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The temptation to ask him to lower his pants so that she could see if the markings, as he called them, continued over the lower half of his body.

The salacious thoughts of seeing the man bared to her and strutting nude—because Liekki would strut if she asked him to strip, she was sure of it—caused heat to ignite in her veins and every drop of blood to pump from her heart and head south to her sex.

Her folds swelled at the apex of her thighs and became wet. Even though she had rarely experienced any level of need or desire, she had no doubt what had happened. Avalore knew if she pressed her thighs together and shifted her hips a little, she’d feel the slickness of her flesh.

A growl erupted in the room, vibrating the gigantic stone walls and her core as Liekki took a big step forward.

Then stopped.

His violet eyes, which generally reflected wicked humor, were drowned under the cobalt-blue flames that roared there. The same deep-blue color illuminated every marking she could see.

Even though the broad-shouldered beast of a man before her seemed to restrain himself from moving closer to her, it didn’t stop the feeling growing within her that there was some invisible band tethering her to Liekki. It was pulled taut, urging her to rise and cross the space to him.

It assured her that she would find pleasure in his arms and so much more.

Avalore bit hard into her bottom lip until she tasted blood. She wasn’t sure if the pleasure or the thought of more scared her most, but she fought against whatever seemed to link them and her need.

“Don’t hurt yourself,” he commanded, his gaze alighted on her mouth.

Now that she felt a little more in control of her body, she licked, releasing her lower lip and clearing away the blood, ensuring she swiped her tongue over her chin to catch the droplet running there.

“How do you know your dragon won’t hurt me?” The pain throbbing in her lip reminded her of the long, sharp teeth of the dragon when he’d come at her in the forest. “How can you stop him if you want me to believe when he is out you are within?”

Appearing more relaxed than moments ago, he crossed his sinewy arms over his broad chest, his markings now subdued and the blaze out of his irises.

“Because he knows you’re his mate.”

His mate. What ? This man could not be saying what she believed he indicated. She rose to her feet and placed her hands on her hips. This man had to be as insane as he was massive.

She guffawed. “No way. How can he possibly assume something too ridiculous to imagine?”

“You lured him to you. It’s how we found you in the forest.”

Then, one fact of his words latched onto her mind. “ His mate? If the two of you are one, supposedly, then wouldn’t that also make me your mate?”

Liekki had the nerve to shrug one big shoulder. “That remains to be seen.”

What in the hell? Could the man and dragon have two different mates? A fist tightened around her heart and made her feel ill with the thought. She refused to acknowledge her response to the idea.

“Enough talk for now. I need to go, and you need to rest.” Unfolding his arms, he waved her toward the side of the bed closest to the fire.

She started toward him. “What if I want to see your—” she yawned, “territory instead?”

He arched both coal-colored brows at her, then shook his head. “Later.”

When she was close, he pressed a hand to her body and guided her the rest of the way to the bed. “Your body must heal before you are strong enough to traverse the lands.

“Fine.” Another yawn wracked her body. She wouldn’t admit it to him but was still tired from the bee stings and escape.

Once she lay on the bed and settled her head against the pillows and Liekki pulled up the covers over her, she said, “Promise me that when I wake, I can leave your home...maybe find somewhere else to stay?”

A part of Avalore knew that her need to leave wasn’t because she feared Liekki.

No. Deep inside of her, she felt warmed and secure by his presence, and his touch confirmed he wouldn’t do her harm.

However, because of those feelings within, she knew she had to get far away from him. And his claiming dragon.

“There isn’t anywhere you can go that my dragon would not follow.” He settled on the bed beside her, the side of his hip pressing against hers as he gently brushed back her hair and traced the side of her face from her brow to her cheek.

“But—”

“Rest.” Liekki blew. A wispy platinum-gray cloud formed from his lips and swirled around her face.

“Wait...what?”

“Inhale.”

More smoke filled the air around her. It wasn’t so thick that she couldn’t still see the man hovering over her, but it obscured everything else in the room. She only heard Liekki and the low sizzle of the fire still burning in the grate.

“What's happening...?” Even as she questioned him about the strange smoke, her lids became heavy and began to lower.

“Inhale, deeper, Avalore.” There was a seduction to his words as cool air brushed her skin.

She attempted to struggle, fight the drowsiness that lay upon her body like a weighted blanket, trapping her beneath it. However, her limbs were weak and useless as she succumbed to the pull of slumber.

“Sleep, little lure.”

~YH~

Amaros .

Amaros opened his eyes and felt content, at peace.

For a moment, he laid still and took in the sounds of the world around him.

He heard not only the movement and noises within the mansion but also those of the birds chirping and running around at dusk in the mountainous forest around them.

Pushing all of those sounds away, out of his mind, he isolated down to what was important to hear: the steady, slow heartbeat of his little angel.

Each beat of her heart now thumped in time to his.

However, the small ones' heart rates were offbeat, but the tiny sounds overlapped each other in a synced wave...thum—thum—thump.

Michaela had come through the other side of her transition perfectly and had fed.

He tightened his arm around her narrow waist and drew her slim form closer to him.

She was practically splayed fully over his body, but he didn’t care.

He loved feeling her warmth, the soft press of her pert breasts against his chest, and the heat of her sex pressed snugly against his thigh.

In her dreamless sleep, which he knew because Vampires only saw darkness when they closed their eyes.

Most likely, it had to do with the Great Spirit blessing them to have a modicum of sanity while they slept since, while awake, they could be haunted by memories of their past and the past in general.

After living for centuries and centuries, the mental weight of it all could be exhausting.

However, even though his little angel did not dream, her body produced a high level of testosterone, estrogen, and oxytocin, which kept her grinding her wet sex up and around his thigh quad, seeking satisfaction.

Hell, it wasn’t her fault; vamps always desired blood and sex.

Even now, his dick was hard. It had been erect since he first smelled the piquant sweetness of her blood and knew she was his in the caves. But even though Michaela had awakened, he needed her a bit more lucid before he fucked her and claimed her.

Amaros needed her out of the manacles of bloodlust, at least in the first two phases. Now that she had cleared her first feeding, animal blood, she needed to consume human blood.

Through him, of course. It would be at least several more days before he could let her take away from an actual person without harming them.

However, as a new Vampire, she needed nutrients for brain development and the strengthening of babies that could only be found in the blood of a human.

It was the reason his kind could not remain sane or in full strength if they only fed on animal blood, and vegetables were only a snack to them, like chips or cookies to a human, with no nutritional value processed through their vampiric digestion.

It essentially became dust once it hit their stomach, non-existent.

Now, her feel and scent made him crave more than blood.

It would take little effort to guide her body until she was fully splayed over him and remove his slacks and glide his stiff cock right into her wet pussy.

He could thrust into her with deep, long strokes and have her in the throes of climax and make her awaken as she screamed his name.

His dick throbbed and rose in his pants, in complete agreement with the idea.

He smothered the groan in his chest. It was more critical for him to feed before she woke than to fuck her brains out. This time.

Amaros .

One moment, Marceline , he bit out mentally, still trying to calm the raging storm of arousal, sending lightning bolts of desire through his body.

Amaros heard his Vice the first time she channeled to him.

Even though he’d kept himself sequestered in the room with Michaela, he’d constantly communicated with Marceline through their mental connection.

Right now, he knew his Vice was only reaching out to him because of the request he made of her an hour before.

Lifting a hand, he grazed his little angel’s face. He brushed away the side bang that had fallen over her eyes in the hours she’d slept. The misnomer that Vampires slept on their backs like the dead in a coffin wasn’t true unless one was an ancient sealed in the caverns below.

The corners of his mouth twitched, nowhere near a smile, but he found humor in how sprawled Micheala slept.

She appeared more human than a vamp now that a significant amount of color had returned to her cheeks and body.

Silently, he requested that she open her lovely eyes so he could see her, see into the soul, and lose himself inside her.

He shook himself. There would be time for that later. He needed to handle the necessary things before she awoke.