Heart of Darkness by Lauren Dane Read Free Book Online

mentally slapped herself. “Stealing magick and destroying everything we stand for wouldn’t feel like this. This is something specific and right.” She hesitated for a moment, wondering how exactly to tell him just exactly why.
    “There’s something you aren’t saying. Tell me.”
    So much for that. Best to be blunt and hope he knew what she was talking about. “We’re bond-mates, Dominic. That’s why it feels this way. Our magick was made to work together. Meant to, as it happens.”
    He stood up straighter. “ Bond-mates? Sorry, but from what I understand that’s only for council witches. I’m not full-council, Meriel.”
    Of course it wasn’t going to be easy. She’d just coached Nell through a mating with a man who despite wanting it couldn’t admit it for some time. “Yes, you are. Or you certainly wouldn’t be my bond-mate. Or anyone else’s. Someone in your line was full-council at some point.”
    She touched his temple, the warmth of his skin against her fingertips. A lock of his hair brushed against the back of her hand. She only barely resisted her urge to laugh at the look on his face. Confusion, wonder, anger, denial. He was such an open book. As a full-council witch, she’d grown up knowing at some point she’d ascend to her true power level once she united her magick with her bond-mate. Part of her had figured her bond-mate probably wouldn’t even be a romantic or sexual mating, but one of power only, like the one her mother had.
    But the man just a foot away was far more than just a compatriot in magick. This man was meant to be hers in a way she could see on his face he did not begin to understand. Hell, she’d grown up expecting this and she wasn’t sure she completely understood it all.
    Nor did it look like he wanted to deal with it just yet. He leaned into her touch nonetheless, feeling the same irresistible lure she did. It would always be that way between them. Now that she’d tasted his magick, she’d crave more.
    And to be honest with herself, she was sure that regardless of the bond, she’d be drawn to the man she stood so deliciously close to.
    The storm of what ifs and when will it bes that had been laying waste to her thoughts, churning in her gut, had all quieted. Gone. It wouldn’t be easy with this man. She knew it like she knew her name. He had trouble written all over him.
    But there was something else too. Something beyond the beauty of the skin stretched taut over muscles. A body she wanted to caress and lick from head to toe. Beyond the cant of the smile that promised very bad and enjoyable things. He was so incredibly beautiful, cocky, self-sufficient. And yet there was a vulnerability there she’d just seen glimpses of. There was something in his eyes that gave her an absolute surety that he’d be worth the struggle.
    She expected scientific proof of many things. But sometimes fate was just fate. And he was hers.
    Sliding her fingertips down his temple, she found the warmth of his jaw, the softness just beneath, the fragility of him just there. His pulse thundered against her touch as a sound broke from his lips—a ragged moan that tore at her self-control. Opening her hand, she luxuriated in the feel of him against her palm when she slid it around his neck, the hardness of him sending need through her, flooding, intoxicating.
    The warmth of his body brought his essence, man and magick, rising to her nose and she shivered at how delicious he was. Her mouth watered as she wanted. Wanted to taste, to lick and kiss and to be licked and kissed.
    His eyes, half-mast and burning with some inner light, locked onto hers and nearly sent her to her knees. She paused, not a bad idea really. She wanted to devour him. It hit her with so much force her hands began to tremble.
    And then she closed her eyes. Just for a moment.
    A vision of him above her, of sliding against him, sweat-slicked skin. Of him inside her hit her and rebounded back to him. With a gasp she opened