Page 66 of A Wrecking of Salt and Fire

“That I don’t.” He rolled his eyes, and those sparkling green-blue pools hit her square in the heart. Her whole body heated at the sight of his gaze.

“Right, right. Well, I agree then, time for me to go up to bed. I will see you all bright and early.” Katrin stood up from her chair, curtseying at the soldiers and her two friends, realizing too late that it was an odd thing to do.

Ander had walked halfway down the corridor by the time she left the table, scurrying after him. Her eyes trailing up his tight leather pants and the white linen shirt that was almost see through. Her mind was going places it should not.

“Hey! Wait up!” she yelled from behind him as he began to ascend the stairs, tripping over her feet.

Ander kicked up one brow. “Am I going to have to carry you up these stairs?”

“Oh gods, Ander, don’t be so dramatic. I didn’t even drink that much. I am just trying to have a good time before—before all the serious stuff hits.”

“Right.” His lips thinned and he averted his gaze, but Katrin felt like he had been staring at her. Staring at that hip hugging gold dress he had left on the bed for her, its supple silk soft against her skin, bringing out the light flecks of her eyes and the shimmering highlights in her hair. Alentian gold. Her favorite color.

“Do you like this dress on me?” Katrin did a little spin as she entered the room. Ander stood against the doorway, his arms folded across his chest. His gaze burned as he trailed his eyes up from her toes to the cord holding the panels of the dress together around her waist, to the deep vee of the neckline, the sun and moon pendant dangling between her breasts.

“It suits you,” he grumbled.

It suits you. Really?

“Tell me a secret,” Katrin giggled, her voice pitched from wine she had guzzled at dinner, as she plopped down on the giant bed. Her hands moved over the velvet comforter that was draped over the edge of the bed. “It’s so soft!” Her eyes went wide and she smiled as she wrapped herself in it. “I could live in this blanket forever.” Her words were slurred and sheepish. Katrin had not felt this happy, this alive, this at peace in such a long time. These feelings—she would let herself have them. If only for the night.

Ander shook his head at her, but inched closer to the bed. “You know, if you keep rolling around like that you are going to make yourself sick.”

“No I won’t! I never get sick!” She reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him on to the plush bed next to her. “You know, you don’t have to sleep on the floor. We are both adults. We can sleep in the same bed—especially one this large—” She threw her arms out to the side, almost whacking him across the face. “Without doing things.”

Ander ran his hand over his face and then through his hair. His perfect, wavy, night-black hair. “I am perfectly aware of that fact,” he purred.

Katrin’s teeth pulled over her bottom lip. She rolled over so their bodies faced each other. “Tell me a secret, Ander.” This time she was not giggling. This time her voice was soft and sultry.

His eyes began to swirl again, glowing like the high tides of the isles, newly swept into the harbor. “I can’t say no to you,” he whispered.

“Then tell me.” Her breath caught in her chest, and instantly the dress she wore felt too tight to breathe in, her lungs constricting as if a hand grasped tightly around them.

His face turned serious. “That is the secret, Starling. I cannot say no to you.” He had gotten closer to her, so close she could feel the soft puffs of his breath against her skin.

Katrin was not sure if it was all the wine going to her head, or the softness of the bed around her, or the way his breath heated her neck, but she leaned in and met his lips. For a second she thought he might pull back, and then she heard it. The little groan that escaped his throat as he leaned in and kissed her back.

It was different from the kiss he had placed on her cheek at the masquerade. That one had been soft and gentle and calm. This kiss—it felt the same way as when he looked at her after he bathed her. When her body had been bare in front of him, and he had been down on his knees. This kiss was fire and passion and desire.

Ander shifted against her, rolling Katrin onto her back, his body heavy against her as he braced one hand next to her head, the other sliding under her gown. She could feel his rough, calloused hands move up her thigh, his lips breaking from hers as he traced kisses along her jaw, down to her throat. A small moan escaped her mouth as his teeth grazed the soft skin above her collarbone. She arched her back up, needing him to be closer, needing to feel him against her.

Katrin hooked her legs up around him, her fingers lacing behind his neck, traveling into his hair. She needed more. More of his lemony scent, more of his heat against her. More.

He stopped for a moment, looking down at her, his lips ticking up in a feral grin. Ander looked at her. “Do you really want this?”

“Yes,” she whispered as she pulled him closer still, “more than anything.”

He clicked his tongue three times, “I’m going to need you to listen to me for a moment, Starling. If I am going to have you, I plan to take my time.” He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Katrin’s cheek. His mouth tracing along to her ear where he whispered, “I’m going to need you to take this gown off so I can take a good look at you.” His wet lips grazed her ear as he spoke. “Are you going to do as I say?”

She nodded, standing from the bed, the confidence from the wine coursing through her. Katrin’s hands dragged up her body to the bodice, unlacing the cord that held the silken fabric together, all the while holding his piercing gaze. The sleeves billowed down her shoulders as she slid out of the golden gown, revealing her small peaked breasts barely hidden under her lacy undergarments, over her tanned stomach, down her legs where the heat of her core was on display beneath matching lace, before it slid onto the floor.

Ander sat on the bed, leaning back on his elbows, the vee of his white linen shirt unbuttoned, his tight black leather pants hugging his thighs, holding down the part of him Katrin wanted to see most. “Good girl.”

She walked back toward the edge of his bed where his legs spread out slightly. Katrin settled between them as Ander slid his hands up her back, over the scars she held. But he did not flinch, bearing matching ones of his own she had seen. They shared that. The darkness and shame that came with being unable to forget what others had done to make them feel small and weak and helpless. But Katrin remembered the words Ander had spoken to her the first time they had seen each other in the groves. You should never feel shame over the pain others inflict on you. Her heart skipped. He understood her. Everything about her.

Katrin straddled her legs around him, easing them back down to the bed. For once she felt ready. She felt safe. Like the past was just that—the past—and she could finally be fully invested in the present.

Their kisses deepened as she began to shift her hips over him, as his fingers dug into her hips, holding her tight. Ander flipped them once again until he lingered on top of her trailing kisses down her chest, swirling his tongue around her peaked breasts as his hand found her center. “Mmmm, you’re so wet for me aren’t you?” A breath loosened out of Katrin’s throat as she bucked against him. One hand grazed around her thigh, pushing her legs further apart while the other teased the outside of the lace that barely covered her.

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