Page 86 of A City of Smoke and Demons
His breath hitched and his fingers tightened on her hips.
It was an offering, one that she’d never made to anyone before. The fact she did it so willingly scared her and she wanted to take it back, but didn’t. This wasn’t about her. It was about him.
‘Whatever you need,’ she repeated. Ezra didn’t move for a long moment, until his finger slid beneath her chin, tipping her face to his so he could look at her. His eyes flickered over her cautiously, the intimacy in this moment as foreign to him as it was to her. Eventually, the corner of his mouth lifted.
‘I need to taste you again,’ he murmured. ‘On the bed, legs spread, Analise.’
Oh fuck. The way he breathed her name …
Her instinct was to refuse, to be defiant, but she did what she was told. Trembling, she inched her way backwards towards the pillows, not taking her eyes off him as he undressed. How had this man, who she’d known for such a short period of time, managed to get under her skin? When did she decide to care about him?
The answer came swiftly. When he made it obvious that he cared about her.
Her muscles liquified when he crawled up the bed until he was resting over her, his weight on his elbows. Ezra kissed her again, hard enough to bruise her mouth.
‘You’re not allowed to come until I tell you,’ he commanded.
She nodded mutely.
‘Good girl.’ He kissed her chin, down her throat, lips skimming over her torso, her breasts. She gasped, arching her back as his mouth closed over her nipple. His smug chuckle vibrated against her skin as he moved down her body, so excruciatingly slowly that by the time his mouth was between her thighs she was panting and on fire.
‘Not until I tell you.’ He was relentless, teasing with tongue and lips, with his teeth and his fingers moving inside her. Analise could barely see, her hands clutching the sheet. Every stroke of his tongue, every press of his lips was so intense it was painful, yet she held her orgasm back, thighs trembling.
Sweat rolled down the side of her face into her hair, and when she ran her hands over her breasts, they were wet with it. She whimpered.
‘You want me to stop?’ Ezra asked.
‘No, yes—I don’t know.’
He nipped her inner thigh, the sharpness of his teeth making her jump, before climbing up and over her. She reached for him eagerly, and as his weight settled against her, she groaned in pure relief.
He wrapped her leg around his hip, then kissed her, letting her taste herself on his tongue, before he eased inside her. Each torturously slow thrust of his hips drove him deeper. His mouth was on her throat, lips and tongue lapping flesh, and his hand palmed her breast, her nipple between his fingers.
It was too much. ‘Ezra … please.’
His fingers tangled in her hair, angling her head so he could see her face. ‘Let go.’
Heat washed through her as her stomach muscles tightened, and she squeezed her thighs around him. He watched her face as her orgasm rolled through her, so powerful it was violent. She breathed his name, over and over. Her legs flopped at her sides as she lay there, trembling and panting and blown to pieces.
Ezra let her catch her breath, then, ‘My turn.’
With his fingers in her hair, and his other hand gripping her thigh, he pounded into her. Analise gave herself over completely as Ezra chased his release, following her over the edge with a groan. They didn’t speak, lying in a sweaty tangle. She was paper-thin, shredded, the world turned to shattered glass around her.
‘Ez,’ she managed faintly. ‘Ez, you’re heavy.’
‘Sorry,’ he mumbled, moving off her. Analise sat up. His fingers brushed her back gently, then fell away. She got dressed and left, wanting to stay, but not knowing how.
She’d called him Ez.
Forget the mind-blowing sex. She’d called him Ez.
He smiled and stretched, then dragged his arse out of bed and got dressed. He ran into Analise in the hall. She halted when she saw him, colour rushing up her neck before she cleared her throat and kept walking. He fell into step beside her.
‘Sleep well?’ he asked.
‘Fine,’ she replied casually. ‘You?’
‘Great, actually.’
