“What exactly is a varcolac demon? I know you can control the gateways and hounds, but I want to know more.”
The blankets fell away from his muscular chest to reveal the markings on it. The sheet covered his waist as he sat up beside me, but it was rising with his growing erection. Grabbing my waist, he pulled me into his lap and held me so my back was against his chest. The rigid evidence of his arousal pressed against the curve of my ass. I melted against him, but he didn’t do anything sexual when he wrapped his arms around me.
“In a very loose way, you know of me.” His warm breath tickled my neck as he spoke, his lips brushing against the bite marks he’d left upon me. “Humans eventually distorted my kind into the legend of the werewolf.”
My mouth dropped, and I twisted in his arms to look at him. His grin revealed the four lengthening fangs that had pierced my skin, marking me as his. As I watched, they retracted so that they were only slightly longer, sharper points than a human’s canines would be.
“However, I do not turn into a wolf, I do not howl at the moon, and everything you know about werewolves is everything I’m not,” he continued.
My fingers fell to the wolves marking his other arm. “Are these wolves?”
“To you they would be; to me and the other demons they are hellhounds. Three times the size of your wolves, they are more vicious, protective, loyal, and far more lethal than the animals you know. Like me. They also mate for life like demons do when they find their Chosen.”
His arms tightened around me. “MyChosen. I should have known it when all other women failed to entice me once meeting you, should have known it when you walked into my dreams, but I was too consumed with my desire for you to look past it to what was driving it. And truth be told, I never believed I would find my Chosen. Only two varcolacs before me have, and it took them far longer than it has taken me.
“Things would have been different between us if I had recognized and claimed you sooner, instead of trying to deny it and telling myself to stay away from you. I would have been better able to control myself when taking you, would have expected such an intense reaction to being inside of you. However, I didn’t really begin to suspect what you might be to me until recently. By then, my hunger for you had grown to nearly uncontrollable levels. Because of that, I hurt you.”
“Not too badly.” I rested my palm against his cheek. I stroked the contour of his jaw, dipping down to his pointed chin. His black eyes watched me intently, but I’d sensed the self-reproach in his tone. “And I was told it’s always painful for women the first time.”
“I would have been gentler with you, taking you with the care you should have been taken with.”
Leaning forward, I kissed his firm lips and rubbed my tongue over the tip of one of his sensitive fangs. I couldn’t help but smile when he growled. “I wouldn’t have changed a thing and I’m fine,” I whispered against his mouth.
His eyes searched over me before he gave a small grunt, but I didn’t think he believed me. His gaze slid to my neck and fastened on the bruises the revenir had left on me. They’d probably darkened over night. Amber light lit his wolf-like eyes. Though I knew it was death on his mind now, I couldn’t help but recall the passion that had blazed from them last night as he’d thrust within me. I withdrew my hand from him before I started licking him all over.
Turning back around, I skimmed my fingers over a symbol resembling a backwards E with what looked like a sword piercing through the center of it. “What do the symbols mean?” I asked.
“That one is Sowa. The best way to translate it into your language would be the blade of fire.”
“And this one?” I pointed at one that was two V’s with a line connecting the tops of the V’s. They could almost be fangs.
“Ziwa, the guardian of the hellhounds. His mark is considered a gift of strength, endurance, and virility. It’s also considered a curse as it marks me as having a piece of the hellhound’s soul within me. The hounds are known for their bursts of violence, ruthlessness, and territoriality.”
“Sounds fitting for you,” I murmured.
He chuckled as he kissed my neck. I was really enjoying this more relaxed, easygoing Kobal. I doubted I would see it outside of this tent, but I loved that he felt comfortable enough around me to let it show now.
“The hounds calm when they find their mate,” he said. “However, there is nothing more dangerous than a hound when their mate is in peril.”
My breasts tingled from the purring tone of his voice. “What of this one?” I inquired and pointed at a straight line with a triangle attached to the middle of it.
“Risaz, it’s a force of destruction.”
I moved through the flames before coming to another symbol. This one was three wavy lines amid the flames. “And this?”
“Zenak, the mark of eternal fire and life.”
Immortal, I recalled with a pang. Something I most certainly was not, and after seeing those things yesterday, I didn’t think I’d live long once we traveled out of this camp and toward the open gateway of Hell. If somehow the two of us managed to survive all of this, I’d think about the implications of being in a relationship with an immortal demon for the rest of my days. Until then, I was going to enjoy the time I had left with him.
“This one?” I asked, pointing to another symbol on his flesh. It looked like a tilted Z.
“Eiaz. A symbol of speed, heightened senses, and protection.”
“Amazing,” I murmured.
“Humans took some of them and turned them into what became known as the Elder Futhark, also known as runes.”
“I don’t know what that is,” I admitted.
