Page 105 of Of Shadows and Blood

“What, you didn’t think I wouldn’t want to see these skills for myself?”

My mouth gapes, but I close it and tilt my chin up. “Sure, but you better keep up.”

On my last word, I swing across my body and Cedric barely gets a chance to deflect my hit. He looks down at his sword with surprise and nods his head. I smirk this time and swing again and again and again, our steps carrying us around the ring.

Cedric is undoubtedly more trained in combat than I am. Obviously. But I can keep up with him in this format and I feel a small flame in me grow at that idea. He picks up the pace and spins before trying to land his weapon but I match that too.

“This is incredible.” He smiles, our practice blades locked together. The sun high overhead casts a beautiful ray around his small curls. His smile pulls back, revealing a fangless grin. Sweat drips down the side of his face and I oddly want to lick it up.

“Okay, well I’m going to…” Garreth says, walking away from the ring.

My sword slowly releases from my hand and my heart begins pounding. Cedric reaches his hand forward, cupping my cheek. I didn’t even realize that I had moved closer, my hand resting softly on the pommel of the sword.

“Hi,” I whisper, the weight of his gaze pinning me down. I close my eyes and inhale as he brushes his hand down my neck, sweeping my hair to the side.

“Hello there,” he whispers back, his breath skating across the column of my throat. I know he can sense the blood pumping wildly within me, as I can hear his picking up. Our bond makes us intrinsically connected.

Softly, almost too softly, he plants a trail of kisses down to my shoulder, his hand moving my shirt aside. I grasp his side and pull him flush to me. With our fronts against one another, I can feel the need in him. Hard and solid, Cedric’s desire for me is unmistakable.

My hand skates across the top of his pants, pausing over his member. Cedric sucks in a breath, leaning slightly into my touch. His hand rises under my chin, urging me to look up at him. Our eyes lock and within them, so many messages are left unspoken.

But he knows.

Our bond pulses in my head, a soft hum that reminds me he is here. He is mine.

“Star,” he leans down, hovering his mouth an inch over mine. I find myself rising to my toes in anticipation, heat pooling at my core. He makes a noise, a growl, before closing the space with a fierce capture. Our lips move crazily, teeth gnashing, tongues lapping as we claw for each other. My hand dips into his waistband, holding him wholly. He captures my bottom lip between his teeth, drawing a small bead of blood that he sucks right up.

Every sense heightens because the bond demands it, us, this.

“My room. Now.” Cedric kicks his sword aside and picks me up, positioning my core right above his erection. My legs wrap around him with ease and his shadows swarm around us, his leash loosening.

We blitz through the doors, up the stairs and crash through the double doors leading to his suite. He kicks them shut before setting me on the bed. The velvet cover rubs against my hands as I take in a deep breath, trying to calm down the heat inside of me.

The heat which begs to be released.

Cedric pulls back from me slowly, examining me like prey. His shirt is untucked now, hair tussled from the fervor of our passion.

He brings his knuckle under his chin as his eyes cast a blazing trail up my body. Every nerve lights on fire as I toss my hair behind my shoulders and lean back more heavily on my hands. Slowly, I open my legs to him, the loose training skirt I chose this morning pools at my hips.

Cedric’s gaze is pure desire and the red of his hair catches in the cess light. With the curtains drawn, the intensity of this moment is everything I need.

Our bond needs.

“Breathtaking,” he murmurs, dropping to his knees before me as if to worship. He reaches forward and pulls my hips closer to the edge of the bed, the velvet sliding under my bare lower half. He takes his time looking at me, all of me. From my ankles, he kisses a trail to the insides of my thighs, slow ministrations bringing my body to peak pleasure.

His hand rubs from the crease of my thigh down to my clit. The bundle of nerves alighting under his firm, warm touch. Cupping me, he looks up over my skirt and our eyes lock.

“The Gods have truly blessed me and I cannot fathom that you exist, before me, like this.” He slides a finger down into my wetness. “I want you to look at me when I touch you. I want you to watch me make love to you. Because you will remember this moment, if you cannot remember the others.”

A tear pricks in my eye at how raw this moment is. We’ve joined before, more in lust and need than anything else. But now, we know.

This is real.

Cedric and Liv, we are real.

I reach down and cup the sides of his face, his slight stubble prickling my palms. Our kiss is slow and passionate. We take time to explore each other’s face before he gently lays me back down. In one languid motion, he enters me with one finger and my breath hitches, hands fisting the fabric beneath me. Cedric wraps an arm around my leg to hold me in place.

“Remember what I said, Liv.” I crane my head up just as he adds another finger, causing my hips to buck.