Page 87 of Insolence
The restless beast shifts behind my ribs. When my arms fold over her, I’m not the one controlling my limbs.
Gods, no. Not again.“It’s getting late.” I whisper into her hair. “Don’t you need to go to bed?”
“Mmm. Can’t I stay here with you?”
I have a dilemma.
As much as I want her, I can’t let this insatiable inner force rule my life. “I—” I watch Sadrie lift her hand. Her fingers trail down my chest and tease across my belly, lighting little fires as they go. The hungry animal paces inside of me, all bunched muscle and barely restrained tension. “I think you already know the answer to that.”
“The only answer I know right now is the one I want you to give,” she purrs, tilting her head up to press a soft kiss to the side of my neck.
Toes curling, I suck air through my teeth as heat bubbles in my blood.
And that’s when I realize I’m probably dumping pheromones like a fiend. While her reaction to them isn’t quite as obvious as Elodie’s, they must be affecting her.
“I’m trying my hardest to stay out of trouble. It’s not that I don’t want you. Ido, but…” My entire body pulses with longing. “I mean, look at me. My lack of discipline has caused so many problems.”
When Sadrie’s fingers skim my cheek, I shudder. Yearning weaves under my skin and oozes through my pores, so insistent it’s painful. My endless appetite feels impossible to shift or sway.
“Mmm, I am looking.” Her fingers are feather-light as she teases them across my lips and jaw.
I grab her hand. “I can’t do this right now.”
The next time we’re intimate, I want it to be because I decide it. Not because some inexplicable urge isn’t giving me a choice in the matter.
“You want me as much as I want you,” comes her raspy undertone. “Don’t deny it, Tiss. You’re shit at hiding it, in case you’re not aware.”
The monster prickles and growls. “I need you to stop, Sadrie. Please.” I can barely think through the voracious hunger splitting my mind as thethingrears up inside of me.
When her lips touch my cheek, close, so close to the corner of my mouth, fire lances low in my abdomen. I moan, letting her hand go.
The skin-to-skin contact and her hot breath feathering across my lips nearly undo me. The beast crouches, impatient and itching to pounce.
I hate this entity. This… this…fiendliving inside of me that’s none of me while simultaneously being all of me. It’s powerful. Dangerous. It scares the shit out of me that it exists and baffles me that I can’t figure out how to feed it, much less banish it.
One thing I know for sure is that I can’t stave off the inevitable much longer. Whatever it is, this bewildering force is seconds away from erupting. I have no idea what will happen when it breaks free, but it can’t be good.
Nooo, hisses something cunning and consuming, hovering at the edges of my consciousness.It will be wonderful…
Sadrie hums an aimless tune. Heedless of my request, she moves to my chest, grazing my nipple through my shirt.
A fierce rumble emanates from deep in my chest, but I’m not the one growling.
She leans closer, her wandering hand landing on my jaw and clasping it firmly. “Are you sure, songbird?” A roguish grin tugs at the corners of her mouth. Leaning forward, her lips brushmine. “Because the way you’re looking at me, as if you can’t wait todevourme, says you want to do anything but stop.”
The tip of her tongue strokes the seam where my lips meet.Gods help me, she’s right.
My need devours me. Obliterates me. A heartbeat later, fear and frustration no longer exist. Hesitancy and bewilderment evaporate, leaving pure desperation in their place.
Chapter 27
Itissa
Helpless, parting my mouth to receive her deepening kiss, I surrender.
My fingers claw at her shoulders, her waist, her ass as she crawls over me. Her tongue caresses mine, and we moan together. She gently strips off my clothes, layer by torturous layer. Impatient, I let her kiss and undress me, my arm taking a backseat to far more urgent needs.
Her clothes join mine on the floor, and she crawls on top of me, her thigh slipping between my trembling legs. She brings it up to meet my slick and smarting sex.
