by Nadine Mutas
He understood, for the first time ever, why the French called it la petite mort.
Rocking into her with the last spasms of orgasm, savoring the feel of sweet satisfaction finally achieved, he laid his forehead against hers, his breath heavy, unsteady. Their new bond a glowing force between them, she enfolded him with her arms, her fingers stroking through his hair.
When she spoke, it was an intimate murmur, and he felt the love behind her words resonate along the mating bond. “How’d you like it?”
He raised his head, met eyes of relaxed indigo, the color so deep, so rich, it was inhuman. “I want to do this for the rest of my life.”
Her laugh filled his heart with sunshine.
“No, I’m serious.” He shifted his hips, his cock growing hard again inside her. “I’m sorry, but you’ll never be able to leave this bed again. Or this room.”
She pursed her lips, her face alight with laughter. “We’ll have to eat sometime.” But she rolled her pelvis in response to his languid thrusts, her claws drawing tantalizing lines down his back.
“All right.” He gripped her leg, opened her wider for him. “The kitchen table is sturdy enough.”
She gasped as he changed his angle. “The couch looks comfy.”
“Well,” he said, pleasure a buzz in his blood, “I guess I can make do.” He kissed her hard, his heart too full with everything he felt for her. “As long as I have you.”
A cascade of love along the precious bond between their souls. “Forever.”
Epilogue
“Bye, Uncle Sasha! Bye, Aunt Lily!” The door closed, shutting off the kids’ voices and their frantic waves.
Cool night air stroked over Lily’s skin as she and Alek descended the front steps to the sidewalk. Twining her fingers with Alek’s, she stole a glance at her mate—mate—and smiled, her heart ready to burst. She’d never get used to this feeling.
“So,” she said, “how did you get to be scared of spiders? You never told me the story.”
He shot her a look from behind narrowed eyes, the silver in them catching the moonlight. “Won’t let it go, will you?”
“Like a dog with a bone. Now spill.”
He grumbled something incoherent, and she nudged him with her elbow.
“Come on, Mr. Duho-crap.”
“Duhokrad.” His smile made her belly flutter on fairy wings. “What’s my incentive to tell you?”
“Hm, how about this?” Rising on her toes, she brought her lips to his ear and whispered her idea of a good reward.
He missed a step, straightened, and cleared his throat. “Okay, so Dima and I were nine, and—”
He broke off the same second she felt it, too. A disturbance in the air, not witch magic, but something darker, older, with a bite to it that raised the hairs on her neck and arms. Heart in her throat, she halted next to Alek while they both looked at his driveway—where a man leaned against the hood of Alek’s truck.
Not a man, no. Even without ever having seen him before, Lily recognized Arawn at once. There was no mistaking that casual air of arrogance, the way he seemed to gather the night around him, power pouring off him like invisible steam.
Clad in black pants and a dress shirt of the same color, his arms crossed in front of his massive chest, he tilted his head, regarding them with eyes that whispered of magic steeped in time.
He shouldn’t be able to stand where he did—her mom and Merle had both come by and cast wards around the perimeter of Alek’s house, including his driveway, for added protection against other witches—and beings as insidious as Arawn.
The fact he was propped so casually against Alek’s truck within the still-active wards spoke of more than a deliberate display of power.
It signaled, just as deliberately, that his power had grown, when not too long ago, he hadn’t been able to breach Merle’s wards.
“My lord,” Alek rasped, releasing her hand to go down on one knee.
A pang in her chest at the knowledge he needed to continue calling him that because of her. In the hours of intimate tangling following their mating, he told her how he’d traded in his freedom for her chance to turn back. Even though she hadn’t needed it—his sacrifice was forever etched in her heart.
“Aleksandr,” Arawn said, his voice quiet thunder. Those dark eyes—not brown, but rather shadowed green, from what she could tell at this distance—found her and studied her from head to toe. “Lily Murray.”
Unsure of whether she was also supposed to bend her knee for the Demon Lord—and loath to do it—she remained standing and settled on bowing her head to Arawn.
Alek rose to his feet, subtly shifting until he stood a little in front of her. “To what do I owe the honor of your visit, sire?”
“I wanted to extend my congratulations on your mating.” The light of the street lamps should have glinted off Arawn’s ebony hair, but instead it seemed to vanish within the black, as if sucked away.
“Thank you,” Alek ground out.
“I see whatever ailed your beloved has been cured.” Those shrewd eyes met hers, and she had to look away, the contact was so intense. He cocked his head in a quintessentially predatory way. “Or maybe not.”
Beside her, Alek tensed, and though his aura was controlled, she felt his fear slither along the mating bond.
“And maybe,” the Demon Lord went on, pushing off Alek’s truck to saunter toward the flower beds beside the driveway, “the stone was used to cure another of the same rare condition…” He touched a rose with his index finger, the flower wilting underneath his caress. His voice dropped to a rumble. “One that should have never come to pass.”
Lily held her breath, her pulse a staccato beat in her head.
Arawn straightened and faced them again. “It has come to my attention that death nearly took you recently, Aleksandr.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Do try not to get killed after hours.” Forest green eyes alight with an inner fire, Arawn prowled closer. “I would hate to lose a soldier I have just invested in.”
Alek held himself rigid, his face a mask of neutrality. “Understood.”
“Do you?” A soft question, his eyes assessing, almost…thoughtful. “Your father,” he said, his voice a low murmur, “made a deal with me, and broke it. Despite knowing I would take his life. When I had him brought before me, he tried to bargain for his life. Do you know what he offered me?”
“No, sire.” Alek’s jaw clenched so hard, all of the muscles in his face hardened into a marble likeness. His bitterness trickled through the mating bond.
“Your mother, and every one of his children, to do with as I wished.”
Lily’s heart cringed, her pain echoed by Alek’s through the connection they shared.
“I declined,” Arawn said. “But I offered him mercy. Which he repaid by stealing information from me and selling it to settle his debts.” Darkness pooled around him, clinging to his broad shoulders, vibrating along his arms and legs.
To cross the Demon Lord twice…no one ever survived such stupidity.
“Why are you telling me this now?” Alek ground out through clenched teeth.
“Since you will spend more time in my service,” Arawn answered, “I thought it fitting you should know the truth.”
And heed the subtle warning in it, too, no doubt.
Stepping closer to Alek, Lily twined her fingers with his again, leaning a little of her weight into his side. A reminder, a comfort, a promise. I’m here with you, always.
Alek’s aura didn’t flicker, didn’t betray a single emotion, but a rush of love and heat flowed toward her along their bond.
“As a gift to your mating,” Arawn said, waving a hand.
Power rose in the air, as if drawn from the earth and the space between, and on a whisper of the world that was half whimper, magic such as she’d never experienced threaded through the existing witch wards, fortifying them into a shimmering wall around Alek’s property.
“Report to me a
week from now for your next assignment.” The Demon Lord inclined his head. “Until then, enjoy your mate.” Lips curving into a half-smile that chilled her blood, Arawn turned, his hands in his pockets, and strolled down the sidewalk, courting shadows wherever he passed.
It was only when his dark shape had vanished that Alek exhaled on a breath that sounded like it held the weight of the world. Tension leaking from his muscles, he pulled her forward, through the fortified wards that prickled over her skin, into his house. He closed the door with a sigh, keeping his palm on the wood, his head hanging.
Brushing away the dark blond hair that had fallen into his face, she kissed his forehead, his nose, his lips. He responded, tunneling his fingers through her hair, turning her so her back met the door, his kiss that of a male in need of salvation.
“If I didn’t know better,” she said when they broke apart to breathe, “I’d say he…cares about you. In his own, disturbed—and disturbing—way.”
Caging her in with his forearms braced on either side of her head, his eyes fixed on her lips, he quietly said, “It doesn’t make it okay.”
“No.” It would never soothe the ache in his heart for the loss he’d suffered, but maybe—
“I still hate him for taking my mother’s life. But…” A deep sigh, a shudder along their most intimate connection. “I get why he couldn’t let my father live. It makes a sick sort of sense when you consider who—and what—Arawn is.”
And that was the crux of it. Beings like the Demon Lord didn’t rise to—and hold on to—power by having mercy thrown back in their face.
“The demons who are his, the ones he keeps in line,” she said, stroking that hair of dark, burnished gold, “he wouldn’t be able to control them if his punishments seemed weak.”
He nodded, his fingers light while they glided over her skin, mapping the contours of her face. “He’s still a jerk.”
“But you’re not his,” she whispered, turning her head to kiss his palm. “You’re mine.”
A smile slid onto his lips, mirrored in the sunshine along their bond, eyes of gold-rimmed silver meeting hers. “I think,” he murmured against her mouth, “I’ve been neglecting my duties as your mate for tonight.” His smile turned wicked, stirring heat and hunger in her core. “You look like you need duh.”
Laughing, she met his kiss, flinging her legs around his waist. “Well, this door looks sturdy enough.”
He broke the kiss, laid his forehead against hers, his eyes closed. “I love you, moya dushenka.”
“That’s a new endearment.” She stroked his neck, played with the soft hair on his nape. “What’s it mean?”
Eyes shimmering with brilliant silver-gold met hers. “Mostly, it means my darling. But among our kind, it’s used for the one thing that is closest to our hearts, the person who holds our duh, our life.”
The smile on her face echoed the one blooming inside her. “I’m your breath outside your body.”
He laughed. “Simply put.”
“Fitting,” she whispered. “Since you’re my heart.”
The kiss he gave her then lit up her soul, her very own beacon of hope.
If you enjoyed Lily and Alek’s story, be sure to check out the next in the series!
Love is the lure that could break her curse—or her heart…
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Get To Stir a Fae’s Passion (Love and Magic, #3) now!
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If you never want to miss a new release, sign up for my newsletter here!
Books in the Love and Magic series by Nadine Mutas:
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Novels:
To Seduce a Witch’s Heart (Love and Magic, #1)
To Win a Demon’s Love (Love and Magic, #2)
To Stir a Fae’s Passion (Love and Magic, #3)
To Enthrall the Demon Lord (Love and Magic, #4)
To Tempt a Witch to Sin (Love and Magic, #5), coming in 2018
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Novellas:
To Caress a Demon’s Soul (Love and Magic, #1.5)
Acknowledgments
Writing and publishing a book is always at once a solitary endeavor and a team effort. My thanks for sticking with me during the various, crazy stages of producing this story, and for supporting me and just generally being awesome:
To Sergej, because without you, none of this would be possible. You hold my heart and keep me going, and you mean the world to me.
To my mom, for your generous babysitting help during those insane first draft writing days.
To my little demon spawn, for being as understanding as only a toddler can be when Mom stared off into space plotting the next scene during playtime.
To Jessica Hofmann, for believing in me and my writing, and just being the very bestest friend I could wish for.
To Dawn Linse, for all those encouraging, commiserating, inspiring, and deep conversations and brainstorming sessions. Good crit partners are hard to find, and I’m so happy I snatched you right up.
To my Panera girls, for keeping me going and providing that safe, cozy environment of shared creativity.
To my beta readers, Wendy, Debbie, and Jackson, who so enthusiastically read TWADL and gave me valuable feedback. I cherish you guys.
To Faith Freewoman, for a fun and awesome edit, and for catching all those mashed-potato-brain mistakes.
To Erin Hanson, for being so kind to let me quote her poem in my story, and who has so, so many more wonderful pieces of poetry on her blog: www.thepoeticunderground.com. You’re an amazing artist, and you inspire me.
And last but not least, to all my readers who loved To Seduce a Witch’s Heart, and kept asking for the next book. You’re everything.
P.S.: Grant, this is what you get when you speak bad about romance novels. You dared me. I delivered.
About the Author
Nadine Mutas is the award-winning author of paranormal romances featuring demons and witches and lots of forbidden love. Her debut novel, To Seduce a Witch’s Heart, won the Golden Quill 2016 for Best Paranormal Romance as well as the Published Maggie Award 2016 for Paranormal/Fantasy, and the latest installment in her Love and Magic series, To Enthrall the Demon Lord, is a finalist in the prestigious RWA® RITA® Award 2018 for Paranormal Romance.
After obtaining a university degree in the subjects job counselors like to warn you about (“There’s no money in humanities!”), Nadine is now writing full-time and introvertedly thriving from her home office. You can usually lure her out of her socially awkward shell by striking up a conversation about languages (keywords: Indo-European family; relation of Sanskrit to Ancient Greek) and watch her geek out for the next hour.
She currently lives in California with her college sweetheart, beloved little demon spawn, and two black cats hellbent on cuddling her to death (Clarification: Both her husband and kid prefer her alive. The cats, she’s not so sure about.)
Nadine Mutas is a proud member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA) and the Silicon Valley Romance Writers of America (SVRWA), the Rose City Romance Writers (RCRW), as well as the Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal chapter of the RWA (FF&PRW).
Connect with Nadine:
www.nadinemutas.com
[email protected]
First published as Blood, Breath, and Desire
Copyright © 2016 Nadine Mutas
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. For permission requests, contact Nadine Mutas at one of the addresses below.
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Nadine Mutas
PO Box 94
New Almaden, CA 95042
[email protected]
www.nadinemutas.com
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents e
ither are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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Cover Design by Najla Qamber Designs
www.najlaqamberdesigns.com
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Editing by Faith Freewoman, Demon for Details Manuscript Editing
Created with Vellum
