Only the gods knew what kind of emotions were associated with feeding, but I knew he needed to feed, and the only way I could help was to offer myself.
Drawing in a shallow breath, I arched my back, stretching my neck and exposing the length of my throat as my rear pressed against him.
His shudder rocked me.
I slid my palm down his cheek to his granite-hard jaw. Then I placed my hand on the bed before me. “I’m your Consort now, and I want to be of aid to you,” I whispered, hopefully choosing the right words. “If you will allow it.”
Ash went silent and still behind me. I didn’t feel his chest move, and a deep sorrow rose. A pain that was not for me but for him—
Then he moved in that fast way of his. I was suddenly on my belly, my cheek on his forearm, and then he struck.
His fangs pierced my flesh with shocking speed. The burst of sharp, burning pain left me momentarily stunned, but it was brief. A heartbeat, maybe two passed as he closed his mouth over the wound and drew my blood into him. The pain became raw, nerve-stretching pleasure.
Ash drank.
He drank deep as his fingers dug into the flesh of my hip, and mine curled into the soft sheet beneath me. His mouth moved hungrily against my throat as the heat spread from his bite, flaming those earlier sparks into a wildfire. I wanted to move beneath him, to lift my hips to him, but I remembered what he’d told me. How she used to push the limits. So, I held myself still. I flamed. Burned. But I didn’t move. I let him have complete control. He needed that more than I needed him to seize it.
And he did.
Ash swallowed as the weight of his body settled over mine, trapping me between the bed and him. A heady thrill joined the flush of desire as he lifted my ass and thrust into me. Hot, wet, and aching, I was more than ready to take him.
And I did.
He moved over me and in me, hard and fast. There was no chance of catching his rhythm or following it. He set the pace, and he didn’t slow, not even when I came apart, calling out his name so he could hear it. Feel it. He still didn’t stop, his hips pounding into me as he took and took, and I loved it—the wildness of him in control. The drag and pull of his cock, of his mouth. And when he came, I whispered his name over and over, and it was a brief forever before I felt the slide of his tongue against my throat and his hips slowed. I wasn’t sure how long we stayed that way, with him inside me, and his cheek pressed to my shoulder. All I knew was that I wanted to stay there, and I immediately missed the feel of him as he eased onto his side, tugging me so I was once more nestled against his chest.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yes.” I cleared my throat as my heart rate finally began to slow. “You?”
His hand slid across my belly to my hip. His warm hand. “I wish…” Voice thickening, he trailed off into the darkness, never finishing what he’d been about to say.
Telling me what he wished for.
Ash and I shadowstepped into Massene, a village not too far from the capital of Irelone, the following afternoon.
We arrived in a forest on the outskirts of Cauldra Manor in a blink of an eye. Maybe two. It had felt like the last time, but a strange nervousness invaded my system, making me jittery.
“That was quick,” I whispered.
“It was.” His gaze searched mine.
“I’m guessing it wasn’t supposed to feel that quick to me,” I surmised.
Ash was still holding me tightly, my feet several inches off the ground, chest to chest, heart to heart. His was beating faster than mine. “We traveled even farther than the last time. And between realms. It should’ve knocked you out.”
“The embers,” I said, sighing. “I know. They’re getting stronger.”
Lowering me to the ground, he drew his hand up the length of my braid. “They’ll be out of you soon.”
Hopefully, I thought, but I didn’t say that. I didn’t want to give life to the possibility that we wouldn’t find Delfai or that he wouldn’t be able to help us. “So, what are we going to do? Walk straight up to the manor’s entrance and demand to be taken to the Princess?”
“Sounds like a good enough plan to me.”
I raised a brow. “Really?”
“Do you think they will refuse a Primal’s request?” Ash gave my braid a gentle tug.
My forehead creased. “You’re going to reveal who you are?”
“It makes things a hell of a lot easier, doesn’t it?”
“It does.”
A grin appeared, beating back the shadows that had gathered under his eyes, and I felt the curve of his lips tug at my heart. “Plus, there’s some level of amusement to be had when mortals realize they’re in the presence of a Primal.”
Some of the anxiousness eased as I laughed. “I bet it will involve a lot of screaming and yelling.”
“And praying.”
“This should be entertaining.” I stepped back.
Ash’s hand slid to mine, stopping me. The feel of his skin being warm once more sent a pleasant thrill through me. “It’s going to be okay, Sera.”
My breath caught. “Am I projecting again?”
“You were.” The eather had calmed in his eyes.
“What…what does anxiety taste like?” I asked.
“Like too-heavy cream.” He swept his thumb over the top of my hand. “What does it feel like to you?”
Pressing my lips together, I thought about how to explain it. “Like it tastes to you. Like something…too thick to swallow. Suffocating.” Uncomfortable, I looked down at our entwined fingers. The golden imprint along the top of his hand shimmered in the soft, dappled sunlight. I shook my head as we stood in silence. “It’s this…constant feeling that something bad is about to go down, even when nothing is happening. And when there’s a chance that things can go bad? It becomes the only thing that can happen.” My throat thickened. “I know that probably makes no sense, but it’s like a crushing weight on your chest, and it’s always there, even when you get used to it and don’t really feel it. It’s still there, just waiting. And I…I don’t know. That’s how it feels.”
“I get it,” he said, his throat working on a swallow. “I don’t know how it feels firsthand, but I understand what you’re saying.” His thumb kept moving over the top of my hand, tracing the lines of the imprint. “I wish I could do something to change how it feels for you.”
The swift, swelling motion in my chest threatened to lift me to the needled branches. My cheeks warmed, and I wasn’t sure if it was from what I’d shared or his words. His understanding. His desire to make it better. I wasn’t entirely embarrassed by what I’d shared. I just wasn’t used to talking about it. But it felt…good to do so. Almost like a chunk of the weight upon my chest had eased. I imagined that was a little like how he’d felt after speaking about Veses.
“I do think it will be okay,” he continued quietly, his gaze catching and holding mine. “We’ll find out how to remove the embers, and we’ll be successful. I believe this.”
I inhaled sharply, wanting to believe that, too, but the dread was there. It had been there when I awoke and was now nestled deep, along with the embers. For once, I didn’t think it had anything to do with the anxiety, but I nodded. “I guess it’s time to go scare some people.”
He chuckled roughly. “I think so, too.”
Fallen needles crunched under our feet as we started toward Cauldra Manor—it was the only sound to be heard. Tipping my head back, I searched the heavy branches for birds, but they remained quiet and hidden. There were no signs of life. No wind. The Pinelands were still, holding their breath. It was like nature recognized that a Primal of Death walked the realm and had gone quiet, wary, and watchful as we left the forest.