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  It had to be her heart that desired to heal him.

  She stepped closer to him, pressed her hands against his back, and fixed her gaze on one of the wounds on his right shoulder. He took a deep breath, as though sensing what she was going to do. Her vision shifted out of focus, a hazy blur everywhere but the red hole. Her power rose, anticipating the taste of him. Closing her eyes the moment her lips touched his skin, she held the moan at bay and covered the wound with her mouth. She melted into him, her body flesh-to-flesh with his. The first touch of his blood on her tongue jolted her with the intensity of fifty thousand volts and she leaned into him, her reserve forgotten. She suckled slowly, savouring the taste of his blood and the way it went straight to her head and made her feel invincible. She had never tasted such sweet ambrosia but it came with a price. To heal the wounds, she needed to take a substantial amount of his blood. She would need Taig even more now. She didn’t have the strength to go cold turkey again. This drug was too addictive. He was too addictive.

  With a lap of her tongue, she sealed the first wound and moved on to the next. Her power flowed through her into the bullet holes while his blood flowed into her. A fair exchange in her eyes. For an infinitesimal moment, she wished he would get hurt more often so she could heal him again.

  When she had sealed the final wound, she leaned her forehead against his back, drowsy with the power coursing through her, elevated by his blood. She held his shoulders, breathing deep and slow.

  “Did it hurt?” she whispered, desire stealing her voice. She hoped it hadn’t hurt too much.

  “Like crazy,” he said with a mirthless chuckle. The atmosphere in the room suddenly turned heavy, making it hard to breathe as she stood with her front pressed against his back and her arms draped around him. The shower cubicle felt tiny and confining. “But I swore to protect you.”

  Lealandra drew away from him and looked at his back. The red welts were already disappearing. It was the first time he had allowed her to use her power to heal him, at least consciously. She still couldn’t understand why her power had healed Taig’s hand and why it had been close to making her heal him against her will just now. It had to be her heart, not her magic doing it. She was just confusing them.

  She touched the wound on his marked shoulder. “I didn’t expect my payment to buy this level of protection.”

  “It didn’t.” He hung his head forwards and she looked up at him, wishing she could see his face and read his feelings in it. “The oath I made six years ago did.”

  A frown creased her brow. “Oath?”

  She really wanted to see his face now.

  “The night you left, I swore I would never let anything happen to you. Never. I mean to keep that oath, Lea. I don’t need your money or anything to make me protect you.”

  Without a second thought, she moved around him and placed her hands on the hard muscles of his chest. She stared up at his face, feeling the full head’s worth of difference in their height without her shoes. His wet hair clung in black spikes to his forehead, drawing her attention down to the endless ebony depths of his eyes. The tenderness in them, the affection that glittered there, stole her breath.

  He had placed himself in the path of danger to protect her and she believed that he wanted nothing in return—at least nothing but her heart, and that she was willing to give to him now. Her hands rose to cup his cheeks, fingertips grazing the curve of his jaw and his ears. His words had moved her like none before them.

  She lured his head down at the same time as she tiptoed and heat exploded inside her when their lips touched. The light, soft kiss carried every meaning she put into it. It was a thank you, a confession and an invitation.

  He caught her waist in a firm grip, returning a message of his own. He wanted her too and he was going to have her. Both of them had been waiting for this moment these six long years.

  His arms slid around her when he deepened the kiss, pulling her up against him, and her eyes opened wide when she felt his hardness against her belly. She rolled them closed again, aching with hunger and the desire to feel him inside her. She needed him inside.

  He turned with her and she looped her arms around his neck when he raised her and settled her legs around his waist.

  “Taig,” she husked, breathless from the kiss and anticipation. He rocked his hips forwards, his hard length pressing against her mound, and she sunk her teeth hard into her lower lip and moaned as she stared into his eyes, lost in their black depths. Hunger threatened to take control but she fought it, wanting this moment to be more than just mindless sex.

  Her fingers traced his wet cheek, her eyes still locked with his, reading every feeling surfacing in them. He had never been so open with her, not even at times like this. He had always kept her at arm’s length, never lowering the barrier around his heart, but now she felt as though she was looking deep into it and she didn’t want to tear her eyes away. She feared that he would close his heart to her again if she did.

  “Lea,” he whispered and inclined his head to capture her lips. The softness of his kiss surprised her and it was impossible to contain the feelings it stirred.

  Her eyes closed and she sighed into his mouth, clinging to him and wondering how she had ever managed to live without him when she loved him so much it hurt.

  Looking back, she realised that she and Taig weren’t so different inside. She had closed off her own heart during their time apart, becoming cold and indifferent to others. Everything had become routine. Feelings she had shown towards others had been a reaction based solely on judgement of what the situation demanded and what she should feel, not what she had actually felt. She had been afraid of the intimacy of friendship and fearful of where it would lead her. She hadn’t wanted to love anyone, and hadn’t wanted anyone to love her. Her friendship with Charlie and Isabelle had been real but she hadn’t given all of herself to them. She had kept them at arm’s length too, just as Taig had with her, fearing that she would feel something real if they came too close or she let them into her heart.

  The only one she had wanted to love, and had wanted to feel that emotion towards her, was in her arms now, sweeping her away with his passion and need for her. She kissed Taig harder, desperate to feel more and feel this moment was real, that she was back in his strong embrace and that it was alright to open her heart again because he loved her and that was what she had wanted all this time. The world was right again. They were together and nothing would ever tear them apart.

  Taig drew away from her briefly and then claimed her lips again, slowing her down so the pace of their kiss was unhurried, a sensual dance of his lips against hers, so feather-light that hers tingled. Her desperation passed and her heart warmed when she realised that he wanted this to be more than just a physical attraction too.

  Strong arms slid around her, one claiming her backside and the other pressing between her shoulders, forcing her body against his. He was so warm now, his skin heated not only by the water but also by his desire. The tiles were cool against her back when he moved her to rest against them. She hooked her feet together around his waist and pushed her fingers through his thick black hair, tousling it into glossy spikes.

  He trailed kisses down her neck and a moan escaped her. The feel of his tongue teasing the soft sensitive flesh of her throat sent tingles chasing through her, blistering heat in their wake. She leaned her head back into the tiles, overly aware of every drop of hot water bouncing off her left side and the way they trickled down her skin. Her power filled her, strengthened by Taig’s blood but restrained by it at the same time. It heightened her senses until she was aware of everything. Shivers cascaded over her skin as Taig’s body brushed hers. His warm breath against her throat and each kiss he placed there increased her desire and her body cried out for more. The beat of his heart mixed with hers, creating a sweet symphony in her ears.

  “Damn I missed you,” she whispered on a sigh when he moved to the other side of her throat, devouring it with gentle but hungry
kisses that promised passion, the sort she had shared six years ago with him—consuming and wild.

  “Me or my blood?” he laughed against her neck.

  Lealandra slapped his back in reprimand for suggesting that what she was feeling was only because of his blood. She had never felt anything like what she felt for him and she wished with all of her heart that he would realise that, and would accept that her love was true. A low feral growl was his response. It vibrated through her, making her shudder with it and bite her lip.

  “You...” She leaned her head forwards and kissed his shoulder, needing to taste him and feel he was in this moment with her. “All of you.”

  He stopped and leaned back until she couldn’t reach his shoulder.

  “All of me?” His expression was so deadly serious that her heart jumped and fluttered in her throat.

  Their last conversation six years ago came back to her. She had confronted him about his hatred of his own kind and the fact he loathed his demon side. He hadn’t believed she could accept that part of him. He hadn’t given her a chance to say that she could and she did. He had driven her away and she hadn’t seen him since then. She had forgotten that they had parted on an argument. It was little wonder he had withdrawn from the demon world even more. She should have found the conviction and strength back then to tell him what he had needed to hear and what she had needed to say.

  Taig’s black eyes held hers, demanding an answer. She had one. The one she had wanted to give him six years ago.

  Lealandra interlocked her fingers at the nape of his neck and slowly drew him back to her, making sure that their eyes remained locked and he couldn’t escape her this time.

  When he was close again, she stroked his cheek and smiled, warmth and lightness filling her as she looked at him, thinking about her feelings for him and how deeply they ran.

  “Every last part of you,” she whispered and his eyes lightened to the colour of blood, his pupils wide. She sighed and ran her fingers through the wet tendrils of his black hair, combing it back, and then over the shorter hair at the back of his head. “There isn’t anything about you that I didn’t miss.”

  A smile touched his lips briefly before he dipped his head and pressed them against hers. She closed her eyes and frowned when tears raced down her cheeks. It felt so good to be back in his arms. Everything she thought that she had lost forever was on the verge of being hers again and she couldn’t contain her emotions. Taig understood her now. She had made both her feelings and her fears clear to him, and she knew that he wouldn’t use them against her. He would no longer tease her about Charlie or be bitter because of what she had done. He would be as he had been six years ago—a man who loved her and would never hurt her.

  His hands grasped her backside and he raised her up the wall. She kissed him slowly, hoping to encourage him into reclaiming her body as his and his alone. A contented moan rumbled in his throat as he eased his hard length into her and she couldn’t help joining him with a sigh of her own. His movements inside her were unhurried, gentle and deep, adding to the strange sense of peace filling her. They had never taken things so slowly before. She felt connected to him, one body with two hearts that held the same feelings.

  With each tangle of their tongues and thrust of his body into hers, all sense of danger drifted a little more into the distance. It was so easy to forget everything when she was with Taig, locked safely in his arms, the only place she wanted to be. No other man had ever made her feel the way that he did.

  Lealandra moaned her loss when he broke their kiss and leaned back. The strength of his thrusts increased, his fingers digging into her backside, and she grasped his shoulders, staring into his eyes. They were black again but full of emotion. Her breath hitched in her throat and she forced herself to keep her eyes open, to watch him in this moment and realise that he returned her feelings. Whether he could put voice to them or not, she knew in her heart that he loved her too. He frowned and his body tautened as he groaned, his teeth sinking into his lower lip.

  Fiery heat engulfed her belly, tightening it and bringing with it a sense of desperate need. She clenched him in her depths, moaning with each plunge of his length into her, drowning in his eyes. He groaned again and it turned into a harsh guttural growl when she climaxed, her body quivering around him as fire flashed through her. With another low growl, he pressed his body into hers and thrust deep inside her, throbbing with his own release.

  She closed her eyes and leaned her head against his shoulder, a smile winding its way across her lips as she listened to his heart racing and felt his arms around her.

  He was holding her tight and close, so possessively that she couldn’t stop smiling. It told her something, and it was something she had been aching to know since walking back into his life.

  Now that he had her again, he wasn’t going to let her go.

  CHAPTER 14

  Taig held Lealandra close, trembling all over as he fought to regain composure. He pressed kisses to her wet dark hair, savouring the feel of her warm body against his, supple and small, curved perfectly into his. His woman was back where she belonged.

  He sighed into her hair and closed his eyes. Her confession had floored him. Would she have told him that all those years ago if he had given her the chance? The thought that an angel like her could love a devil like him, all of him, felt like an impossible dream, something that could never happen to a demon. Perhaps his mother had truly loved his father after all, had known exactly what he was and had accepted him as a whole. His good mood began to fade as he thought about them and what Lealandra had considered earlier. He had overheard her conversation with her mother. The shift in Lealandra’s power and the way she had felt had made it clear to him that she was going to attempt to find his parents. He didn’t want that. He wanted to let them go.

  A voice deep within him, in his heart, said that he did want to find them. He needed to see if they were alive and discover what had happened to them but was frightened to go to the underworld, to another place where he didn’t quite belong. He scoffed at himself for being so weak and foolish. If she wanted to find his parents, if she believed that they were alive and that they had left him against their will, then he had no choice but to go with her. It wouldn’t do him the good that she thought it would or change the way he felt about his demon side, but he couldn’t let her go somewhere so dangerous alone. It didn’t matter that she was destined to become more powerful than he was. He would keep his oath and protect her.

  Taig pushed his thoughts away, to the back of his mind, aware that she would feel the darkness in him and his feelings when they were so close to each other. He didn’t want to ruin the moment. Lealandra had missed him, all of him. The man and the demon. She thought she loved what lived beneath his human skin, beneath the façade. He believed in that and that was enough for him right now. When she saw the real him, if he ever allowed her to, then he would see if that love was real and if she could truly accept him for what he was.

  Because he couldn’t accept himself, no matter how much he tried. He wanted to belong in this world and to do that he had to be human, something someone could really love without fear and without regret. Lealandra could say that she loved him now but would she still love him if he ever revealed himself? He was talking about more than showing her claws and wings. He was talking about a full change, unleashing his true nature and shedding the human skin that bound him, releasing the violence that burned deep in his black heart.

  “Taig?” Lealandra whispered. Her hands were warm points against his chest that kept him anchored in this world and with her. Whenever she touched him, he forgot everything. She filled his mind until he couldn’t think. He could only act on impulse.

  He looked at her, right into her eyes. Without realising it, he started searching them, trying to see if she had been telling the truth. Could she really love all of him? There was only one way of knowing. He had to show her what he really looked like, had to make her see that he really was
a demon because he was sure that his human visage was deceiving her into thinking that she had feelings for him. When she saw his true face, she would leave.

  Taig shook his head, trying to shake the thoughts away, and focused on her. Her breathing was steady, her body warm against his, deliciously close and soft. He could hear her heart beating and it went from a gentle patter to a canter when he smiled at her. Her power connected with his, curling itself around him, speaking to his own. It was hungry again. Lealandra was hungry again. Blood and sex. The most basic of needs when it came to old magic like Lealandra’s. Only it was Lealandra who wanted the sex and her magic was content with his blood, for now. He was sure that would change soon enough though. If he gave her blood now, the magic would also want sex.

  So he wouldn’t give her blood. Not yet. He wanted this moment to be about her, them, and not her magic. He needed her to be in control and show him that she wanted him, that she did have feelings for him, not to screw him because the magic compelled her to.

  He craved a stronger sign that she loved him.

  He craved her.

  Lealandra mumbled a protest when he lowered her to the ground and moved her under the shower. He ignored it and grabbed the shower gel. Squeezing some onto his hand, he lathered it up and then began washing her from head to toes. They had never showered together before. He liked how shy it made her. She tried to cover herself with her arms as though he had never seen her naked and this was their first time.