Tears seeped from her eyes, collecting grime from the dirty floor and clinging to her soiled skin. He was her husband, and she was losing him. Perhaps he was already gone.
A silent sob ripped from her heart, and she accepted this was how it would end. They would not part in kindness but in chaos. He would become such a danger to all of them, the man she loved would be long gone before he actually vanished. Had she already missed her chance to tell him goodbye?
Drowning in sorrow, she whimpered, “I love you.”
He stilled, breath seething in an audible growl and eyes flickering with unrecognizable, predatory rage. But as his head cocked to the side and he looked down at her, she wondered if part of him still existed inside the beast.
“Jonas?” She spoke his name in a broken whisper, desperate for any sign that humanity still remained behind his eyes. “Can you hear me?”
He staggered off of her, hauling his body back until he crashed into the wall, a look of horror on his face.
Relief gutted her and she shuddered, her body rolling to its side and her tears falling fast. He was still in there. He wasn’t fully gone to her yet.
“Thank God,” she whimpered, but the damage to her throat made it difficult to speak.
The copper pot clattered to the floor in a loud crash, and light spilled down the cellar steps as the door swung wide and he fled, howling in pain as he rushed into the sunlight.
Chapter 25
Larissa stretched under the thin blanket, curling into the warm, muscled body at her side.
The low rumble of a masculine groan greeted, followed by the press of soft lips and a seductive stare from intensely inviting eyes.
“Morning.” Eleazar kissed her soundly, soft lips and tongue gently seeking.
She smiled against his lips and peeked through her lashes at the window. “I believe we missed morning.”
He pulled her close, seating her more firmly over him, and continued to kiss her. Her body awakened under his touch, the response as surreal as last night.
The cool air puckered her nipples into tight points. He pulled the tip of her breast into his mouth, sending heat to her core and warming her blood. She rocked over him and he groaned, his pleasure ricocheting back to her and amplifying her own.
Grinding his hips into her, rotating beneath her, he grinned, and she gasped. Lashes lowering, she focused on the incredible awareness of him. Her senses sharpened.
Lifting her hips, he slowly entered her and they both sighed, luxuriating in the shared comfort. Head dipped back, her hair tumbled around her shoulders.
Looking down at him, she smiled. “Can all mates share such pleasure?”
He arched beneath her, stretching and pressing deeper into her core. “Some, I suppose. I’ve heard rumors but never imagined anything so…” His eyes closed and his lips parted, revealing twin fangs.
“Euphoric?” She craved his blood.
“Yes.”
Her fangs elongated, and her breath hitched when his thumb graced the sensitive bud of her sex.
She groaned and tilted back, savoring the sensation as he glided into her heat. A fire formed in her belly as his mind pulled hers into his thoughts. She saw herself through his eyes and the vision stole her breath away.
Confident and sensual, she rode him, taking her pleasure and granting him his own. He was so strong, but his strength no longer threatened hers.
His long, trim body bunched as his muscles corded with each slow thrust. His powerful thighs filled the space between her soft feminine ones. His tapered waist pressed into her softer belly as he pulled her down for a kiss.
She bit and licked at him, finding her way to his thrumming pulse. “I hunger, Eleazar.”
His hands closed around her hips, sliding lower and squeezing possessively. His body swelled inside of her. “Take what you need, my beautiful lioness.”
Her body coiled around him like a hot fist. Tongue tracing below his jaw as her mouth opened, she pierced his skin and he thrust hard, burying himself inside of her. Hot, life-giving blood filled her mouth as her muscles tightened around him and his cock fluttered against the trembling walls of her sex.
His soul opened to her and love flooded in. The sensations leaving him were so intense that they became all she could feel, more powerful than her own pleasure, more valuable than her own life. The incredible bond that connected them cinched tighter until he was all she knew.
No matter what was to come, she would always need her mate. There was no existing without him after such a bond, no unraveling the threads that had sewn their souls together.
What they shared was so all-encompassing nothing else mattered. Her doubt and insecurities washed away. He saw her as a masterpiece with all of her natural imperfections, and she somehow saw him the same. They were made for one another, the other half of each other’s soul.