Page 158 of Ruthless Scoundrel
Runes are etched into the trees flanking the entrance. They stretch around the site to the left and right, farther than I can see, marking the boundary of safe territory in which we’ll perform the ritual.
“This must’ve taken ages,” I say, awestruck.
Jasper hums. “All night with twelve Spiders and Alastair helping. Your family is very devoted to you.”
He kneels and releases my legs, letting me slide down until I land on the soft blanket laid out on the forest floor. Several bottles of different-colored liquid and a stack of empty bowls surround us, and I know what we’ll do next.
I circle Jasper, running my fingers across the straps and buttons holding his suit in place. He’s panting hard through his nose as he watches me, only his eyes moving as his shoulders heave. I flick loose the top buttons on his chest and then work my way down with trembling fingers.
When his shirt parts, I run my hands across his burning chest and push the cloth off his shoulders. He drops his arms and lets the garment slide off him, and then his hands are on me.
He pulls the pins holding up my quickly tied-up hair until my golden locks brush my bare shoulders. His fingers scrape across my scalp. I close my eyes, sighing into the attention. He moves down to my shoulders, then my chest, until he reaches the front of my dress. He pauses for a moment, then moves to the back ofmy dress. He grunts in confusion and lifts my right arm, then my left.
I open my eyes and look down to see that Lily didn’t install any way for the wedding gown to come off gracefully. Jasper’s eyes glow with hungry frustration. He digs his fingers into the front of the bodice, and I feel his sharp selkie nails extend.
I gasp. “Don’t you da—”
Riiiiiiiiiip.
My body jerks as he tears open my dress and shucks it off me. His gaze devours my naked form and black fills the white spaces of his eyes.
“Lily is going to castrate you,” I say as the cold air whispers against my bare skin. I unbuckle the belt of his trousers and pull it off with a snap that makes Jasper grin wildly.
“No, I think this isexactlywhat she wanted.”
I laugh as I grab the edges of his pants around his button and yank hard, snapping it off. He’s not the only one who can ruin clothes. This only makes him hungrier, handsier.
He’s touching my shoulders with rough, needy caresses as I pull his pants all the way down to his feet. He kicks off his shoes, and then steps out of his clothes. I stand up slowly, letting his hard cock brush against my lips, chest, and stomach as I move. His breathing is deep and heavy, eyes not straying from me in the slightest.
We stand in the dimly lit clearing fully bared. Our bodies lean into one another as if we’ve never touched. The thrilling thought of the ceremony makes me shiver, and he grabs my hips, dragging me closer. His cock presses against my lower belly, making me yearn for it to be buried that deep inside me.
“Are you ready?” he asks, his gaze molten.
“Yes,” I breathe, barely a whisper.
He drops to his knees, pulling me down with him.
“Underwater, I would’ve painted you with colored clay,” he says, pouring the contents of one of the bottles into a bowl. It’s a bright blue liquid, thick and creamy.
“We would’ve mashed shells, coral, and other ingredients with our closest confidant, keeping the colors a secret.” He pours another bottle of silky-looking red.
“Then we would give those pastes to each other to apply in any pattern that pleases.” He pours another bottle of glittering black, and finally, one of opal white.
He grabs the bowl of red and holds it out to me. “Ohksana’amai, will you paint me?”
I dip two fingers into the cold, red paint and press them to his lips, then drag them down over his chin, coating his stubble, all the way to the top of his chest. I make two more lines from his neck across his collarbone to his pecs, stopping just above his nipples.
I trace the hard planes of his hips and then draw a sharp point up to his belly button, getting lost in the primal sensation of marking him in a way only I can mark. I coat the fingers of both my hands and swirl them over the tattoos on his shoulders. I slide down his arms to his elbows where I encircle them, leaving his forearms unpainted. I stop there, feeling that the red is complete, and look up at him. He sets the bowl of red down and grabs the white.
I cup his hands, bringing the bowl up to my mouth. My lips touch the cold, creamy liquid and I smear it around until I’m satisfied. I look up at him, white dripping down my chin, and then lean forward.
He sucks in a deep breath as I kiss his neck, just under his jaw on the left side, and draw a line with my lips toward the red on his shoulder. I do the same on the right side, and delight in the way his cock jolts between us.
I wet my lips again and lean down to his lap. I open my mouth all the way and take him in, then close my lips around his shaft and drag. Jasper shudders and groans my name. His tip is salty with precum, and I lap it off him, swirling my tongue around until he’s clean.
With the white applied the way I want, I stop and look up at him. His eyes are glowing with unrestrained magic as he watches me. He sets the bowl aside and waits for me.
I grab the blue, holding it up to him. “Ohksano’amai, will you paint me?”
