Shadow's End (Elder Races #9)

She lost herself in sensuality, working him with her mouth, while she cupped and caressed his sac, and spread her hands over the flat expanse of his stomach. When she ran the edge of her fingernails lightly down the inside of his thighs, his body tightened until he was rock hard all over.


“Here it is,” he warned on a harsh gasp. “Goddamn.”

Ooh. She wanted his climax more than she wanted her own.

Closing her eyes, she reached blindly up to him with one hand, concentrating everything on his pleasure. His hand closed over hers, gripping her tightly, as he groaned and jetted into her mouth.

She found the rhythm of his pulsing, stroking his cock with her tongue. Shaking and swearing, his powerful body jerked underneath her caress, and his warm, salty semen filled her mouth. She swallowed him down eagerly, embracing every last, earthy part of him.

After a few moments, he exploded out of his reclining position. Pulling her head away from his erection, he growled, “I can’t take any more of that, but it isn’t enough. I’ve got to get inside you.”

He sounded harsh, stripped of everything but need. His compulsion to mate rode him relentlessly, and she surrendered herself to it.

Following his urging, she rolled onto her side, and he lifted one of her legs to spoon her body and enter her from behind. She nestled back against his chest. It was one of their favorite positions, leaving her torso bare so that he could caress her everywhere.

As he fucked her, he pinched her nipples gently between thumb and forefinger, rolling the stiff, peaked flesh between thumb and forefinger. It sent sparks of sensation along her nerve endings, heightening her pleasure. He hooked one arm underneath her waist, reaching around to finger her opening.

When he found her clitoris, she jerked in his hands. He growled into her neck, encasing her in his arms, plucking and rubbing at her pleasure points while his cock slid in and out, in and out.

Making love to him was so unbearably good. So good. As the inner pressure built, her breath came in sobs. She twisted and pushed back against him, trying to find relief.

“I have to come so badly, it hurts,” she gasped.

“It’s okay, love,” he murmured into her ear, the sensation of his voice curling deep into her body. “I’ll take you there. I’ll always take you there.”

He was a man of his word. She could trust in him completely. Whatever he said he would do, he would do.

He kept his promises.

Always faithful, always true.

She had just enough time to think it, before the demands of her body took over completely. The press of his callused fingers moved against her hypersensitive nubbin of flesh, hurtling her forward.

Pleasure cascaded, one peak following the next, as he took her there, just like he said.

He took her home.

? ? ?

Much later, after Bel had fallen asleep, Graydon couldn’t turn his mind off. He eased away, tucking the covers around her warm, lax body. After pulling on sweatpants, he scooped something he’d been keeping secret out of his bedside drawer, and stepped outside, onto the balcony.

A moody, fitful wind played with his hair and flowed like invisible water along the bare skin of his chest. He opened the small box and considered the contents, nestled in dark velvet.

Brilliance sparkled in the shadows. Chewing on his lip, he considered the eternity ring covered in a row of bright, flawless diamonds.

Maybe it was the wrong way to go. He thought the ring was beautiful, and he loved the symbolism of an eternity ring, but perhaps he should have chosen something more traditional to offer as an engagement ring. A diamond solitaire, or better yet, an emerald.

He felt pretty sure she would love an emerald. Maybe he should go back to the jeweler’s one more time. And he needed to make a reservation at the right kind of restaurant.

A classy one, with a ma?tre d’, cloth napkins, unpronounceable wine names, and too many glasses and forks. Alexander was a classy dude. He would know of the right place.

Or maybe she would prefer something else. A concert? A day cruise out to sea?

Oh hell, he was no good at this kind of traditional shit. It wasn’t like he’d ever proposed before.

The balcony door opened, and Bel’s sleepy voice sounded behind him. “What are you doing out here?”

Closing the box with a snap, he hid it behind his back as he spun to face her. “Nothing. What are you doing awake?”

“I missed you. It woke me up.” She squinted at him. “What was that snapping sound?”

“Nothing!” he insisted.

She stepped outside and drew the door shut behind her. She wore a rose-colored silken wrap that came to midcalf, leaving her lovely ankles and slender feet bare.

“Did you know, you are an excellent liar with everybody except me?” she asked, wagging a finger as she approached.

“What are you talking about?” he muttered, backing away as she advanced. “I don’t lie to you.”

She chortled. She sounded utterly delighted with life, and with him. “Of course you don’t, my love.”

The endearment caressed his emotions. It felt almost as if she had stroked her fingers down his chest.

“Never stop calling me that,” he whispered.