He slowly kissed me, devouring me from the outside-in. That single solitary kiss told me everything I needed to know about his love for me. He reluctantly drew back, his fingers stroking my face gently. I frowned, still not happy with the gaunt, pinched look of his face.
“You need more blood.”
“I need my mate.” The touch on my face turned possessive, and a bolt of desire went straight to my core. Wait.
“Where’s Kieran and Ronan?” I felt guilty for not thinking about them until now. My heart sank as Benedict’s expression turned serious.
“They didn’t die, did they?”
It felt like a fist had a grip on my heart and was squeezing, squeezing—
“No,” Benedict answered, “they didn’t die.”
I was confused. “Then what—”
“You didn’t mate with them right after your change, so they’re going through mate withdrawal twice as hard. Wyrren said he’d never seen anything like it. It was useful on the way here during the battle—Kieran took out a score of demons single handedly, and Ronan about a dozen vampyres and two scores of those large, gargoyle beasts. Once we got here though, they kept trying to kill. We had to chain them in caves on the cliffs before they killed any drakens. That’s why I look so drained—it took a lot of blood to heal the drakens they had gotten to.” He paused, his eyes taking on a far away, haunted look.
“Let me guess—you didn’t have enough left to heal yourself.” It was something he would do. He would die for his people. Benedict shot me a heated look.
“A few days ago, Kieran and Ronan finally ran out of strength.”
I didn’t like the sound of that.
“Where are they now?”
Benedict sighed, and it was such a tired, defeated sound that my head shot up to look at him.
“We might as well take care of it while the witches are busy playing with dirt.”
He grabbed me and pressed my body against his, muffling the surprised yet pleased yelp that left my throat. I felt his raging need against my thigh, and his teeth scraped by my ear, promising nothing and everything.
“It is my right to go first, and my instincts are screaming at me to do it, but I will waive it if you wish to help the others first.”
He dropped me and took to the air. I stumbled, my head fuzzy and my limbs heavy with need. I growled, then spread my wings and followed behind him. We flew along the scraggly coastline, watching the blossoming path of green left by the earth witch. The drakens following treaded carefully around the thin, new blades of grass. Their eyes watched her with wonder.
Four
“I want to see the beach first.”
Benedict banked sharply at my words, and we flew to the west side of the island, landing on the black sand beach as the waves gently washed in around us. I took Benedict’s injured hand in mine, running my lips over the various cuts and bruises. His eyes closed in bliss, his body relaxing against mine.
“The others are—”
I put a finger to his lips, and he sucked it into his mouth. Fire burned through my veins, quickly consuming all rational thought. I met his eyes, panting.
“Bite me.”
I straddled his lap, wanting him to heal himself but knew he would need a bit of encouragement—I would have to call to his instincts. I nuzzled into his neck, offering my throat as I ran my fingers through his hair. He drew back, his heart pounding against mine.
“Absolutely not. I will not drain you the moment you return to me—”
I snorted inelegantly.
“You will not drain me. I am perfectly healthy, and you are not. If you don’t want me, I’m going to find Kieran. Otherwise, bite me.”
I stood and took off into the air, Benedict hot on my heels like I knew he would be. I let out a playful screech as we flew together, whirling around each other as we spun and dove, neither trying too hard to catch the other. We went high enough to see the entire island, small trails of green creeping through the cracked magma to show where the earth witch had gone, her loyal drakens behind her. I dove down to the black sand beach, misjudging my landing as I hit the ground in a bundle of claws and fangs. I rolled and landed flat on my back, covered in black, gritty sand. Benedict landed elegantly in front of me, folding his wings in neatly as he crossed him arms“Don’t say anything,” I spat, wiping sand out of my mouth. His eyes gleamed with need.
“I won’t.”
The next moment he was on top of me, the waves washing over us like a gentle blanket as he claimed my body right there in the sand. It was the first time he’d been slow with me, taking his time to savor every inch of my body as the crashing waves covered my cries. Before Benedict had always been desperate to find release, driven to the edge. Perhaps in a way, he still was. But here, amongst the dunes and the water, I think he realized I wasn’t going anywhere—that I chose him.
My wings were splayed out behind me, my back ridges flattened against the ground. I went to tuck them in protectively, but he put a gentle hand on them, silently asking me to keep them out. He eyes roved over the purpled, black edges, and I wondered if he lamented that after today my wings would take on the colors of my other mates. Benedict must have read the worry on my face.
“I don’t
