Chapter 27

Ursula opened her eyes slowly. Outside, storm winds howled around the cabin, and the fire crackled in the stove. She was pretty much naked, apart from her lacy bra and knickers. Bael lay next to her, his eyes closed, his mouth no longer pressed to her wrist. Her hand lay on his chest, and as she started to move it away, his eyes opened: two orbs, the color of blood.

“Ursula,” he said, his voice rough. His body was full of tension, like it was taking every ounce of his strength to keep himself from tearing her to pieces. Slowly, he began to push himself up.

Ursula remembered his broken body. “Don’t move.”

She looked at his legs—the ripped flesh and shattered bones now completely healed over. His hips looked aligned. She might have turned him into a cannibal with a personal fixation on her blood, but at least she’d healed him.

She looked again, and fear prickled through her. Bael’s legs were no longer bound with rope. Before she could scoot out of range, Bael grabbed her by the waist, his fingers gripping her tightly. He pulled her to his muscled chest, pure steel, and his blood-red eyes bored into her.

Her blood raced through her veins. She was acutely aware of every inch of skin that touched him, her breasts pressed against his chest.

She was also aware that he could rip her throat out at any moment, but she couldn’t seem to focus on anything except his powerful body under hers, his fingers on her waist. His breath warmed her neck, his mouth dangerously close to her throat. Without entirely realizing what she was doing, she arched her neck in a silent invitation. She intuited that she had to let him take control right now, to give in to what he wanted.

His teeth skimmed her throat. “You healed me,” he growled. “With your blood.”

She felt her hips pressing against him. “There wasn’t any other way.”

“I told you to get help.”

The first time he had drunk from her, he’d become bestial and demonic. This time he seemed more in control. Maybe Xarthra’s blood is still helping him.

Ursula touched his cheek. “I saw you. In the battle of Mount Acidale. We’ve met before.”

Bael’s voice purred against her throat. “What are you talking about?”

“I saw your memory, after my mother attacked the queen. I was there. Abrax tried to attack me, but you parried. I tried to kill you. You let me live. So consider us even.”

Bael’s breath was hot on her cheek, and his sandalwood scent curled around her like a dangerous caress. Ursula’s skin heated. His eyes had faded to a pale gray again, now full of questions. His skin felt smooth against hers, and the entirety of her world narrowed to every point of contact between them—the tops of her breasts skimming against his chest, his fingers possessive on her waist. She wanted them to move lower, to explore her body.

As if reading her thoughts, Bael pressed his mouth to hers in a searing kiss. She parted her lips, her tongue brushing against his. Her skin heated, chest flushing, and molten heat pooled in her core. She hooked her leg around him, silently demanding more from him. She felt as if her breasts were swelling, her body readying itself for him.

For just a moment, he pulled away from the kiss. “I love you, Ursula,” he said. His voice was perfectly even, like this statement was nothing more than a comment on the weather outside. But as she looked into his gray eyes, she knew this couldn’t be further from the truth. With this statement, he was telling her his devotion was complete. With these simple words, he was telling her he would follow her to the ends of the earth, that he would protect her in any way she desired, that he would die for her if he had to.

She held his gaze. “I love you too.”

Bael pulled her close again, enveloping her in his arms. His dark, powerful magic whispered over her skin, and his chest swelled with each breath.

Ursula laced her fingers through his thick hair, and warmth surged within her. She wanted him to tear off the last scraps of fabric between them, to press his mouth to her breasts. She unhooked her bra, letting her nipples brush against his body, and she felt his muscles stiffen as he tried to restrain himself.

He pressed his mouth to her neck, teeth skimming her throat, until his warm tongue replaced it, swirling over her skin. As Bael’s hands slid upward along the curve of her ribs, she let out an involuntary moan. Her breasts brushed against him as they kissed, her nipples hardening. Gently, he pushed her onto her back. Of course he wanted to be in control here. He ran his hand down her body until it reached her panties, and she lifted her hips as he pulled them off.

His eyes drank in her naked body, hungry and desperate, swirling with dark shadows. He was fighting hard to restrain himself. She didn’t want him to hold back. She wanted him to completely unleash himself on her. She reached for him, pulling off his boxer briefs.

“Ursula,” he started to say, but she arched her back, her legs falling open to entice him.

A low, animal growl escaped his throat, and Bael let go of his restraints. He gripped her hips, his mouth hot and possessive on her neck. She gasped as he filled her.

“Bael…”

Heat suffused her. Not the burning pain of Emerazel’s fire, but a fever that threatened to overwhelm her very being as they moved together. Bael’s breath was hot in the cusp of her ear. An incandescent flame lit in her very core until pure ecstasy claimed her mind.