Page 48

Four hungers.

Four hands pressing outward against my body from the inside.

Each one recognizing her.

Each one demanding her.

Not yet.

I gritted my teeth and held.

I forced the other three down.

Eight hundred years had taught me how to command every creature beneath my skin.

Tonight, that discipline became an act of devotion.

Gabby lay warm, soft, and shivering in my arms.

They would wait until my mate—my little witch, my healer, the insane woman who had shot me seven times before midnight—understood the truth of what held her.

Her trembling carried the ancient rhythm of prey caught within a predator’s embrace.

Yet Gabby was far more precious than prey.

She was my mate.

My life’s new purpose.

My sacred charge.

The only being in all creation who could summon my every form and bring each one to its knees.

The creatures clawing through my flesh to possess her would tear apart gods for her.

They would topple empires, drown cities in blood, and gladly meet their final deaths before allowing harm to touch a single strand of her hair.

Does she even understand already how strong our bond is?

If not, then. . .in time, she would understand.

My discipline was a physical ache, a leash of iron wrapped around the base of my spine.

For now, I would give her the sanctuary of my arms before I let my hands learn the surrender of her skin.

I would offer the shield of my body before I sought the pleasure of being buried inside hers.

I would grant her every gentleness before I bared the ravenous truth of what she had awakened in me—a truth that felt like a second heartbeat, thick, demanding, and pulsing in my cock and even in the knot that strained against my pants.

Gabby shifted against me.

Mmmm.

She leaned her small, bandaged hand against my chest.

I almost nipped at those fingertips.

Careful. Her shivering has finally stopped. We’ll bite her more later.