Chapter 46
My blood still simmered with a mixture of anger and fear, and when Varius loomed over me, his eyes dark and his fangs bared, I felt an unexpected bolt of desire.
His mouth was on mine, and I gripped the fabric of his tunic to pull him closer. His mouth captured mine with hungry fervor, a groan building in his throat and vibrating through his chest. Stones, it was the most delicious sound.
I waited for him to pull away, to withdraw from me like he had after our last kiss. Instead, his hands found my waist, and he spun us both around until my back was against the closed door, his chest caging me in.
“Do you really want this?” he murmured against my lips. “Every monstrous side of me?”
I stood on my toes to wrap my arms around his neck, my fingers tangling in his curls. “I want all of you, Varius. No part of you will frighten me.”
His lips quirked upward. “Are you sure about that?”
I gasped as a cool mist wrapped around my fingers. I lowered my arms and found tendrils of his shadows snaking along my hands, caressing my skin like a whispering wind. The soft contact made me shiver.
I recalled how he had used his shadows to restrain Warwick in the Noxen Forest. You didn’t know I could do that, did you? he’d asked. I wondered if this was a special ability he didn’t often use—corporeal shadows that could touch and pull as if they were as solid as his own hands.
I knew from experience just how solid those shadows could feel as they moved inside me.
Varius seemed amused by my reaction. His shadows wound tighter, pulling against my wrists and jerking them upward until my arms were pinned above my head.
I uttered a noise of surprise, but he silenced me with another kiss, this one forceful and bruising.
His hard mouth pressed against mine, his rough tongue scraping along my lips.
I moaned into his mouth, meeting his tongue with mine. I tried to move my hands so I could touch him, but his restraints would not budge.
“This is who I am,” he growled. “I am a monster, Sybelle. I will not be gentle with you.”
I leaned up and bit down on his lower lip. A rumbling sound resonated in his throat. “I know,” I whispered. “I don’t want you to be.”
He exhaled shakily, dragging his sharp incisors along my lip and chin, then lowering to my throat. “You are part human.” His breath tickled the skin of my neck. “I might break you.”
I found it hard to breathe as he pressed that long tongue against my throat, gliding up and down in torturously slow movements.
“I—I can handle it,” I gasped, my eyelids fluttering shut. “With my—my dagger.”
Varius froze, then withdrew to stare down at me. “Your dagger?”
I nodded, still dazed. “It’s a diamond-studded dagger. It gives me supernatural strength.”
“How? ”
“I have to be holding it in my hand. Diamonds make me bolder, but when I’m holding them in my hand, they grant me speed and endurance.”
He arched an eyebrow, his lips curling upward. “Endurance, you say? And it’s on your thigh?”
My legs clenched from the dark, sultry tone of his voice. Slowly, I nodded.
He glanced down to my legs, then dragged his gaze back up to mine. Shadows swelled around me, and the cuffs around my wrists tightened. “Last chance to turn away, dannahla ,” he breathed. “I told you I wouldn’t touch you until you begged.”
I leaned closer to him. “I’m not begging. I’m demanding.”
His pupils flared. With inhuman speed, he dragged over a small table, the wooden legs groaning against the floor.
He slid the table under me until it was against the door, then hoisted me on top so we were at eye level.
My legs wrapped around him, drawing him closer.
His fingers pushed up my skirt, exposing my thighs and my sheathed dagger.
I waited for him to draw the blade, but his fingers lingered on my thighs, inching upward. His hands were calloused and warm, and each touch sent fire coursing through my veins. His claws slid up and up, the sharpened points bringing a flood of awareness shooting through my body.
My head rolled back against the door, my eyes closing as an onslaught of sensations seared through me.
Varius leaned in, his breath hot against my throat, then pressed his teeth right in that space between my shoulder and my neck. He didn’t push hard enough to break skin, but a line of fire exploded along my skin as he dragged his teeth up and down my throat.
“Stones,” I whispered, my hips bucking against him.
“You trust me not to pierce your skin?” he murmured.
“Yes,” I rasped. “I trust you, Varius. ”
He hummed against my throat, then swirled his tongue in circles over my flesh. My skin pebbled, and I let out a low moan.
His left hand slid up my thigh, then drew my dagger. In a swift movement, he placed the hilt in my hand. I clasped it tightly and felt a surge of energy. My hands jerked, pulling against his shadow cuffs. One hand worked free, and I used it to grip one of his horns.
He let out a feral sound, something between a growl and a snarl, his body going perfectly still.
“You are stronger,” he hissed, his eyes fiery as he stared me down.
I tugged on his horn, dragging his face back to mine before plunging my tongue between his lips.
His fangs brushed along my tongue. Cool mist tickled my hands as his shadows tugged on my wrist once again, dragging my hand to where the other one was still tied.
I kept the dagger hilt clenched tightly between my fingers.
“Will you keep me tied up the entire time?” I asked.
He smirked. “I suppose you’ll have to wait and see.” He sank to his knees, then spread my legs open wide, baring me to him.
I froze. I wasn’t expecting this. “What—What are you doing?”
“I want to taste you first, dannahla . I want to devour this sweet arousal of yours and see if it tastes as good as it smells.”
My toes curled. Would he really… lick me there? Gerard had never done such a thing.
Varius sensed my hesitation. “Unless you don’t want me to. I can stop, Sybelle.” All amusement left his voice.
I shook my head, my insides quivering with anticipation. “No,” I said breathlessly. “No, keep going. I want you to.”
His eyes sparked with desire just before he buried his face between my thighs. I let out a sharp gasp, stunned by how his hair and nose tickled the most sensitive parts of my thighs.
And then his tongue met my center, and my world caved inward. Sparks ignited in my blood, firing through my body. My hips jerked, and he flicked his tongue against me.
My head fell backward with a thud, and I moaned.
He licked me, each stroke hard and unyielding.
His tongue slid in deeper, thrusting further than I thought possible, hard enough for me to see stars.
I gasped, unable to speak or even think as he ravaged me.
The coarseness of his tongue against my slick core sent me reeling.
“So delicious,” he growled, and his breath along my throbbing center made me cry out again.
His tongue drove deeper, tracing circles, moving faster and harder until the tension within me was coiled so tightly I thought I might die. I clung to my dagger, my palms covered in sweat. Without the strength of those diamonds, I might have passed out. It was too much. Too much.
“You are so close,” he whispered. His hands spread me even wider, and he dragged his tongue along my inner walls, making me scream. My thighs clamped around him as I rode his tongue, urging him onward, demanding for release.
“Please, please,” I choked out. “ Please. ”
I didn’t even know what I was begging for. All I knew was I had never felt anything like this before. My insides were wound up tight, ready to burst. Pressure mounted, climbing up my chest and knotting in my throat.
Varius pressed his thumb against my center, his claw bringing a twinge of pain without drawing blood.
It sent me over the edge. My body thrashed violently against him, my skin on fire and my blood roaring. Something inside me shattered, and I no longer knew who I was or why I was here. All I knew was the monumental tidal wave that crashed over me, carrying me away.
When my body settled, I was panting and sweaty, but I wasn’t finished. Not even close.
“I want to see it,” I said .
Varius stood and met my gaze, his lips slick with my moisture. “See what?”
My eyes dipped to his trousers, then back up. “I want to see it,” I said, enunciating each word.
His eyebrows lifted. “Very well.”
He tugged his tunic out of his trousers and pushed the sleeves down his arms. Then, he unfastened his buckle and let his trousers and tunic drop to his ankles.
My throat went bone dry at the sight of him. Holy Stones, he was magnificent.
And huge .
I licked my lips, letting my gaze roam over every glorious inch of him. That burgundy skin, those firm and muscular legs, the hard planes of his chest, his biceps and forearms.
My eyes kept returning to his arousal that twitched as if it sensed my stare. It was so thick and, just as he told me, covered in ridges and bumps.
“You said it’s… barbed?” My voice came out strained.
“Only when I release them. And I won’t. Not with you.”
I nodded. “But—But you’ve released them before?”
He was quiet for so long that I finally stopped staring and jerked my gaze upward to meet his. His expression was solemn.
“It’s more of a defense mechanism than anything,” he said softly. “To protect against unwanted advances.”
My blood chilled, and I immediately regretted asking. “I’m sorry,” I said at once.
He shook his head. “Don’t be. I want you to know everything about me, Sybelle. Even the dark and unpleasant parts.”
“There are things I want to tell you, too,” I said. I thought of Azure. He still didn’t know about her. I was grateful she’d managed to escape during the fight with Warwick, but Varius needed to know. He needed to know everything .
“You will,” he promised, leaning in to brush his mouth against mine. “Soon, we will bare all to each other, dannahla . ”
He pressed his fingers between my thighs again, but I stopped him with a fierce kiss, biting down hard enough on his lip to draw blood.
“No.”
He hissed and jerked backward, eyes full of fire.
“It’s my turn now,” I told him.