He palmed her cheek, his fingers sliding into her hair. She tasted like mint, her tongue determined against his. Her nails against his nape spurred him on, her hips rising and lowering to meet his measured movements.
No rushing.
No fucking.
Just adoration.
Every touch, nip, and lick was his way of cherishing her. He’d never done anything like this with a woman, had no idea he would enjoy it, but with Astasiya, it came to him naturally. She would be the only one he’d ever indulge in this manner—the only one he’d ever revere.
So thorough, tender, and mind-melting.
His heart pounded in time with hers, sweat trickling between them not from the physical strain but from the thriving emotional connection.
“What are you doing to me?” she whispered, her lips brushing his with each word. “God, Issac, I feel… I feel like I’m on fire.”
“Mmm, it’s addictive,” he agreed, his cock throbbing for release inside her despite the leisurely penetration. “Kiss me.”
“I am.” Her tongue followed her words, entering his mouth and dueling once again with his, lighting him up from within. His fingers curled in her hair, tugging. She reciprocated in kind, competing with him and proving herself his equal even while submitting to his assault below.
My Aya.
He sank his teeth into her lower lip as she unleashed a delicious moan. He fucking loved that sound. His hips drove into hers, the pace deliberate and right, his lips curling as she moaned again.
Glorious.
He felt every quake, every squeeze, every groan as he brought her closer and closer to orgasm. The intensity nearly undid him, his skin slick with the force of their lovemaking.
“I’m close,” she whispered.
“I know,” he mouthed, keeping his movements steady and complete. “Say my name when you come.”
Her nails scored his back, her slick walls tightening around his shaft. It felt amazing, perfect, exactly the way it should.
“Take me with you, love,” he murmured, thrusting deep and hard. “Come with me.”
“Issac…” She froze for one tantalizing second, her muscles cementing around him, and then released on a wave of quivers that shook him to his very being.
Her name left his lips on a guttural growl that rumbled between them as they dove headfirst into a cloud of ecstasy and wonder together.
The power of it shocked him, sending trembles through every limb as he spasmed inside her, marking Astasiya as his in the most masculine of ways. She clamped down around him, her body forbidding him to leave, her nails firmly embedded into his back, and everything about it felt right. A mutual claiming. Their bodies joining as one while their souls bonded on a plane of their own existence.
And Issac wouldn’t have it any other way.
“You’re mine,” he whispered, his mouth tracing the words against her throat. “I’m never letting you go.” His incisors pierced her skin, pulling her essence into his mouth and solidifying the pact on instinct alone.
She writhed beneath him, her lower half reacting to the endorphins pumping through her bloodstream and sending her into another orgasm. His name rent the air on waves of her passion, telling the world who owned her.
“More,” she begged. “Everything, Issac. Give me everything.”
He gave in to the urge to fuck her—hard—his cock seeking the heaven of her tight sheath and blissful warmth. Each stroke drove them to oblivion, her blood euphoric on his tongue. They were lost in each other, in the moment, in how they felt together.
Time became obsolete. Thought no longer processed. Only sensation and emotion ruled them now.
Rapture masked the pain of the past.
Agony melted into sensual bliss.
Their moans mingled intimately, their hearts beating as one.
And sometime, a long time later, they finally paused to breathe, his forehead touching hers, their bodies a tangled mess beneath the sheet. Somehow they’d ended up on their sides facing one another, Astasiya’s leg strewn over his hip, his cock lodged deep inside. She panted against him, sweat glistening across them both, her lips pulled up into a drowsy smile.
The lack of sound and visuals in his condo said they had long been left alone, something he would thank his friends and family for later. Because he needed that—this—with Astasiya. She grounded him, healed him, strengthened him.
“What was my life before you?” he sighed, his arms going around her.
A laugh escaped her, the sound hoarse and tired. “I think I should be the one asking that. A month ago, graduation was all I cared about. Now…”
“Your life is forever changed,” he finished for her, his fingers running through her hair and twisting the strands behind her ear. “How are you faring, darling?” he asked softly. So much had happened over the last few weeks between finding out her future path, Jonathan’s intentions, the truth about Owen’s murder. My sister being alive.
“I’m overwhelmed,” she admitted, her green eyes glistening with sincerity. “I’m also furious, like I want to break something or someone.” She studied him for a long moment, a serious quality overtaking her features. “I understand your desire for revenge, how you could justify using another for the sake of vengeance.”
He ran his thumb over her bottom lip. “Mmm, yes, my perfect pawn.” He met her gaze again. “But you know this relationship between us is no longer a charade, that these emotions run far deeper, yes?”
She nodded. “I do, but I’m still the right tool in this equation. Jonathan offered me the job, Issac. All I have to do is formally accept it, and I’m in. You wanted to destroy him from the inside. We now have the opportunity to do so, with you at my side.”
His fingertips lightly traced her jaw, the shapely lines alluring and strong, just like her. “You’re certain this is the path you prefer? Because it will be a dangerous one, especially with you residing in the city near Osiris.”
“Is there another choice?” she asked, her voice low. “You felt the impact of the runes, Issac. And you saw the artillery room. That’s only the beginning of our obstacles. To free Amelia, we need more reconnaissance. What better way to gather information than by playing alongside the enemy?”
“Not to mention the ability to destroy his organization from within,” Issac added, his shoulders falling. “But it means leaving Amelia with him.” Just saying the words battered his heart, sending an ache to his gut. “I don’t know if I can do it, Aya.” Even now, knowing the risk, part of him needed to rescue his sister.
She cupped his cheek. “We’ll save her, Issac. I promise. But it has to be the right way. You will be of no use to her dead.”
He swallowed, knowing she was right and hating it all the same. Issac rolled to his back and Astasiya followed, her chin resting on his chest, her thigh draped over his. “How did she seem?” He wasn’t sure he really wanted the answer, but needed it all the same. “Was she…?” He swallowed the rest of the words, his throat thick with emotion.
“She dreams of blue butterflies,” Aya whispered. “And she seemed… strong.”
He glanced down at her. “Strong?”
Astasiya nodded. “She thought I was another of Jonathan’s games, whatever that meant. But she didn’t feel like playing. She said a few odd things, but mostly, she came off as empowered.”
His breath shuddered out of him, a weight lifting from his shoulders. “She’s not broken.”
“No,” she replied. “But she was wounded.”
“I saw the bruises.” He’d memorized them as well so he could inflict the same ones on Jonathan, only with deeper coloring and blood. “I’m going to kill him.”
“I know.” She cupped his jaw, her gaze meeting his. “And I’ll help you.” Promise radiated from her irises. “We can do this, Issac. We’ll save her. Together. And then Jonathan will pay for everything he’s done to those we care about. To Amelia, to Lizzie, to Owen.” Her voice cracked on the last name, but her expression ne
ver wavered. “I need to find out what he’s done to Lizzie, to avenge Owen’s death. Just as you need to destroy him for what he’s done to your sister and everyone else. Let’s beat him at his own game.”
“You want to be the queen on my board,” he murmured.
“An upgrade from a pawn.”
“Indeed.” He pushed her onto her back, hovering above her on his elbows. “Does that make me your king or a knight?”
She cupped his cheek. “It makes you my partner and fellow mastermind on the playing field. My very own demon.” The latter was said with a twinkle in her gaze. “You’re mine, too, you know.”
“Am I?” he asked, amused.
She nodded. “You—”
An urgent knock on his bedroom door cut off her words, the unexpected intrusion causing Issac’s gift to engage throughout the building.
Mateo.
Aidan.
Jacque.
“They’ve found something,” Issac said, his jaw tightening. “That’s the only reason they’d return.” And from the image he was reading from Mateo’s mind, he understood the urgency of their interruption. With Astasiya’s assistance today with the card trick, Mateo had been able to build a back door into Jonathan’s system through the hacking connection. Despite her taking the device home, his presence in the CRF network remained.
“What is it?” Aya asked, sitting up as Issac rolled off her.
Asset Seven. Based on Aidan’s analysis, that classification applied to Amelia, something he conveyed with a series of images to Issac.
“My sister,” he said, his tongue suddenly too thick for his mouth. “There’s a new file with today’s date.”
The color drained from Aya’s face, her hands automatically bringing the sheets up to cover her chest. “Oh no… What does it say?”
Issac swallowed thickly, his heart fracturing in his chest. “The orders are to move her.”
“To where?”
“We don’t know,” Aidan said, entering the room. “Which means there’s no other option. You need to accept the job. And Issac will be working with you.”
Epilogue
Gabriel
“You realize this would be easier if we just told her the truth, yes?” Ezekiel asked, a glass of amber liquid in his hand. He’d ordered a second for Gabriel that remained untouched on the bar countertop.
“Not yet,” he replied. “Not until she’s grown into her gifts.”
“You Seraphim sure enjoy the long game, hmm?” Ezekiel took a sip, his leather jacket and long, dark hair drawing notice from the females at the bar. Not that he noticed or cared. The former Nizari assassin would sooner kill the gawkers than fuck them. “At least Issac will be helping us guard her with Owen’s untimely retirement.”
“I’ll be assisting as well through the CRF,” Gabriel replied.
“Assuming she takes the job.”
“She will.” He was certain of it. “Jonathan just issued orders to move Amelia to somewhere remote.”
“Why do I suspect that was your idea?”
“Actually, his son suggested it under the guise of hiding her from Stas.” Gabriel had been impressed. It demonstrated that the younger Fitzgerald may have a future yet. “Jonathan wasn’t too keen on it originally, so I may have urged him to reconsider.”
“You always harbored a soft spot for Amelia,” Ezekiel mused. “Not that I blame you. She’s lovely, from what I recall. Pity what Jonathan has done to her.”
“You’re missing the point entirely. I didn’t do this for Amelia.” Not directly, anyway. Gabriel hid his grimace by taking a sip of his drink, allowing the burn to etch a path down his throat. I’ve been around humans far too long. He was losing his grip on practicality. “The reason I pushed the suggestion was because it will entice Stas to join the CRF, and it also frees me up to be more involved in her training.”
“Providing additional security.”
“Precisely.” He finished the amber liquid in his glass and signaled for another. “But yes, I admit that it also gives Amelia a break from the torment.” No one should endure the type of treatment Jonathan had inflicted on Amelia. If Gabriel didn’t need the Ichorian alive, he’d have killed the bastard years ago.
“Who did Jonathan assign to babysitting duty?”
Gabriel’s lips actually curled, a feat considering they rarely moved, aside from being used to speak. “Have I mentioned that being my favorite part of the whole plan?” He rarely deviated from the course, but this, well, this he rather enjoyed contriving.
Ezekiel cocked a brow. “Who did you set up?”
He met the assassin’s gaze, brief amusement touching his chest. “Tom Fitzgerald.” It served as a way for the CRF’s CEO to punish his son for his recent “untoward” behavior and presented Tom with a unique opportunity. One Gabriel hoped he would accept. If Tom was the man Gabriel suspected him to be, then Amelia would be in far better hands.
Ezekiel chuckled, devious energy rolling off him in waves. “Oh, I bet he loved that.”
“On the contrary, he’s quite displeased. But of all the Sentinels, I trust him with her the most. He’s the only one with a heart.” And the only one with potential to prosper beyond the darkness. This would prove to be a test of sorts, to see how Tom handled it. Gabriel wished him luck. Because if he failed, Gabriel would have no choice but to kill the man.
“Brilliant,” Ezekiel replied. “And I told you—you’re soft on her.”
Gabriel snorted. “I’m not soft.” But, all right, maybe he wanted Amelia to escape. Just a little bit.
“Not even for Stas?”
A young girl flashed through his mind, one with big green eyes radiating pain and sorrow over the loss of her parents. Sethios and Caro.
Soon, he vowed, closing his eyes briefly. I’ll tell you everything soon.
“Definitely soft,” Ezekiel said, understanding darkening his gaze. He picked up one of the new drinks as they were delivered and raised it. “To fate.”
Gabriel snorted. “Fuck fate.” He clicked his glass against Ezekiel’s. “To Skye’s prophecy.”
May it come to fruition, and soon.
The Immortal Curse series continues with Forbidden Bonds where the boundaries of right versus wrong are tested between Amelia and Tom.
A lot of readers ask me about Issac and Stas after Blood Laws; they worry that this is where I’ve ended their relationship. Believe me when I say it’s far from over. They have a lot more to say, as do several other voices/characters in this universe.
This world is huge, and I want the reader to experience everything it has to offer, which is why new points of view are needed. I also needed to introduce the other relationships because they’re powerful and meaningful. But Stas and Issac are the heart of the series. They are in every book, they often get chapters from their points of view, and the story very much centers around them.
So while the next book may focus on Amelia and Tom, you will still hear from Issac and Stas as they are key voices in this universe. They are also the primary hero/heroine in at least two more books, including Angel Bonds.
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Thank you for reading!
Immortal Curse Series
What’s Next
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for reading Blood Laws. I hope you enjoyed meeting Issac and Stas. You might be wondering about some of their unresolved issues. Don’t worry; I have huge plans for them. They are main characters throughout the series (appearing in all books) and will have more than one novel featuring them as the primary hero/heroine. This was the beginning of their story, and there is much more to come for them.
Up next is Forbidden Bonds, where Tom will question everything he’s ever known as he gets to know Amelia in ways he never anticipated. As sexual tension and emotions flare between them, they will need to decide just how much they are willing to sacrifice for love. I’ve included the first two chapters next so
you can get an idea of how this series will flow.
For sneak peeks, early chapter reveals, and special excerpts, please join my reader group on Facebook or sign up for my newsletter. Please keep in touch!
Cheers,
Lexi C. Foss
Also by Lexi C. Foss
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Book Four: Blood Bonds
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Vote Then Read: Volume I Page 157