Page 22

Chapter 21

Roses

Raiden

S he was looking at me, wide-eyed, as if she couldn’t believe what I had just said. Standing on the edge of the forest, the moon reflecting off her long silver hair just like it had that first night, I was feeling rather bloodthirsty. But all I could think about was her and what she had just finished telling me.

She was leaving when we were finished—over my dead unbreathing body was she stepping foot outside of my court without me next to her.

I hadn’t been trying to placate her or make her fall into bed with me by my confession. Every word of it was true. But I could tell by the look in her eyes she needed more, so I’d give it. I’d give her everything she needed.

“You heard me, darling. I said run,” I growled.

She looked at me for another moment, and then turned toward the forest, taking off at a run. Part of me was thankful for her leggings and sweater this evening. If she’d been in a dress or something other females tended to wear, this wouldn’t be fair. But as it stood, she was dressed perfectly for an evening run.

I gave her a few moments’ head start before I started to trail after her.

Running through the Forest of Feronia reminded me of when I’d first been turned. My mentors had brought me to this forest to teach me how to hunt, fight, and use my shadow magic. The latter was never successful until Micah started helping me, though.

I knew these trees like I knew the back of my hand. I could live here, never to be found by another being again. Between my knowledge of the land, and my ability to find her scent anywhere she went at this point, it took me no time at all to end up on her trail.

She was a sneaky talented little thing, though, she didn’t run in a straight line like an amateur would. No, she was ducking and diving between trees and fallen branches. Her survival instincts were sharp and used more often than any female I’d ever met.

“Remember, my darling, if I catch you, you’re mine!” I shouted through the thick trees.

My fangs ached as I thought about catching her and sinking my teeth into her beautiful ivory skin. I couldn’t wait.

She started to circle back around, and I rapidly ran to cut her off. Finally catching her in my line of sight, I felt as my smile grew. This was truly the most fun I’d had in ages—maybe my entire existence.

I pushed myself a little harder, getting closer and closer to my target. Before I knew it, I dove and wrapped my hand around her ankle.

She fell to the ground, landing hard, the fall knocking the air from her lungs. I knelt on the moss-covered forest floor and pulled her by the ankle toward me. She tried to kick me off and scoot away, breathlessly. All I could think was how stunning she was in that light.

“I told you I’d always catch you, darling,” I said, just as breathless as she was.

She growled with a smile on her face. “Fuck you.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the words. “Oh, I have full intentions of it.”

I could smell her arousal, as I had since we were in my chambers prior, and it had my fangs aching at an all-new level. She stopped kicking, and looked up at me through hooded lids, her eyes filled with desire. Lying on her back, her arms above her head, she bit her bottom lip.

“Every time you do that, I go a little feral inside, Silvana,” I quietly growled.

“Do what, My Lord? This?” She bit her lip again, slowly releasing it as a smirk lit up her face.

“Yes, you uncontrollable female, yes.” I let my shadows loose, knowing they wouldn’t hurt her. “Pick a word, Silvana. A word and it all stops.”

Her eyes widened slightly at my statement. “Is stop not enough for you, My Lord?” she asked, her voice dropping slightly as her arousal grew.

I grinned. “Absolutely not, although I’ll always respect it if you want or need to stop. I do foresee the phrase ‘don’t stop’ falling uncontrollably from your mouth very soon.” My shadows slowly pushed up her top, revealing the expanse of her navel. “I’d hate to get confused, thinking you didn’t want me to continue.”

I leaned down and ran my tongue up the divot above her navel and her breath hitched. “A word, Silvana. Pick one,” I growled, growing impatient. I needed to taste every inch of her skin before I went mad.

“Roses,” she whispered, her eyes still closed.

“Roses and it all stops.” She nodded in confirmation. It’s all I needed.

My shadows rose until they were wrapped around her wrists, holding them together. She gasped. “Raiden, please,” she pleaded.

“Tell me what you need, my little ice queen.”

“You,” she whimpered.

I reached down and pulled one of her daggers from her boot. Smirking, I started at the bottom of her sweater and sliced it up until it was completely cut in half. She had a cloth band wrapped around her breasts, so I pushed her sweater off to the sides, quickly deciding to have my fun first.

I ran the shadow stone blade below her breasts and across her rib cage. Not enough to hurt her, yet. Just enough to leave a faint line behind. She watched me—those ice-blue eyes never leaving my movements.

“Harder,” she groaned as she dropped her head back to the ground, her eyes closing. Happy to oblige, I pressed down enough to draw a thin line of blood. She let out a small gasp.

“Eyes on me, darling,” I growled, as I leaned down and licked the blood from her stomach. I groaned as the taste of her hit my tongue. “You taste like pure sin and sunshine.”

“Fuck, Raiden, yes, please.” I could feel my cock leaking in my pants. Between the taste of her and the sounds of her begging, it was already too much. Part of me knew this was wrong, that she should have all the facts first. The other part of me was just pushing me to claim her. To make this real. Untouchable. Unbreakable.

I pulled my shirt off and tossed it to the side. Picking the dagger back up, I used it to slice open the cloth band, revealing her breasts. I sat between her spread thighs, her arms wrapped tightly in my shadows, her eyes dilated and filled with lust, her pert pink nipples begging to be tasted. She was everything I ever dreamed of, yet nothing like what I expected.

My control slipped like snow in an avalanche, and I leaned down. Running my fingertips along her exposed skin, I watched it pebble beneath my gentle caress. I pulled one of her nipples into my mouth, flicking my tongue over it. She arched her back up and off the forest floor. I used the opportunity to wrap my arm behind her back, keeping her pulled up tight against my body so she could feel every inch of me that she was cruelly affecting.

“Bite me, please,” she whimpered. Before I could think better of it, I did just that. I sank my fangs in just above her nipple, and she let out a moan. The full force of her blood hit my tongue and I was done for. She tasted like sinful desire smothered in chocolate. I pulled away to look down at her face. The bite mark bleeding slowly down her chest, she looked magnificent.

Her eyes were half closed, and I knew she was already close to an orgasm just from the bite and the little bit of playing we’d done.

“More. Raiden. Fuck, more, please,” she said quickly.

“Always, My Queen,” I whispered against her skin as I kissed my way down her stomach, her blood still staining my lips. I couldn’t wait to clean her up with my tongue when we finished.

I unlaced her boots and pulled them off but left her other dagger. Pulling her tights down next, I tossed them with my discarded shirt. I groaned as I realized she had nothing beneath the tights. “Such easy access you left for me, darling.” I glanced up to find her staring down at me with a smile on her face.

I bowed down between her soft thighs, grateful that the forest floor was covered in moss. I kissed up her left thigh, gently nipping between the kissing and licking. Her hips started lifting off the ground the closer I got to her core. I growled. “One day you’ll be in control, but tonight isn’t that time.”

She let out a breath. “Please give me what I want, Raiden,” she stuttered.

“Patience, My Queen.” I stopped at the crease where her thigh met her hip and did the same thing again to her right thigh. When I got back to the top, she was writhing beneath me. I could see how soaked she was with my own eyes, and I hadn’t actually touched her where she wanted yet. I wrapped my arms around the underside of her thighs, holding them open for me. Before she could make another move, I ran my flattened tongue through her folds all the way to her clit.

She let out a moan that I was sure most of Darkmoor could hear and I smiled as I did it again. Letting go of one thigh, I brought my hand over, pushing two fingers inside of her as I started to suck on her clit. She jerked against me as I pumped my fingers in and out slowly. I lapped up the mess she was making, happily. It was just as sweet as her blood, and I could stay there all night—only moving to avoid the sunlight and keep her safe.

“So wet for me, darling. Was it the chasing you through the woods? Being bound by my shadows? Or bleeding for me?” I smirked as she growled, thrusting her hips back up toward my face. The message was as clear as the skies in the Court of Ravens.

Keeping two fingers inside of her, I used my thumb to apply pressure to her clit as I sank my fangs into her inner thigh. I could tell from the gasp that left her mouth, she wasn’t expecting it. The mixture of her blood and cum on my tongue was the best cocktail mix I’d ever experienced. As I sucked, I curled my fingers just right inside of her, and she shattered.

A combination of my name and curse words fell from her lips in a tumble as she spasmed around my fingers. As she came back down and her breathing slowed, I released her thighs, licking the bite on her inner thigh to close the wound faster.

Leaning atop her, I held my fingers near her mouth. “Open,” I breathed.

She opened her mouth, her tongue sticking out as she locked eyes with me. I stuck both of my fingers into her waiting mouth, and she closed her lips tightly around me, sucking her own sweetness from my fingers. I groaned, imagining what those lips would feel like around my cock. I’d been doing my damnedest to ignore the rock-hard length in my trousers this entire time, but that time came to an end.

I was about to pull my fingers from her lips when she gently bit down. One of her fangs sliced the side of my finger and she continued to suck. My blood pooled into her mouth. I quickly pulled my fingers from her mouth. Realizing what happened, I sat back on my heels. Silvana and her ice magic may as well have hit me in the chest, as I realized I now had two choices.

I could tell Silvana the truth—she’d either agree to continue and we’d seal our soul bond, or she could storm off angry, refusing to speak to me again. Or I don’t tell her the truth and continued to seal our bond, and she kills me the first chance she gets. Not that I’d blame her.

I looked down at her beautiful face. Her silver hair fanned out over the ground, her lips full and swollen from our earlier kiss. Her blood dried across her chest, the faint red mark from my first bite. I wanted to bite her there every day and let it slowly heal so she’d see the marks there all the time. So she’d remember who owned her body, mind, and soul.

I released my shadows from her wrists, and she slowly lowered her arms and leaned up on her forearms. “What’s wrong, Raiden?” she asked gently.

I looked toward the ground. “I need to tell you something, darling. And no, it can’t wait. I can’t… I can’t do this without you knowing first. I need to know it’s real for you too. I need to know it’s not all them , because it’s real for me. This. Us.”

I looked back at her face and her eyes were wide. “What do you mean?”

“I… Allie mentioned…” I let out a breath.

She sat up fully and pulled the scraps of her sweater together over her chest as she growled. “I’d prefer not talking about another woman right now, Raiden. What is going on?” she demanded.

I looked up toward the moon, realizing there was only one real path for me right now. So, I brought my gaze back to the stunning female in front of me and sent a small prayer to Evika that this would work out because I couldn’t lose her.

“We’re mates, Silvana,” I stated.

I could see the shock written across her face as she scooted back, away from me. She reached over to grab her pants quickly, and I reached for her hand. “Silvana, wait. Let’s?—”

“Roses,” she whispered. Jumping to her feet, she quickly shoved her feet into her leggings and grabbed her boots. I watched her walk back through the forest, and for the first time in my long existence, I wasn’t sure what to do from there.