Page 36 of Ruin

Straightening, she removed his boots, then undid the clasp of his pants. With his help, she drew them down his strong legs and let them fall unseen on the floor.

“You're so beautiful,” she breathed, drinking in the sight of him sprawled beneath her, all the very many inches of him gloriously bared.

Ruin's laugh was dark and full of disbelief. “I'm a lot of things, but beautiful ain't one of ‘em.”

She leaned down, pressing a reverent kiss to a starburst scar on his hipbone. “You are to me.”

Unable to resist any longer, she shifted lower, positioning herself between his thighs. Her mouth watered and a rush of heat pooled between her legs at the sight of his cock, thick and hard against his stomach.

“Can I taste you?” she asked, voice breathy with want.

His reply was a choked, inarticulate hiss.

“You're so disciplined,” she marveled, nipping at his hip bone. “Such control.”

She wanted to break that control.

His hand fisted in the sheets. “Lira… ”

“Yes?” she asked innocently, her breath ghosting over his straining cock.

“Don't tease,” he gritted out.

She grinned wickedly. “But I like teasing you.”

To punctuate her point, she darted her tongue out, giving his length a long, slow lick from base to tip. The taste of him exploded on her palate and her eyes rolled back in pleasure as she savored it.

“Oh gods,” she moaned. “You taste incredible.”

Ruin's hips bucked involuntarily, and then he was surging upward.

Between one blink and the next, she was on her back, pinned beneath his huge body. He loomed above her, eyes wild, breaths harsh. A heady mix of excitement and anticipation coursed through her veins.

His chest heaved as he struggled for control. “Fuck, Lira. You don't know what you do to me.”

She bit her lip, heat pooling low in her belly, thighs slippery with want. “Show me.”

“You sure about that?”

“I want all of you, Ruin. Every scar, every shadow.”

He searched her face. “Even the parts that scare you?”

She swallowed hard, pulse quickening. “Especially those.”

He dipped his head, nuzzling the tender spot behind her ear. His voice was low, dangerous. “Last chance to back out, bird.”

She arched into him, gasping at the friction. “Not a chance in all the hells.”

Ruin's grin was all sharp teeth and predatory intent. “Good.”

Chapter 12

Fuck, she was beautiful.

Every inch of her was a work of art, from the curve of her lips to the slender lines of her neck. He could hardly believe she was here with him, that she wanted this. She was perfection incarnate, and he felt wholly fucking unworthy to even breathe the same air.

Of course, that wasn’t gonna stop him.