Page 127 of Bone Year

“Go to sleep, Rose.”

“Draven.”

“I can’t help her now. Neither can you. Go to sleep.”

I turn over and close my eyes. I hope I’m letting my imagination get the best of me. I don’t want to believe the worst in people, but lately I’m finding it hard not to.

I roll onto my side and reach out to touch Noctis, and my hand presses against a bare chest.

My eyes snap open.

Draven is lying beside me, his eyes already open, that magnificent gold and red swirled together, so bright in the dark of the room. I open my mouth to ask what the fuck he’s doing in my bed, but he presses a finger to my lips before I can speak. I reach up and grab his forearm to tug his hand away, and he moves it behind my back instead, slipping under my sweater and pressing his warm palm to the small of my back, drawing me closer.

“Drav—”

His lips touch mine, and before I know it I’m kissing him back. My tongue tangles with his, and he tastes even better than he smells, fresh snow, sweet whiskey and a hint of smoke. He pushes me onto my back and rolls on top of me, deepening the kiss. It’s hot and rough and all-consuming in the best way. I run a hand along the rough line of his jaw then up into his hair, and he groans into my mouth.

Oh gods, this is naughty and delicious and everything I’ve wanted and didn’t know I needed.

His hand slides under my sweater and finds my breast, pinching my nipple between his thumb and finger until I’m bucking beneath him, my hips rising against his body on instinct. I run a hand down his bare chest, across the muscles of his stomach, lower between us until I’m tugging at the ties of his pants.

He breaks the kiss, and his eyes meet mine again, the red bleeding into the gold until only flecks remain. “I don’t want gentle, Rose. I want every sound you’ve been keeping behind your teeth.”

I suck in a breath, pulling my bottom lip into my mouth as he brushes my hair from my face.

“Look at you, Freckles.” His voice has dropped to something low and dangerous. “Pretty little healer with her hand on my cock.”

Heat flashes through me so fast I forget how to answer.

His mouth finds the two scars on my neck, and his tongue circles the spot where Malric bit me.

“I’m going to bite you here,” he murmurs against my throat. “Right where he did. I want to stop thinking about him every time I see this mark.”

I whimper before I can stop myself.

“I’m going to mark you, Rose.” His fangs graze my skin. “My mark is going to be the only one you carry and I’m going to spend the rest of the night making sure you forget the other one was ever there.”

The anticipation has me melting inside, warmth spreading between my legs. He kicks his pants off, and I feel the swell of his cock between my thighs, pressing against my thin pajama shorts. He kisses me again, and I pull his bottom lip into my mouth and suck until he groans, my hips lifting again, wanting him closer.

He reaches down and pushes my shorts off, and I lift my hips to help him kick them away.

My heart is racing, and I am embarrassingly, achingly wet when his cock starts to push at my entrance.

“Are you ready for me to take you, Rose?”

“Yes. Gods, yes.”

His teeth sink into my neck at the same moment he thrusts inside me, and I cry out at the pain, the sting between my legs and the burn at my throat blurring into one impossible sensation. He drinks from me and starts to move, and the delicious shock of him pushes me past anything I have words for. He pulls out slowly and pushes back in, filling me so full it shouldn’t be possible. I wrap my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck and hold him there, drinking and fucking me in the same rhythm.

When he pulls away from my neck, I see my blood on his lips, dripping down his chin. He pulls his bottom lip into his mouth and licks it clean, his eyes meeting mine, completely red now and glowing in the dark.

“You taste so fucking good.”

He grips the headboard for leverage and thrusts into me again and again. The bite is making me warm and dizzy, and I lift my hips to meet him, staring up into those glowing eyes.

“Are you ready to stop being a weak human, Rose?”

My eyebrows furrow. I don’t know what he means and can barely think straight when he keeps drawing these embarrassing sounds out of me, but I nod anyway. I’m ready for whatever he wants to give me. I want all of it.