Page 93 of Of the Stars and Sea

I watch, my mouth watering, as he moves his hand up and down. The outline of his fist showing along the fabric of his pants. Then he releases himself and my eyes drop to his growing length as it tents the fine black linen.

“There’s one small problem,” Grayson purrs. The corded muscles of his shoulders and biceps flex as he leans forward, settling his hands on the end of the bed.

“And what is that?” I arch a brow at him.

He smirks. “Iam the captain of this ship, which means what I say goes.”

Grayson fists the duvet and in one strong pull, he rips it off the bed, leaving me utterly naked in front of him.

Long thick lashes fan out over his cheeks as his gaze dips down, following the line of my legs that I’ve kept clamped together to ward off the growing ache between them. There is no mistaking the longing that settles in those stormy blue irises.

He takes his time looking at me, as if I’m one of the precious carvings etched into the walls of his ship with too many details to observe all at once.

Not willing to spare another second without his hands roaming my body, I scoot myself back into the pillows. With a slow, lazy smile, I bring my right leg out and then my left, leaving no part of me hidden from his sight. A muscle jumps in Grayson’s jaw and I don’t miss the way his chest starts to rise and fall more quickly.

“And what, exactly, do you have to say?” I ask.

Raw power radiates off him, vibrating through the air, unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. I watch as his control slips. The game we’ve always played comes to an end when he moves slowly over the bed, crawling toward me with a ravenous need as if I were the sandy shore after he’s been adrift in the sea for far too long.

The specks of silver stardust in his eyes shine brighter the moment his hands settle over the skin of my ankles. His palms are rough as he wraps his hands tightly around me. In one swift motion, he pulls me toward him and I let out an excited yip.

His knees spread wide as he settles himself onto the bed. There’s no hiding myself from him as he drapes my legs over the back of his shoulders. I’m at his mercy and I’ve never felt so alive.

Wanting heat flicks up my thighs, shooting straight to my core as he dips his head and plants a kiss along my sensitive skin.

Then he turns those otherworldly eyes on me and says, “Every moment that has passed without your presence has been agony of the acutest kind. A pain I would not wish upon mygreatest enemy. A pain I did not know existed until I first laid my eyes upon you and realized just how empty my life has been before your arrival.”

I still, unable to breathe as I stare at the devastating wreckage written across his face. The beautiful allure that has always pulled me toward him . . . The memory of my mother always noting my draw toward danger . . .

It is him.

Heis who my heart has been searching for all this time. Just as he has been searching for me.

“Grayson.” His name is a starlit prayer on my lips.

My back arches when he takes his hand forward and glides his fingertips over my stomach. “You wish to taste me, Little Pearl, but it isIwho has starved for far too long for a taste ofyou.”

Grayson lowers his head to the inseam of my thigh, peppering my skin with tender kisses that send chills skirting over my entire body. As he edges closer to that sacred spot, he grazes me with his teeth, nipping my soft flesh with just enough bite before smoothing over the sting with a gentle caress of his lips.

Every movement of his ignites a new round of pleasure until my mind empties of anything but him. Like jumping into the sea, his essence surrounds me. Touching every part of my body and soul.

Soft black waves fall into his face as he lowers himself onto his stomach and pulls me so close I can feel the heat of his breath along my sex. The blue of his eyes darkens a shade as his arms wrap around my hips, keeping me locked in position. “Of all the times I’ve dreamed of having you right here, laid before me like my own personal feast, I never imagined how delectable it would truly be.”

Peering down at him, time stands still.

He is mine and I am his.

Nothing has ever felt so holy, so natural. Like the will of the waves crashing onto the sandy shore. The sheer force of it ensuring they are one for all of eternity.

When Grayson lays claim to me with his mouth, I am that shore and he is the wave.

Consuming.

Taking.

Possessing.

My hips buck from the sensation of his tongue swiping against me in one long sensual stroke, but he presses down on my stomach, keeping me still as my entire world shifts.

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