Page 54 of Silent Lucidity

She’d never believed herself to be very good at giving blow jobs, but with Tenthil, she felt empowered—he reacted to her every movement, no matter how miniscule, as though she’d pushed him beyond the pinnacle of ecstasy.

Abella closed her eyes. He was large, but not so large she couldn’t take him deep. She used her fist on the bottom half of his shaft, pumping in time with the motion of her mouth. Her tongue and lips glided over his ridges and knots, and her sex clenched as she imagined what they would feel like against her sensitive inner walls.

His fingers brushed hesitantly over her hair, his claws combing through the strands, before he settled his palm atop her head. The delicacy of his touch belied the tension in his body; he was being careful, holding himself back.

But she didn’t want him to hold himself back.

She slid her lips off his cock and looked up into his half-lidded eyes before lowering her head again to slowly run her tongue along the underside of his shaft. His eyelids dipped farther, and he shuddered. Without hesitation, she took him into her mouth again, holding his gaze as she sucked and licked, moving her head up and down, over and over. She squeezed her thighs together against the ache of her own desire.

Tenthil’s breathing grew harsher. The muscles of his jaw bulged as he threw his head back, and a strained growl rose from his throat. His hips bucked, and Abella felt his struggle to contain himself through the increased strain of his muscles. His fight did not last long; Tenthil’s growl gave way to a brief, deep, bestial roar as his cock swelled in her hand.

His heat poured into her mouth, and Abella closed her eyes, swallowing as much of him as she could. His hand tightened in her hair, and his claws grazed her scalp, but she didn’t care. She moaned as she licked his length, prolonging his pleasure, unwilling to let any of his seed go to waste.

When at last his tremors subsided, Abella released him and raised her head, smiling.

Chest heaving, Tenthil lifted his head to meet her gaze. His black eyes gleamed with tiny reflections of the dim corner lights; to Abella’s surprise, the hunger in his gaze was undiminished. His lips parted, and his tongue slipped out, running over the tips of his right upper fangs to collect the drops of liquid that had gathered upon them. He stared at her for several seconds. Anticipation sped her heart.

Before she could react, he pounced.

Tenthil caughtAbella’s shoulders in his hands as he sprung forward, pushing her aside and onto her back before coming down atop her. He pinned her in place with his body and dropped his mouth over hers, taking freely of her taste, of her breath. Her flavor was tinged with hints of his own. A shudder coursed up his spine as he recalled the heat of her mouth around his shaft.

He wanted more of her heat.Neededa different heat.

Heart thundering, he moved his hands to her wrists and forced her arms over her head. He tore his mouth from hers to sample her skin with his lips and tongue. She tilted her head back with a soft moan as his lips trailed down her throat, and she spread her legs wide, allowing him to settle between them.

The barrier between her body and his—her clothing—created sweet friction, but he needed to feelher, only her, with nothing separating them. Crossing her arms at the wrists and holding them in place with one hand, he dropped his other hand lower, brushing his palm down her forearm, over her elbow, and past her bicep and shoulder to the collar of her shirt. He slipped his fingers beneath the garment and curled them, extending his claws. The fabric shredded. Taking a handful, he tore it apart, rending the shirt in half down the front and exposing her small, firm breasts and hard, pink nipples.

“Tenthil,” she breathed.

Raising his head, Tenthil looked down at Abella. Her dark hair was spread around her head like a dual-colored halo, her green eyes were gleaming and half-lidded, and rapid breaths flowed between her delicate, parted lips.

Mine.

He gave the thought no voice—he was beyond that, now. There was only one way to ensure she knew, to make her understand once and for all that she was his.

Shifting back slightly on his knees, he lowered his mouth over her breast and sucked her nipple between his lips. She released a ragged sigh and arched her back. He sucked harder, eliciting a cry from Abella, and lightly grazed his fangs over the tender flesh of her breasts. Her hips jerked; Tenthil growled as her pelvis stroked the underside of his cock.

The heady aroma of her arousal flowed into his flaring nostrils, and his shaft, impossibly, hardened further. It was her scent, but it was more; it was the answer to his desire, the answer to his need. It was the most primal signal ofherneed. The deepest, most instinctual part of him could not allow her needs to go unmet—and it would notallow him to go another moment without claiming his mate.

Tenthil released his hold on Abella’s wrists and dropped his hands to her hips. Gripping the waistband of her pants, he yanked them down her legs as he crawled backward. Abella was dragged toward him with the force he’d used before she laughed and raised her backside to assist him.

She propped herself up on her elbows, grinning at him as he worked her pants over her ankles and off her feet. “In a rush?”

Growling, he threw the pants against the wall, dropped onto hands and knees, and prowled toward her.

Abella held out a hand, flattening her palm on his shoulder and locking her elbow. Tenthil halted, curling his claws into the blanket, and met her gaze. The haze of his lust left him unable to guess why she’d stopped him; he wasn’t even sure why he’d obeyed, when the throbbing in his cock was so strong it pained him.

“Is this your first time, Tenthil?” she asked softly.

He drew in a fresh breath; the air was laden with the scent of her arousal. His eyelids drooped, and he nodded.

Smiling, she lowered her hand and spread her knees, opening herself to him. His eyes cut right to her sex, where her folds opened like the petals of a flower, pink and glistening with her need.

“Then do as you like with me,” she said.

Without wasting a single moment in thought, Tenthil dropped his head between her thighs, his pulsing shaft—now pinned between his pelvis and the bed—temporarily ignored. He flicked his tongue against her folds and lapped up her essence. Abella gasped, and her fingers delved into his hair.

Tenthil pulled back, pausing only long enough to savor the taste on his tongue, to relish her sweetness, to lick her moisture from his lips, before he returned his mouth to her sex. He drank from her ravenously, learning every bit of her by feel, gauging her every reaction by the sounds she made and the way her body moved.

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