Page 76 of Caged By Dance and Desire

My cheeks burned, my entire face. I suspected the more I blushed, the filthier he’d get. I suspected this wasn’t a fraction of the dirt that could spill out of his mouth.

“I hope you don’t kiss your sister with those lips,” I muttered.

His eyes lit with glee. “Why, Anah, what a wicked imagination you have. But no, I wouldn't kiss my sister where I kissyou.”

I choked. He didn’t miss a beat, not one.

Andrei laughed again, an electric sound winding around my spine as I watched the man whose good side I’d thought of as even-tempered, courteous, gentle and solicitous unravel.

Peel away the civilized outer wrapping to reveal the dark, pulsing core of a creature made to sink its talons into my soul and rip out the guts of every hidden desire, every twisted fantasy, every gray and rotten part of my personality I tried to banish to the recesses of my mind.

My selfishness. My willingness to shuck away everything, and everyone, to go after what I wanted. My blithe callousnesstoward feelings and requests I didn’t understand or thought shouldn’t apply.

My ability to lie. Repeatedly, seamlessly, without guilt or hesitation. My avoidance, which I dubbed introversion or an unwillingness to escalate conflict, was another symptom of my selfishness.

It was easier to ignore people, then toss them away if they tried to make me feel, or do, or think outside myself.

Andrei’s eyes bored into me as he pinned my wrists over my head.

“You can’t escape me, Hasannah,” he said with the a voice of a demon who’d crawled out from under my bed. “I know every part of you.”

My body trembled.

“The first step to power is to know yourself. Every foul and defiled corner of your mind and heart. Every greedy intention and wicked deed. You must uncover it all, or it can be used against you. But Anah. . .I would love you still. Your gray will never match my dark.”

He paused.

“And your light. . .your light will illuminate us all and keep the worst of the shadows at bay.”

“I can’t—Andrei, I’m just me. I can’t?—”

He lowered himself over me again. “You can. You will.”

His kiss was leisurely this time, coaxing my body to return to heat and need. When I relaxed beneath him he released my mouth, sliding down my body leaving a destruction of kisses andcaresses in his wake, tasting skin and biting hard enough into flesh to leave temporary marks.

By the time he reached my thighs, they’d fallen wide open, awaiting him.

He took his time there too, with tongue and devastating touch, bringing me to peak after peak until every bone in my body forgot its purpose.

But when his cock nudged my entrance, I froze.

“Wait!” I slapped my hands on his chest. “Wait. Let me.”

Andrei stilled. I slid a hand down his body and grasped his cock.

“Let me control the entry,” I said. Missionary position wasn’t the best way to go, but. . .

He brushed his lips on my cheek. “We need to have that talk, Anah.”

“Let’s not ruin the mood.”

He huffed a breath of laughter, eyes on mine as I loosened my grip, lifting my hips just enough for a slow, incremental entry.

My body was relaxed, I wanted him. I hadn’t needed to stop to hunt down lubricant. Everything was as optimal as I could have asked for.

Andrei brushed his lips over mine, sliding in another centimeter. “Are you good?”

I nodded. He kissed me again and again, whispering in my ear as he responded to my cues to either stop, or to continue.

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