Page 160 of Feathers of Ash and Hope

“We need to talk,” Tate breathes against my skin, and I hum my agreement. He is right, but talking is the last thing on my mind right now.

I pull his lips back to mine, and every thought of talking is forgotten. My hands roam over his body, but there are too many layers covering it.

Something rumbles behind Tate, and he picks me up, only to place me seconds later on the small table I could have sworn had been stacked with boxes before.

He doesn’t step back, but stays where he is, standing between my legs, our bodies deliciously aligned. The way he looks at me makes me feel beautiful, powerful and precious all at once.

“Such a convenient gift you have,” I murmur.

“Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet.” He grins down at me, cradling my face with both hands, when I suddenly feel a finger trailing down each of my arms. I jerk in surprise, and he laughs. A mischievous, naughty laugh that has my stomach flipping over.

He places teasing kisses on the corner of my mouth, my brow, then my eyelids when they flutter closed, before his mouth travels along my jaw and down my throat.

“Please tell me I can peel you out of this uniform because since you sauntered up to me this morning, I can’t think of anything else,” he mumbles against my skin, sending shivers down my body, and intensifying the heat at the apex of my thighs.

“Yes, but only if I get your glorious body naked in return,” I whisper, and his lips curve against my skin. His fingers immediately start undoing the buckles of my uniform.

“Do I detect there a fondness of my body?” he teases.

“It is hardly my fault that you look so incredibly lickable,” I reply and chuckle when he groans.

“Sunshine, how the fuck do you expect me to hold on to my sanity when you say things like that?”

“I told you once before. Maybe I—” He cuts me off by placing his hand over my mouth.

“Holy mists, woman,” he growls. “It’s bad enough I dragged you in here because I couldn’t wait a second longer. Let me at least take my time with you.”

I nip his palm and, when he pulls it back, trap his thumb with my teeth, running my tongue along the pad of it.

“You live to torture me, don’t you?” He groans, and I giggle, but it ends in a gasp when he lifts me, and my bare ass meets the table seconds later.

“Now, let’s see how long it takes me to make you beg,” Tate rumbles, sinking to his knees in front of me. My eyes widen and the throbbing in my core intensifies at his words, at the sight of him kneeling at my feet with a devilish smile on his face.

He takes off my boots one after the other, and then shimmies my pants down my legs while raining teasing kisses on the inside of my calves, my knees, my thighs.

He helps me out of my tunic and my undergarments until I’m bare in front of him, while he is still fully clothed.

I had sex before, but nothing like this. The way Tate admires and worships every inch of my body, the looks he sends me, I bet I could come from that alone.

Every touch of his hands, his lips, his tongue, his magic sends fire through my veins until he finally settles where I need him most.

“May I?” His breath ghosts over my throbbing core, and I squirm.

“Yes,” I breathe. “Oh please, yes.”

“Well, that didn’t take long.” He sends me a wicked smile. “And I didn’t even start yet.” And then his mouth is on me.

I gasp his name, and he hums in approval, sending sparks shooting up my spine.

A day’s worth of stubble scratches against my sensitive skin while his tongue caresses me.

I have heard about this. It’s impossible to grow up between men without hearing…a lot, but holy mists, I never thought it would feel this good.

I gasp.

I’m so aware of him by now that every little touch is sensory overload, and I’m caught somewhere between the need to arch into him or pull away. My eyes flutter close, and my world narrows to the sinful things Tate can do with his mouth, his firm grip holding my legs apart, and the tension swirling in my gut.

He sucks my clit hard, and my hand flies to my mouth, trying to muffle the scream clawing up my throat, but Tate catches my hand and pulls it back down.

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