Her scent is tangled in my skin now, woven into every breath I take. Her mark sings through my veins, each beat of my heart screaming her name. And yet I’m still starving for her.
I draw back just enough, mouth brushing her jaw. The second I pull back slightly and our eyes lock, I snap. I can’t hold myself back anymore.
She marked me to save my life. Now I’ll mark her to claim hers.
She knows what’s coming. I can see it in her eyes. The raw, wild need that matches mine.
I tilt her head with one hand and bare her throat with the other.
She doesn’t resist.
Her pupils are blown wide, her lips parted, chest rising fast as her body presses harder into mine.
There’s no thought left.
I lower my head to the curve of her neck and feel her pulse against my mouth.
The bond thrums between us, tense, bright and desperate.
I bare my fangs. Her pulse flutters against my lips.
I bite hard, maybe harder than I need to. Her blood floods my mouth and it’s so intoxicating that I close my eyes in pleasure.
As my fangs sink in, her soul flares like sunlight, her body arching in my arms. Her cry splits the wind. My fire responds, flames from my wings snapping outward in a blaze of gold and red and pure light.
The bond slams into place. Complete and unbreakable.
Magic erupts from us — mine and hers — melding like molten steel, searing across her skin in glowing sigils only I can read. They shine for a heartbeat, etched into her flesh like a vow.
Her mark forms across the base of her neck and shoulder. My name, forever on her skin.
And then I feel hers. I couldn’t feel it when she marked me, I was lost to the curse. But now it tears through me like lightning. Her soul claims me back, a silken chain of starlight wrapping around my heart.
I groan against her skin, holding her tighter than I thought I ever could.
We’re falling — weightless, slow, not down, but into each other.
Into forever.
I pull back, lips brushing her ear.
“You’re mine now,” I whisper.
She smiles.
“That doesn’t mean you’re off the hook for all these mate problems you brought into my life.”
We laugh as hellfire dances behind us, lighting the night sky like a second sun.
I kiss her like she’s the air I need to breathe. Like if I stop, I’ll forget how to exist.
She moans against my mouth, grinding into me with a hunger that sends a dangerous spark shooting down my spine. Her scent wraps around me like silk.
“I need you, Your Majesty,” she whispers, her voice low, a plea masked as a challenge.
My grip tightens on her hips, dragging her closer, chest to chest, her warmth burning through every layer of me.
“Call me ‘Your Majesty’ again,” I growl against her throat, kissing a trail down her skin. “And I’ll ruin you, right here, midair.”
