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“Then for what reason?” He backed her slowly toward the wall behind her. “Tell me why you want my fangs inside you.”
“Make me forget everything Flavian said to me here. All I want to remember is what you say in my ear when you push my legs apart and pin me to this wall.”
She watched his fangs drop further at her words, and she pressed her thighs together.
“Remind me I’m your Grace,” she said breathlessly.
The wall came up against her back. The hard ridge of his desire pressed into her belly. He slid both his hands behind her head and tilted her face up to him.
When his mouth took hold of hers, the current of magic between them became a flood. Warmth and energy surged into her chest and groin. She moaned and arched into him, rubbing against his erection in time to the pulse of his magic.
He left her dining on this mere taste while he kissed her senseless. She needed more than his kisses. But she never wanted them to end.
He let her up for air. The magic didn’t stop. Her hips twisted between him and the wall, seeking to ride the current. Needing to ride him.
This was who she really was. Her free, true self did not fit behind her old mask of control anymore.
He trailed his fangs delicately up her neck, not yet breaking the skin. Then he murmured in her ear, “Are you cold?”
Trust Lio to think of her comfort when all she wanted was for him to pound into her until she couldn’t stand up. Goddess, his sweetness only made her want his fangs more. “I feel like I’m on fire.”
“That confirms another of my theories. The magic is keeping you warm.”
His hand came to her collar, and his nimble fingers did away with the fasteners of her robe as only an immortal could. Cool, damp air washed over her breasts, and she gasped with relief from the heat. He watched her chest rise and fall, and her nipples tightened under his gaze.
He barely moved, but the rest of her fasteners gave way. Her silk robe slid open all the way to her ankles. He moved back to look at her, his hands propped on either side of her. She leaned there, bared to him in the night air. Exposed on the parapet of a castle full of men who thought they controlled her.
A wild laugh flew out of her. They had no idea.
“You’re so beautiful,” Lio said. “I love seeing you like this.”
“Let me see you.” There it was, the voice she now recognized as her own, bold and sensual.
He was a blur of Hesperine grace before her eyes. Then his robes were at his feet, and he stood naked before her, like some new god Hespera had sent to her in the night. His power pumped into her, a sensate heat in her chest and between her legs. Cassia’s nails dug into the stone behind her, and she squeezed her legs tighter.
“Let go,” he said. “Stop trying not to pull on my magic.”
Was she still trying not to? She hadn’t realized it. But yes, within her, there remained a deep hesitation.
“No one will find us here.” His voice echoed through the mind ward. “Our secrets are safe.”
Oh, that close call in the great hall had affected her. Fear of discovery—just fear was what kept a tight grip on the current of magic now trying to overwhelm her.
He braced his hands on either side of her again, leaning closer. She could feel the heat coming off of him. The magic was warming him, too. “Ever since we returned to Tenebra, you’ve been holding back. Don’t let this kingdom do that to you.”
She gasped. “You’re right. Why am I doing this to myself?”
“Self control was once your only self defense. But you’re a heretic now, my Grace. No matter the little ruse we keep up in front of the mortals, you are not Lady Cassia Basilis any longer. Your old fears are no match for you.”
The evening mist was gathering on his pale skin, a sheen on every line of light muscle along his chest and torso. Her gaze drifted downward to his waiting erection, and she licked her lips, biting back a moan. As if in response to her appetite, a little crest of his power washed over her.
His erection leapt, and he gave a short groan. “Oh, yes, Cassia. Feast on me just like that.”
She stretched her new senses, trying to release her inhibitions. Like fists curled tight inside her, they throttled her pull on his magic. “But something terrible could happen to you—to us—to the kingdom if they find out about us too soon.”
“You’re safe with me. You always have been.”
Those words undid her. The tension deep within her released, and she surrendered to the pulse of the magic.
