didn’t stop me this time. I grabbed his hair and slid down as I pulled him forward. His body covered mine and I opened my legs, welcoming the thrust that filled me with the sharpest kind of rapture. Then I kissed him until I could no longer taste the salted honey of my pleasure on his mouth.
“I should never have left you.” The truth left me in a rush when I finally pulled away. “I am so, so sorry.”
His grip had been tight before. At that, it became bruising. His new roughness only made the pleasure more intense. I gave myself to it, telling him with my raking nails and the fangs I sank into his shoulder that I wanted more.
He gave me more, until I was lost in sensations that danced between incredible pleasure and quicksilver pain. His blood painted my nails and lips, while mine coated his mouth when I swore, “I’ll never leave you again,” with a drawn-out moan.
He grasped my hair, stopping with a suddenness that made him feel like he’d been turned into a statue. “Swear that on more than what you’re feeling in this moment.”
My body pulsed from an overload of sensations and I was slightly buzzed from drinking his demon-tainted blood, but at that, my mind cleared as if he’d thrown a bucket of icy water onto my brain. He wanted a promise I couldn’t later say I’d been forced to make, or try to brush off as a mere “technicality.” Whatever I said next, I’d better mean it.
I stared into his eyes as I dragged my palm across a fang, letting the blood that dripped down fall onto both of us since I was still on his lap, straddling him.
“By my blood, Ian, I swear I will never abandon you again.”
Determination bordering on ruthlessness flashed in his gaze. “I’ll hold you to that. Now”—his immobility ceased with an arch that rolled heat though me like a fire wave—“let’s see if I can make you scream loud enough to find out if this reinforced room is as far away from everyone as Yonah promised.”
Laughter bubbled out of me. Was that why we were in this ratty hole instead of the mansion’s much nicer accommodations?
My arms tightened around him. “Let’s,” I said, adding huskily, “after all, you promised me a broken bed.”
Chapter 25
We were late for the ball. Not just because we were having sex, though the bed was in pieces and the walls now had several body-size dents in them. No, we were late because I hadn’t realized how exhausted I was until I drifted off in Ian’s arms and woke up a full eight hours later.
Ian had let Silver inside at some point during my slumber. I would’ve felt horrible if he’d been stuck in the hallway this whole time. He was in the corner of the room farthest away from the horn and bed debris, sleeping as Ian and I got dressed.
I’d brought many things for this trip, but I hadn’t thought to bring a ball gown. No matter, as it turned out. Katsana brought me four to choose from. I picked the strapless one with the tight square bodice and wide, swaying skirt that met in the middle with the elegance of a swan’s wings closing gently together. It was deepest indigo from the bodice to mid-thigh, then it had been dip-dyed into a shimmering silver. It reminded me of the sea when bathed by moonlight; dangerous in these parts, but lovely nonetheless.
Ian had packed a tuxedo, so his foresight meant he had no need to borrow one. His was black with a white tie, leaving just his auburn hair and his ruby cufflinks as color accents. He looked unapproachably gorgeous in the elegant ensemble. Only I knew that his cufflinks matched his new silver-and-ruby cock piercing. Ian could never be tamed, even at his most refined.
“I’d rather we spent the rest of the night here, but Yonah was emphatic about our attending the ball,” Ian remarked as I put the finishing touches on my appearance. “Said they’re celebrating the arrival of a newcomer to the island. Guess making a party out of it helps newcomers feel less like they’ve come to a prison for rejects and more like they’ve found a new home. We’ll make nice with everyone for a couple hours before we corner Yonah and convince him to do the spell.”
I swept my hair into a knot that was formal enough for the occasion. It also allowed