Bittersweet Darkness (The Order #3)

He was stunning, sweat gleaming on the vast amount of naked skin. Black hair sprinkled across his broad chest, and ran in a line down his ridged belly, disappearing into the waistband of his jeans, which hung low on his hips. Below that, she could see the bulge of his shaft. She stared for a moment—was it getting bigger?

Her gaze flew up to his face and she forced a smile. Fear warred with desire inside her. He was so big and dangerous and dark. He didn’t smile back, only pursed his lips and watched her out of heavy-lidded eyes.

“Fighting always makes me as horny as hell.”





Chapter Twenty-two


Her mouth went dry. She swallowed. What the hell could she say to that? Nothing. Besides, she wasn’t sure her throat would work. So staying silent seemed the best bet.

He took another step toward her, framed against the backdrop of mountains, and she whirled around and raced for the door. Acting on pure instinct, she wasn’t trying to escape him; she knew exactly where she wanted him. She ran back into the bedroom with its huge circular bed.

As she reached it, she turned. Ash strode in, slamming the door shut behind him. Inside, he appeared even bigger. The room suited him to perfection.

He took a step toward her, and she backed away but came up against the edge of the bed. Hunger burned in his eyes. His hands went to the buckle at his chest. He flicked it open and the sword and scabbard clattered to the stone floor.

Then his hand went lower, to hover at the button of his jeans.

“Faith?”

She’d been staring at the bulge in his jeans again, now she peered up. “W-what?” The word came out as a hoarse whisper.

“That’s my robe—take it off.”

Holding his gaze, she tugged at the belt of the robe, the silk slipping through her hands. Her fingers clumsy, it seemed to take an age to untie the knot. Finally, the belt unraveled and the robe fell apart. She smoothed it from her shoulders and it dropped to the floor in a slither of silk leaving her naked before him.

His gaze was like fire as it raced over her body, lingering on her breasts and belly. He kicked off his boots, flicked open the button on his jeans, slid down the zipper.

As he pushed them down over his hips, his cock sprang free, hard, huge, pale against the hair-roughed skin of his belly. He stepped out of his leather pants and closed the space between them coming to a halt only inches away. The spicy, musky scent of him filled her senses.

Her legs shook and she locked them in place as his hands came out and rested on her shoulders, hot and hard against her skin. “You owe me,” he said. “Are you going to pay up, or do you want me to chain you to that wall in my dungeon and you can pretend that you don’t want this? Don’t want to make love with someone like me.”

At his words, a wave of heat rolled over her, threatening to suck her under. Some perverted part of her really liked the dungeon idea. The dungeon was probably too far away. She took a tiny step toward him, closing the last gap between them so her breasts pressed against his chest and the scalding-hot length of his erection nudged against her stomach.

“I always pay my debts,” she murmured.

He let out his breath, and she realized he’d been holding it, waiting for her reply. She liked that he’d been in no way sure about her, because while he hadn’t actually lied to her, he’d definitely been stingy with the truth.

His fingers tightened on her shoulders and he gave a little shove so she fell backward onto the fur cover of the bed behind her. Balancing her weight on her elbows, she stared up at him.

“This is not going to be slow,” he warned in a low husky voice that sent heat straight to her sex. “I’m not going to risk this not happening for a third time. So prepare yourself, honey. I promise you slow and easy next time.”

She couldn’t even begin to think of next time. She needed him now.

“Lie back,” he ordered.

She did so, resting against the silky softness of the fur. Keeping her eyes on him all the time because he was so beautiful and she didn’t want to miss a second.

He leaned down, his hands grasping her knees. He lifted her legs from the floor, pushed her farther up the bed and spread her thighs, bending her knees back so they rested against her hips, leaving her totally exposed to him.

His eyes glowed crimson. “Gorgeous,” he crooned.

Her sex felt hot and swollen under his stare as though she was melting from the inside. She glanced down his body to where his shaft strained, the head flushed with blood. She needed him inside her.

“Please…”

A slow smile curved his hips. “For you, sweetheart, anything.”

He knelt on the bed between her thighs and thrust into her in one fluid move.