Chapter 47
“What will you do with me, wife?” Varius asked.
“I want to touch it. I want to lick you just as you licked me.”
His breath hitched, and his throat bobbed as he swallowed. After a long moment, he said, “I suppose it’s only fair.”
His shadows loosened, and my arms fell at my sides, the blood rushing violently from the movement.
It took a moment to orient myself and get the feeling back in my numb arms. Varius’s hands came around my waist as he eased me off the table.
I kept my dagger in one hand as I dropped to my knees.
My fingers trailed up and down his gloriously muscled thighs.
He hummed in satisfaction, his body taut under my touch.
When I reached his cock, I wrapped my hand around it, feeling the tough texture of those bumps against my fingers. His body jerked, and he made a sound like a choked-off groan.
“Tell me if I hurt you,” I said.
“You won’t,” he growled.
I dragged my hand up, then down, my movements slow and measured. Another feral sound escaped him, and his hips thrust against me. I gazed up at him. His eyes were closed, his lips parted slightly.
With no warning, I wrapped my lips around him, taking him in my mouth.
He let out a long and strangled groan, and I felt him twitching inside my mouth.
Stones, the tough skin of him was delightful against my tongue.
I licked his tip, and he roared before thrusting deeper into me.
I took in more of him, letting my teeth scrape along his length.
When he didn’t flinch in pain, I clamped down harder on him, knowing my teeth were dull in comparison to his fangs.
And his cock was surrounded by toughened skin.
Sure enough, my bite drew out a ragged sound of pleasure from him, his whole body rumbling from it.
“Mother of Shade, Sybelle,” he gasped.
I swirled my tongue around him again, then dragged my teeth up and down. He drove deeper, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to take his entire length. Using my free hand, I wrapped my fingers all the way up to the shaft, massaging his skin and squeezing him.
He pumped harder and faster, and I let my tongue and teeth scrape and taste him over and over. Wild, animal-like sounds poured from his mouth, and he murmured something in Agnarrish that I couldn’t make out.
My chest swelled with satisfaction. I was eliciting these sounds. I was driving him mad with pleasure and need.
Me, his human bride.
His wife.
You are mine, Varius, I thought.
I am yours.
I stilled. His voice had resonated in my head as clearly as Azure’s when I communicated with her. I looked up at him, but his eyes were still closed, his brows drawn together as he continued to writhe against me.
Perhaps I’d imagined it.
I pushed it from my thoughts, focusing instead on his pleasure. I clamped down my teeth, biting hard, knowing I wasn’t strong enough to draw blood. My fingernails dug into him, then pushed up and down .
“Sybelle,” he groaned. “ Sybelle. I—I?—”
Moisture beaded at the tip of his cock, and I ravenously licked it off him, eager for more.
“No.”
He withdrew, pulling out of my mouth. In one abrupt movement, he pushed me down to the floor and pressed himself against me. With his arms braced on either side of me, he caged me right there on the cold stone floor, his body crowding mine.
His eyes were manic, his shadows swirling behind him.
“I will not come until I’m so deep inside you that your bones quake and your blood cries out for me.
” He leaned in, pressing his nose into the base of my throat and inhaling deeply.
“I will show you what it truly means to have someone worship your body, dannahla .”
I found myself trembling from the dark promise of his words. I let my fingers trail along the muscles of his broad chest, savoring the way his body seemed to quiver with a purr of satisfaction. My fingers traced delicately along the mark on his shoulder from the Necro Shadows.
“Am I allowed to touch you now?” I whispered. “Or will you tie me up again?”
He grinned, flashing his teeth. “Don’t deny it. You loved being tied up.”
My stomach fluttered, and my face heated. Because yes , I had loved it. It had been thrilling and dangerous. It had excited me in far too many ways.
“Besides,” he murmured, leaning down and brushing his mouth against my collarbone. “You are wearing too many clothes. I must rectify this immediately.”
His mouth moved lower, and he kissed the swell of my breast. My breath caught in my throat when he hooked his fangs through one of the lace embellishments of my bodice.
He jerked his chin, and a ripping sound made me gasp.
He dragged his teeth lower and lower, tearing the fabric in two until he reached my navel.
As he worked his way up, his tongue danced over my skin, licking and caressing my stomach and abdomen.
I writhed under his touch, my body arching and my breaths ragged. With slow movements, he parted the two slices of fabric across my chest until the bodice fell off me completely.
My breasts heaved with my frantic breaths. I couldn’t get enough air. I was gasping, the sounds so loud they echoed in the vast library.
But it didn’t seem to bother him. If anything, it only aroused him further. He let out a strained sound of desire before palming one of my breasts and massaging it with his fingers.
“So beautiful,” he murmured.
My head rolled back, a loud moan pouring from my lips. He continued kneading my breasts, and my body jerked when he captured my nipple between his lips. He flicked his tongue over it, sucking and nipping, before gently clamping those sharp incisors directly over the bud.
“Oh, Stones ,” I rasped, my hips grinding, desperate for more.
Varius continued to hold my nipple between his teeth, running his tongue over it until my moans turned into harsh, feral grunts.
“I can’t—I can’t—” I broke off with a guttural cry.
“Can’t what?” he breathed against my nipple.
His breath, his tongue, his teeth… It was all too much. Sensation after sensation fired through my body with violent intensity.
His claws gently glided down the length of my arm. It wasn’t until my eyes opened that I realized it wasn’t his claws at all, but the barbs of his tail. The long, crimson appendage curled against my arm, the barbs poking but not hurting. The tail slid down me, then wrapped around my exposed thigh.
“Mmm, this dress,” Varius growled. More ripping sounds followed, and the skirt fell to pieces around my legs, leaving me bare before him .
“That’s better.” His mouth worked down again, pausing just between my legs. I clenched my thighs in anticipation of feeling that tongue tracing circles inside me again.
“You’ve still got that dagger?” he asked.
I nodded, unable to speak. The hilt was still clasped in my sweaty palm, and I knew the moment I released it, my exhaustion would claim me.
I wasn’t ready for this to be over yet.
Varius’s hands gripped my thighs before parting them. He settled himself between them, and I held my breath, waiting for him to push inside me.
But he paused, his dark gaze fixed on me.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Sybelle.” All signs of his earlier amusement had vanished. He was dead serious now.
I leaned up, bringing the edge of my blade to his throat. “I like a little pain now and then.” I spread my legs wider until they wrapped around his abdomen.
“Mother of Shade, you’re so deliciously violent.” He kissed me hard, his teeth skating over my lip.
I yelped when the cool whisper of his shadows wrapped around my wrists once more, tugging them backward until they were above my head again.
I huffed in exasperation, and he grinned in response. “Don’t want you getting so wound up you accidentally slit my throat.”
“You once laughed at the idea of me attacking you.”
“Yes, and what a fool I was. For you alone hold the key to destroying me entirely.”
My heart twisted at his words. Hot desire coursed through me like a river of lava. “Varius?—”
He slid inside me, cutting off my words. The motion was slow and careful, as if he were afraid he might break me. I hissed out a breath at the sheer size of him pressing against me. Stones, he was so thick and hard and everywhere . My heels dug into his back, drawing him in .
“More,” I demanded.
He slid in farther, and I cried out. Pain and pleasure mingled so fiercely I couldn’t tell one from the other.
“Sybelle,” he groaned.
He thrust again, driving deeper inside me. Stars burst in my vision, and all I could do was inhale sharply. Thoughts fled my mind. I was singularly focused on the feel of him filling me, stretching me to fit him.
“More,” I whispered.
He pushed again, and I felt his rigid length brushing against my inner walls. My head was spinning. My throat went dry with my rasping shouts. My hips writhed, and he filled me more. Stones, I worried he would rip me in two. My body wasn’t meant to fit someone his size.
But the diamond dagger granted me strength. The pain did not deter me. If anything, it filled me with a savage yearning for more.
I leaned up and kissed him, flicking my tongue against his lips. “More,” I murmured into his mouth. “I want all of you, Varius.”
He bared his teeth, his nostrils flaring. His hands came around my bare back, clenching tightly. I yelped as he rolled us both, settling me effortlessly on top of him. His shadows loosened, freeing my arms. My hands and the dagger now rested against his chest.
“Take me as deeply as you can,” he said, his voice strained. I wondered if he was holding himself back for my sake.
I bent over and licked his chin. “You said you wouldn’t be gentle with me, husband. I can handle it.” I caught his chin between my teeth and bit down hard.