Page 53 of His Darkest Desire

Tearing off a wide strip of his sash, he wrapped it around his wounded thigh and tied it firmly in place. The ache only deepened. He willed his wings away, clutched an arm to his tender side, and limped along the gill without a backward glance at the corpse, which was already crumbling to ash.

The wisps lingered behind him; he felt their gazes on his back.

“Come,” he said. “Our hunt is not yet concluded. We’ve eggs to dispatch.”

* * *

Vex paused at the bedchamber door. The quiet inside the cottage allowed the night songs to flow in—insects chirping, the sorrowful calls of nocturnal birds, and the continued sigh of wind through the boughs. The great tree behind him, which had sheltered his home from the harsh light of the sun for untold years, creaked and groaned softly.

It was in stark contrast to the utter silence that had reigned in the forest when he’d left hours ago, while the sun had still been high. Now the moon and stars ruled the sky but Vex was in no state to enjoy their soothing glow.

The battle against the barghest would’ve been meaningless had he not thoroughly searched the area for her eggs afterward, a task that had escalated his pain and weariness into agony and exhaustion.

I am home now.

And his home, for once, was not empty. For all the time he’d spent locked away in his tower, secluded from the very people he’d sought to help so he could think and study without interruption, it was pleasant to have someone here waiting for him.

He would be sure to build upon the progress he’d made with Kinsley earlier.

Carefully, he opened the door and stepped into the bedchamber. The room was dark but for the soft glow of the crystals. Kinsley lay upon his bed, wrapped tight in the blankets, her breathing steady and slow, her eyes closed. Shade hovered over her, backed by the round window with its carved tree.

As Vex limped toward her, his battered body pulsed with a myriad of aches, and pain shot up and down his leg, suffused with a building warmth that was anything but pleasant.

Shade drifted toward him, their ghostfire sputtering with alarm. “Magus, you—”

Vex lifted a finger to his lips, silencing the wisp. He stopped beside the bed and fixed his gaze upon Kinsley.

Her beauty was only enhanced in her repose, and under Shade’s blue light, Vex could almost see a hint of her fae blood. There was a delicacy to her features that whispered of inhuman ancestry, but when combined with the rest of her…

She is unlike anyone I’ve ever beheld.

Something stirred low in his belly, spreading a different heat through his veins. For the first time since departing for the hunt, he allowed himself to reflect upon the short time he’d shared with Kinsley in the library.

The light of curiosity in her eyes, the sparkling wonder, had roused an indefinable joy in his soul, and the way she’d jumped to him, seeking security in her fear, had made his chest swell with satisfaction and possessiveness. Her skin had been so warm and soft against his hand, and her alluring scent had enveloped him, taunting and teasing. She’d fit against him so perfectly.

And all of that paled in comparison to the light that had been in her eyes after he’d withdrawn, to the desire that had radiated from her. Had they not been interrupted…

The fae queen had coveted Vex. She’d sought to possess him, to make him part of her collection, another toy to play with as she fancied. But Kinsley…Kinsley wanted him.

And he wanted her. He craved her.

Needed her.

“You are mine, Kinsley Wynter Delaney,” he rasped, reaching for her.

He needed to claim her, to feel the bond he’d forged with her in all its fullness, to strengthen it. To solidify it. To ensure there was no question—she was his, his mate, his. There was no going back. There was no breaking their bond.

They were linked in a way few mortals ever experienced, a way few mortals could ever have imagined. Their very souls were already intertwined; why should they wait to connect their bodies, as well?

Vex halted his hand an instant before his fingers would’ve touched her. He was covered in dirt and gore, and his leg was far worse than it had been even an hour ago. His fingers curled, but he could not bring himself to withdraw his hand, could not bring himself to look away from her.

Waves of honey brown hair were spread on the pillow around her, beckoning him to comb his fingers through them. Her full lips begged for a kiss, promising to yield to him, to caress him like nothing else could.

In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to climb onto the bed, wrap his arms around her, and draw her body against his. He wanted nothing more than the feel of her skin and her heat. The feel of her.

He wanted nothing more than to feel the sort of connection he’d never experienced with anyone in all his years.

He leaned a hair’s breadth closer.