Free Deathless by Belinda Burke Page A

over the line of his spine and up into his hair. “But if it comes to that I will wrap you in shadow forever, all of you, every piece. You are already mine, whether you love me or not. I will keep you that way.”
    “Kas— Death . I don’t know if I can die, but if I can, then—”
    “Anything and everything can die. Gods and wild spirits and mortals—worlds and stars and their black spaces.”
    “And you?”
    “And I. The last dark to go out after the last light—but yes. And I.”
    “ I wouldn’t mind .” He kissed Kas again, reached for his hands and held them against his bed. “If I had to die, I wouldn’t mind…being with you.”
    “I will not let go.” Simple, breathless. And still, like the rest of him, so demanding.
    “ So don’t . Are you going to take me now, Kas?”
    “ Yes .” And Myrddin had been wrong, so wrong, because this, this was a kiss. The eager softness of the mouth pressed against his lips, the heat of his tongue—the way his hands clutched, bruising, at Myrddin’s hips, slid up his back and dragged him down against warm, naked skin.
    “Do you want to know all the words I learned, love? All of them?”
    “ Mmm… I—”
    “You gave me lips…and mouth…and tongue.” Kas kissed him once, hard, then slipped his mouth along the line of Myrddin’s jaw. “Now I have throat…and teeth.” He nipped once, sharply, then fastened his mouth to Myrddin’s collarbone and sucked heat to the surface, then paused. “You do not taste like strawberries now, love.”
    “No? I—haven’t been rolling around in them, have I? Ah… ”
    Kas nipped at his throat again. “You taste better than strawberries. You taste…like everything .” He pulled Myrddin up his body with one sharp jerk, leaned up and dragged his tongue over a nipple. “When will it be too much for you again? When will you let me kill you? I love to kill you, love .”
    Myrddin laughed breathlessly, couldn’t bring himself to admit that he was wanting the same thing. Dangerous— dangerous , but he couldn’t decide if telling the truth would be worse than the desire itself, and so he said nothing, kissed Kas again instead of daring words.
    He rocked back against the heat of Kas’ erection prodding at him, groaned against his mouth. He remembered too well how good it was to have Kas inside him, take him, and his own cock slid slickly against Kas’ body. He groaned again when Kas reached down and grasped his buttocks, squeezed tight, rocked against him, the head of his cock prodding, pressing.
    “Kas, Kas , you can’t just—”
    “ I know .”
    But he didn’t stop rocking, slowly, the tip of his cock wet and almost, almost — Myrddin had to stop himself from sinking back, from just taking it, even though he knew it would be too much. Then he heard Kas laughing at him, felt a finger circling, pressing in and in, one long finger that stopped at the knuckle. “Kas, please, more—”
    “No.”
    “Kas!”
    “You do not get to say more until you want all of me. Are you ready for that, love? I do not think you are.”
    “ No… no…but I want it. I want you.”
    “I know you do.” Kas sank his finger deeper, withdrew it slowly, again and again, until Myrddin couldn’t keep from lifting his hips back against the penetration, until he braced himself on the bed with both hands and bent over Kas’ mouth, kissed him again and again, urgent with desire.
    “ Please .”
    As he had before, Kas licked please off Myrddin’s lips. Slowly, too slowly, he slipped a second finger inside Myrddin along with the first, thrust them deep, curled them. “Kas— so good , Kas— ah! ” A third finger, no warning, just more . He sat straight up, pressed back against them, and Kas let him, stared up at him with lust and that unreadable blackness in the dark of his eyes. Myrddin rocked on those fingers, tried to take them deeper, until Kas pulled him back down against his mouth again, licked past his lips.
    Myrddin gasped,