Her whole body contracted, and she cried out. He licked and sucked his way down her neck, knowing he was leaving marks. Scraping his teeth over her left nipple, he pinched the right one with his fingers, then dropped to his knees in front of her.
She choked in a ragged breath, opened her eyes to search for him. He grasped the waistband of her jeans and ripped through the denim like paper. A whimper met his ears while he jerked her boots free and stripped the ruined garment from her legs. Grasping the edge of her panties, he tore them from her skin and tossed them on the ground. Then he spread her legs and devoured her sex.
A scream tore from her throat. He wasn’t sure if it was rooted in pleasure or shock, but he didn’t care. She tasted like honey, smelled like sin. He laved his tongue over her, drew her clit into his mouth, suckled hard, then scraped his teeth across her sensitive flesh. He hated her. He craved her. Wanted to make her pay. Needed to hear her cry of release. Thrusting his fingers back inside her, he tormented her with his mouth and stroked deeper with his hand.
She was tight around him. So tight the blood pounded in his cock with his own need for release. Fighting the urge, he licked her again and again until she was panting. Until her body was drenched in sweat. Until his name was a plea on her lips.
“Nick…”
Synapses misfired. He wanted to fuck her. To thrust violently inside her. To leave her as wrecked as she’d left him. Not just physically, but sexually, mentally. Emotionally.
“Oh gods, Nick…”
He felt her orgasm about to break and drew back quickly, letting go so he was no longer touching her. So he wouldn’t be tempted to take her.
She groaned again, this time in utter frustration. He pushed to his feet, and as cool air washed over his skin, he realized he was sweating too.
“Beg me to stop,” he growled, leaning into her again.
“No.” She swallowed hard. Shook her head. Her skin was damp everywhere. Her eyes wild. “I won’t ever ask you to stop. No matter what you do.”
His frustration grew to epic levels. “I’ll keep you chained here.” He shifted his mouth to her neck, bit down hard on the slick flesh. She cried out, and he released her. “I’ll bring you to the edge again and again.” He pressed his hips into hers. “Use you as my own personal sex slave.”
She sagged in the shackles. “No, you won’t.”
“I won’t?” He lifted his mouth to her jaw and nipped there too. “You don’t sound so confident.”
She whimpered but didn’t try to move away from his teeth. “I am.” Her words were pained, her body straining. “Because I know you’re not the monster Zagreus is either. And no matter what you think, you never will be.”
Everything stilled inside him. And something hard and dead, buried in all that darkness, struggled to the surface.
He eased back. Stared down at her. Knew she couldn’t see him in the darkness. But the way her eyes were locked on his made him wonder if she could see past his face. Past his barriers. Into the depths of his very soul.
Beneath his ribs, his heart picked up speed, and along his spine, the scars carved into his flesh tingled with…doubt.
She closed her eyes and lifted her chin. Then very gently, she pressed her lips against his.
He froze. Couldn’t move. And suddenly didn’t know what to do next.
She tipped her head, skimmed her lips over his again. Did it until the room was spinning around him and he had no clue which way was up.
“I want you,” she whispered against his mouth. “I’ve wanted you for months. From the first moment I saw you. I won’t fight you. Never.” She kissed him again. Softly. Gently. Sweetly. “Take whatever you want. As much as you want. Take every part of me.”
Heat gathered in his chest, shoving aside all the darkness, replacing it with light and need, propelling him forward before he even realized what he was doing.
He lifted his hand to her jaw, opened his mouth to hers, dipped his tongue inside, and kissed her deeply. The way he’d dreamt of kissing her all those months locked in his cell. The way she was suddenly kissing him back, as if she was as desperate to taste him as he was to taste her.
She groaned, stroked her tongue against his, and leaned her body into his, her belly cradling his cock, her heat and the tips of her breasts brushing his chest and making him even harder than before.
Ah gods… His kiss turned greedy. She tasted like salvation. Like hope. Like light. And he’d had so little of each in his life, he was crazy for more. Delirious for it. Desperate. He brought his other hand up, cradling her face as he tipped her head to the side so he could taste her deeper, so he could kiss her harder, so he could get inside her.
Inside her…