Page 87 of A City of Smoke and Demons
Analise nodded, not looking at him. He had no idea where she was going, but he didn’t care, he’d follow her off the edge of the earth. At the top of the stairs leading to the basement, he caught her arm, walking her backwards until he had her pressed against the nearest wall. The need to kiss her clawed its way through him.
Her breath caught as he tilted her face towards his and brushed his mouth gently over hers. She shuddered.
‘There’s a meeting,’ she managed. ‘I had a note on my floor.’
Someone cleared their throat. Lira didn’t say anything, smirking at them before she disappeared into the basement. Ezra let Analise go downstairs first. She had her hair tied back, creamy skin visible between the collar of her black blouse and her hair line. He wanted to lick it. He wanted her on her hands and knees, his hands wrapped in the silk of her hair.
Take what you need from me.
Fuck. That had been … unexpected.
Father Blackwood was waiting for them. Jem, Tobias, and Maddog were already there, seated around the table in their meeting room. Ezra found a place next to Jem as Lira dragged Analise around the table. Analise shifted on her chair, getting comfortable, and when she looked up, it was straight into Ezra’s eyes. She smiled at him, then looked away.
How the fuck was he going to be able to concentrate on anything anybody said while she was sitting opposite him? All he saw was her, gasping as release rolled through her, her eyes locked on his. When he looked at her again, she bit her lip, and he had a feeling she knew what he was thinking.
Whatever talk was going on around him, Ezra was hard-pressed to concentrate on any of it, until he remembered the other reason they might be here. To discuss his upcoming death. Father Blackwood was confident it would work; Ezra was confident the man didn’t like him. He’d failed to do what he was told, and something told him Blackwood didn’t like it when his soldiers didn’t follow orders.
Analise’s face was hard, her jaw set tight, and Ezra’s heart sank when she shook her head.
Even after last night, she wasn’t willing to kill him to save his life.
‘I have an experiment I’d like to conduct,’ Ezra announced when Analise opened her door. He sauntered in and plopped himself down on the edge of the bed. He was on fire, burning from the inside out, about to become a pile of ash on the rug. He hadn’t been able to stomach food, and managed two drinks before the whiskey started tasting like mud and his skin was itching.
‘Ezra,’ Analise began, but he shook his head. He didn’t want to talk, not anymore, when he knew it would get him nowhere. If he was going to die at the hands of the Devil, he wanted whatever moments he had left to be worth something.
He wanted to spend them with Analise. It didn’t matter what they did.
She came to stand in front of him, hands on her hips. ‘Alright. What’s this experiment?’
He pulled her closer, untucking her blouse and lifting it so he could run his tongue over her flesh. She shivered violently as he brushed her navel. He kissed her stomach, the curve of her waist, pausing to undo the fastenings on the back of her skirt. With his eyes on hers, he slid the layers of material down her hips.
Analise gripped his chin, forcing his head up so she could stare into his face. Her thumb brushed his mouth tenderly, so he caught it between his teeth, curled his tongue around it.
‘What experiment?’ she repeated, voice shaking as he walked his fingers up her inner thigh. He loosened the top buttons of his shirt with the other hand, then pulled it off. Ezra stood, and she let him slowly unbutton her blouse.
‘I’m interested to know how many times I can make you come in one evening,’ he whispered, leaning forward to take her earlobe between his teeth. ‘I’d like to see if I can do better than last time. Care to indulge me?’
She trembled as he slid her blouse from her shoulders, then began to unlace the corset.
‘I was thinking about it, all through that meeting. I was thinking about all the things I want to do to you.’
Her breath snagged. ‘Ezra …’
When she was completely naked, Ezra pressed himself against her. She made a little noise in the back of her throat that sounded like a whimper, but made no move to touch him.
He stepped away from her, collecting his shirt from the floor. ‘Alright, then. Sleep well.’
Analise stared at him. ‘You’re a bastard, you really are. I’m not sure I know what you want from me.’
‘I want tofeel, before I can’t anymore.’ His heart was hammering as he moved away. His fingers closed around the door knob when she whispered, ‘Wait.’ He breathed a sigh of relief, then turned around. She was giving him a challenging look, or trying to.
‘Twice,’ she said. ‘That’s what I think.’
Ezra tossed his shirt onto the armchair. ‘Three times.’
Analise shook her head as he came towards her. ‘You won’t last that long.’ She licked her lips, before surging forward, taking hold of his face and pulling his mouth down to hers. His blood was on fire and he walked her backwards, kissing her the whole time.
‘Challenge accepted,’ he whispered. Hands on her shoulders, he gently turned her around, then took a step back. Her body was gilded in candle light, her skin slicked with flickering orange-gold. Her hair hung between her shoulder blades; Ezra scooped it up and moved it out of the way, draping it over her shoulder, then trailed a finger down her spine. She shivered, goosebumps puckering on her flesh as he ran his hands over her stunning curves.
