In the Veins of the Drowning (The Siren Mage, #1)

by Kalie Cassidy

“I cannot even see her for the way you encompass me.” Emotion etched his face. “You fill my every sense. You stalk my waking mind. You make up the entirety of my dreams.

“It’s not the blood bond. We both know it’s not. There is something between us that that Godsdamned bottle of muck cannot sever.” He closed the rest of the distance between us, cupped my face in his hands. He spoke over my lips. “What I feel for you is beyond reason—beyond duty and desire. You have tipped my whole world on its side, and you are the one clear thing in the chaos.” His nose brushed the end of mine. “You. I want you.”

“Don’t think me selfish,” I breathed. “Don’t resent me for this when I should be finding and reading those books. When I should be taking that severing draught.” There was agony in his look. “If you are selfish”—he gave me a deep, luxurious kiss—“then I am a gluttonous, greed-riddled fiend for how badly I want you.”

He stopped, breath heaving as his smile faded into an open, wondrous look. “I have never wanted anything…” He paused. “… the way I want you.”