Page 40 of An Empress of Fire & Steel

Her head dizzied with the rush of desire at just one touch.

“Right now?” he said coarsely.

“Yes,” she breathed.

His other hand brushed over her hip and rested there, making her feel so much closer to him, like the walls of the tower had vanished and it was just their souls intertwined in a universe of stars.

“Right now, I would like nothing more than to carry you through the threshold of that door and take my time undressing you out of that tempting little dress.”

Yes, she was sure she had stopped breathing.

She inhaled, causing the burning in her lungs to disappear. But he didn’t stop.

“I would start by kissing you from that gorgeous mouth, down to here…” He tightened his grip on her hips. “And before you’d beg me for more, I would trail my tongue to all sorts of desirable places.” His eyes had melted into a sensual pool of lust, and it was so, so dangerous to see him like this.

“And then?” she asked before she could stop herself.

Why could she not stop herself from wanting more? Hearing more?

“I don’t know how much longer I would be able to hold myself back after that.” His voice was husky from the restraint, like he was about to take her right here and wrap his mouth over hers, claiming hers.

Her lips parted. “Then maybe I wouldn’t want you to stop yourself.”

Again, she’d shocked herself at how confident she was around him, at how fluid her reactions were. She shouldn’t be, she didn’t have a single clue of how this worked. She had very little experience in the bedroom activities and, well, Torin had a lot.

That thought should have intimidated her more.

The shots of glittering stardust in La Luna had a lot to answer for. But now, she was sober, and the only buzz she had was from the thrill of Torin Blacksteel’s words.

All the dangerous little thrills.

His gaze smouldered with a red-hot desire that intoxicated her, but he didn’t lower his head to kiss her. Instead, he spoke. “I made a promise to myself, and I also made the same promise to you. I told you that when you are ready and want to explore the deepest, darkest desires that you have, I would be waiting.” The promise in his voice practically stripped her bare. “And I am still waiting. And I will wait for as long as you need. What I promised myself is that I would wait until you told me that you wanted it. Because you said that you would never want to kiss me, but here we are, an inch away from exploring that.”

“Here we are,” she repeated, inches from his face, so close that she could smell the familiar scent of frozen berries and pine. So close, she could lean in and brush her lips over his.

“Are you admitting that you are ready to explore that?”

“I am not admitting anything,” she breathed, unsure she would be able to claw back any of her self-control.

His eyes locked with hers again, this time with intense security. “Well, I am telling you now, I want all of it, every last part of you. When you are ready for that, you are going to ask me to kiss you.” A lascivious smile pressed against his lips. “And when you do, we can go exploring that desire I know you have burning inside you.”

A spiralling cord of sensations made their way to her core. She swallowed. “And if I never ask you to kiss me?”

“You will,” he smirked.

“Your self-assurance makes me want to punch you in the face.”

A sensual snicker rasped through his throat. “I wouldn’t expect this conversation to head in any other direction, would you?”

“No.” Emara couldn’t help but feel a grin turn up the corners of her mouth. “I should head inside,” she said without moving, her body still inches from his, aching for his touch. His mouth was still inches from hers, and she was desperate to feel what his lips were like.

His dark lashes swept down and a dimple appeared on the left side of his cheek. “All you need to do is say two little words and I will come through that door with you.”

Torin Blacksteel knew what he was doing. He knew how to turn on that sensual charm of his, a charm that had probably never been challenged. But he had never seen Emara activate her own. He thought she was putty in his hands, and she was ready to test what kind of power she really had.

“Would you like me to say those two little words right now?” she purred.

“Undeniably.” Sparks lit up his eyes.

---