Page 140 of A Bond in Blood

He leaned closer, his chest pressing against mine. His long hair brushed my face while I stared past the mask still fitted across his face. His lips grazed my neck, across my jaw, stopping just above my own.

“Control.”

The word again while his lips lightly brushed mine. Not a kiss, but just as tempting as one.

“Control,” I whispered back.

One nod.

His fingers moved faster.

“Let.” His thumb pressed down. “Go.”

My orgasm took over, claiming me. My back arched with it while my hands pulled the sheets up. Yet he did not stop, he moved faster.

“Yes,” he groaned. “Fuck yes.”

I was shaking. My vision was blurring with not just release but tears of relief. Tears I could not fully understand why they fell.

When my body had stopped convulsing and my breathing had steadied, he finally stopped. Removing his fingers from me then lying down next to me on the bed.

I stared up at the ceiling for a moment then let out a breath of confidence, sitting up to gaze upon his body. Understanding what he had meant when he’d previously spoken of the hidden ink I had yet to see.

My eyes went to the two pieces on his legs, both taking up the entirety of the fronts of his thigh.

The ink on his left thigh was a replica of the carving on the forbidden door, but more intricate, the details fascinating. My hands traced the ink, finding the woman’s face oddly familiar. Features I recognized but could not trace. I moved my touch over the full half of her, the hate in her eyes, the way her hair whipped around her head as though it were caught in the wind. I moved toward the skeletal side, finding sorrow in her other eye.

I lifted my hand, being sure to keep my gaze on his right thigh and I found a door. Odd when its companion was the woman on the other thigh. It appeared to be wood, with spheres. What I believed to be planets, carved into the surface. Connecting each planet were leaf-covered vines. Appearing like a tether between each world. The crack of the door, along the top of the frame, was lighter ink, as though it were mimicking light.

“What are they?” I asked, tracing the planets on the door.

“Places I’ve been and wish to forget,” he replied.

“Why have it inked onto your skin if you wish to forget?”

His hand grasped my wrist, and I met his eyes. “Because they have marked my soul for eternity.”

He released my wrist, and I pulled my hand against my chest. I bit my lip as I forced myself to finally glance below his waist.

My breath caught when I looked upon him and his cock pulsed in response. I moved forward, reaching for him, but he gripped me once more.

“No,” he said.

“Why?” I asked, meeting his eyes.

He pulled my wrist up, forcing my body toward him while he nestled me under his arm.

“This was about your control. Your release.”

“But—”

“No,” he cut me off. “No.”

I held my hand against me, breathing heavily. “You do not want me.”

“Brenna,” he whispered.

I sat up. “Am I not worthy of you when you have aseaof bodies ready and willing whenever you wish?”

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