Page 79 of Hallowed Games

“No.” The torchlight danced over his high cheekbones, his full mouth. A lock of wavy dark hair hung before his fathomless eyes. He brushed a strand of hair off my face. “I can help you recover before you go back to your room. You inhaled too much smoke, and it’s poisoning you.”

My mouth felt watery, my thoughts dulled and confused. “Were you stabbed in the heart, Maelor?”

His fangs flashed above me. He bit into his wrist, and I stared at the scarlet drops that spilled down his skin. “Only with steel, so I should heal. It’s just taking a long time. I haven’t drunk human blood in years, so some of my vampiric strength has diminished.”

He held out his wrist to me, and I licked my lips, feeling parched.

“Drink from me, now.” His deeply sexy, commanding voice had my lips parting.

A drop spilled onto my tongue, sweet and rich. I pulled his wrist closer, and I licked his skin, drinking from him.

Blood shouldn’t taste this good, a burst of sensual pleasure that lit me up from the inside out. As I drank from him, heat slid through me. Moments ago, I’d felt hardly aware of what was happening around me. Now, I felt acutely in tune with my body. Unrestrained, the silky shirt dragged against my sensitive skin, teasing me. Under the thin fabric, my breasts rose. Maelor’s magic flowed into me, filling me with his strength. He was imbuing me with his essence—his heartbreaking beauty and that jagged sense of loss he carried with him. Colors slid through my mind: bloodred, grass green, the blinding blue of the heavens, and the silver-white of the moon. And as it did, desire coursed through me.

An erotic charge ignited in me with every sweet drop that spilled into my mouth. When I opened my eyes to see Maelor’s beautiful face, I knew he was the only one who could quench the building fire. I was vaguely aware that I’d tangled my legs around his. The truth was, every inch of my body demanded to be kissed, licked, and stroked by him. And he must have felt it, too, because his free hand slid beneath the fabric of my shirt and held my waist.

When he pulled his wrist away, I sighed deeply and licked my lips. His eyes had darkened to midnight, and he pressed his hands down on either side of my head. “Elowen, I can feel how much you like it.” His voice had gone husky, rolling his Rs. “I can hear your heart racing. I even heard you moan faintly.” He seemed on the edge of losing control. “You have no idea how much I want you.”

And the truth was, I needed more. I cupped his perfect face and pulled him down to me. He kissed me deeply, claiming my mouth with his. In ecstasy, he brought my quiet soul alive.

His hand roamed under my shirt, and he palmed my breast as his tongue stroked mine. “Right now, you are my world.” When he gripped my shirt in his fist, I felt as if something in him were about to snap.

My leather trousers, my thin shirt—I wanted it off. In fact, I wanted every inch of fabric between us gone. He was a new world I needed to explore, to map out the fine topography of his muscled body. Except he was still injured.

I sat up, tangling my fingers in the rich fabric of his shirt. I wanted to pull it off him.

He’d warned me about what would happen if he drank human blood. Maybe I just felt desperate to heal him, or maybe I craved that knife’s edge of danger, but I wanted him to drink from me. “I want to heal you,” I murmured.

He lowered his mouth to my throat, and he trailed kisses over my neck. Then lower, over my breasts. Over the light material of my shirt, he closed his mouth, biting just a little. His tongue flicked over the fabric, dampening it.

He intended to toy with me—and I intended to move him along. My hands were on my own shirt, unbuttoning it as a desperate, sexual need coiled tight inside me. I ached for his mouth on my bare skin. I pulled open the last buttons of my shirt, and I slid it off.

In the cold dungeon air, my nipples had tightened to sensitive peaks, my nerves craving his touch. As he took in the sight of me, he let out a low growl that thrummed over me. Shadows coiled off his body like smoke and brushed over my skin.

His midnight eyes pierced me, his dark lashes lowered. His expression was sensual, hungry. “Elowen, I haven’t stopped thinking about you since the moment I first saw you.” He kissed my throat.“And then that first night when you stayed in my room here, and you slipped into my bed wearing those thin scraps of fabric on your perfect body—” He kissed me, his tongue swirling over my throat. “It was the most excruciating torment. An image I shall never forget as long as I live—same as this moment.”

I slid my fingers into his hair. “Drink from me. I want to heal you.”

His body went rigid for a moment, and then I felt the sharp prick of his fangs against my throat. “Is that really what you want from me?” His deep, throaty voice vibrated through my belly.

“Yes.” A sensual spark heated the air between us.

“My control is slipping.” His fangs flashed, and he licked one of them. “Elowen.” Despair laced his hoarse tone. “I’ll never be able to resist you. You have no idea how much I want… ”

Without finishing his thought, he enveloped me in an embrace, one arm curled behind my back. He cupped my head, and then his fingers threaded into my hair. Gently, he pulled back my head, arching my throat to him, making me completely vulnerable. His breath warmed my neck. As the tips of his fangs skimmed my skin, my muscles went tense. Just for an instant, fear fluttered through me. As if sensing my nerves, his lips brushed over my skin, and he kissed me once more on my neck. “It will only hurt for a moment,” he murmured.

Such a tender embrace, then a sharp, piercing pain as he struck deeply. He punctured my throat. The pain only lasted for a heartbeat, and then desire flooded me, an aching need I’d never known before. I let out a moan as he drank from me. Hot shivers raked over my body.

Every inch of my skin felt sensitive, tight with want. I craved more of his touch, more of his tongue. As his shadow magic stroked my skin, my hips moved up against him. He drank deeper, groaning a little. A scorching need coursed through me, and I wanted my body naked beneath his.

I reached for his shirt, only half aware that I was tearing it off him, shredding the fabric. His tongue swirled over my arched neck, sending waves of molten pleasure pulsing through me. I ran my hand up his chest. Already, his skin had healed, and his steely muscles flexed beneath my fingers. His body was magnificent, and as he pressed against me, sheer pleasure rocked through me. My hands moved up again, feeling the muscles shift slightly in his back.

I gripped his hair hard, arching my neck to give more of myself to him. I wanted him to keep going, to drink deeper—but the languorous strokes of his tongue felt as if they were already healing the bite. When his tongue healed my throat, he finally pulled away with a soft, warm kiss to my skin.

He pushed back. His hair fell before his eyes, and his dark, agonized expression bored into me. He looked drugged with pleasure. “You will be the ruin of me, Elowen.” He stroked his fingertips down over my ribs, so lightly. He left a trail of hot shivers in the wake of his touch.

He reached for the waistband of my trousers, then pulled them down off my hips, to my thighs, and off completely. Warmth surged under my skin, and I wanted to see all of him, too—every gloriously etched muscle. I leaned forward to unbutton his trousers. Shadows whipped the air around him as I unleashed his rock-hard erection. With a half-smile, I met his gaze. I licked my lips, running my finger up the glorious length.

He growled quietly. “If you’re going to toy with me, you’d better be prepared for me to return the favor. Vampires like to dominate.”