Page 95 of Of Serpents and Ruins
Brandt groaned into the kiss. "I want you so badly," he growled when I pulled back to gasp for breath.
I pressed my lips to his once more. The kiss turned wilder, deeper, but it was lacking. His hands weren’t on me. They weren’t in my hair. As heavenly as his scent was, as devastating his heat, it was torment to not feel his arms around me or to twine myself around him.
"I want you," he repeated, his voice guttural. "I need you."
More.
I needed more.
I rubbed up against him, feeling his taut strength and powerful form, all the more infuriating for being restrained, but I kissed him nonetheless. His mouth worked against mine, wild and fierce, drawing me in.
It still wasn’t enough.
It was never going to be enough, not when he was chained up like this.
My eyes dropped to the shackles and the anchor rings with their heavy locks.
His gaze followed mine. "Don’t you dare unshackle me," he growled.
I lifted my chin, my heart pounding furiously.
He was right.
Some part of me rebelled in this. I wanted to feel his arms around me. Memories of what we had once shared—especially that night in the grotto—swept back over me. Whatever happened this night, it needed to be special.
Not a commemoration of his madness or the risk that he posed.
An idea sprang into my mind. A slow smile spread over my mouth. "That’s not the only thing the anchor rings are used for."
I pressed my hand to my collarbone as I tried to collect myself, my breaths practically coming in pants. The last time we had had sex, it was about mourning. This one would not be. I refused. We both needed release. We both needed to relax. Maybe I didn’t feel as befuddled as I had before in the valley or in the cavern, but I did know a few other things.
"I know just what to use these rings for."
He tilted his head, his eyes narrowing. That throbbing pulse in his throat was even faster now. "What exactly do you have in mind?"
I stepped back, forcing myself to draw in a deep breath and calm a little.
This was my husband. My mate. My most beloved of all. If this was our last night together, then I would make sure it was memorable for both of us. He had comforted me and made love to me so that when I walked to my death in that sacred pool, Icould think of him and revel in his love. I would comfort him and make him laugh and moan even as we grieved.
"Can't you guess?" I tilted my head, letting my hair slide down one side of my face as I dropped the strap of my silky orange nightgown.
A breath hissed through his teeth as he shook his head at me. His smile returned too. "You are such a tease."
Laughing breathlessly, I curled my fingers into the fabric of his red shirt. "You think this is being a tease?"
He narrowed his eyes at me, his words rumbling in his chest. "That wasn’t a challenge."
"But I accepted it." Grinning, I leaned against his body, delighting in the planes and lines of his body.
Another growl vibrated in his chest. His hips bucked against mine, ensuring I felt him.
Good. We were headed in the right direction.
Rising onto the tips of my toes, I kissed him deeply. My hands slid down his muscular chest, fingers tracing each ridge and valley. His muscles strained, and his breaths grew labored.
"Ihlkit!" he swore.
More swearing followed as I brushed my lips in feather-light kisses across his jaw and down the column of his throat.
