Page 40 of Vanquished Gods
His firm body pressed into me, hard as steel. His fingers continued to flex under me. Amoris wrapped around me, making me ache with need. Pure euphoria rushed through my body.
My fingernails raked down his back, and my hips shifted into him again. I wanted him to drink and drink from me until there was nothing left.
But just as those thoughts flitted through my skull, he pulled his fangs from my neck, his breath hot against my skin. He licked at the little holes, then kissed them gently. I caught my breath, unwilling to release my thighs from his waist as he stroked my throat with his tongue, healing me.
With one final, deep kiss, he raised his face, then rested his forehead against mine, his voice barely a whisper. “I need to stop, darling.” The words sounded torn from him, agonized.
The way he cupped my face, his thumb brushing against my cheek, sent warmth pulsing through my chest.
He dragged his gaze up to mine, his eyes burning with a dark, primal intensity. I felt myself unraveling under his stare. Then, without a word, he pressed his lips against my own. My mouth instantly opened to his, and as he kissed me, his tongue teased mine. Molten heat plunged through my belly. The kiss grew hungrier, deeper, and visions flitted through my mind—a sun-drenched forest, an earthy cave surrounded by bluebells and wood anemones…
He still pressed me against the wall as his magic skimmed my wet body. When he finally pulled away, I saw the golden flare smoldering in his eyes.
“Sorry,” he whispered, breath heaving.
I worked to catch my breath. “Amoris.”
His brow furrowed in confusion, but he only said, “I need to stop. We need to go. You taste fucking amazing. Addictive.”
“Thanks?”
Gently, he released me, and he scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “I can’t believe you made me fuckingswim.”
He turned, walking away from me, and I tried to force the memory of that kiss from my thoughts.
I didn’t want to admit to myself how addictive he felt to me, too.
CHAPTER 19
On Poppy’s back, we rode along a road that curved up the coastline on the western coast of Merthyn.
I licked my lips, tasting the salt of the sea spray, but that was all I noticed. My mind was spinning. There wasn’t anything to the kiss, of course. It was just the vampiric need to drink blood, the inexorable survival instinct and the unrestrained pleasure that went with it. I’d be stupid to think too much of it. What I should be thinking about was that we’d saved an entire city from meeting a horrific end. Not just the physical torment, but the psychological warfare of forced accusations, the corrosive guilt of those who survived. Today, at least, we’d won the battle.
We just needed to win the war.
And before we won the war, I desperately needed food and sleep. Hard to think straight when I could hardly keep my eyes open and hunger was carving a hole in my stomach. As my eyes grew heavier, images of delicious food from Gwethel drifted through my mind—the salmon, the cod, the buttery potatoes.
Iron-gray clouds covered the sky, and the churning sea was a dark slate blue. Exhausted, I gave in to my body’s demandsand slumped into Sion’s unyielding chest. I heard the faintest of growls from deep in his throat.
My stomach rumbled loudly, and I felt Sion’s muscles tense around me.
“We need to get you food,” he said sharply. “I know how you get when you’re hungry.” A cold note of fury laced his voice.
“First of all, how would you possibly know how I get? And second, why do you sound so angry about it?”
“I’m not.”
He absolutely sounded angry. “Are you still mad that I made you swim?”
“No.” His body somehow stiffened impossibly more behind me.
“Have you always been scared of the water?”
“What difference does it make?”
He very much did not want to talk about this. Obviously, that made me want to pry more. “Is it the only thing you're scared of?” I asked.
“No.”