More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
The blood in her veins turned to ice. It was the man she’d been worried about. Before this horrifying ritual had begun, this man had stared at her in a way that had made her whole body ring with alarm. He’d looked large before when they’d locked eyes from a distance, but now…he was massive.
The expression in his blood-red eyes could only be described as hungry.
“An offering for you.” Before her vision went completely black, she heard him say in a deep rumbling voice, “My little wife.”
Don’t fret, lovely human, his fever-stricken mind whispered. I’ll protect you.
But I would cherish you, little doe.
There was no blade on Clecania that could slice him as deeply as that tear.
Despite his efforts, she flinched at the sound of her name. I will make this up to you, little doe.
On the other hand, cooking was a mainstay of her identity as a kitchen witch and, as much as Rhaego unnerved her, she wanted to see what cooking looked like here, what the ingredients looked like.
“I crave your natural smile. Your teeth are far too pretty to ever offend me.”
Clutching the flower to her chest, she beamed up at Rhaego. His purr rumbled out of him for a moment before he muffled it and blushed.
submerged to her chin. “Open your mouth, little doe.” His rumbling voice traveled through her bones and calmed her rattling teeth. She opened. The edge of his cupped hand met her bottom lip, and he poured water into her mouth. It was warmer than the frigid stream. From his hot palm, she distantly realized.
“Eat first.” Brows lifting at the command, she peered down at the bowl and lifted it. He’d never been so demanding of a female, and he found that her continued obedience did something lascivious to him. The dynamic was a bit intoxicating.
Aurora’s hair was silky and damp, gliding across his palm like water. Extending the claws on his right hand, he brushed them through her mane, working out the knots. He scraped the sharp tips across her scalp gently and nearly combusted when she let out a little sound of pleasure and shivered.
A slow creeping smile spread across Rhaego’s full lips. “What a clever wife I’ve caught.”
Fever stirred in his belly when her lush chest began to rise and fall with quickened breaths. “Careful, little doe,” he rumbled, slowly lifting his arm in an arc over her head to untangle the fabric from behind her back.
If she could get away with comforting him in all the ways she wanted—with caresses and kisses and embraces and food and compliments—she’d be one very happy witch. She wanted to climb her sad demon husband like a tree and make all his grief disappear.
Previously, his marking hadn’t been consensual, but now it was. There was a whole new layer of satisfaction and dark pleasure that came from knowing his female wanted his scent on her.
“The Goddess was unreasonably generous when she formed you.” Aurora’s skin warmed, her body swaying closer to his. He met her eyes. “It would be blasphemous to hide the fruits of her labor.”
“I’m desperate to try, little doe. But the practice is unfamiliar to me, and I worry the taste of your mouth would leave me fever-stricken.”
“How small are you, little witch?” he rasped, nipping the sensitive skin below her ear. “Let us find out.”
The burn remained. He glanced into the splintered mirror and time stopped. Fevered crimson pulsed like a burning coal floating in two inky black voids. Black. His eyes were black.
The world blurred, coming to him in flashes. Shattering furniture. His foot connecting with a heavy door and ripping it off its hinges. Bright moons, soft dirt, the smell of crushed leaves. And one word, repeating over and over. Mine.
“All mine,” he growled to himself, voice thick and rough. His musk built in the air until it was so thick she could chew it. Her mouth watered.
“I’ve caught you, little mate.” The words dripped off him in a guttural rumbling voice more animalistic than not.
He wrapped an arm across her chest, pinning her elbows to her sides. “I knew you were mine,” he groaned as he dragged his tongue up the column of her nape and swirled it around her ear.
They shouldn’t work, but Goddess they did. Craning her head back, she kissed his neck again. His face angled toward her, so she kissed up his jaw, then ran her tongue across the seam of his lips.
He belonged to her now. A possessive thrill ran through her.
The world around her dimmed; the only thing grounding her to this reality was the feel of his cock filling her. The slap of his thighs against her ass was strong enough to rattle her teeth, but his grip on her shoulder ensured she didn’t lurch forward.
“The heat has only begun.” The crimson fever in his eyes pulsed brighter. “Beg the Goddess for strength, little doe.” His mouth dropped between her breasts, and she gasped. As his tongue and fangs toyed with her nipples, she stared up, wide-eyed, at the two bright moons and indeed begged for strength.
“Then why are you being so thick, huh?” she teased. “I want you just as you are. Stop hiding from me. I…” Her lips closed as though she were debating whether to say what she wanted. “I’m not just saying this because I’m your mate. I’m saying it because I love you.”
Rhaego blinked, dumbfounded. The words clanged through his mind, but surely he’d heard them wrong. She chewed on her lip, brows lifting in concern the longer he went without speaking.
“Don’t push your horns at me, mate,” she scolded, her little smirk undercutting her words. “I can see what’s happening in your head, and I want you to shut it down.” Aurora leveled her eyes with his. “I. Love. You.”
“My world is blurred at the moment. I need time to make sense of it all,” he began. “But I love you, Aurora. If no other truth exists in this world, know that will always remain.”
He wrapped her hair around his fist, tugging her head to the side till he could dip his mouth to her neck. “Are you sure?” he purred while licking a path up her throat that made her tremble. “I feel quite bewitched. Your spell is in my veins even now, and it’s giving me such obscene thoughts.”
Fever-stricken, Rhaego swept his mate into his arms and marched to their bed, thanking the Goddess for the mate he’d been given and praising himself for the love he’d earned.
