The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

think you’re capable. It’s just that I fear losing you.” He
lowered his head, and his warm breath coasted over my
chest and to the swell of a breast. “But your need to defend
yourself is greater than my fear. That’s the only reason I
don’t stop you. It will be the same for Kieran.”
“I know—” I gasped as his mouth closed over my breast.
My eyes widened as I stared down at the dark, damp curls
of his hair. His tongue swirled over my nipple, eliciting
another strangled sound from me. He looked up at me, eyes
burning as he arched a brow, waiting for me to continue.
“I…I won’t hold it against Kieran.”
A brief, pleased smile crossed his face, and then he
caught the sensitive skin between the edges of his teeth
and then his lips. “You know what helps me get over my
fear?”
I shook my head.
“This.” The pink tip of his tongue flicked over the
throbbing, tightened skin. “This helps. So does your bravery,
and you know what else? I get to reward you for your
bravery.”
My pulse had already been pounding, but now it
thundered through me. “I…I get a reward?”
“You do, but I also get a reward for looking past my
fear,” he said, his thick lashes lifting once more. Gold
churned restlessly in his eyes. “It’s a good thing this reward
will be mutually beneficial.”
“It will be?”
He nodded, and then his mouth closed over my breast
again. I felt the wet slide of his tongue and then the wicked
scrape of his fangs. My breath caught at the forbidden
sensation, and then he struck, sinking his sharp teeth into
the flesh above my nipple. I cried out, threading my hands
into his hair as my entire body jerked. The razor-sharp pain
was intense, shooting through my entire body. There was a
second where I wanted to pull away when the pleasure-pain
was almost too much, but it was gone in a heartbeat. He