Page 173 of Blood Curse

“It’s desire.” His fangs lowered. “That makes it harder to pretend I don’t want it.”

“I don’t want you pretending.”

I took his hand and placed it over my heart. The rhythm stumbled once, then steadied.

“A little,” I said. “Because I want to know what it feels like when the choice is ours.”

He heard the certainty. I saw the moment he accepted it.

Stellan caught my wrist and kissed the tender skin over my pulse. His fangs pierced cleanly.

Pain flashed. Pleasure followed so closely that my breath broke.

His mouth sealed over the bite. He drank once, then again, each pull measured. The sight of him at my wrist sent heat through me. His eyes stayed on mine while my blood warmed his mouth.

Nothing magical broke.

The Crown stayed black. The walls didn’t shake. The closed doors remained closed.

Stellan stopped after the third swallow.

He licked the small wounds until the bleeding slowed and pressed his thumb over them. My body felt warm rather than weak. My heartbeat kept its unreliable rhythm under his other hand.

“Enough?” I asked.

“More than enough.” His voice had roughened. “You taste like everything I’m trying to keep.”

The answer warmed me more than the blood loss could cool me.

Then he kissed me, and I tasted myself on his tongue.

The intimacy of it hit harder than the bite. I wrapped my legs around his hips and pulled him close. Stellan pushed his trousers down, gripped the base of his cock and guided himself into me.

He entered slowly, watching my face as my body stretched around him. When he was fully inside, he lowered his forehead to mine.

“Future,” I whispered.

His hips drew back and pressed forward again. “Your flat.”

Another deep stroke. “Your court.”

“Both.”

He kissed me and set a harder pace.

The bed moved under us. Stellan held my hip with one hand and kept the other around my bitten wrist, thumb resting over the marks he’d made. Every thrust drove pleasure through me, deep and steady. I met him, nails dragging down his back.

His control didn’t feel distant. It felt like strength shaped around my body, taking the pace because he knew I wanted him to.

My heartbeat raced for a reason I welcomed.

Stellan shifted, lifted one of my legs higher and drove deeper. The change dragged a curse from both of us. His fingers found my clit between our bodies.

Pleasure built again, sharper this time. I tightened around his cock. His rhythm broke for one stroke and returned harder.

“Bryony.”

My name sounded filthy in his mouth.