Page 116 of A Kingdom of Shadows

With a passion.

Months later, those words we'd exchanged on the night of Noctura ball mean nothing to what we feel now.

Darius takes me from the wall onto my bed. He lays me down, and my hips lift as his fingers dig into the waistline of my leggings. Carefully, he draws them toward my ankles. Our eyes meet while he does this, and my whole body goes up in flames.

He presses soft kisses against my inner leg, trailing them up my thigh. I drop my head back, sighing with pleasure at the contact.

I want to tease him back, but it's hard enough as each of his kisses reaches my core, and I bite my lip to stop a moan. He stops above me and kisses the column of my throat. I grip his hair and breathe, "I want you to take me from behind."

Darius stills. “Nara—”

"You said next time you would not be so gentle." My words come out in a sensuous breath. "So don't be."

A tortured groan eases out of his lips as he drops his head beside mine. His arms bracket me, and the rhythm of our hearts beat together on cue.

Skin to skin.

Sweat and arousal.

"I'll need you on your knees then, Goldie," he murmurs provocatively into my ear, and I make a startling noise as he flips me around.

The anticipation hangs through the air as I heave out long breaths. His hands curl around my hips, and my veins pulse with excitement and something longing.

He leans over me. I can feel his thickness behind me and warmth pools between my legs. "Hands against the headboard."

I do as he commands. He takes his time tracing his fingers up my thigh, and my head hangs between my shoulders.

"Darius," I plead, my legs trembling.

"Darius, what?"

I can picture the teasing smile on his lips. He thrusts me further up against him, and I gasp, bordering on a moan.

"Inside," I manage to blurt out. "I want you inside of me." I don't care about the desperation. I know he wants the same thing. I can feel it in the tenseness of his hands, his arousal hardening against my entrance and his heavy pants. It doesn't take a second before he slams into me, and I cry in pleasure. One hand tangles in my hair, pulling my head back, and the other rests on my hip, guiding me with each thrust.

Fast, wild, and rough.

He doesn't hold back.

He is not gentle, and I never thought how much I would love it.

I moan. He moans.

He grunts. I cry.

The sounds linger through the room for minutes as my walls clench around him. I'm whimpering, teetering on the edge of release. He pulls me upward so my back is against his front. I tip my head up, closing my eyes as his hand splays across my neck. My hair is sticking to my skin, sweat drips around me, and I feel like I am crashing.

His breaths are jagged on my skin; he's groaning, saying my name.

And when he whispers, "Come for me, Goldie." I become undone. I'm consumed whole by him, quivering as everything smashes into me. I'm bursting with euphoria, never wanting to come down from this.

He is still inside me; his thrusts slow into a steady rhythm, and I grind against him as I turn my head to my left and look at him. Dark inky hair sticks to his forehead as I wrap an arm around his neck.

We kiss, panting with each second, just as his muscles go taut. He jerks harder, and we ride out his orgasm together.

When he smiles at me, I realize right here, right now, that I am just as in love with Darius as he is with me.

Chapter Forty-Four

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