Page 158 of Scourged

As it washed over her, pulling a shuddering moan from her lips, something in their bond changed. Snapped into place, shifted and grew more solid. A thundering, ancient, magnetic power, intoxicating in its strength.

Andrian’s lips against her thigh, and then beneath her navel, yanked her back into her body. Back to the present. Her eyes flew to his, the brilliant blue wide and blazing and hungry.

Fast as an adder, she pressed her hand against the column of his throat. He froze, eyebrow lifting.

“Your turn.” Her voice was hoarse, low and husky in her throat.

Andrian gave her a dark and feral grin.

“My turn for what?” He answered her with shadows and smoke.

She sat up, pushing him with her. He stood, backing away from the bed. She followed him, standing before him, bare as the day she was born.

Not long ago, she’d been unable to stomach him touching her.

Now, she couldn’t stop.

She snaked her hands beneath his shirt, lifting the hem. He met her halfway, pulling it over his head and shoulders and tossing it aside. She paused for a moment, staring at the Mark on his chest. Jagged scars now bisected it, the results of a bond made with a too-dull blade and a shaky, malnourished hand.

“Hey,” he said, pulling her attention back to his face. Some of the heat had dimmed, concern now filling the depths of his eyes. “Are you okay?”

Again. That gentleness. He was the same Andrian, still sour and angry and brooding, but with a new layer of softness, a vulnerability that broke her and built her back up again.

She lightly brushed her fingers across his Mark and scars. “Despite everything that happened, I wouldn’t change it.”

He blinked. “You wouldn’t?”

“No.” She drew in a breath, her hands tracing a path across his chest, down the tightened muscles in his stomach. “Because without it all, without everything we went through, I wouldn’t have you. Not like this.” She reached into her mind and tugged on their bond. He jerked in response, hands flexing and eyes widening. “Not the way I have you now.”

“I was stupid for not doing it sooner. For letting my father intimidate me. Blind and pathetic and selfish.” His words were growled, low in his throat, rumbling through his chest.

Mariah only smiled. “It wasn’t just you. I was a fool for letting those men dictate my life. But … I don’t want to talk about that tonight.” She stepped closer, her hands reaching for the waistband of his pants. “Instead, I think you deserve a reward for your worship.”

The softness left him, his eyes hooded and darkened. “Did you not just beg me to fuck you?” He nipped at her bottom lip.

She tsked. “I changed my mind.” Still holding his stare, she popped the first button to his pants, sliding her hand into the fabric. He inhaled sharply, nostrils flaring as she wrapped it around his cock. Her mouth watered at his hot thickness, at the bead of moisture gathered at the tip that she swiped away with her thumb.

With a slow, teasing movement, she dropped to her knees.

Andrian’s trousers followed, and soon they, too, were discarded across the room.

Without breaking his stare, she took his length in her hands and licked him once from base to tip. He tasted salty and sweet, with that hint of rain and cedarwood beneath it all.

His head rocked back with a groan, eyes fluttering closed, as she took him fully in her mouth.

“Gods …nio…” His fingers wound into her hair, gripping onto the roots. The pull was painful, but she welcomed it as she took him deeper, swallowing him down her throat even as tears burned behind her eyes. Her hands reached up, over the hard lines of his stomach and across his hips, nails digging in and scratching as they went, making her own type of claim.

His grip on her hair tightened. He pulled back on her head, tugging her away from him, his cock sliding from her mouth with a wet pop. She tilted her head up to meet his gaze, a protest on her lips, only to find his expression devastated and absolutely pained. His hand gripped the back of her neck as he yanked her from the floor, a yelp slipping from her throat.

Andrian pushed forward, and she stepped back in surprise, her shoulders meeting the wall behind her. He crowded into her, breath hot and desperate against her skin.

“Enough of that,nio,” he growled, hands gripping her thighs. In an easy movement, he picked her up, wedging her against the wall. She felt his cock between them, hot and thick and wet from her mouth, and her magic danced along her skin. He glanced at it, sighing and resting his forehead against hers as his own shadows brushed her cheek.

“Andrian?”

He smiled at her, enough joy in his eyes to shatter worlds. “Mariah,” he whispered before he claimed her lips again in a kiss.

Her hands wound into his hair, gripping the soft strands as he snaked a hand between them, fisting his length and lining himself up with her.

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