Page 24 of Until the Heart Stops (The Oylen City #1)

T he moment Lilith stepped off the stones and into the garden, I slipped through the crowd.

My heart beat in my ears, louder and deeper than it ever had before, as if all my magic, my blood, my power thirsted for her.

It had only been a week since we’d found Seth and brought him to Eamon, but his blood had changed me in ways I had not expected.

Nor had I stopped to count the cost of such an act.

I was stronger than ever before. My small bit of magic I’d kept from my humanity had grown until I felt like a child learning to control it once more.

Mael, thank the goddess, had not called on me since I’d returned, busy with matters of the Covenant and their bid to expand their reach outside of the borders of the continent.

The moment he saw me he would know what I’d done and what I’d unleashed into this world.

I only hoped that by that time I would be staring at a dead man.

Lilith did not move into the gardens as I expected, but toward the maze.

My senses sharpened as she flitted behind the wall and a growl slipped between my teeth.

I darted to the entrance, but she was nowhere to be found.

Her scent, however, was thick, her need so heady my cock jumped.

When her footsteps echoed back to me all my control snapped.

I hunted her.

Silent as the grave I sliced through the maze, following her scent just as easily as if I could see her.

Along the way I shucked my formal jacket and waistcoat.

She was running now, her fingertips brushing the edges of the leaves as she turned right, left, and left again.

A breathless laugh ahead told me she’d come to a dead end and, though I could sense her turning to go another way, she was too late.

I darted out, wrapped my arms around her waist and pinned her against the hedge with her back to my chest. She gave out a squeal, wriggling in my hold, but a rumble deep in my chest had her freezing in place, head tipping to the side to expose her throat in submission.

This fucking witch.

Her scent was too much, her heat, her heart, her body.

It was all overwhelming to the point of insanity.

I tightened my grip, fangs pressing lightly against her neck as I pushed harder against her backside.

When her hands flew out to steady herself, I wrenched them above her head and spun her in place.

Her pupils were blown wide, lips parted in a silent pant.

“Don’t fucking move,” I growled, moving her wrists into one palm and sliding my freed hand up the silken fabric of her bodice before strumming a finger across her nipple.

A whine slid from between her teeth but fire flared in her expression. “What happens if I move?”

My hand shot up to bracket her throat and her hips tilted, seeking out my cock even through the layers and layers of fabric. I leaned down until my teeth grazed the shell of her ear. “If you move, I will mate you, fuck you, mark you, and ruin you for all others for all time.”

Again, her head tilted to the side, this time in a conscious offering. “I’m already ruined, Callum—I’m already yours.”

The sight of her pale throat in the moonlight undid me. Just like that night in the forest when we unearthed Seth, I didn’t stop to count the cost. Instead, instinct had its claws in me as I surged forward, the hand on her throat flying to her hair just as my fangs sank into her delicate skin.

Lilith moaned loud enough I was sure if anyone was outside they would hear, but I was too far gone.

This was the elixir I’d spent my entire existence looking for.

Just as I’d predicted, Seth’s godly blood was only a pale shadow in comparison to this.

My cock throbbed painfully and I thrust against her skirts in a desperate attempt to relieve the ache.

She, too, was moving, fingers sliding through my hair before drawing up the fabric to her waist.

I let go of her wrists in favor of reaching between her thighs, only to moan through the thick blood pooling in my mouth.

She was dripping and every other breath was a keening, pitiful whimper.

I didn’t know what I needed more on my tongue in this moment: her blood or her cunt.

I drew back and fell to my knees, ripping away the small piece of fabric covering her sex.

Both, I realized as I licked the need from her skin and closed my mouth over her clit—I needed both.

My teeth scraped along the sensitive flesh before I moved higher to bite into the side of her thigh just at the junction of her hip.

Blood pooled, flowed across her sex. A wanton moan had me gazing up.

Lilith’s head was tilted back against the hedge, one hand tangled in my hair while the other gripped the vines.

I lifted her leg higher, sliding it over my shoulder to open her further before returning to her clit, sucking it gently as I pressed two fingers inside.

She shattered with a cry, pulsing around my fingers needily. I groaned, bit my tongue and slicked it across the wound at her thigh to close the bite before surging to my feet. Protests slithered through the air, but they quieted as I lowered her to the soft grass.

“I need it,” Lilith moaned.

I undid the placket of my trousers, knelt between her thighs and pushed two fingers inside her again, curling and stretching. But she shook her head even as her hips tilted to take more.

“No—need you inside of me.”

I chuckled darkly, adding a third. “I need to get you ready, darling, so you can take all of me.”

Reaching through the fabric of my trousers, I pulled out my weeping cock, fisting it tightly. Her eyes widened.

“It won’t fit,” she panted.

Curling my fingers, I rubbed them against her front wall. “Oh, it will fit, and you know why?”

Her mouth slackened as a flush crept across her chest. She was riding my hand now, the soft delicious noise of my fingers in her cunt music in my ears.

“W-why?”

I twisted my wrist and her orgasm took her in a wave. “Because we were made for each other.”

Before she could come down completely, I withdrew my hand and coated my length in her release. Gently I rubbed the crown of my cock up and down her slit, not bothering to fight my smile as she writhed beneath me, fingers digging into the fabric of my tunic. And then slowly I pressed inside.

My moan was deep, almost a growl. I saw stars when I slipped in another inch, welcomed by her scalding heat and desire. “Fuck.”

“Callum, oh, goddess,” Lilith gasped. “So full.”

I laughed and it was freeing to allow myself that small pleasure—to laugh in her presence. I brushed my mouth across her brow before dipping down to lick the blood drying across her throat. The wound was still open and I knew what would get her through this next part.

“Are you ready for me, my darling? Mind, body, and soul?”

Her answering yes was a plea. Lilith was babbling, magic sparking across her skin and hair, sending shimmering silver bursts around us. I pushed all the way in as my teeth slid back into the wound on her neck, the first pull of blood as I sheathed myself inside of her a rapture and a revelation.

It was instant, the bond. Deeper than it had ever been when she drank my blood.

There was an overwhelming urge to protect, a possessive fierceness that had me pumping into her, desperate to fill her with my seed.

And then there were her emotions, her desire and need for the same thing.

Lilith wanted to protect me as much as I did her, wanted to possess me as I did her.

We were lost as I took another deep pull.

When her orgasm crashed over her only a minute later, her blood heated and sweetened.

I could see why the Covenant didn’t want us engaging in such an act.

Because in this simple moment I knew I would never drink another human’s blood, that I could never return to the synthetic slop within Mael’s palace.

With each draught our magic grew together until I could sense she could tap into my magic as I could hers.

She would heal faster, call for me when she was in danger, and perhaps utilize my strength when hers waned. She was mine as much as I was hers.

And we would never be alone again.