Devoured by Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #7)(77)

“Laylah, you asked why the Oracle marked me.” She winced, lifting her hand to press it to the strange mark on his chest. “To punish you.” “No. It was to bind me to you.” Oh … gods.

Laylah shook her head in horrified disbelief. For such a proud, independent vampire it must have been torture to be forcibly bound to another.

“Why would they do such a thing?” she breathed.

He didn’t look horrified. In fact, there was something that resembled anticipation smoldering in his eyes.

“It doesn’t matter, I was already in your power.”

She narrowed her gaze in suspicion. She’d been a fool in London to think her magic was strong enough to control a vampire.

“I don’t believe you were ever in my supposed power.”

With a shift of his hips he managed to part her legs, settling between them with a wicked smile.

“I have become your slave, but it has nothing to do with Jinn magic and everything to do with pure female bewitchment.”

Heat curled through her body at the feel of his thick erection pressing against her inner thigh. Oh, it was so close to perfect. All she needed was a wiggle or two and she could have him settled exactly where he needed to be.

“Your slave, huh?” she husked.

“It’s the truth, my sweet.” He stroked his lips down her cheek, pausing to nibble at the corner of her mouth. Her arms instinctively circled his broad shoulders, skimming down his back. Pleasure hummed through her. Nice. She could spend hours exploring the hard muscles that rippled with encouragement beneath her touch. “With or without spells you’re a part of me,” he said, his voice thick with a fierce intensity.

She pulled back to study his somber expression with a searching gaze.

“What are you saying?”

“You’re already the mate of my soul. I want to make it official.”

Laylah’s mind shut down at the same time her heart went into overdrive, ricocheting around her ribs like a pinball.

“Mate?”

His lips twisted. “Are you shocked or horrified?” “I’m stunned,” she readily admitted. He frowned, as if puzzled by her reaction to his little stunner.

“Did you actually think I would chase after you for days, defy the Commission and my own Anasso by keeping you hidden, and risk my neck because I had nothing better to do?”

“But, I’m a Jinn mongrel,” she said, those words explaining everything.

Jinn mongrels didn’t mate.

End of story.

Or at least it should be.

Tane, however, seemed to be out of the loop as he flashed a smile filled with dangerous intent.

“I hate to disappoint you, my sweet, but I managed to figure that out all by myself.”

“I’m an outcast.”

“And I’m not?”

She made a sound of impatience. “I’m unstable.”

“You’re a female.” His smile widened. “It’s expected.”

“Jerk.” She curled a fist and hit his back with enough force to make him grunt. Dammit. Was he completely insane? Or was his fascination with her a part of his guilt-complex? She was, after all, the go-to gal for a vampire with a self-destructive urge. “You won’t think it’s so funny if I accidentally strike you with a bolt of lightning or collapse your lair into a pile of rubble.”

He captured her lips in a kiss that blazed through her, searing away her self-righteous impulse.

Making her toes curl in the process.

“So long as you are next to me it won’t matter,” he said against her lips.

She gave a tug on his mohawk. “You must know this is crazy.”

“Be my mate, Laylah,” he coaxed, his eyes glowing. “Say yes.” She should say no.

Had she forgotten the horrible accidents over the years? For God’s sake, she’d killed more than one demon when her powers had slipped her control.

Of course, it had only been in self-defense, a voice whispered in the back of her mind. And none of the demons were anywhere near as indestructible as a vampire.

And …

And she loved him.

The pure simplicity of her emotion brought an end to her inner dialogue. “Yes,” she said.

He groaned, pressing his forehead to hers. “Thank God.”

Laylah stroked the tense muscles of his neck, bracing herself for his strike. She wasn’t afraid. Excitement bubbled through her, as intoxicating as champagne. But, she’d had an up close and personal view of his fangs. It seemed impossible they wouldn’t at least sting.

Tane, however, caught her off guard, crushing her lips with slow, drugging kisses that had her arching in ready response. He tasted of wildfire. And sex. And power.

A lethal combination.

His hands skimmed down her body, removing her bra and panties with skillful ease, then returning for another intimate exploration that made her tremble with pleasure. He stroked the line of her shoulders, and down her collarbone. He cupped her br**sts, his thumbs teasing her ni**les to aching peaks. And all the while he kissed her with a deep urgency that made her blood race.

Desire swelled inside her, as well as something new.

A hunger to feel him at her throat, his fangs buried deep in her flesh.

Perhaps sensing she was too impatient for a marathon seduction, Tane lifted himself off her long enough to shed his shorts before returning to cover her, his mouth seeking the pointed tip of her breast.