Page 67 of Wicked Thieves
“Aeric…”
His mouth met hers, stealing her words with a deep, almost pained sound as if he were finally being granted a reprieve from unending torture. As if he has felt this unrelenting pull between them for far longer than she has. His kisswas a demand. A supplication. The rough press of lips, the dance of their tongues as they explored each other’s mouths for the first time.
A push and pull, again and again, until it became too much. Too fast for her to make sense of the dizzying wave that hit her. Making her lose all sense of reason and restraint. A moan escaped her as she sank her fingers into his silken hair. Tugging and equally as desperate to have more. For him to grant her more than she ever granted herself permission to want.
Aeric released his own desperate sounds as he pulled her flush against him. Letting her feel the heat emanating from his body, warming hers to a stifling temperature. She gasped when he lifted her and placed her on his lap, encouraging her to straddle his hips. Changing the angle, deepening the kiss further as the hard planes of his body met hers. Allowing her to feel every inch that set her on fire.
His hands roved over her back, finding purchase on the collar of her robe before tugging down on it, gripping it in a vice. The soft fabric sliding down her back and shoulders, his fingers caressing the nape of her neck, then down where he exposed her to the cold air. All of it felt too much. Overwhelming her.
When her hips moved of their own accord, brushing over him, they both groaned at the contact. Aeric pulled away from her mouth, resting his forehead against the column of her throat as he breathed heavily.
“I suggest we stop here.”
“Why?” she asked, and he laughed at that. The sound so lovely she thought she could bottle it up and keep it all toherself, even as it sounded pained. Maybe she was a glutton, too. Made into one by the man before her.
“Because there is far too much that I wish to do to you and so little time. I don’t want to rush through it.This,”he said on a groan as their hips came together once more. The friction maddening, driving more tormented sounds from each other’s lips. “I want all of this and so much more when it comes to you.”
“Then take it,” Anelize whispered as she pushed him back, capturing his face between her hands to get him to look at her once more. His grip was unrelenting on her hips as if he were a man lost at sea clutching to the one thing that could keep him afloat amidst the torrid waves that threatened to drown him.
Aeric kissed her again and again, until she had no way of knowing where she ended or where he began. His fingers tangled into her long hair, still slightly wet from her bath. When he tugged on the strands, she moaned as she found herself staring up at the ceiling of the canopy. Taking advantage of the angle he’d put her in, he nipped at her neck before soothing the sting with his tongue.
The action was so lewd, so wicked, that it had them both moaning.
Encouraged by his greed, Anelize pushed him down onto the bed. The sudden movement made him groan, as he watched her eagerly lean over him. Her hands braced on the mattress as she leaned in to kiss him again, before she winced at the sharp pain that suddenly pierced through her arm. Aeric noticed immediately and sat back up, pulling her with him.
“What is it? Did I hurt you?”
Shaking her head, she brought her injured hand betweenthem where the bandage she’d wrapped around her wrist had come undone.
Aeric’s eyes narrowed on her wrist, and he gently took it in his large hand, pulling the bandage away to reveal a ghastly terrible bruise running along the outside of her wrist and hand. His eyes darkened with silent rage as he took in the damage done to her. “Who?”
The question—the demand—was simple enough that she knew what he meant. If her attacker wasn’t already dead thanks to her power, she was sure Aeric would have found some way to track him down and kill him.
“The Watchman who hurt you. He would have killed you if I hadn’t…”
“Hadn’t what?” he asked, that deep furrow between his brows filling his face full of concern.
“I did it,” she murmured. “I killed him. It hadn’t been my intention at first to conjure, but there was so much blood and I—I did it. I suppose it is a relief to you all now, knowing I can do so again, should it come down to it in the tunnels.”
“Is that truly what you believe, or is that something you think I would find a great fortune?” he asked her sincerely, only fueling her shame as she looked down to their hands.
“Do you find me hateful for it?” Despite accepting that she would do it again if she had to, there was no denying the toll she had paid and would always pay for taking a life.
Aeric brushed away a strand from her face, curling his fingers against the back of her ear as he tucked it behind. The touch making her shiver. Then he cupped her face in his hand and urged her to meet his eyes once more.
“No. I do not. I am only sorry it was not I who took that life for you.” There was no praise or reassurance given, not that shewould have wanted either. They both knew those things should not be given so easily. Especially when it came to this. She knew he meant it, though, and yet it did little to ease her.
When she made to stand, he helped her without ever taking his eyes off her face.
“I should go. There’s no telling what tomorrow will bring. We need rest.”
Before she could walk away, his hand gently took her injured one and brought it up to his lips. Placing one lingering kiss on her wrist.
“Stay here tonight. Stay with me.”
After what transpired between them, she found it far more difficult to deny him anything. Especially when he looked at her with such longing that it physically ached.
So, she stayed.
