Every second felt like an eternity before her tongue twitched.
His heart pounded. Could she hear it?
“You can do it,” he urged her.
Her mouth opened wider, and his heart pounded as fangs latched onto his wrist. There was a flash of pain, but it was gone as quicklyas it had appeared. Her tongue lapped at the incision he’d made, and he exhaled a sigh of relief as she pulled his blood into her.
Marius rested his back against the wall, letting himself drown in the sensations originating from his wrist. He’d always thought that allowing a vampire to drink from him would hurt, but he couldn’t have been more wrong.
He felt nothing but pleasure as she drank. Was this why so many people in the castle volunteered as Sources?
Vivienne’s hands rose, clutching at his wrist. She gripped him tightly, holding him in place as she drank.
He groaned as warmth ran through him, and his muscles tightened. Gods above. Even their kiss hadn’t felt this good. He ran the fingers of his free hand through her hair, and she made a sound that was pure pleasure as he rubbed her scalp.
Keeping his hand in her hair, he watched as her wounds stitched themselves together. Her back was the first to heal, the injuries closing one at a time. Within minutes, they were nothing but pink, slightly raised lines on her flesh.
Vivienne moaned around his wrist as the membranes of her wings began fitting themselves back together. It was like watching invisible hands work on a delicate puzzle. What had been bloody black tatters minutes ago became recognizable as beautiful bat wings once again.
Marius’s fingers twitched, and he yearned to touch one of those powerful appendages. He couldn’t, though. Not yet.
Many years ago, when he’d still been a child and unaware of the ways of the world, he’d asked Luna about vampire wings.
“They’re extremely delicate, Mar-mar. When you touch them…” His sister’s voice trailed off, and she exchanged a look with Sebastian. Blood rushed to her cheeks, the rosy hue a feat for a vampire, and she smiled softly. “Well, let’s just say it’s a very special moment.”
Marius had been too young back then to understand what his sister was talking about, but her meaning was crystal clear now.
Whenhe touched Vivienne’s wings, she would be alert, and it would be something they’d experience together.
During the long, perilous climb up Death Mountain, Marius had made a decision about his bodyguard. Their journey might be coming to a close, but this would not be the last time he and Vivienne embarked on an adventure together.
Over the past few days, he’d realized that adventures were fun, but having someone to go on themwith, to talk to, and experience life alongside was even better.
He wanted to live with Vivienne by his side. She made everything, from the most mundane tasks to life-endangering adventures, better.
Disentangling his fingers from her hair, he brushed his hand over her cheek. She was so beautiful, but that wasn’t why he was drawn to her.
He loved that she didn’t mince her words with him because he was a prince, that she got angry and frustrated with him, and that her eyes flashed when they argued.
He loved so many things about her that he wasn’t even sure how to sort through them all. Every day with Vivienne was different, and that was exactly what he wanted.
When they completed this quest, he would ask her to stay with him, not as his bodyguard, but as his partner.
He would?—
Obsidian eyes opened, and they looked straight at him. The moment their gazes met, it was like all the air was sucked out of the mountain. He could barely breathe, let alone move.
For the longest moment, they stared at each other.
Then, her hands spasmed around his wrist. She pulled her fangs out of his flesh, and her tongue lapped at the skin, helping the wound heal.Sitting up, she retracted her wings, still holding his gaze. Her shirt was torn in several places, hanging off one shoulder and barely covering her chest.
Marius undid the clasp of his cloak and slung the heavy material over her. She gripped the edges and stared at him.
Every second felt like a lifetime. Could she feel the way time stretched on, too?
His heart hammered in his chest as he breathed her name.
She opened her mouth, her fangs still tipped in crimson, but no words came out. Was she in shock, or was this something else? A side-effect from his halfling blood?