Page 70 of Queen of Shadows and Roses
‘It’s… it’s alright,’ I whispered as I blinked my eyes. And it was alright, I realised; having him next to me in bed felt… good. He turned slowly, and I exhaled in a rush until there was no air left in my lungs, and my body temperature increased by a degree or ten. Gods, was he sculpted from marble? The smooth, hard lines of his chest were covered with intricate tattoos on both sides of his upper body, from his upper arms and shoulders to his pecs, and I wondered if they were the binding tattoos Tee had mentioned.
Then my eyes dropped to those abs, and I swallowed. He had abs you could do a nation’s worth of laundry on. His pants hung indecently low on his lean hips, and what were those indents? They were by his hips, leading down into the waistline of the pants. I imagined tracing them with my tongue, and my whole body heated—which was when I saw his erection. It looked large—eye-wateringly large.
A ripple of tight shivers shot through me, causing my heart to race and my nipples to tingle and harden. I shifted, kneeling on the bed, and his eyes swirled with gold as his jaw clenched. His shadows swirled and danced around him, yet I wasn’t scared.
Holy damn, his body is obscenely delicious.
‘Persephone.’
‘Sorry, what?’
‘Perhaps if you stopped ogling me for a moment, you might actually hear me.’
‘I wasn’t ogling you.’ I wassoogling him.
‘You’re so quarrelsome.’
‘I wasn’t arguing.’ I tore my gaze from the indents and met his smirk. ‘And I’mnotquarrelsome.’ My jaw tightened, fully aware that I was most definitely quarrelsome.
‘You have zero comprehension of the word “quarrel”.’
‘And you’re a know-it-all.’ At my words, a warmer smile flickered on his mouth, and my tongue darted out to wet my lips, causing his pupils to dilate and consume his irises. ‘I want to taste you,’ I whispered.
The skin between his brows creased, and a keen sense of nervousness invaded me as he stared at my face. ‘Sorry… I think I misheard you.’
‘I want to taste you,’ I said, louder. I was losing my mind at that point. He drew his lower lip between his teeth, showing a hint of fang, but curiosity marked his face.
‘You want me to fuck your mouth?’ His words were hoarse. Gravelly. And I nodded. Those words—ugh—would usually be such a turn-off. But when he uttered them, liquid heat swelled inside me like a tide. I actually wanted to do this… an act I’d only ever attempted once before, then promptly quit because I’d hated it.
‘O—kay,’ he whispered. His dark, soft laugh was smoke and sin. ‘I’dverymuch like that.’ At his words, I sucked in a shuddering breath, but my want, my need, overcame my nervousness.Damn, I wish I’d paid better attention to Hedone and her ice-pop lessons, I thought to myself as I crawled from the bed.
I tossed a few pillows on the floor and stood before him, tilting my head to meet his gaze. His hands were clenched into fists, his jaw was set like granite, and his eyes were closed. He was like a marble statue. He desired this, and I felt empowered. I was in control, and I also needed to do this.
I raised both hands, and my fingers reached up and traced his broad, hard chest, lingering on the tattoos, the contact causing him to jerk. On tiptoes, I licked the ink from his shoulders to his pecs—they were runes, similar to Tee’s, but with more intricate designs interspersed with a language I didn’t understand. My fingers wended their way down of their own volition to the grooves in his abs and the indents by his hips.
Gods, his bronze-coloured skin stretched taut over rigid muscle, like silk over steel; it felt firm, warm, and soft. Languid heat made its way down my chest and deep into the pit of my stomach.
I dropped to my knees on the cushions. I felt tiny in front of him, kneeling, but, to be fair, I always felt tiny with him, which was no surprise given that he was built like a Georgian mansion. I pressed my lips against his hip and traced my tongue over one indent, eliciting a low moan from his throat. Then I hesitated. ‘I—I’ve got no idea what I’m doing. I might not be very good at this,’ I whispered.
‘Gods, Persephone. You’re doing okay so far. Take your time. Stroke me hard, but please don’t stop.’ He turned his face towards the ceiling, his breathing ragged… his shadows creeping closer to me.
Hard. Okay… Hard.
So, I carried on. My hands roamed downwards, avoiding his length, feeling his solid, muscular thighs; then they inched closer to his erection, and I felt him shudder. I gently massaged his massive cock through his pants for a little while, his breathing becoming shallower. Then I braved up and slowly pulled his pants down.
His hard length sprang free, and I almost gasped. It was freaking enormous—decadently so. I studied it for a long moment, wondering how the Fates it could fit anywhere, especially my mouth, before I kissed it. My breath on his skin made his cock twitch, and he grunted.
The length and breadth were worrying, so I wrapped my fist around the bottom, and when I softly licked the head, which was glistening with pre-cum, a strangled moan rattled through him. I liked pleasing him in this way, and when I ran my tongue along his length, he groaned softly, and I smiled, my insecurities melting. He tasted salty but sweet—like mango with a sprinkling of salt.
I closed my lips around him and felt his hands fist in my hair. I flicked my tongue just beneath the head, and he let out a sound of overwhelming pleasure. I began to suck, firmly working my hand up his shaft as I licked and suckled, taking him as far as I could, and at his deep moans, the ache in my belly bloomed into fire. His shadows caressed my bare skin, making me groan.
‘Fuck,’ he snarled. ‘Persephone,’ he rumbled low in his throat as he fisted my hair in his hands even harder. ‘I’ve missed this.I—’ A ragged sound silenced the rest of his words. My eyes glanced upward and met his. They were pure gold. In a slow rhythm, he began to push his hips, and his cock sank deeper into my mouth, causing my eyes to water. At his soft moans, I took him even deeper, still licking and sucking. I lost myself in the fullness, the taste, and the soft guttural groans coming from him, and I hummed happily.
He jerked. ‘I—I’m coming.’ His voice was gruff as he went to pull away, but one of my hands grabbed his hard ass, and I pulled him closer, still sucking. He came with a roar, and I felt him release into my mouth… salty and sweet. His orgasm rocked me as I sucked him gently through it.
As his shadows enveloped us, he released my hair, pulling me to my feet, and kissed me like a man dying of thirst. I drowned in it—drownedin him.
‘What were you going to ask me yesterday?’ I muttered as he ran his fangs and lips along my collarbone.
