Page 68 of Absolution
Her eyes spark with excitement. “Really? I’ve always wanted to go there.”
I chuckle. “I remember your fascination withDracula. I remember everything you tell me.”
I’m still greedy to know everything about her. I don’t think my maddening craving for this woman will ever abate, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
She leans into me with a happy sigh. “I’d love to go to Whitby, but I know you need to focus on work. And I have my gallery now. We can’t just leave Charleston for a honeymoon.”
I fix her with a stern stare. “We’re leaving tomorrow. Your gallery will wait for a week.”
“But Meadows?—”
“Will make do without me,” I cut her off. “We’re partners. He can’t tell me what to do, and he can’t run that practice without me. I went private so that I have the freedom to set my own schedule. I choose to make time for my wife. No one can tell meno.”
She giggles. “I can.”
“But you won’t.”
Her chin tips back. “Won’t I?”
Fuck, that challenging stance and impertinent tone stir my darkest urges.
But my hand is gentle when I stroke her hair. “Don’t goad me, little dove.”
“Why not?”
I trace the shape of her pretty pout. “Because you’re not ready to face the consequences. You’ve been through enough.”
Those aquamarine eyes flash like gemstones. “That’s not solely your decision to make. When I remembered what Uncle Jeffrey did to me, I felt robbed of all agency. Well, I’m not going to let him take one more thing from me, much less my intimacy with my husband.”
I search her expression and find nothing but determination and defiance in every sharp line of her stunning features.
“I don’t want to do anything that will hurt you,” I confess.
“I like the pain,” she reminds me. “And I trust you completely. I want you, Dane. All of you. Even the dark parts. They match my own perfectly.”
“Abigail…” Her name is a warning. I’m clinging to my control by my fingernails.
“Dane,” she replies evenly. “I want to be with you. I need to feel you inside me.”
I bite out a curse, and my control snaps.
I scoop her up in my arms and promise, “I’ll be gentle with you.”
Her eyes flare. “I don’t want gentle. I wantyou. My dark god.”
The reverent endearment goes straight to my head, and I capture her lips in a desperate kiss. I set her down on our bed and immediately cover her naked body with my own. I grab her slender wrists and pin them above her head with one hand. My free hand dips between us, finding the tight buds of her nipples.
She mewls into my mouth and tugs against the shackle of my firm grip, but I show no mercy. I pinch and tug at her nipples, tormenting them in the way she likes best. She grinds her hips against me, wantonly seeking stimulation against my thigh. I wedge it between her legs, welcoming her to rub against me like my needy little pet.
My tongue plunders her hot mouth, savoring every desperate whimper and low, sensual moan. With each cruel pinch on her nipples, her willowy body coils tighter beneath me. She presses her clit against my thigh and cries out.
I don’t rebuke her for the orgasm. I love how greedy she is, and seeing her embrace her sexual nature after everything she’s been through is the greatest satisfaction I’ve ever known. This strong, brave woman has chosen to give herself to me. And that makes me the most powerful, luckiest man in the world.
“Please,” she pants against my lips. “I need you. Fuck me.”
“How can I deny you anything?” I rumble, dropping tender kisses down the column of her throat.
“You can’t,” she says in a smug, breathy whisper. “You’re mine, Dane Graham.”
