Page 64 of Edge of Darkness (Night Prowler 4)
Outside, rain pattered against the windows in a melody that rose and fell, haunting and ineffably sad.
Christian eased her down onto the bed, shucked off her shoes, and pulled the wet dress off over her head. She sat shivering violently on the bronze silk duvet in only her bra and panties, staring up at him with wide eyes, full of a nameless need and the realization that the man standing in front of her now—the man who was not a man—had the ability to make her forget everything. At least for a little while.
Another gift. She was determined to make the most of that one.
She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him.
He was caught off guard, she knew by his fleeting hesitation and the telling catch in his throat, but soon enough he was the one kissing her, bending her back as he held her face in both of his hands, fierce and intent, his body a hard heated form against hers. She pressed herself against him, feeling the fever in her blood burn even brighter when his hands moved from her face to her body, and began stroking over her skin.
“You’re freezing,” he said angrily, breaking away for a moment when he felt her goose bumps.
She protested the loss of his mouth with a small moan and tried to kiss him again, but suddenly he lifted her back into his arms and carried her across the room, toward the fire. In seconds she was on her back on the soft rug in front of it, with Christian on top of her, his hands and mouth and body warming hers.
“I’m not complaining, but you have to stop walking here in the rain,” he scolded between frantic kisses, reaching around her back to unhook her bra. Desperate to be rid of it, she wriggled out of it and flung it away, then kissed him again.
“No more talking,” she breathed, looking into his eyes as she fumbled with the top button of the jeans he wore. She found the way of it, pulling all the buttons open with one hard yank, and then found him, hard and hot in her hand, already fully erect. She stroked him base to tip and back again, and he shuddered. She whispered, “Not another word.”
His lips parted and his eyes flared, molten green and glittering in the firelight. His expression changed—tender to ravenous—and a low rumble of noise went through his chest. Large and masculine above her, he was imposing, but instead of feeling fear, she felt a wild sort of freedom, dark and almost as dangerous as he was.
What lay on the other side of this moment, Ember didn’t know.
She didn’t care.
With one hand, he slid her panties down over her hips. She lifted her bottom and he pulled them off, watching her face. His lips tipped up at the corners in a sly, scant smile that set her nerves alight. He licked his lips and kept watching her as he skimmed his fingers up the inside of one thigh, his smile growing wicked when he pressed his palm between her legs and held it there while she fought to keep her breathing even.
He kept watching her as he waited. She knew what he wanted; she parted her legs and was rewarded with that dark smile again as his finger slid inside her and a small gasp slipped from her lips. She arched her back and her eyes slid closed, a second gasp escaped her as he added another finger to the first and began to stroke the pad of his thumb over her clit.
She felt his mouth close over a nipple. She moaned when he tugged on it with his teeth. Her hands found his hair, she twisted her fingers into it as his fingers found a perfect rhythm. When she began to tremble and writhe against him, he removed his fingers, slid swiftly down her body and replaced them with his mouth.
Ember moaned again, and this one was broken.
Everything became a jumbled blur of sensation: his lips and mouth and tongue; his fingers digging into her bottom; the rough scrape of his unshaven cheeks against her thighs; the sound of the muttering fire and the murmuring rain; her heartbeat loud as thunder in her ears. She was dimly aware of the noises she was making but was unable to stop herself and didn’t care in any case—all that mattered was him.
Christian. Beautiful, inhuman Christian.
As he said he’d wanted, and so easily it should have scared her but thrilled her instead, he was making her come apart at the seams.
When the pleasure became an almost unbearable pain, sharp and hot beneath her skin like a thousand heated knifepoints, his mouth was suddenly gone and he was hovering above her, his arms braced beside her head, his stomach pressed against hers.
Wordlessly, his gaze ferocious and dark, he pushed himself inside her.
It was shallow and slow, but his next thrust was deep and hard and buried him to the hilt. Her head thrown back against the rug, Ember cried out and shuddered. She fe
lt his mouth on her throat, on the muscle between her neck and shoulder, tongue and teeth and savage kisses. He thrust again and bit down at the same time and when she sobbed his name he made a noise like a wild animal’s.
His hands slid into her hair and he grabbed fistfuls of it, thrusting hard now, his breath hot and ragged at her ear. She wrapped her arms around his back and gave herself over to him, abandoning any remaining shyness or hesitation, her kisses now just as savage as his own.
So male, so big, so deep inside her, he was as tender as he was wild. He told her in broken whispers how good she felt, how much he’d wanted her, from the very beginning, how beautiful he thought she was.
He kept saying that, “Beautiful…you’re so beautiful,” and it moved her in some deep part of her that she’d put away long ago. It made her feel cherished and worthwhile and…loved.
For the first time in years, she felt loved. She felt worthy. And it was because of him, because of his words and his need and the glowing dark burn of his eyes.
It was all because of him.
In one swift move, he rolled flat onto his back and took her with him. Straddling him, she took him deep as he flexed his pelvis and reached up to caress her breasts. She began to move, small, circular twists that made him groan and growl, his fingers greedy against her flesh, her hair tumbling down her back. She rode him until they were both breathless and mindless, their bodies bathed in sweat and firelight. When she leaned down to kiss him, he took her tongue into his mouth and wrapped his hands around her hips, coaxing her to move faster, harder, to take him as deep as he would go.
She moaned, feeling her orgasm bearing down. She was almost there—almost—
