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He stamped down on his own annoyance with this. He’d accepted that this would be the case for as long as it took her to fully trust him.

Despite their undeniable chemistry and the fact that they’d crawled so far into each other, it was sometimes hard for them to tear apart; they’d barely known each other for a month.

To a shifter mate, that time wouldn’t have mattered. To him, it didn’t matter. As soon as he’d realized he could no longer disagree with what his dragon saw, he’d been completely and utterly hers.

Even with the many traits of shifters that she carried, she was an elf-succubus — he still couldn’t believe it — -angel.

As such, he knew he would have to win her over the non-shifter way, and as frustrating as it was proving at the moment, he found that the idea fascinated him.

Placing a hand on the small of her back he motioned to the kingdom he’d planned to show her when they were on more sturdy ground, “While I was in charge of my dragons in Draconis, you would have been in charge of leading Dragon City. Of getting the defenses ready in case Draconis fell, like Opal and Phineas were.”

She blinked out at the city and he felt the moment it all became clear. “You couldn’t send me here because of my family. They can’t know.”

He shook his head. “No. They can’t.”

It was the reason he had an entire plan to introduce her to the place.

The smell of salt in the air preceded the tears that rolled down her cheeks.

She turned and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face into the space underneath his chest.

Caught off guard, he reflexively returned the embrace.

She’d been suppressing her emotions from the bond.

The fear and sorrow that washed over him as she released her hold on the dam she’d built slashed across his heart.

What could make her feel like this?

Alessandro pulled her in closer, rocking back and forth to soothe the pain.

“I’m trying not to fall here, San. Please stop being so fucking perfect.”

He blinked in surprise and down at her. “What?”

She buried her chin against his chest to stare up at him. Her lashes dripped her tears, eyes shone red, nose slightly ran.

Alessandro had never seen a more perfect sight. He cupped her cheek and furrowed his eyebrows.

“Why haven’t you given in to your godhood?”

“Because it isn’t my power.” It was the answer he’d always given.

But her shining eyes, both the blue and starry one, required something deeper.

Something he’d never admitted out loud. “People know that there are proper gods, those who spring from the celestial realm when enough humans practice their faith, and that there are made-gods, mystics who evolve from the faith of other mystics. What most people are unaware of is that no matter how they got into the celestial realms, they fall into two types of godhood. Do you know what those are?”

She shook her head, and the movement tickled.

He ran his fingers through her hair as he continued.

“There is the godhood of creation and the godhood of destruction. I fall into the latter category because my people gave me the power to bring about the destruction of King Titus.” He sighed.

“Gods of destruction are few, because the gods of creation usually enslave or eradicate them.”

Her eyes widened.

“I don’t and won’t give into my godhood because I have no desire to live in that violence. And now you’ve given me another reason to keep rejecting it.” He motioned toward the mating mark on his forehead. “As long as you keep choosing this, keep choosing me, I’m not going any- fucking-where.”

“What if one day you are left with no choice?” She whispered. “What am I supposed to do if you’re forced to leave?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Is that what’s been holding you back?”

She gave a miserable nod.

“We can figure out the middle of what that may all mean together.” Her words thrown back at her was all she needed to hear.

She closed her eyes and laughed. “This relationship is going to be such a pain in the ass.”

“I realized that the moment you showed up to your coronation with the devil as your godfather.” He groaned as he pulled her into his chest and kissed the top of her head. “But you’re worth every growing pain.”

He didn’t have to see her face to tell that she was blushing. He could feel the heat against his sternum.

“San, say we were to make our way over to that giant bed in the middle of the room and you were to lie down while I rode your--”

“Ro, are you about to say something perverted to soften the blow of me saying something intimate?” He asked.

“I-I can be intimate.” She pulled back to stare up at him. “Say we were to make our way over to that giant bed in the middle of the room and you were to lie down while I rode your….damn it.”

He let out a sharp laugh. “Why don’t you just tell me what you were really going to say?” He nuzzled her neck, and she squealed. “I prefer my insatiable mate, if I’m being honest.”

She relaxed against him as his tongue snaked out and ran over the scar of where he’d marked her and she became putty in his hands.

“Say it.” He growled into her ear, nibbling at the lobe.

Instead of speech, she fed him a vision. It was her first time giving anything to their bond. His dragon damn near purred in his head.

“Your wish is my command.” It was only a moment as he tore away the flimsy cloth that was her skirt.

XOXOXO

She let out a frustrated growl. “I liked that skirt.”

“Pity.” He didn’t sound the least bit concerned as he stepped back.

Confusion laced through her until the feel of velvet on her side brought her attention to the curtains that were slinking around her body.

Her jaw dropped. What he had in mind began making sense as the curtains began knotting against her flesh, slowly raising her up, spread open for his viewing pleasure.

“Wai-” the cloth wrapped around her mouth.

His smirk was a challenge. She narrowed her eyes.

“I wanted to ride your face.”

He positioned her shins on his shoulders, arms supporting her ass so she could control the movement of her hips. A thrill of pleasure launched from her belly as his tongue carved a trail of heat along her inner thigh through her entire opening.

Well, okay then.

She melted into the ride, the flexibility of the curtains giving her a bounce that aided her momentum as she began climbing the sweet hill of an orgasm.

His hand was on her fucking tail and gods.

She never knew how lucky she’d been to receive the gifts of her succubus blood until he showed her what their bodies could do together.

The closer she got, the tighter the curtain felt around her limbs, the sensations he felt as he shared her pleasure stacked up, making her body tighten in anticipation.

“Let go.”

She didn’t want to.

She wanted to hold on to that moment forever. Her breath left her body as he extended his fangs and lightly pierced her bud.

She saw white. Her climax was a geyser as her body shook for what felt like a small eternity before she fell limp against her bindings.

It was a moment of total relaxation that she regretted immediately as one of the several visions that had been haunting her all day slid past the crack of the mental shields.

A combination of flesh and blood colored the wall behind the crumpled body of a middle-aged human woman as a knife repeatedly plunged into her face.

She could hear the cracks and the squelch of the knife, but that wasn’t nearly as horrifying as the voice that reached out for Rowan.

Help. Help .

She slammed her shields back into place as she came back to her own reality. Alessandro was stepping out from underneath her, curling her into his arms as the curtains unwound themselves.

Her essence drenched his face. A foreign feeling of absolute possession crawled inside of her as she curled her arms around his neck and trailed her tongue from where she’d claimed him up to the lobe of his ear.

“Give me a second, woman.” He growled as his legs ate the distance to the bed.

She saved them the need by phasing them.

Admittedly, it was a clumsy phase as she missed by a couple of feet and they tumbled onto the floor where she climbed over him, taking his mouth in a breathless kiss.

“I want more.” She sobbed, her frustration welling up inside of her.

She knew it was irrational. But the visions were undoing her. She needed to find something to anchor her. Shouldn’t her mate be perfect for it? Why wasn’t it working? Had she fucked it up?

He rolled them so he was on top. He was careful with her wings, concern etched on his eyebrow as he looked her over.

“Alessandro, I feel like I’m drowning.” She wiped the tears that escaped from her eyes. “I can’t block them out.”

His eyes widened. “Who?”

“The cursed objects.” She shook her head. “ All the cursed objects.”

Understanding relaxed his face, and he pulled her to sit cross-legged across from him.

“You’re connected.” His eyes began glowing golden.

He had answers?

She nodded. “I don’t know how. I tried searching for the connection after I claimed the staff, but it’s a solitary bond.”

He let out a soft curse and took a deep breath. “When you hear them, do you feel like they’re trying to drag you to them?”

“Yes. But there are so many that it feels like a tug of war.”

He closed his eyes and bowed his head.

This was it. The confirmation she’d needed. She straightened her back and put her hands on his cheeks. “What is it?”

His eyes slid open and white light blazed inside of them.

Warm moisture slid down her cheeks as she locked her gaze with his.

Pain lanced through her. She winced, and his hands covered her vision.

Coolness dissipated the pain and when he pulled them away again, Rowan’s stomach fell at the sight of the being in front of her.

She’d seen a brief glimpse of this that night he had projected himself into her room to work with the plant.