Page 48 of Humans Don’t Have Horns (A Crown of Blood and Magic #1)

But still, there is a frightened voice in my head.

One that insists bad things always happen when we touch.

He will leave again, that voice in my head screams. But if he does, I will survive it.

I survived enough to know my own resilience.

I’m not the girl at the wedding camp, nor am I the one from the waterfall.

I’m strong enough to survive the heartbreaks.

Daton doesn’t need to be strong enough for both of us.

I’ve been telling him that, but it’s time for me to practice what I preach and be strong enough to endure whatever Amada will toss on us.

And she will. I have no doubt that she will—that is, if we get to see another sunset.

I turn to face him. He is so bare in front of me.

It’s as if I can see into his soul. His beautiful, damaged soul.

My lips crash onto his, and I kiss him. Ever so slowly, his tongue licks my lips, then enters my mouth and swirls against my tongue.

Then slowly, he undresses me, kissing every new piece of skin revealed in the process.

He showers me with openmouthed kisses. First at my shoulder, then my arm.

His hands palm my breasts, and I buckle, needing more.

But he doesn’t hurry. His mouth moves back to my neck, his tongue licking, his teeth nipping gently. It’s torture but of the sweetest kind.

I repay him by nearly tearing his clothes off, and he laughs at my eagerness.

He is magnificent, all muscle and strength.

Dark hair trails from his chest to his abdomen and lower still.

He looks at me, at my naked form, his eyes lingering on my breasts.

My nipples harden painfully under his gaze.

And he doesn’t laugh anymore. His eyes darken with desire, and as they travel down to the apex of my thighs, his throat bobs as he swallows.

So slowly, he lifts his eyes to mine. And I shiver as I see the hunger there. All for me.

Before I can even blink, he sweeps me into his arms and carries me to the pallet. It should be ridiculous. The tent is so small. It’s barely two steps to the pallet. But it doesn’t feel ridiculous. It makes me feel safe and cherished.

He lays me down gently and leans over me.

His dark eyes trail over my body brazenly, and I feel so exposed that I nervously chew on my lower lip.

He grabs it with his teeth and sucks it into his mouth.

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long.” His voice is gravelly.

“You have no idea, do you?” His long body covers mine.

“Of what?” I breathe as my fingers brush his dark stubble.

“How beautiful you are. How irresistible those lips of yours are.” I never thought of myself as beautiful.

It’s hard to think of yourself as beautiful when all people see is the strangeness of your colors.

When strangers gape at how different you are.

Daton never minded my colors, and neither did the rest of the Mongans.

Maybe you need horns to see people for who they are.

“You’re beautiful too,” I tell him, and he bursts into such a deep laugh that his body shakes.

“Now that I’ve never been called before,” he manages to say between chuckles.

I snort at his reaction, “Oh, come on, the women here are all over you.”

He smirks at my irked tone. “That has nothing to do with the way I look, and you know it.” He’s the warlord, the Emancipator. Being with him is being with the most powerful Mongan there is. The uncrowned king.

“Well, you are beautiful,” I insist because even though I didn’t see his beauty at first, I’ve been seeing it for months now, and he needs to understand that.

To me, he’s more than the Emancipator, the Butcher.

I see him. Truly see him. “And when you smile, you light up, and your eyes—it’s like looking at the most vast starry night.

” He goes very still at that. I’ve never seen him so still.

And I wonder if I broke some unknown Mongan code.

But then, to my relief, he kisses me softly and whispers against my lips, “You are an extraordinary woman, fina.”

I raise my eyebrow at the new, unfamiliar word.

“What does fina mean?” I drag my hands through his dark hair, relishing the feel of it.

He kisses me deeply, then he moves his mouth to my neck, grazing it with his teeth.

And I forget what I asked. I forget everything.

He kisses his way to my breast and draws my nipple into his mouth, and I arch for him, silently begging for more.

More of all of it. He moves to my other breast and licks and sucks my nipple.

Suddenly, he looks at me so seriously and says, “If you need to stop, we’ll stop, all right?”

Goddess, this man. “All right,” I breathe and am immediately rewarded with another long, soft kiss.

Daton licks his way to my navel and keeps kissing and licking down further.

With both of his hands, he spreads my thighs and looks at my center.

I squirm at the feel of fresh air against my heat, against the wetness there.

“You’re so beautiful, fina,” he says. His dark eyes meet mine, and he smiles.

It’s such a feral smile, and I gasp at how raw and yearning it makes me feel.

He licks my center, and my hips buck from the pleasure that floods my body.

Daton grabs my hips and presses them to the pallet, centering me the way he wants me.

His tongue keeps working until something bursts inside me.

It’s like a wave of warmth running through my whole body, and white light bursting behind my eyes.

“Daton,” I rasp, and I barely recognize my own voice. “I need you.” Because Goddess knows how desperately I need to feel him inside me.

“One more,” he says as he kisses the inside of my thigh.

Then he kisses my center before his tongue slides inside me.

I tug his black hair, and he groans approvingly.

His mouth moves back to my clit, and he licks and sucks even more teasingly than before.

He pushes two fingers inside me, and my entire body convulses.

I tug his hair and scream, having completely lost any self-control, not caring if the entire camp hears me. My heart hammers so fast, I think it might explode. When I come back down, Daton licks my wetness thoroughly and gives me the smuggest smile.

And Goddess help me if he doesn’t look—at that moment with his horns and those feral eyes—like the most tempting demon. “Now,” I order, and he chuckles at my commanding tone.

He looms over me and kisses me softly, and I can taste myself all over him. “See how sweet you taste,” he growls into my mouth. And just those words make my core throb again with desire.

But he’s still not inside me, so I grab his ass, and he nudges the entrance of my body.

There is no way to swallow my whimper this time.

Ever so slowly, he enters me, his mouth so close to mine I can feel his breath.

He’s holding back, so careful with me, all his muscles strained from the effort.

I want him unraveled. I want his everything.

I’m so aroused by my previous climaxes that I quickly feel my inner walls clenching again, and that euphoric feeling spreads through my entire body once more.

Daton grunts and keeps moving inside me while his mouth devours mine.

As he picks up his pace, I feel how my inner muscles squirm another time, and he tries to pull out of me.

“I’m so close,” he grunts, but I want to feel him come inside me.

I wrap my legs around him, and he climaxes with a groan.

I hold him as he fills me, and his body trembles in a release.

He’s still inside me as he starts kissing me so sweetly, his palm cradling my face. I kiss him back slowly, lazily.

As he positions himself near me on the pallet, I ask, “Don’t the Mongans have a remedy against pregnancy?”

He shakes his head. “Only withdrawing. I’ve always been successful at it in the past.” He gives me an impish smile. “Renyans have a remedy for that too?” His fingers thread playfully through my hair.

“Of course. Otherwise, I would never have done that.” I’m too embarrassed to actually articulate what I’ve done.

“Because you would never want a Mongan baby?” he asks quietly.

“No. That’s not what I meant,” I huff. “It’s just that I would never take that decision from you.” His eyes meet mine, and they are so piercing.

I’m not sure if it’s the intimacy or my anxiety that is getting the better of me. I can’t help but ask, “Aren’t you afraid to die tomorrow?”

But he just shrugs at that. “We are all dying. It’s part of life.”

“But at least it should be at old age.” I frown at his calmness.

“Yeah, I guess. But it’s not for us to choose when we die. We only get to choose how we fight.” He kisses me tenderly, and his callused fingers roam across my body. “We both need some rest before tomorrow,” he says in a soft voice, his thumb trailing my lower lip.

I didn’t even notice the bubble we were in until he burst it. But there are no more than three hours until dawn. “Yeah, I should go.” I pull myself up, but he grabs me.

“Stay.” And then he adds, “Please,” and pulls me toward him.

“I wasn’t aware there is ‘please’ in Mongan,” I say as he wraps himself around me. They are so blunt. It’s so rare to hear pleas or apologies.

“Hahaha, you’re not funny.” He nips at my earlobe with his teeth.

“I make myself laugh, and that’s what matters.”

He chuckles and tightens his hug.

I don’t think I can sleep in the aftermath of all the pleasure he drew out of me. But as his big body covers my own, and his warmth cocoons me, I quickly fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.