Page 66 of The Secrets of Roan Island

With each pearly button she releases, more skin is revealed. I groan when I realize she’s not wearing a chemise. The curves of her breasts tease me as they peek out from under the gaping fabric. It’s too much for me to take.

I grab her wrists and pull her closer. “Let me.”

One at a time, I unhook the buttons at her wrists with shaking hands before moving on to those leading down, down. There are buttons all the way to the hem of her dress, an embellishment that’s been driving me mad all day. When the swell of her belly is revealed, I lay a kiss over her skin and swirl my tongue around her belly button. A soft gasp comes from her lips as her fingers tangle in my hair, and I smile as I continue my work.

The dress is open enough to slip it off her shoulders, but I’m enjoying this too much for it to end.

I graze my knuckles between her legs and move to my knees so I can reach the final buttons. The fabric hangs on either side of her, revealing her uncovered breasts and white ruffled pantaloons. I plant a soft kiss over the material, directly between her legs, letting my warm breath linger. Her hands come to my shoulders as a tiny moan slips from her lips.

I look up at her, savoring the way her chest rises and falls. Her eyes are dark, though not as dark as I’m sure mine are. She tucks her bottom lip between her teeth, and there’s a tense silence between us that feels more powerful than any words. We both know exactly what we’re doing and where this is going.This isn’t like the wild heat of the new moon. This is something different, more intentional.

I unbutton the waistband of her undergarment before pushing it down her legs, my hands brushing the outsides of her thighs. I lift one foot, then the other, slipping away the offending material. Then I let my gaze travel over her.

“Goddess, you’re beautiful,” I whisper.

Her dress hangs open like a royal robe. Underneath, her skin glistens and shines with a pale blush. Her heart beats quickly, the pulse point in her neck noticeably jumping with each pump of her blood. I lick my lips. She mirrors the action.

“Bite me,” she whispers.

I shake my head, kiss her thigh just above the knee, and glide my hands up her sides. She slips her dress off her shoulders and lets it fall to the floor as if she’s shedding her skin and her defenses. Then she drops to her knees in front of me so we’re face to face and undoes the first button on my shirt with the same deliberate care I used to undress her. She kisses my chest, just below my collarbone, above my hearts. When she finishes her work and slides my shirt all the way off, her blunt little teeth nip at the side of my neck.

“Bite me,” she whispers again.

“It’s too close to Solstice.” I’ve done experiments on my venom, it shouldn’t fully change until the moons align tomorrow night, but I won’t risk it. Not with her.

“Then stand up,” she commands.

I do, and she undoes my buckle and pulls off my pants and undergarments. The last time we were intimate, when we feasted on each other and she let me drink from her, my clothes stayed on. This time, I bare myself for her. Just as she’s bared herself for me. She touches me with reverence, her palms sliding from my calves to my thighs, curving over my ass and around to my hard cock, the evidence of my desire for her.

With a tilt of her head, she looks up at me, still on her knees. There’s trust in her gaze that I don’t deserve. A willingness to put herself in a vulnerable position before me. Naked and unafraid.

I swallow, my throat fighting the movement, just short of closed as emotion floods my body. No one has ever looked at me the way Ruby does, as more than just a pretty face or a monster who can offer pleasure with a bite.

She leans forward and tests the slit of my cock with her tongue, taking in a drop of precum, then moaning as if I’m the best thing she’s ever tasted.

I slide my fingers into her hair and tilt her head back so I can meet her gaze. “Ruby.” Her name is all I’m able to say, because my throat finishes closing around the sound.

She licks up the bottom of my shaft from root to tip, and my whole body vibrates with pleasure. I’m unable to stifle the groan. She takes me into her mouth, her slender fingers wrapped around the base of my cock. Her teeth graze my skin, and I hiss, loving the minuscule touch of violence.

But this isn’t what I want from her tonight. I don’t want her on her knees for me. I want to be equals. I want to be as connected as I can to her. I want to be inside her.

After she bobs her head forward once more, I remove myself from her grasp and offer her my hand as I’ve done countless times before, but this time there’s no glove between us. Nothing at all between us. Both naked and revealed for what we are.

A question graces her features, but she doesn’t voice it. Her fingers meet my palm, and I curl mine around them as I pull her up to me. I kiss her knuckles, the inside of her wrist, then sweep her into my arms and set her gently in the middle of the bed.

“Let me worship you.” I crawl over her and meet her lips with my own, my palm wrapping around the back of her head. The kiss is a slow torture. I want to devour her, but I need toprove—to her and to myself—that I’m worthy of this encounter. That she’s making the right choice to share her body with me.

So I slide my tongue against the seam of her lips. When she opens her mouth and her tongue meets mine, I savor her, warm with the understanding she’s choosing me in spite of everything at war around us.

She grasps my shoulders to bring me closer, whimpering under my mouth. “Please.” Though she hasn’t specified what she’s asking for, I feel it in my own body. I need her. She needs me.

With an arm banded around her back, I adjust her, pulling her closer. Her legs wrap around my waist, trying to position us how she wants. I smile at her attempts to rush this, my eager littleta’ari. My mouth trails from her mouth to her jaw. “Please what?”

“Bite me.”

I draw back so I can meet her gaze, worried suddenly that she just wants the pleasure of my venom, that I misconstrued her need. “I can’t. I won’t hurt you.”

She shakes her head. “No. No venom. Not that. Take my blood,” she whispers.

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