Bound By Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #8)(77)

And in this moment it was overflowing.

“Feel,” she commanded softly.

A wicked smile softened his expression as his gaze skimmed over her bare br**sts.

“With pleasure.”

“No, I mean really feel.” She lowered the last of her guards, releasing her too-long-restrained emotions. “You’re my mate whether we exchange blood or not. I just want to make it official.”

She didn’t know what she expected.

Arguments.

Teasing.

Embarrassment.

It wasn’t for Ariyal to slowly kneel before her, his face pressed against the bare skin of her stomach as his arms wrapped around her.

“I thought Morgana le Fay had destroyed all but my loyalty to my people.” His voice was low, raw. “You have given me back my heart.”

She tangled her fingers in the warm satin of his hair, her love for this man blasting through her.

It was nothing she had wanted, or expected, but now she couldn’t imagine how she had ever survived without Ariyal in her life.

“Will you share it with me?”

He tilted back his head to regard her with a somber gaze. “My proud, beautiful Hunter.”

“My stubborn, gorgeous fairy.”

“You forgot sexy,” he softly chided.

“Did I?” She deliberately licked her lips. Hey, it worked in the movies. “Maybe you should remind me.”

On cue, Ariyal surged to his feet, locking his arms around her waist. Then, with gratifying speed he was tossing her onto the mattress and covering her with the welcome heat of his body.

“If you insist,” he murmured.

She stroked her lips down the stubborn line of his jaw. “I do.”

He shuddered in violent response to her teasing caress, turning his head to crush her lips in a kiss of pure demand, his hands lightly tracing up the curve of her waist to cup her br**sts.

Jaelyn moaned in approval, arching her back as he teased the tips of her ni**les into aching peaks. But it was the rich scent of herbs filling the air that made her fangs throb with need.

Wrapping her legs around his hips, she ran her hands up and down his back, urging him put an end to her torment.

“I want you,” she moaned.

“It’s too fast,” he muttered, his mouth pressing frantic kisses over her face before he at last lowered his head to capture her nipple between his lips.

She scraped her nails over his hard ass, smiling as he hissed in pleasure.

“Slow and tender can be good,” she assured him. “But there is a time for fast and hard.”

He lifted his head to meet her hungry gaze, lingering a long moment on her exposed fangs.

“And this is the time for ... ?”

She groaned at the sensation of his warm skin moving against her, heating places that she would have sworn couldn’t get any hotter.

“ Us.”

The bronze eyes flared in agreement. “Yes.”

The simple word was a solemn vow as Ariyal entered her with one smooth thrust.

They groaned in unison, Jaelyn’s eyes squeezing shut at the feel of him buried deep inside her. Then, as he began a swift, steady rhythm that bordered on the right side of rough, she grabbed his face and brought it down to meet her lips in an explosive kiss.

This was no delicate dance of sensuality.

It was raw and needy and exactly what she desired.

She distantly heard the slam of the bed hitting the wall and the squeak of the mattress, but her concentration was focused solely on the delectable man and the urgent pace that was spiraling toward a blissful completion.

Ariyal threaded his fingers through her hair, his mouth shifting to nuzzle over her cheek to her ear.

“Now, Jaelyn,” he whispered.

She hissed at the savage excitement that flooded through her.

“You’re certain?”

He peered deep into her eyes. “You would know if I was lying.”

“True. Something you should keep in mind if you decide to stray in the future.”

He frowned at her hint of unease, which had nothing to do with being a vampire and everything with being a vulnerable woman at the mercy of her heart.

“Do you think this mating is any less binding to me?” he demanded.

It was, of course, the question that teased in the back of her mind.

“Do Sylvermyst mate?”

“You will discover later,” he promised. “Bite me, Jaelyn.”

A dark, primitive need swept aside any lingering question at the sanity of what she was about to do. Why hesitate? This moment had surely been fated since the beginning of time.

Lifting her head, she aimed with lethal accuracy, sliding her fangs into the throat he willingly offered.

And promptly stiffened in amazement.

She hadn’t been prepared for the potent power as his blood hit her tongue. Or the rich, addictive flavor.

Or the fact that it would prove to be the finest aphrodisiac.

She groaned. Her entire body felt as if it were on fire, her hips lifting off the mattress to meet his deep thrusts with growing desperation. Then, as the blood slid down her throat, she experienced the first sense of the mating.

“Ariyal,” she breathed in wonderment.

There had been an imprint of this male upon her heart from the very beginning. Something she’d done her best to ignore, despite the danger. But now ...