His curse was a muffled whisper across my skin as he drank deep. As he ground that thick shaft, hard like steel, into me.
I was other again.
I didn’t feel like myself.
I was entirely new, created from Azur’s touch and crafted from the sublime pleasure that flooded me, altering every network in my body, every cell.
A second orgasm sparked between my thighs. A deep clenching that made me feel empty, as my walls spasmed and convulsed around nothing. I groaned, rocking against him. The movement made my exposed nipples drag across the rough, textured stone. It felt good. So damn good. That tiny bit of pain that made me want to hold my breath.
Azur froze. His fangs tore from my neck and every muscle in his body went rigid. His hips jerked. I could feel his cock swell. I could feel it twitch and spill in release. But he didn’t make a single sound.
With a sharp huff, Azur’s hand dropped from between my legs. The skirts of my dress settled. I felt warm. Like I was floating in a dreamy pink haze. Or was I just dizzy?
Azur turned me around. I thought he might leave. That he would leave me hanging over the banister with a ripped dress and flushed cheeks. That was what he did whenever he fed. Though the feedings were intense, he always left. Though he usually left me in my rooms where I could stumble right to bed afterward.
His expression was unreadable as he peered down at me. Suddenly, a wave of dizziness made me clutch at his forearm, keeping me steady. The world tilted.
Azur’s brow furrowed.
“Gemma,” he murmured quietly, his voice hoarse. His eyes were bright too. Burning like a roaring fire, embers peeking out at me.
“Hmm?”
His jaw tightened. “Have you been taking the baanye?”
My blink was slow. “The baanye?”
“The supplement,” he said, pressing his fingers to my wrist. His fangs hadn’t retracted yet. “To help your body replenish itself after my feedings.”
“Oh,” I said. Wasn’t he going to leave? “I’m not sure. Maybe Ludayn knows.”
“Raazos,” he cursed. “You should have been taking it this whole time! I told you to take it, didn’t I?”
I pushed at his chest, hearing the spark of his annoyance. As if he hadn’t just ground himself against me until he’d flooded his pants.
“I don’t know what I eat,” I argued. He’d fed from me twice yesterday. And now this feeding. I’d been a little tired this morning but nothing that would prevent me from working on the terrace all afternoon. “Ludayn brings me my meals, and I eat whatever is there. Except for that sludge tea.”
Azur bit out a sigh, his left wing twitching behind him. Just seeing it reminded me of flying. I wanted to do that again. I’d never felt anything more exhilarating.
“Baanye is usually put in that sludge tea, you impossible female,” he rumbled softly.
Even though his eyes were sparking with irritation, I wasn’t afraid of him. With the exception of those first couple days…I wasn’t afraid of Azur.
He wasn’t what I’d thought he’d be.
None of this was how I’d thought it’d be.
“You’ll drink it,” he told me, jabbing the finger, which had been pressing and rolling my clit, toward me. I blinked, my cheeks flushing, my gaze fastening on the very tip, which appeared…wet. Gods. A deep sound rumbled from his throat when he saw where my attention was directed. “Yes?”
“Yes,” I said softly, feeling the sudden wave of dizziness fade. For now.
He’d grown in size again. I noticed he’d begun to wear looser clothes so that when he did feed from me, he wouldn’t ruin them. I’d tried to ask Kalia about it yesterday, but the subject had been awkward and stilted, considering we’d been speaking about her brother. She’d hummed and merely told me that it happened occasionally but not every time a Kylorr fed.
But every time Azur fed from me, he grew. Kalia had said it was the beginnings of a rage. An actual Kylorr rage, the ones that had won entire wars. Kalia had told me that Azur could trigger one at will if he wished. Her words had made me shudder. Had made me realize how powerful Azur was and why I shouldn’t go poking at him with my sharp words after he fed.
Only, he’d never harmed me.
Azur rolled his neck and I heard it pop. His gaze drifted down, and it took me a moment to realize my breasts were still out, the top of the neckline ripped open.
I flushed, gathering up the material to shield my nudity.
“I only have so many dresses, you know,” I grumbled, unable to help myself from grouching at him even though he was on the verge of a rage. “I’ll have to sew this one just like the one from a couple nights ago.”
Azur’s gaze narrowed. “Don’t bother,” he bit out. “It’s hideous and needs to be burned.”
Embarrassment made my cheeks heat. My temper—normally tame and manageable—reared its head, making me snap back, “This dress has lasted me for years, even in the mines. Not all of us have the luxury of buying pretty things that aren’t practical.”
Azur’s eyes burned. If I was afraid of him, that look would’ve scorched me where I stood, but as it was, I glared back at him, undaunted.
This was a game between us, I’d begun to realize. When he wasn’t feeding off me, when I wasn’t coming my brains out, we were usually sniping at each other.
Like a…
Well, like an old married couple.
“You will never step foot in another mine in your entire lifetime, so what does it matter?” Azur hissed back, lowering himself so that we eye level. My eyes flicked to his lips, suddenly jarred because I remembered his kiss. Oh gods, he’d kissed me, hadn’t he? And I’d…liked it?
And I wanted to kiss him again.
A rough huff exhaled from his nostrils, and when I looked up to his eyes, I saw that his were now on my lips.
I held my breath as his dull claw reached forward, brushing the fullness of my bottom one. I was still bleeding a little from his tiny, nipping bite, and I could taste the metallic tang on my tongue. His touch was surprisingly gentle, and when a dab of my blood came away on his thumb, I watched, with a swirl of dizziness, as he sucked the pad clean. His eyes darkened. There was a new kind of awareness stretching between us now, tight and breathless.
Azur seemed to shake himself. He straightened, towering over me, blocking the sunlight behind him, casting me in shadow.
“Besides,” he continued, clearing his throat, “you’re my wife. The Kylaira of Laras. You think you can continue to dress in these rags and not embarrass House Kaalium?”
I bit the side of my cheek to keep myself from snapping at him.
He saw it. Nearly smirked. And that irritated me.
“I’ll arrange for a clothier to come to the keep tomorrow morning,” he told me next, his tone stern. “I’m certain my sister will be more than pleased to help you spend my credits and fill your closets.”