He kisses me then, softly at first, then with increasing urgency, and despite everything, familiar heat sparks low in my core. He deepens the kiss, his tongue mating with mine in a primal dance that makes no allowance for our lack of privacy, and my head spins, my dizziness increasing until he’s the only solid anchor in my world. Overwhelmed, I cling to him, clutching fistfuls of his shirt, and with my thoughts dissolving under the dark pull of desire, it doesn’t matter that I’ve seen him take two lives today, that he may be the very definition of a monster.
Nothing matters except the two of us, and by the time he lets me come up for breath, we’re already past the gate, back in his domain.
“Don’t worry, zaychik,” he murmurs, his thumb stroking my lower lip as a shiver racks my battered body. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, I promise. I’ll keep you safe.” And in his eyes, I read the unspoken:
Even if you object.
* * *