The War of Two Queens (Blood and Ash 4)

The feel of his mouth closing over his bite mark sent a flood of pounding desire through me. He shifted, pulling me away from the beam and then pressing me down so my hips were against the hard board at the foot of the bed. His mouth was still fused to my neck, and he was still so deep, driving into me, over and over. My fingers dug into the blanket as I panted for breath. One of his arms hooked under my knee. He lifted my leg, changing the angle, deepening his thrusts, and intensifying the feel of him. And then he went wild.

There was nowhere to go, no escaping the fire the hard pound of his hips fanned, or the wild, rawness of how his mouth moved at my throat. And I didn’t want to flee. I didn’t know what that said about me, to know there was no control, no restraint. That this was a claiming, and I willingly went into those flames as the headboard banged against the wall in a fast, almost erratic thump. The sounds. The slick feel of him. The utter dominance—

My body stiffened, tightened. The release was sudden and sharp, exploding through me in pulsing waves. And still, he didn’t stop. He plunged in and out, his hips rolling and grinding until I was spinning and falling—

Casteel tore his mouth from my neck and pulled out. He turned me onto my back and grabbed my hips, pulling me to the edge of the bed. And then he was thrusting into me again. My head kicked back as I gasped—

He froze, staring down at me…

I followed his gaze, trailing down the delicate golden chain to where his ring rested between my breasts. “I’ve worn it close to my heart ever since I received it.”

Casteel shuddered, and his mouth came down over mine, silencing a shout as he ground his hips against me. He kissed and kissed, and then his mouth left mine, his head lifting. Those ruby-red lips parted.

“Never again,” he snarled, his word punctuated by deep, stunning thrusts. “Never again are we taken from one another.”

“Never,” I whispered, shuddering at the taste of him—my blood and me—now lingering on my lips.

His head dipped, this time to my breast. The edges of his fangs drew across a peak and then sank into the skin. My entire body bowed as his mouth closed over the turgid flesh.

I swept my arms around him, cradling his head to me as I wrapped my legs around his plunging hips. He stoked the fire once more, enflamed me until muscles low and deep inside me clenched—tightening and coiling. Casteel grunted, groaned, his movements becoming jerky and frenzied. My senses snapped open wide, connecting me to him, and all I felt and tasted was his lust, his love. It matched mine, surrounding both me and him. Never had I felt anything like this—like him.

“I love you,” I gasped as all that coiling tension started to unfurl.

His mouth left my breast and found mine. “Always,” he breathed and thrust in deep and hard, stiffening. There was no stopping us from tumbling over the edge, shuddering, shaking, and falling into bliss.

Together.

Always.

And forever.

Chapter 32

Casteel

I watched Poppy drag the washcloth down my arm, wiping away soapy residue, my attention rapt. Obsessed.

The shirt that had been given to her slipped down once more, baring a creamy shoulder. She’d battled that sleeve since she’d put the tunic on, and for once, I was glad she was losing a war.

There was a freckle on that shoulder. I’d never noticed it before. Just below the delicate bone. It played peekaboo through the strands of her hair, which were now free of the braid and falling in a riot of loose waves and half-formed curls.

Poppy had changed.

The sprinkling of freckles across the bridge of her nose and cheeks had darkened from her time spent in the sun. Her hair had grown, those still-damp ends from the quick bath she’d taken nearly reaching the curve of her ass. Her face had slimmed slightly. I didn’t think anyone else would have noticed, but I did, and it made me think that she hadn’t been eating well. And that…

I couldn’t think about that without wanting to tear down the walls around us. The kind mortals who’d sheltered us didn’t deserve that, so I focused on her eyes.

Every time the thick fringes of her lashes lifted, it felt like the whole damn house shifted.

Her eyes were like they’d been when we dreamed of each other—spring green pierced by wisps of luminous silver. And they had stayed like that since I’d found myself again.

But the change in her was more than physical. There was a stillness about her now that had never been there before. Not exactly a calmness since there was still some frenetic energy about her, as if her mere presence influenced the air around her. But something about her was deep and settled now. A confidence? An awakening? I didn’t know. Whatever it was, she was the most beautiful being I’d ever seen.