Page 86 of Black Rose

Of course I would never take it from Valtu. I think it wants me to, I think it’s trying to promise me things, but Valtu’s attachment to that book is very real and very strong. It means something to him still and I don’t want to fuck with that. I just want to use it. There’s a chance that maybe the book will show new spells to me. Maybe it trusts a witch. Maybe I just have to ask it properly.

Valtu stirs from beside me, shifting so he’s facing me. A strand of unruly hair falls across his forehead and I can’t help myself. I reach over and brush it off his forehead.

He lets out a small, sleepy moan and his eyes slowly flutter open.

I hold my breath, praying and hoping that when he sees me, he really sees me, that somehow all the events of last night rewrote the past and freed him from his spell.

His pupils focus and widen, his eyes bigger as he takes me in. I hope I don’t look like a wreck first thing in the morning. It’s not lost on me that this is the first time we’ve slept together in a bed, the first time he’s been completely naked, and the first time he’s fucked me with just a bit of affection.

“Hi,” I say softly.

He blinks at me. I don’t see any love in his eyes, but I don’t see any fear or anger either. I’m not a lover from his past, just a lover from the present. And that has to be good enough for now.

“Hi,” he says back, voice throaty with sleep. He gives me the faintest smile.

I trail my fingertip over his nose, his perfect nose, his beautiful lips, his strong chin where the ever-present stubble scratches my fingertip.

“Not a monster in the morning, am I?” he asks with a small yawn.

I grin. “Not even a little. What about me?”

“If you are, I wish all monsters looked like you,” he says. He shifts his head so that he’s lightly biting my finger. “And of course you taste like heaven,” he adds, placing a kiss on my palm.

Then he’s reaching out and cupping the side of my face and pulling me to him and kissing me.

It’s not the hard, demanding kiss that he’s been known to give, but a soft, easy one. It’s not a kiss of hunger or lust but one of lingering affection, and I’ll take what I can get, whatever he’s willing to give me. His softness stirs my heart.

His lips melt against mine, his tongue is gentle and warm, and even though we have yet to get out of bed, he tastes faintly like mint. We kiss, slowly, deliberately. We take our time, as if we’re kissing each other for the first time, until the flames start to build between my legs and I feel a deep, hot ache inside me. Our kiss deepens and my body shifts, thighs squeezing together to quell the throbbing that’s building and building. His grip on my neck tightens and he tilts my head to take me deeper, and I moan into his mouth.

He pulls away, breathing hard.

“Get on my face,” he murmurs, eyes unfocused with lust. “I want you coming on my tongue.”

My mouth goes dry. “Okay,” I whisper.

He rolls onto his back, his head on the pillow, and I climb up over his face and hover over his mouth. I feel his hot wet breath and I have instant goosebumps, every nerve in me dancing like a livewire and he hasn’t even touched me yet. He’s using one hand to position me, the other stroking his cock slowly.

And then I’m sinking down, feeling his lips part slightly, the rough rasp of his morning beard scratching my inner thighs.

The sensation is so raw, so carnal, it makes me clutch the iron headboard.

The second he starts to suckle my clit, I know I’m a goner.

You like that?

It’s his voice in my head. He’s projecting his thoughts, because of course he can’t talk with a mouthful of pussy.

“Yes,” I manage to say, shifting my hips against him.

Of course you do. You like your tight pink cunt fucked by my tongue. Look at you. You’re honey pouring into my mouth.

I smile, biting my lip, loving how he sounds in my head, loving how he fucks me with his mouth, his dirty fucking words. He licks slowly, deliberately, his tongue dipping in and out and over the cap of my clit and I’m gasping.

You feel me, sucking your sweet fucking honey down my throat?

Oh god.

This man, this man.

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