than willing to kill to reach her goal. She reached an inner covered courtyard with a Japanese-style koi pond, miniature temple and a covered glass ceiling, her breath loud in her ears. The only other sound was the tranquil stir of the fountain.
“
She clapped her hands over her ears as a possessive roar crashed over her senses.
“
“
Something huge and dark appeared on the other side of the space, and she forgot how to breathe. The creature was massive, with black wings, clawed fingers and sharp, wicked-looking teeth.
“Um,
The thing glared at her and then spoke, its bellowing voice beating against the walls like a drum.
“Who are you?”
“It’s me, you big feathered dummy!”
She didn’t have time to say more as the creature leaped forward, picked her up and shot upward, shattering the glass ceiling as they soared above the complex. Wind rushed through her hair, and she clung onto his massive shoulders as they climbed higher and higher. Had she ever mentioned to him how much she hated heights? She buried her face in his feathered chest as they plummeted back to earth, and kept it there until her feet touched something solid.
“Morosov, what the hell—?”
His mouth was on hers, his fangs grazing her lip until she opened to him. He backed her up until she was braced against a wall, or a tree, or something. She didn’t care as long as it held her up and he continued to kiss her. His mouth devoured hers, and her hand tightened in the feathery softness of his long black hair. It was Vadim, but it wasn’t. She probably should’ve been afraid.
He picked her up until her knees rode his hips and pressed himself against her hidden core. He didn’t need to say anything; the thick ridge of his erection was driving her wild. It was only a couple of days since she’d last seen him, but it felt like forever. She magicked off her own jeans and panties and felt him there, hard and throbbing, needing her as much as she needed him.
Bigger everywhere, bigger there too, but she took him inside inch by inch and started to climax before he was all the way in, which made the last few thrusts even easier. She kept coming and he took everything, his clawed hands moving carefully over her, his mouth kissing hers, sliding down her throat to sink his teeth into her soft skin as he finally came hard and deep within her.
“
His voice resonated inside her, raw with emotion and saturated with power.
Was she crying?
What the hell was going on?
He held her close; his face buried in the crook of her neck, his cock still inside her. In that first confused moment when he saw her altered face, he’d almost killed her... The shock of it still reverberated through him. He hadn’t expected her to be that close.
She bit down hard on the side of his neck and he flinched.
“Get off me.”
Reluctantly he released her, found her pants and handed them back. He didn’t want her to put them on just yet. He wanted her again.
She struggled into her purple panties and then her pink jeans. Even though it was difficult, he couldn’t stop staring at her face.
“It is uncanny. You look like my sister.”
“And you look like a bad Big Bird.” She glared at him and then touched her face. “I know, it’s creepy, isn’t it? I wonder if Adam did it deliberately.”
“I’m sure he did.”
Vadim walked away from her and sat on a nearby log. They were in a clearing high up in the uninhabited mountains to the north of the sect’s stronghold, a place only his immediate family knew about. The feathers on his wings caught the slight breeze, and he barely resisted the urge to unfurl them and shake out his tension. He’d hoped Ella would never have to see him like this, but it was too late to change back into what she was used to.
“What are you doing in Otherworld, Ms. Walsh?”
She folded her arms across her chest.
He tried a neutral smile. “You seem to have found me anyway.”
“I was at Adam’s because I wanted my face back. That’s the only reason why.”
She was definitely mad at him. Was that a good sign or a bad one?
“What happened to you, anyway?” She waved a hand at him.
He looked down at his body. “This is my true form. Does it offend you?”
“It’s nothing to do with me, is it?”
He sighed. Perhaps it was better to give her an open target for her pent-up rage. “It’s going to be like this, then? You having a major hissy fit over nothing?”
“Nothing?” She stalked over to him and stuck her finger in his face. “Don’t you dare fuck with me, Morosov! You waltzed off to Otherworld, telling me to stay put like a good little girl and insisting you didn’t need me anymore. Why should I care what becomes of you?”
“You’re here, aren’t you?”
“As I said, and as I’ve already told your family more than once, I came to get my face back, not to babysit you.”
Diverted from his true purpose, just as she had probably intended, he couldn’t help asking, “You’ve met my family?”
She counted on her fingers. “Your grandmother stuck me in a dungeon to keep me out of the way, your father wanted to blackmail me into taking you back to San Francisco and your mother practically cried all over me to save you.”
He focused on the most dangerous part. “You saw my father? What else did he say to you?”
She finally looked at him. “You don’t want to know.”
“He said I’m a monster, didn’t he?”
She shrugged. “Something like that.”
“Then I understand why you aren’t pleased to see me.” He had to look away. “I can’t defend my past.”
She didn’t even attempt to contradict him. An iron band closed around his heart. “What do you want from me, Ella?”
“To help me get my face back and bring Adam down.”
“That’s all?”
“I haven’t decided about the rest, yet.”
“But we’re mated.”
Her unfamiliar blue eyes shot sparks. “And you walked out on me!”
He grabbed her hand and held fast. “You know why I left.” She tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her. “I had to try and protect you. You’re not dumb, I’m sure you worked that out for yourself.”
“That you’re such a hero?”
“No, that despite everything, you mean more to me than anything else in my life.” Something hot fell on his skin and he realized she was crying. “Ella—”
“I don’t need this right now, Morosov, all right? I just want to get my face back. If you can’t help me with that, go away.”
He released her hand and stared down at the trampled grass. Perhaps he had misjudged her. Her fear of rejection and abandonment ran so deep... Perhaps his father’s words had made her hate him beyond reason, and even beyond their mated state. He wasn’t surprised. Who would want to be mated to an executioner? There was still one thing he could do for her...
