Page 129 of Black Bird

Her voice, even in her mind, broke with need and anticipation, reflecting every emotion shooting through her. Poe sputtered from his cage as if he could hear every word, and Athan loosed a shallow breath, pulling her closer. He shook his head.

“Nevermore,” he whispered, promising her himself for eternity as he claimed her mouth. It happened so fast. Sarah felt herself let go of everything. Every mistake, every kept word … every sin. She gave herself over completely. The kiss was savage. Their hands were everywhere, as if neither one of them could decide where to go first. She finally fisted his hair and felt him grip her thighs, sliding them up higher against her bare skin while he reached for some lacy underthing that she’d made sure not to wear. His hips shifted beneath her when he realized it and she felt the steel of him struggle under her.

Athan dragged her shirt up her sides and she tore herself away from his mouth, lifting her arms as he pulled it over her head—she didn’texpect him to lead her arms behind her and keep them there as they remained in her sleeves, and he tightened his grip on the material in one hand. She could barely breathe, and rogue strands of her hair stuck to her face when his other hand tilted her head back and his tongue ran down the column of her neck … lingering on the raised scar he’d left. Every nerve in her body seized and tingled, and she felt herself seep with need between her legs. Sarah writhed against him as he kissed and softly sucked that spot until she thought she could completely lose it from that much alone. Her arms struggled against their restraint, and she bit down on her lip, trying desperately to keep quiet while he continued to tease her.

His hand slipped down her side and under her thigh as he raised his hips off the floor and pulled his pants down, shifting them around until she could feel him against her. His breath was warm on her neck when he realized how wet she was. He kicked them the rest of the way off and lifted her over the tip of his cock, meeting her face when he slowly pushed himself in. Their mouths hovered over each other, and their breathing wild as he lowered her further onto him. It was the kind of pain that Sarah lived for. The kind that fueled every part of her sexually. She knew how big he was and knew there was a lot left of him to fit inside her, though she also questioned if she’d be able to as the pain became more intense, and her muscles tensed involuntarily around him. Her breath was sharp and caught in a tick down her throat when he pushed further. Athan reached up between them and covered her mouth before pushing the rest of the way inside her until they were flush against each other.

Sarah was sure that God had never intended for pain to feel this damn good. If He did, she just became religious. Her arms remained behind her, and she moved to adjust herself to his size, relishing in the look of undoing on his face when she breathed heavily through her nose and rolled her hips, the angle allowing him deeper. Her movements were limited, and she waited until he started to slowly lose himself before she wrangled free of her shirt and brought her arms around him, fixing her hands around the back of his neck. He finally dropped his hand from her mouth and gripped her hips as she leaned back and held onto him while she slowly rode his cock. Every inch of him trembled right along with her, and she couldn’t help but wonder how it felt for him to finally break all the rules he’d been so used to following. The foreign aspect of it showed all over his face. Like someone had gifted him a brand-new life—Sarah supposed she just had. It only made her more driven to show him more.

She leaned forward, kissing his neck, his jawline… his chin. His eyes shone with a hunger of a different sort. Not the darkness that consumed them when he scented her blood, but the light that had taken over when she brought him into it. Sarah laid him back, finally tasting his tongue and deeply kissing that mouth, as he smoothed the hair from her face. She hung on his bottom lip, replacing her mouth with the pad of her thumb as she raised herself up and took in every naked inch of him while she slowly fucked him. She could tell with every swift stroke of her hips that it was taking all his restraint not to fall back into his old habits and pleasure her, but he had no idea how much she enjoyed seeing the response of everything she was doing to his body every time she slid up and down his thick, throbbing length. His breaths were ragged and broken, his chest rising and falling in labored rasps.

Sarah dragged her hands down the expanse of his chest, the ripples of his hard stomach. The muscles in her back flowed with every smooth, calculated movement and she bit back every deep moan, holding her breath.

You are so fucking beautiful, Sarah.

She couldn’t help but smile down at him, taking his hands and placing them everywhere his eyes lingered while he watched her.

Break every rule, Athan. Touch me. Lose yourself. Let me show you what it should be like. How it really feels …

She braced herself with her hands on his strong thighs and spread her legs wide, using her feet to lift herself up to the very tip of him before easing herself back down. His eyes went wide and his hand pressed flat against the planes of her lower belly. A sound that was primal and inhuman ripped from his throat and his canines slid further out when he opened his mouth and took in more air as she did it again … again …again.

He was glorious. In every possible way. Wet sounds slipped from beneath her as she fucked him faster—more deliberate. The pressure he put on her lower abdomen let her feel him more deeply and she dug her black fingernails into the skin of his thighs. Her head fell back, and she gasped as quietly as she could manage, her hips now moving in a smooth circular motion that had them both testing their discretion. She raised her head when she heard a whisper of a growl and felt him pulse within her. His eyes looked like they’d close, and she slunk back onto her knees, demanding his attention when she took his face in her hands.

Eyes on me, detective.

He half-smiled, those elongated teeth sexier than anything she’d ever seen. Sexier than they should have been as she took his bottom lip between hers. She felt the pinch of what little fingernails he had grip the thin skin of her spine, his other hand firmly palming the left side of her ass as she rode him fast and hard. Athan choked out a breath of a curse when he came inside her, his eyes hazy and lustful. Sarah slowed but didn’t stop … eager to squeeze every last drop from him and catching his breathless groans with her mouth.

He seemed well and truly satisfied, every muscle going limp beneath her when she finally stilled and broke their kiss to look at him. A sheen of sweat lined his forehead as she brushed strands of his hair over his brow, and she took notice of the absence of his fangs when he struggled for breath. Sarah felt a deep pride settle over her while she watched him slowly calm down. She may not have been his first, but she certainly was the first one to ever experience him like this. He was immaculately beautiful after being thoroughly ravaged. She wondered what was going through that gorgeous head. As if in answer, she heard his voice in her mind.

I never expected that hearing myself being referred to by my job description would turn me on so much.

Sarah pressed her head against his and they laughed quietly. He kept himself buried inside her and held her a little tighter so she wouldn’t move.

Well, for what it’s worth, I never expected not to hate my middle name … until I realized that fate had other plans for it.

Athan reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear, untangling a few strands from the many earrings that lined it.

What if I told you that Athan wasn’t my real name?

Sarah leaned her head back and furrowed her brows.

Are you shitting me? What’s your real name?

His mouth flattened into a tight line, and he rolled his eyes, trailing circles along her back with his finger.

… Nathaniel …

Sarah’s lips curled into a slow smile, and he looked at her as if just thinking the name tasted just as awful as saying it out loud.

Ah … Nathaniel. I see what you did there. Why did you shorten it? It’s not as bad as Lenore.

He made a face and leaned in to graze her bottom lip with his teeth.

My mother was the only one that called me by that name. I changed it after she died. Swore I’d never use it again.

She understood that completely. Another way to veil the pain of what used to be happy memories. Her train of thought was beginning to derail when he moved his mouth along her jaw and started moving her head to get fuller access to her neck. Sarah felt herself becoming increasingly unnerved.

What are you doing?

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