Page 207 of Anathema

I savored the flavor of whatever bitter liquor Elowen had given him that lingered on his lips. That sensuously delicious spice and flame, which mingled with the musk and ambery clove of his skin. An intoxicating medley that consumed me.

His hands drifted to the small of my back, and I gripped his thick biceps as he dragged me even closer. With a sweep of his tongue, he deepened the kiss and groaned against my mouth. Even while lying down, dizziness swept over me, and I opened my eyes, worried that I might faint. Shadowy wisps danced around us, burrowing in and out of my flesh in pleasurable bursts, and I moaned, the sound vibrating against our joined lips.

His fingers tightened around me, and he kissed me harder, sealing off the oxygen. Calloused palms slid down to the hem of the tunic he’d let me borrow, and never breaking the kiss, he grabbed my thigh in a bruising grip, letting out a grunt when he pressed his groin against me.

Heat surged beneath my skin and across my palms. My heart beat a strange rhythm that sent a wave of panic through me. I pushed against his chest to sever the kiss, and in resting my hand there, felt the rhythm of his heart, beating in time to mine. As if in perfect sync with one another. The cadence of it calmed me, and I could feel myself growing weak, drifting, floating, lifting out of my body. What was this strange sensation?

I surrendered myself to it. To him.

His hand slid higher. Higher. Until he found the fleshy cheeks of my naked bottom and squeezed. The bulge in his trousers pressed hard against the very spot where I ached to be touched.

As if he’d heard my thoughts, his palm glided across my hip, dancing over bones and curves with maddening patience.

I looked up to see him staring down at me, and my heart ratcheted in my chest as his fingertips drifted lower, until he found the apex of my thighs. Breath caught in my throat, I spread my legs apart, an invitation, one I desperately hoped he’d accept.

He licked his lips, and the moment his fingers found the bare seam of my flesh, his eyes shuttered closed. A deep, guttural sound rumbled out of him, like that of a dangerous animal, rousing an obscene need to be ravaged.

Clutching his biceps, I exhaled a shaky breath, my thighs trembling, as I held them apart for him. Prickles of excitement and fear clashed inside my head, my arms shaking while I gripped him tightly, allowing him to explore my flesh.

In long, lazy strokes, he ran his finger up and down my wet slit, his dangerously expert touch sending my muscles into a frenzy, until clenching and shaking with his fondling. As if he knew what I needed, possessed some intimate knowledge of my body that I didn’t. His other hand found my breast, and through the thin tunic, he rubbed tiny circles over my nipple, bringing it to a hardened peak. The maddening combination consumed my senses, swallowed me in a wave of pure ecstasy.

A mewling sound leaked from my mouth, as he worked me into a knot of tension, and he pressed his lips to mine. “Shhh. I wouldn’t want the old woman to think I’m hurting you.”

I smiled and nodded, my hips shamelessly circling against him, desperate for his fingers, his tongue. Anything to relieve the unrelenting ache he’d stirred. The feral longing that writhed in my chest, climbing the bones of my ribcage, like an ensnared animal. Lip caught between my teeth, I pressed the crown of my head into the pillow, the urge to bite something curling through my muscles.

He pushed up inside of me, curving that wicked digit back, and touched a sensitive spot that had me arching into him. “Gods be damned. So wet and needy.” His teeth found the ticklish crook of my neck, and as he added more pressure, I arched higher, dragging my heels over the mattress.

Through the fabric of the shirt, he pulled on my nipple and plunged his fingers in and out of me in long, slickening strokes. “Should I stop, Lunamiszka?”

I frantically shook my head. “No, please. Don’t stop.”

He dragged his nose along my throat and licked my hammering pulse. “Your scent is stirring my appetite.” The moment his fingers slid out of me, my muscles sagged with disappointment.

I opened my eyes to see him shove his fingers into his mouth, sucking away the shine of my arousal, and god, the sight of him sent a deep, cramping need between my thighs.

He climbed over top of me, his body a massive shadow that eclipsed the moon’s light, and he licked his lips before canting his head just enough to kiss me. The bed creaked as he sat back and tugged my legs, pulling me onto his lap with ease, his hard and massive bulge pressed into my aching core.

“Your beauty is unrivaled, Maevyth.” Hands gripping my bottom, he buried his face in my neck, planting kisses across my throat and collarbone. Goosebumps scattered across my flesh as he ran his tongue along the column of my neck. Lost to the sensation, I let him lure me into euphoria, until, like a zap of lightning, teeth sank into the base of my throat, not hard enough to draw blood, but enough that my whole body tensed around him. The bliss from moments ago spiraled into something darker. Something raw and primal that burned in my blood. A wicked and hungry desire swelling inside of me, begging to be fed.

Legs wrapped around his back, I gripped his shoulders as he kissed and nipped my throat.

His hand slid down between my thighs again, and as I sat straddling him, he pushed two fingers inside of me.

The monstrous agony pulsing in my belly awakened again and welcomed the intrusion with overwhelming relief. I tipped my head back, mouth agape, the air stuttering in my lungs as I surrendered to it.

He knew exactly where to touch me. How to touch me. Slow and languid, he braced one hand on the mattress and let his hips follow each plunge of his fingers, as if his cock were thrusting inside of me, while his sturdy thighs held me open, while his eyes remained riveted on me. Watching me. His muscles flexed against my palms, and I wanted to capture the moment and mentally frame it in my mind forever. How ravishing and powerful he looked right then. Elegantly brutal, but with a gleam of boyish fascination.

He upped the pace, and I circled my hips, grinding my bottom against his thighs, the ache only relieved when he thrusted into me. Harder.

A moan escaped me, and I dug my nails into his biceps, scratching and clawing, starving for whatever it was that twisted in my stomach. The need he stirred inside of me stretched and writhed, tightening my muscles. “Please,” I rasped, though I didn’t have a clue what I was begging for, what lurked on the other side of this delicious tension. Agony and pleasure curled through me, the desperation so overwhelming, I bit down on his shoulder with a shuddering breath and whimpered.

“Cursed gods, you are a ferociously breathtaking creature when you’re ravenous.” The dark amusement in his voice mirrored the devilish glint in his eyes. “I wonder what sounds will spill from your lips when your thighs are trembling against my palms and your sweet nectar wets my tongue.” His words wrenched a tearless sob from my chest as my blood burned hotter, this merciless craving unbearable.

Spinning our positions, he lay me back against the pillow again, bracing his body over mine, his greedy fingers plundering in time to the wet sounds that would’ve had me blushing had I not been so lust-drunk.

I arched into him, taking in the feel of his solid chest against my breasts, his body hard and unyielding—a prison, from which I never wanted to escape.

A searing heat snaked beneath my skin, and I turned to find black flames dancing on the perimeter of the bed.

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