“Sweet Goddess Solaria, I could do this every minute of every damn day,” Rhain growls into my hair. I am lying on the kitchen table, my legs wrapped around his back as he moves within me. In our urgency for one another, in our need to block out the possibility that Ezra may never return, we only managed to remove the bottom half of our clothing. Our lovemaking is urgent, filled with want, need. Rhain pushes into me steadily, sending items on the table crashing to the ground, smashing against the stone floor. My hands are pinned above my head with one of his own. His free hand is stroking my breast as the table rocks beneath us.

“Let me touch you,” I groan out, pushing against his hand that is holding me down. He doesn’t relax his hold.

“Not just yet, Cia,” he teases.

Before when we made love, we were both under the influence of the Claiming and even though I had wanted to be with Rhain, had made the choice to save him from a painful death, it was a moment that was overshadowed by something I didn’t truly understand, no matter how incredible it had been. This, now, this is my choice. I’m not doing it to save Rhain, I’m not doing it because of an unbearable desire that needs to be satiated. I’m making love to this man because I want to. Need to.

“Let me touch you,” I say again. Something catches in my voice. Rhain lets go of my hands immediately. He stops moving within me, stilling whilst I gather myself. We look at each other like that for a long moment. My heart expands in my chest at the look he’s giving me. It is haunted.

“Cia, the thought of almost losing…”

“Shh, don’t think about that. You’re here now,” I say, pulling his head towards mine. “Distracting me,” I mumble.

His lips part on a laugh as I slip my tongue into his mouth. We remain holding onto one another, kissing, teasing each other with our lips until I am so wound up by the fact he has stopped moving within me that I grab his arse and squeeze hard.

Growling, Rhain reaches behind my back and flips me around so that he is lying on the table and I am straddling his hips. He seems to know exactly what I want, just at the moment I want it. Our connection is physical, very much so, but it is becoming more than that, much more. He is so in tune with my body, with what I need, and he makes sure that those needs are fulfilled. It’s as though he understands the helplessness I felt over the last few days and my need, now, to take control.

So, I listen to my body and I take control.

Letting go of my worries for Ezra, I concentrate on this moment, now, between us. Rhain’s chest heaves as I lean forward over him, placing my hands either side of his head, so that the sweet spot of my arousal is pressed firmly against his pubic bone. I move against him, gyrating my hips. It isn’t long before I feel my internal muscles clench tightly around him.

“That’s it, Cia,” he says, resting his hands gently on my hips. “Take control, my love.”

My love? Love? As the implications of those words wash over me, so too does the most intense orgasm. An orgasm that leaves me breathless, weak and wanting more. So much more.

* * *

He’s back. We need your assistance, come now. Devin says, his words rushing into my consciousness. I sit up quickly, untangling myself from Rhain’s arms.

“Ezra,” I say, jumping off the table and pulling on my scattered knickers and jeans. Rhain follows suit, pulling on his own clothes quickly. We rush out of the cottage towards the edge of the forest.

How is he?

He’s taken a few hits. The fae magic has weakened him, but he will live as soon as he gets some blood.

We turn the corner of one of the stone cottages located towards the back of the hidden hamlet to find Ezra lying on the ground. Nostra and Devin are bent over him. Nostra looks up, beckoning me over.

“We have no time to send for anyone else. Your blood now, Accacia,” he demands.

I don’t think twice about it. He has already taken my blood, accepted it. I will give it to him once again. Devin moves out of my way as I kneel beside his head. “Why isn’t he healing?”

“Fae magic is powerful, it has the ability to infest the host. Clan Lux members have the ability to self-heal, yes, but there is a limit to those healing abilities, especially when it comes to the fae,” Nostra explains.

My head snaps up as I look between the men. “Why did none of you mention this before? If I had known I wouldn’t have…”

Rhain holds his hand up, cutting me off. “We knew the dangers. There was no point in worrying you with them.”

I shake my head in frustration. “You should have told me.”

“Would it have prevented you from trying to find your friend?” Nostra asks.

I don’t answer.

“Precisely,” Rhain says.

Devin catches my eye. It was better you didn’t know. You and I both know you would have snuck into the forest regardless.

He’s right, I would have. Ezra groans, coughing up a mouthful of blood. This is bad. “I have nothing to cut myself with,” I say, looking between the three men. Ezra is barely conscious; a nasty wound is haemorrhaging blood from his chest.

“He has his teeth,” Nostra points out.

Right, teeth.

“Just raise your wrist to his mouth, Cia. He is so out of his mind with pain that he will instinctively bite you,” Devin says.

I laugh. This is not the first time Ezra and I have been in this position. He refused my blood before. What makes you think he’ll take it now?

He may be a stubborn fool, but he has tasted you now. He won’t be able to resist. The Joining has occurred whether he likes it or not. Personally, I think he likes it, though he won’t admit that anytime soon, Devin responds, giving me a look.

Rhain kneels beside me. “Put your wrist over his mouth, Cia,” he says, holding my arm gently and bringing my wrist to Ezra’s mouth. He reacts immediately, just like Devin said he would, his teeth puncturing the delicate flesh. I let out a hissing noise at the sharp pain I feel, and a moment later he is sucking greedily at the blood pouring from the wound. Then, like before, the pain is replaced with a feeling that distracts me entirely. After a few deep swallows, his eyes snap open. He looks up at me leaning over him, my long hair falling in a curtain around us both. His grey eyes flicker with recognition, with fleeting happiness and then, finally, anger. Pulling his teeth free from my wrist, he sits up abruptly, forcing me to move back quickly. I can already see the wound on his chest closing.

“No, not Accacia,” he growls.

I sit back on my haunches, trying to stem the flow of blood from my wrist with my other hand. “There was no time to get anyone else…” I falter, holding my wrist back to him. He gently takes hold of my arm, lowering it away from his face.

“No. No more,” he insists.

“But you are not fully healed,” I say, noticing the wound hasn’t yet closed.

“I said no more, Accacia.” His voice is tight.

“Why not? It’s not as if you haven’t taken it before,” I say. Why does he persist on being such a goddamn martyr?

“That was different…”

“I don’t understand you, Ezra. What am I supposed to do? You needed blood, I gave it to you.” I am mortified. Not only has he rejected me, he’s done it in front of everyone else. Without thinking it through, I push against his chest with my palms in frustration. Out of the corner of my eye I see Rhain, Devin and Nostra giving each other worried looks.

“Did nothing I said in the tunnel mean anything to you?” He remains tight-lipped, guarded. “I don’t know why I bothered,” I say, my voice wobbling. “You can go to hell.”

Red, it’s not wise to poke an injured lion.

Shut up, Devin. I stand up, turning on him. He holds his hands up.

“What about upsetting me? Have any of you considered that? I am not someone you can fool around with, then cast aside at whim. I will not be that person, do you hear me? Now, has anyone else got anything they’d like to add to my humiliation?” I look around at all of them. Not one can look me in the eye.

“I thought so.” I turn on my heel and storm off back towards Nostra’s home.

“Accacia, wait. I didn’t mean…” Ezra says after me, but I don’t stop. I just keep walking.