Page 162 of Until the Stars Fall

His devilish smile shifted as he licked his lips and bared his teeth briefly. A low growl thrummed in his throat. Then his ravenous mouth was devouring me with deep kisses and sharp nips along my jaw, behind my ear, down my neck, and across my shoulder. He coaxed my shirt out of the way. Arching my back, I sank my fingers into his hair as he consumed me inch by inch, and I giggled darkly when he ripped open my shirt to free my breasts.

His deep, heavy sigh hummed over my skin as he took one peak between his lips, his tongue teasing me in a way it hadn’t in our dream. Stars, he was going to undo me before I’d even gotten him out of his clothes. My body shuddered beneath him, and I whimpered as he pressed me closer and closer to the edge. Teetering there, my toes curled as though they were trying to physically keep me from falling too soon.

My eyes rolled back, but my rough moan was cut short when he suddenly retreated. I flashed my eyes open to find him staring up at me as he kissed his way over my ribs and across my belly.

Stars, what was he doing? Where was he—

My thought fell away unfinished when he slipped his hand under the top of my skirt and undergarments and trailed his fingers along my hips before sliding my clothes down. I squeezed my eyes closed, suddenly embarrassed at being laid out and exposed for him.

“You don’t need to be nervous with me, Sapphire,” Connor said, repeating the exact words I’d uttered last night in our dream. My heart swelled, my pulse steadying as I relaxed underneath him. As he slid my legs apart, my breath caught again. He ran his hands up the insides of my thighs until he reached their apex. I anticipated his touch where I needed him, but his fingers retraced their path back down my legs. I opened my mouth to protest, but my words were transformed into breathy curses when his lips pressed against me and his tongue commenced a delicate dance around the very spot he’d neglected with his hands.

If I’d thought I’d been close to unraveling earlier, that was nothing compared to the sheer ecstasy he gifted me now with every slow stroke and eager flick of his tongue. Squirming against the bed, I pressed a hand over my eyes, trying to ward off the inevitable, delay it for as long as possible. I didn’t want the pleasure to be mine alone. I wanted him with me as we came undone together. But his hand ran up my hip to rest below my ribs, a gentle reminder that he was in control, that he had me.

As though sensing my hesitation, he retreated, placing gentle kisses on both of my thighs, but I still hid beneath my hand. He hovered between my legs, his warm breath tickling my skin.

“Look at me,” he commanded quietly but firmly. Peeking out from under my hand, I met his gaze and sucked my lip between my teeth. “Do you want me to stop?”

I shook my head and breathed out a ragged “No.”

“Good,” he said, his eyes darkening. “Because I told you I’d worship you, and I intend to.”

He’d barely uttered the words when his mouth found me again, thrusting me toward the cliff’s edge with eager precision. Rounding my back, I angled my hips up for him, and when his fingers slid past his tongue, burying themselves deep within me, I moaned his name. It was a plea for more, for him, for all he offered. Greedily, hungrily, he consumed me, like he couldn’t get enough. A growl roared in his chest as he pushed himself faster, guiding me toward my utter demise. When I finally slipped over the edge, I pressed against him, wanting more, craving more, needing more, until I slammed into pure bliss with his name bursting from my lungs.

I giggled uncontrollably, my smile refusing to be contained as he lifted himself back up to me. Kissing my nose, he hummed contentedly. Timidly I pulled my hand away from my face and gazed into his eyes, which were brimming with love and reverence as if he truly was worshiping me.

“Better than any dream,” I managed to say, still somewhat breathless.

He smiled knowingly. “I should hope so. I didn’t get to do that in our dreams.”

My eyes trailed down the length of his body, and I faked a pout. “You seem to be wearing an awful lot, Wolfie.”

“So I am,” he said, scrunching his brow as if trying to figure out how to remedy the situation.

I pushed his shoulder, forcing him to roll onto his back, and made quick work of catching him up to my level of undress. He showed no sign of the embarrassment I’d had when he’d laid me bare before him. I hunted for some sassy comment to make, but my mind went blank as I studied all of him.

“Is this when youshowme something, Sapphire?” he said, studying me as he ran his fingertip back and forth along his bottom lip. The heat in my core flared, but I was suddenly painfully aware of how inexperienced I truly was. It was one thing to do this in a dream, but here, in reality, my naivete was more obvious.

But this was Connor. My mate.

I don’t need to be nervous with him.

Straddling him, I leaned forward and kissed him deeply, raking my fingers up past his ears and curling them into his hair. His hands, strong but gentle, gripped my hips, lowering and guiding me onto him. He swallowed my gasp, never taking his lips from mine, as I eased myself lower, my body trembling with each slip of him further inside me. What I’d shared with him in our dream couldn’t compare to the slow, sensual rhythm our bodies discovered now, as we savored each roll of hips and tongues and lips, committing all to memory.

Finally pulling my lips from his, I continued to rock against him. My heart stumbled over itself, its beats skipping as my love for him overwhelmed me. A love that wasn’t unrequited, wasn’t merely mutual, but was stars-bound…this was my love. A love I’d never imagined would be mine, with a male who had loved me long before he’d ever recognized it—who had saved me more often than any one person deserved. And he was mine. All mine.

And I was his.

Completely. Wholly. Eternally his.

As we moved as one, I began to understand the gravity of what we shared. Tears filled my eyes—tears of elation, not sadness. When they spilled over, Connor lifted his hands to cradle my cheeks, brushing them aside with his thumbs before pulling my face back down to his. My lips quivered even as he kissed me, and embarrassment flooded me again.

Against my lips, he whispered, “I’ve got you, Lieke. Always. It’s us together.”

My eyes closed, and I whispered back, “Forever and beyond.”

And together—our two souls bound to each other, our two lives intertwined—we tumbled over that edge of pleasure, not letting go until our bodies calmed and our hearts slowed back down.

“I have something to ask you,” Connor said as I cuddled against him, and I relished the lazy circles his fingers traced along my hip.

---