Page 45 of Mortal Heart

Despite his need, he let her control the rhythm and intensity for a while, but she wasn’t at all surprised when he took over. With one hand on the back of her head to hold her still, he used his other thumb on her lower lip and jaw to keep her mouth and throat at just the right angle. He stroked in and out of her mouth, his head thrown back, as she kept her lips tight around him. She loved watching the way the muscles of his chest, abdomen, and legs contracted with his movement and the intensity of his pleasure, much as he’d probably enjoyed watching her writhe for him at Nyx.

She hadn’t planned to get herself off too, but thinking about how he’d touched her earlier and watching him now made it impossible not to unbuckle her belt, unfasten her pants, and slip one hand into her jeans. They’d both stayed quiet, mindful of Carly and Katy in the house, but as Ronan’s breathing turned to gasps and the muscles in his abdomen tightened, she couldn’t hold back a moan.

When their eyes met, his held an unspoken question. In answer, she gripped his ass with her free hand and held him in place, refusing to let him pull away.

They came together a few moments later, with Ronan’s hand wrapped in her hair and her mouth on him. He groaned and shuddered as she drifted in a haze of her own pleasure. When he withdrew from her mouth, she sat back on her heels and gasped for air.

He knelt in front of her, his chest still heaving, and took her hand—the one that had been in her jeans. “Allow me,” he said, and brought her fingers to his lips. He licked them clean, one at a time, sucking on each before letting go. Then he brushed loose hair back from her face and cupped her cheek. “I needed that.”

“I know.” She had to chuckle as they repeated their exchange, with reversed roles, from their intimate moment at Nyx. “I figured we both deserved the opportunity to find out if orgasms improved our eyesight and reflexes.”

“Oh, was that your motivation?” He smiled. “What are your initial findings?”

“I’m no scientist, but I think the hypothesis requires additional study.”

“I concur.” He grew serious. “I am sorry for staking Farrell and denying you your revenge.”

She’d been giving that incident some thought herself—specifically, what Farrell had said immediately prior to getting ashed. Other than cursing and fantasizing about what she’d do to this demon trafficker when they found him, she’d had little else to distract herself while puking up her guts. “You killed him because he was about to tell me what you are. And he did it on purpose, to provoke you.”

“Yes.” He looked grave. “That doesn’t mean I don’t regret it, for your sake.”

She’d started the night wanting nothing more than to uncover what he was. In the hours since, she’d come to understand a lot about this mysterious man—enough to know she cared less about what he’d been than the man he was now.

“I do want to know, but I don’t have to know now.” She touched his face. “You’ll tell me one day.”

“Alice, Sean, and Malcolm know.” He tilted his head and considered. “Carly as well, since Alice asked for her help to heal me. So why should I want to keep it from you?”

“My guess is, you don’t fear they’ll reject you, but you think I might if I knew the truth.” Arkady shrugged as if that realization didn’t hurt. “I suppose that’s fair, given you’ve known me for basically one night.”

“I said earlier having nothing to prove to someone is a new thing for me. That’s not all about this that’s new.” He squeezed her hand. “I’ve never feared anything, not really. But now I fear the truth about me will cause you to walk away.” His eyes flashed. “I don’t like fear.”

She had to laugh at that. “Do you think any of us do? It just comes with the territory. Personally, I like to conquer my fears.”

“Of course you do, my Valkyrie. I’m again humbled by you.”

He wasn’t ready to spill the beans—that much was obvious. She might have been able to force his hand, but she didn’t particularly want to.

Someone walked loudly to the bathroom door and knocked. “Get yourselves presentable,” Carly called from the hallway. “Katy’s ready to scry.”

“Thank you,” Ronan called back. “We’ll be out in a moment.”

“Oh, lord…she knows what we just did.” Arkady sighed when Carly’s footsteps had retreated back down the hall. “Not that I care, I suppose. She probably already knew everything about us in the first ten seconds after we got here. You can’t keep secrets from witches.”

“Indeed you can’t,” Ronan agreed. He kissed Arkady on the forehead, rose smoothly, and offered his hand to help her up.

She straightened her shirt and jeans as he dressed quickly in his own spare set of clothing. “What is Katy scrying for?” she asked.

“I gave them the minor demon I brought from Nyx,” he explained. “I hoped one of them could see where it came from. It’s our best lead now.”

“I figured as much.” She made a face. “Bummer you already gave it to them, though.”

He frowned as he tucked in his T-shirt and fastened his belt. “Why?”

“I wanted to ask if that was a demon in your pocket or if you were just happy to see me. I mean, how often—?”

He laughed and kissed her. “I’ll keep that in mind for next time.”

“I hope there’s a next time,” she said, very seriously. “Stomping those little assholes was the most fun I’ve had in a while.” Getting their poison out of her body, not so much.Thatshe could do without.

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