Page 138 of The Shadow Wand

And surprising things that cut clear through the fiery haze of our power.

His fingernails, lightly grazing my outstretched palms, sending tingling waves of heat through my body. His mouth, shockingly on my nipple, his tongue spiraling in ever-tighter circles. The delicious warmth of him. The decadent glimpses of his half-naked body moving against mine.

His weight shifts on the bed and he sits up, his eyes hot on me. His wand is now lightly in his palm. “Lie on your back,” he hoarsely invites.

Ensnared by him, I eagerly comply. Lukas murmurs a spell, his voice throaty with desire, and sends the sparking lines out over me again.

“Mmm.” I’m like a cat in sunlight, languidly stretching into the pleasure he’s flowing through my lines. He’s all tight focus as he slowly moves the wand down my body, sending the sizzling magic ever lower as a delicious tension builds.

The lines coalesce in one spot between my legs, and I’m overcome by a sudden explosion of shuddering ecstasy, my neck arching as I cry out, and a throbbing heat envelops me. Wave after wave of it. Taking its time receding. I close my eyes, crane my neck, and let out a long, shuddering breath.

Only then does he come to me.

His half-clothed body slides over mine, his own hard desire pressing where pleasure still echoes, my eyes still dreamily closed. I bask in the incredible sensation he created, pivoting my hips to hold on to the edges of it. Pressing against him as I do.

He rolls half off of me, and I hear a small click and feel him unfastening his belt.

I open my eyes then turn quickly away, the room unsteady, my heart thudding in my chest, his fire racing through my lines. I bite gently at my lower lip, the taste of cherries and oak still lingering there. Then I swallow and venture a glance at his body. Heat burns along my neck and I look away again as a raw trepidation cuts through my haze of desire.

Lukas gently slides back over me, the skin of the entire length of his body enticingly warm against mine.

I turn and catch the glint of firelight reflected through the bottle of oil. With one hand, Lukas unstoppers the bottle, tips it, and pours some onto his fingers.

I breathe in the oil’s warm floral-vanilla scent.

He props himself up on one elbow, his palm now on my stomach, sliding down, the oil’s soft heat flaring in his palm’s wake. His fingers leave a trail of warmth where they travel, the sensation flaring. Lukas traces spirals on the naked skin of my hips with the oil, the heat reverberating, then slides his fingers lower, holding my gaze to confirm my permission the whole time.

I nod and let out a ragged breath, my hands tightening on him.

I catch another glimpse of him, and nervous surprise mingles with a hard flash of want as heat rises on my face, my chest. It’s so intimate, the sight of him. My breathing deepens in response.

A man’s body. Aroused.

Lukas positions himself just over and against me as he kisses me long and sensuously. A tighter hunger takes hold as our fires blaze toward each other and I pull him closer.

And then the full pressure of him. A jolt of stretching pain that arches my neck as I gasp in surprise.

Lukas pauses, now deep inside me, one hand grasping my hip, his mouth almost touching mine. He’s breathing hard as he waits for me, all tight control, the sting of his entry receding. He brings his mouth back to mine and kisses me deeply, sending twining, soothing roots through my lines.

He waits for my grip on him to loosen, for my chaotic lines to smooth out and warm. Then he moves in me, slowly at first.

I gasp at the fullness of him. It’s overwhelming. But a heated pleasure reverberates to balance the hurt, and I arch toward him as his fire shudders through me and pleasure takes hold and builds anew.

Lukas’s movements are smooth and in delicious concert with the motion of his mouth and tongue, the loosening then tightening of his grip on me.

The loosening of his magic.

I slowly fall into sync with him, finding his rhythm as strengthening waves of pleasure and his fire eddy through me. I press my hips forward to meet him and feel his smile on my mouth.

When the explosive rush finally comes again, it’s not as ecstatic as before, the slight sting at the edges of him holding me back. But a more mellow, decadent pleasure courses through me, blending roots, sinuous branches, and shuddering fire, dampening the hurt. I let out a sigh and glide my fingers down his muscular back.

Lukas’s control begins to fracture as he picks up the intensity of his rhythm, his touch becoming increasingly impassioned with a growing hunger as his fire rushes through his lines and into mine, the heat building.

On instinct, I wrap my legs tight around him, my mouth pressed to the heated skin of his neck as he moves. I summon my power and push blazing fire and branching magic straight into his lines.

Lukas loses all control.

He thrusts hard, his breathing hot and ragged, as he grips at me fiercely.

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