Page 72 of The Oath We Take

I don’t know when I started to feel stained by this life. Not in a way I resent or would change. But you can’t kill as many men as I have, even if they deserved it or it was in self-defense, and not have a lingering mark on your heart.

But here in this field with Em, it lifts.

I kiss, suck, and bite her nipples through her tank.

“Atom,” she cries out, her back arching from the grass.

“Hudson,” I say as I lift my head. “When it’s just you and me, being as intimate as it gets, I don’t want the club to come between us.”

Ember bites down on her lower lip for a second. I see the hesitation, and without words, I understand it.

She’s scared of giving every piece of herself to me, because the last time she did, I threw it away.

“Okay,” she says finally. Her smile is a shy one. And I like it because it’s not the confident balls-to-the-wall one everyone else gets. I feel like this one is just for me.

My mouth moves to the thin band of sun-warmed skin between her sleep top and shorts. I love the fullness of her breasts and hips. Love that she’s not self-conscious about it even more.

I slip my thick fingers beneath the delicate waistband of her shorts. And I suddenly feel clumsy as fuck.

It’s not like me to lack confidence. I’m not even sure that’s what this is. Perhaps I realize at a bone-deep level just how important this is. How important Ember is. And I don’t want to fuck it up.

I slip the shorts down her legs and reveal her pussy. She’s trimmed, but not bare. It’s rare. Not what I’m used to. And utterly enticing.

“You gonna let me taste you, Em?” I ask.

She props herself up on her elbows, but instead of answering, she confidently spreads her legs for me.

I should probably slap myself around the head a few times for making her wait all these years for this.

Hell, I should probably slap myself around the head a few times for makingmyselfwait.

I settle between her legs, using the breadth and strength of my shoulders to nudge her thighs back a little, and simply breathe. Her musk is strong, and my dick grows even harder in response.

Remembering my earlier thoughts about being gentle, I lick her from her pussy opening to her clit. Slow and steady with a soft tongue. More lapping than licking.

I think about their conversation at the book club. About the man lion and his purring and how hot they all thought it was. And, fuck, now I’m turning into Wraith, wanting to do all the freaky things Raven reads about. For the first time, it feels like a really good idea.

As she warms into what we’re doing, she starts to get wet.

When I dip my tongue between her lips, her back arches off the ground and her heels dig into my lats.

“You like that?” I ask.

“Shut up and do it again,” she says.

It’s hard to stick my tongue out and grin at the same time, so it gets messy for a moment. Until I find my groove again.

“Fuck, you taste good,” I mumble against her pussy.

The air is humid and clings to our skin as Ember’s hands slip into my hair, holding me fast against her pussy. And I disappear into the feeling that she’s riding my face in the middle of this field and fucking loving it.

I follow her lead. Going faster when I realize that’s what she likes. Throwing out my vow to be gentle, when I realize she wants me to be anything but.

“Hudson,” she cries. “Please.”

“Love it when you beg me, Em.” There’s a level of desperation in her voice that makes me hurt. I want to give her everything she needs. I slide a finger into the deep, wet channel of her pussy as I suck on her clit.

Her movements become even more uninhibited. Reckless, even, as she tries to find the release she needs.

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