Page 279 of House Ignis

“And you still want to marry me?” he whispered. “Knowing the demons? Knowing this?”

I met his gaze with a ferocity that matched his own.

My hand found his cheek, grounding us both.

“Till death do us part,” I promised.

The silence that followed was deafening.

He went rigid, his breath hitching as he looked at me like I had just handed him the sun.

I gave him a small shove, and we moved as one, rising to our knees in the dirt.

“I love you,” I breathed.

“Gods, you have no idea how much I love you, how much I crave you. I want to worship every inch of this gods-given body.”

His response flooded the bond, a tidal wave of undying devotion and carnal need.

Then his lips crashed onto mine.

It wasn't sweet; it wasn't delicate.

It was the desperate hunger of two people starved for each other.

I tasted the sharp iron of my own blood and the grit of the forest floor, and when I pulled back, remembering my bitten tongue, he only gave me a jagged, beautiful grin.

I watched, mesmerized, as he swiped a finger over the blood on my lip and tasted it.

His eyes bled into total darkness before snapping back to molten silver. My magic reacted instantly, orange flames licking across my skin in a restless dance as he savored the copper tang.

“You taste…” He trailed off, closing his eyes as if the flavor itself was a prayer. I let out a low whimper, and his lids snapped open.

“Careful, darling,” he whispered, his hand sliding through my hair.

His expression turned lethal.

“You don’t know what I’m capable of. There are things I like—dark things—that would leave you ruined.”

I leaned into him, the heat between my thighs demanding more.

The chase had primed me; the hunt had made me crave the very things he was trying to hide.

“Show me all of them,” I demanded.

I felt his shock echo through the bond, quickly replaced by possessive concern as his thumb traced the curve of my spine.

I pulled back just enough to see his face. “You think I’ll break?”

“No, firecracker. I know you’ll obey,” he murmured, his voice dropping an octave as he twitched against me.

I moaned, the sound lost in the space between us.

“I’m just afraid of going too far.”

I seized his face, my nails digging slightly into his stubble.

“What if I want you to go too far? What if I want the pain?”