“Why go to the trouble of setting up a whole bloody quest leading to her house when she clearly doesn’t want to be found?”
“Drama,” Calladia said. “Alzapraz once spent a year crafting a hedge maze to his front door. It was only when he tried to order delivery that he realized what a bad idea that was.” According to Mariel, her great-great-etcetera-grandfather had pitched a fit when the delivery person had given up and thrown the pizza over the hedge in the general direction of the house. The next day, the maze was gone.
The air was cool, but the exertion warmed Calladia up, and sweat began to collect between her breasts and at the small of her back. She took off her pack, then stripped off her flannel and tied it around her waist, revealing her sports bra.
A choking sound was followed by crashing and the snapping of twigs. Calladia turned to see Astaroth half inside a large bush he’d apparently walked into. He staggered back, tripped over a root, and landed on his ass.
She burst out laughing.
“Rude,” Astaroth said. “I could have been injured.” He scrambled to his feet and brushed off his backside, then picked leaves out of his hair.
Calladia was still chuckling. “The mighty Astaroth, brought low by a bush.”
“Brought low by your strip show,” he said, flicking his eyes up from where he was inspecting his shirt. The desire reflected in his pale blue irises made Calladia’s cheeks heat.
“I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of people in their bras.” This bra wasn’t what one might term seductive either—it was black, with a sturdy band and a scooped front that barely hinted at cleavage.
“Yes,” Astaroth said, “but none of them were you.”
Calladia, who had so far managed the hike with no trouble, was suddenly breathing hard, and a hot throbbing started between her legs. It was the way he was looking at her from beneath his brows, all smoldering intensity and barely restrained lust.
She shouldn’t have let him finger her this morning. Now she was desperate for him to do it again.
He would oblige if she asked, she was sure. He could have her up against a tree in seconds, his hand diving between her legs as his lips fastened on her nipple through the sports bra.
Calladia felt the lure of the cliff edge again. A wicked impulse seized her. “If I asked you to make me orgasm right now, would you?” she asked.
“Yes.” Astaroth shrugged off his backpack and strode toward her, face set in determined lines.
Calladia was addicted to the push and pull of power between them. When he was close enough to touch, she stopped him with a hand planted on his chest. His pectoral was firm beneath her fingers. “Tell me,” she said.
“Tell you what?” His hands settled on her hips, a light touch that burned with promise.
She leaned in until her lips brushed his ear. “What you would do.”
He made a low, rough sound. “Wicked witch. You want to hear the dirty details? Wouldn’t you rather I show you?”
She definitely wanted him to show her, but the tease was too delicious. “Tell me,” she repeated.
He was so close she could have closed the gap between them in the span of a heartbeat. “I would start with kissing you,” he said. “Slow at first, but not for long. I wouldn’t be able to resist tasting you deeper, kissing you harder.”
“Mmm.” She liked the sound of that. “And then?”
His smile was slow and sensuous, and Calladia’s eyes dropped to his lips. They were nicely shaped, and she knew from experience that though they were soft, he could wield them like a weapon. “You need to learn patience,” he said. “The best things are worth waiting for.”
She cocked a brow. “Are they? I think the best things are worth seizing when you want them.”
“Which is why you’re making me talk dirty rather than using my mouth on you, right?” His chuckle wafted over the corner of her lips. “You like these games, Calladia.”
“Maybe,” she answered breathlessly.
“I think you’d like other games, too. We can play them, if you like. The game where I tie you to a bed and tease you for hours until you’re begging me to fuck you would be a fun one.”
“Maybe I’ll tease you for hours,” she rebutted, though she’d gotten wetter imagining him tightening knots around her wrists.
“Also a good game,” he agreed. “How about the one where we fight to see who ends up on top? Or the game where you’ve got to stay quiet, no matter what I do?”
She shuddered. “Could be fun.” She aimed for nonchalance, but the raggedness of her voice gave away how aroused she was.
“I have so many games we could play.” Astaroth nuzzled her ear with his lips, and the ghost of his laugh brushed over her skin when she shivered. “But let me tell you how this one would play out.”
One hand traveled slowly up her bare side, stopping with his thumb under the curve of her breast. The fingers of his other hand stretched over her ass, squeezing lightly. Calladia brought her other hand to his chest as well, bracing herself against him.
“I would take off this bra,” Astaroth said, “and then I would kiss your gorgeous tits all over. Suck on your nipples, bite them if you like the pain.” His teeth lightly pinched her earlobe. “Do you?”
She nodded, incapable of speech.
“I’d suck and pinch your nipples until they’re sensitive and swollen, and when you beg me to stop, I’ll kiss my way down your stomach.”
“I never beg,” Calladia said.
“Not yet anyway.” He pulled back enough to give her a wicked smile. “If you were wearing leggings, I’d pull them down with my teeth, but for these I’ll use my hands.” He ran his fingers along the waistband of her jeans, and the touch made her belly quiver. She wanted his fingers to creep lower, but he kept them tucked into the waistband—a hint of what he would give her, should she let him. “I’ll strip you naked, then go to my knees.”
“Oh.” Calladia felt dizzy at the thought. It had been a long time since she’d received oral, and it had always been clear her partners were doing it out of obligation. “You don’t have to,” she said. “I’m fine without it.”
“But do you enjoy it?”
With him looking her directly in the eye, it was impossible to lie, so she nodded wordlessly.
His smile widened. “I do, too. And I will, the moment you give me permission. I’ll kiss and lick your beautiful cunt until you’re screaming, and then I’ll do it some more. You’ll need to push me away to stop me.”
Sweet. Fucking. Hecate. He was so vehement, she had no choice but to believe him. It made her want to whimper and strip off her jeans.
He whispered the next part in her ear. “Unlike you, impatient witch, I know how to take my time. I’ll make you wait. Just for the first orgasm, you understand. Once you’re begging for it—and you will beg—I’ll give it to you, and after the first I’ll make you come over and over again, even when you claim you can’t take it anymore. Because you can, and I’ll show you how.”
Calladia whimpered, and her knees wobbled. She nearly stumbled, but the hand still anchoring her ass held her steady.