The breath left him on a shuddering sigh, and his face spasmed with such intense relief it was almost painful to see.
“As I love you, my light,” he rasped.
“Good.” A wicked smile curved her lips. “Now, take your clothes off.”
He chuckled, the low, guttural sound sending shivers through her.
* * *
Thrasin gazed down at Aria,naked and laid under him. Gods, but she was perfect. Her hair, twisted from the braid he’d just loosed, looked like the softest river flowing around her face and shoulders. The fire from the lanterns caught on gold in the dark strands, making his fingers itch with the need to capture it somehow, to hoard it for himself.
Her eyes, when he met them, were dark with desire. For him. Gods, he’d yearned for that for lifetimes it felt.
Sin could barely draw breath for how intensely he wanted her. His cock was a hard, aching bar, standing out proudly between his legs, throbbing in time with his rapid heartbeat and all but dripping with need for her. The effort of keeping himself from falling on her and mounting her like a beast had his muscles twitching, fighting against his frayed restraint.
She was stunning, her body a fascinating mix of soft curves and hard muscle, but she was so godsdamnsmall. He didn’t think he’d ever really realized just how tiny she was. Standing, gazing at her from a distance, she had so much presence that the eyes forgot her size.
Now, with her laid out beneath him, Sin felt like a giant poised over her, bulky and too big. He knew she was strong, deadly, but he remembered that moment in the cave when he lost control.
She was fierce, but she wasn’t invulnerable.
That terrified him. He would sooner take his own life than hurt her ever again, even something as small as a scratch. But, what if, in the throes of pleasure, he forgot himself? What if he lost control? It would only take a second…
“You won’t hurt me,” she murmured softly.
Sin jolted slightly, his gaze snapping to hers. She gave him a knowing look, making him realize he’d been frozen, staring at her like a starving animal, his fears clearly painted on his face.
Searching her expression, he found only trust, desire, and love. No fear. That loosened something tight and brittle in his chest. She wasn’t afraid of him, despite his largeness, despite his fearsome appearance.
She trusted him, and that let Sin trust himself.
Making himself move, he skated his knuckles along the outside of one full breast, his hand visibly shaking. The feeling of her softness had a groan vibrating his throat.
“You're perfect.”
A soft smile curled her lush lips, still wet from kissing him. “Come here.”
Heart pounding, he slowly settled himself over her, desperately holding onto his control, yet unable and unwilling to refuse her whispered demand. Feeling her cradle him between her thighs, panic of a different kind shot through him.
“My light, I- I haven’t—”
“I know,” she purred, a possessive kind of hunger flashing in her pale green eyes.
Was she saying she liked that he was untested? That… stunned him more than a little.
He’d never lain with a female before.Hewas glad about that. It felt right that Aria would be his first and, Gods willing, his only. His worry had been that she would regret his lack of experience.
Nothing in her eyes hinted at that. Much the opposite.
Groaning, he took her lips in a fevered kiss, drinking in her addictive taste, stroking her fascinatingly small tongue with his. Frantic, needing to taste all of her, he worked his way down to her neck, carefully nipping the delicate skin there, thrilling in her breathless gasp, then farther until he could suck the hard tip of her breast into his mouth.
At the first pull on her nipple, she moaned. The sound shot straight to his cock. Knowing his touch gave her pleasure almost had him spilling his seed. It was only a single-minded, animalistic need riding him that allowed him to hold back.
Instinct was driving him, pushing him to make this as good for her as he possibly could, to wring every drop of bliss from her so she’d be addicted to his touch.
Aria wasn’t Thrarian. He didn’t know if females of her kind worked the way his did, didn’t know if her kindcouldbecome addicted to a male’s touch, but the compulsion was too strong to fight.
Give her pleasure, it said. Drown her in ecstasy. Make her yours.