.

“Fine,” he heard himself say, not bothering to hide his annoyance. “I’ll sign over the house. But this is the last time you twist me into submission.”

Her pupils stretched wide, revealing the fanned strokes of her irises. It pierced him like a blood-licked silver, finally relinquishing this house.

Fourteen years.

And he’d failed.

Could Kidan truly master the house before the House Council voted? Could he trust her with something as precious as his vampirism or the artifacts he’d chased for more than a century?