Anathema (The Eating Woods, #1)

by Keri Lake

“I am angry at you.” The deep timber of his voice rumbled in my ear, and he spun me around, keeping in time with the other couples. “For wearing this dress. For looking so painfully exquisite, you’ve managed to draw everyone’s attention. Including mine.”

“You’re incapable of blending, Maevyth.” Again, we found ourselves palm to palm, repeating the same steps as before. “And the scorpion?” “I like the way it feels against my spine.” He slid his hand to the small of my back, and my stomach fluttered at the gentle touch of his fingers there. “I curse Rykaia for bringing you here. And yet, the thought of never seeing you in this dress is a torment in itself.”

“Did he recognize you?” “No. I don’t think so.” “Then, why are you so interested in him?”

“He’s handsome without being grumpy.” “If you like boys who can barely lift their own swords,”

“Who is Moros?” “He’s the one I was betrothed to. The one my step-grandmother sold me off to.” He made a growling sound in his throat, wrapping me in his embrace. “You’re mated?” “Mated?” Acids shot to my throat at the thought of being a mate to Moros. “No. I ran away. Into the woods. But Moros, he has mines in Lyveria, and he claimed to have come upon a chasm filled with white stones.”

… to you no doubt lmao

“I will not say a word, so long as you inquire about Aleysia.” “Doing so would mean I’d have to kill him.” “What? Why?” “Because asking him about her would inspire him to think of you.”

Hehehhehehe

“You fucking look at her, and I’ll carve your eyes from their sockets then cram them down your gullet.”

“You’re worried I’m going to touch you.”

“Do you find it difficult, lying beside a woman this way?”

“As a general rule? No. But when that woman is you? Yes.”

“Surely you’ve enjoyed the pleasures of other women,”

“I have,” he answered, the frustration of his aloof response cooling the fire inside of me. “How many?” The more he irritated me with his answers, the faster this longing would fizzle away. “Not enough to drown the urges I’m feeling now.”

“A thousand times I’ve fantasized this moment, and still, I failed to imagine you’d be this perfect.”

“You look like a goddess right now,” he whispered, burying his face in my neck, kissing me. He ghosted his mouth over my jaw, my cheek, until he finally crushed his lips to mine. “And you taste as divine.”

The magic and heat between us warned of something explosive. Something I’d never find in another so long as I lived.

“I did that?” “When you screamed.” He pulled me into him and kissed my forehead. “Not that I’m complaining. That is a sound I’ll never tire of hearing.”

GOODBYYYYEEEEEE

“Did we …” “No. As open as you seemed to be to the idea of that, I wouldn’t touch a woman in such a state.” He let out a sigh. “But I surely enjoyed watching you.”

“I want you. I want you so desperately that I’d kill anything with a pulse just to have you for one night. This insatiable craving I feel …”

“I can’t fucking breathe. I ache for you, Maevyth. Believe me when I say this.”

His mate.

Touch her. She’s yours. He screwed his eyes shut and shook his head. What had he ever done in his ruthless life to deserve something so innocent and good?

Everything he’d ever given a damn about had come at a tragic cost, so why would he trust that fate wouldn’t stab him in the back?

And even if Zevander had the audacity to question a vision from the gods, that first kiss in his office had certainly laid all doubt to rest. It was then he’d felt the first tug of his bond. The shaking of his bones that’d awakened the possessive beast inside of him. The first sputtering beat of his dead heart.

Having a mortal for a mate would mean suffering the agony of watching her die too soon. But perhaps that was fitting. The final punishment of the gods, because an eternity with her seemed as unreachable as the stars.

Yet, knowing her life would be cut short, could he sacrifice even a fractional moment with her?

A turbulent gale of confusion over what he wanted and what he’d have sooner carved his own heart out to avoid. And in the center of that storm was Maevyth. The only constant. A beacon in a dark, black sea. A light too bright for his eyes, but damn the gods, even if he had to maim and kill for all eternity to keep her safe from his enemies, one fact remained true.

She was his. Lunamiszka. My little moon witch.

!!!!!!!

But the prince and I are also linked by blood magic,” he went on. “Should I die, he will surely die, also.”

His son’s life had been soulbound. Not only to the amulet, but to Cadavros himself.

“And I am yours to touch, Maevyth. I crave your touch more than my next breath.”

“Some might call it a punishment,” I said, smiling. “If this is punishment, then I welcome an eternity of suffering.”

“You consume me entirely, little moon witch.”

“I can imagine biting into your flesh, can practically taste the blood on my tongue, but I’d sooner rip my own heart out than hurt you that way. Do you understand the difference?”

“You are dangerously stunning.”

“Is this okay?” I asked. He nodded against me. “I didn’t know it would feel like this.”

“I’ve not allowed a woman to touch me like this in centuries.”

The metal rods pressed into my palm, stirring my imagination.

“These curiosities will be the death of me.” Again, he kissed my forehead. “My body belongs to you, Maevyth. It is yours.”

Mine

“Maevyth, what are you doing to me?”

“Whether you’re experienced, or not, makes no difference. You’re the only one who makes me feel something.” He threaded his fingers in mine and kissed the back of my hand. “Your scent, your lips, your touch. It’s all I think about. Incessantly.” A kiss to my jaw. “The way you’ve crawled inside my head …” Fist tangled in my hair, he tugged my head back and dragged his teeth across my throat, the threat of a bite quickening my pulse. “I crave every part of you with an ungodly voracity.”

“You’re calling me mad now?” I asked with a smile. “I’m calling you mine.”

EEEEEE!!!!!

“You are mine, moon witch. For all eternity and whatever lies beyond it. No soul has ever been more intricately woven into mine than yours.”

“And you are mine,” I whispered.

“I will not let anything hurt you.”

“I’d quite enjoy watching over you all hours of the day.” He wrapped me tighter and kissed my forehead. “Particularly when your shirt is hiked up and your hands are bound. I’d never take my eyes off you.”

“If preventing this plague means sacrificing your life, then I’ve no interest in saving everyone else. The

whole world could perish of disease and famine, for all I care.”

“Some would call that selfish.” I traced my finger over the deep ridge in his che...

“Rykaia would be first in line for my head, if I sacrificed you.”