Page 90 of Unmarked Magic

When she moved her neck closer to my lips, I couldn’t hold back. My mouth dragged over her skin, featherlight. Her pulse fluttered against my lips, hammering my name with every beat. Fuck my life. The ache in my gums burned more intensely with every second.

“Do it,” she whispered. The shake in her voice was obvious as she offered her neck to me. Her arms clung to my shoulders like they were her life support, her pulse hammering against her skin. “Bite me.”

Pain seared through my gums, and I felt what I had dreaded. Fangs.

“Scar,” I whispered, my body shaking with every emotion lashing at me. Fear. Hunger. Desire. And a new profound protectiveness stirred inside me at wanting to protect the woman I loved with every inch of my fucking soul.

“Bite me,” she repeated, more urgent this time.

My fangs brushed her skin, and my entire body trembled against her.

“It’s okay,” she assured.

When I sank into her skin, splitting it open, her cry tore through the cell. Still, she clung to me tightly, not fighting it. The taste of her blood sent euphoria through me, its decadent tang something I knew I would forever crave. I held her close, drawing from her in long, languid sweeps. It was an intimacy I’d not experienced before. She was everywhere. On my lap, in my ears, on my tongue. I was tasting the part of her no one had before, and something about that intensified my love for her even more.

“Reid,” she whined, and it stirred my bones to the marrow. Because she had never said my name like that. It spoke to my gods-damned soul.

Suddenly, Callan’s warning sounded in my head.

‘Don’t take too much from her.’

I ignored the urge wanting to take over me: my bloodlust fighting for freedom. But I was not a full vampire. I was still half-blood mage, and I called the shots here.

Scar’s hips moved in a subtle rock against mine. Her fingers dug into my shoulders. Another moan. “Oh gods.”

I realized then; she was enjoying this. She was okay.

That’s when I felt our bond tighten.

She rocked gently against me, causing my dick to push hard against the denim of my jeans. A needy moan sounded in my ear, and the graze of her lips on my earlobe sent a shiver skating through me. Our heartbeats thudded in my head like a bassline. Our own personal soundtrack. Holy fuck.

She was responding to me, tasting her blood.

To us.

The thought consumed me, and I drew more from her. I was addicted to her taste, her blood was like velvet and sin wrapped into a cocktail made just for me — her fated mate. Unbelievable.

Her hips continued to roll, grinding into my lap. Using me as I did her. Something so animalistic, and raw, I questioned if it was legal to love like this.

Her voice quaked. “I’m going to…”

“Come,” I grunted as euphoria consumed me completely, and I was certain I nearly blacked out. I felt the moment she did the same, the stall of her breath, the shudder of her body against mine. I was so overwhelmed with emotion, with feeling, that I didn’t notice the cell door fly open until it slammed against the wall with a thud.

Colt’s voice registered in my mind. “That’s enough. You need to stop or you’ll kill her.” It floated, drifting like a daydream, its meaning not hitting home. Not even close.

I took more from her. Drowning in her taste.

“Reid,” he said louder this time, more urgently.

When an arm clamped my shoulder simultaneously, my eyes snapped open as if I’d been slapped in the face, reality forcing itself back on me. As if on autopilot, sensing my feed was complete, my fangs retracted on their own accord.

I swiped my mouth with my hand, and blood stained my fingers.

Horror tore through me.

Buried into Scar’s unseasonably pale skin were two bite marks.

My bite marks.