Page 115 of Immortal Bastard

He had a way of keeping her off balance. He could go from intense and threatening to playful and seductive at the literal drop of a hat.

Her heart pounded as he removed his shirt. All of those hard, chiseled muscles covering his chest and carving his abs in beautiful relief begged to be touched. He crossed the room, and she took a step back.

“We haven’t had a chance to take our time with each other, pintura. I’ve been looking forward to this.”

“This?”

“Having you, exactly as I want you, as many times as I want.”

She preferred spontaneous. Too much thinking scared her orgasms into hiding.

He toed off his boots and chuckled. “Have I told you what a skilled hunter I am? When I seek something, I find it and claim it.”

He truly reminded her of a predator now. And she was his cornered prey. As he rounded the bed her body turned, mirroring his position so he was never at her back.

“It’s fine to feel shy, little one, but your pleasure can’t hide from me. I’ll drive it out of you one way or another.”

His determination and devotion was another difference between him and the guys she’d known in the past. Men typically didn’t care about anything beyond their own release. She wasn’t used to that sort of attention.

A low growl filled the room and his eyes flashed. “Mind on me, Delilah.”

She didn’t know how to shut off such memories when her brain naturally drew comparisons. She tried to focus on the present as he pursued her with slow, calculated shifts, never truly walking but closing in on her all the same.

The back of her knees hit the bed, and she toppled to the mattress. He was there, taking up the space, filling her view as he towered over her with that hungry gaze that promised to devour her. She was trapped.

“Exactly how I like you.”

His weight pressed into the bedding as he lowered his mouth to hers, teasing rather than kissing. The moment she leaned up to meet him, he pulled back, toying with her.

“Look at you,” he said as if speaking to himself, then she realized he was showing her everything he saw. A mirror image of her body filled her mind clear as day, yet she still watched him through her own vision, her mind somehow able to hold multiple views at once.

When she saw herself through his eyes, she felt all of his admiration. His esteem overwhelmed her in a way that chased away any self-doubt or insecurities she experienced in the past whenever she’d pick herself apart in front of a mirror.

It felt good to see herself in such an appreciative way for a change. Light and refreshing. Safe, cherished, and maybe even a little addicting, because she didn’t just see through his eyes, she comprehended how he processed and cataloged every detail.

She didn’t want the deluge of positive sensations to end. Just one glimpse of what he saw repaired years of damage to her self-esteem, bathing her heart in gentle compassion.

“Wow,” she breathed. “You’re doing incredible things for my confidence.”

His hands framed her waist and dragged slowly down her sides, then back up again, lifting her breasts. “And why shouldn’t you feel confident? You’re flawless.”

She wasn’t, but through his eyes she was. It was a paradox that massaged the self-conscious mind and eradicated the urge or need to criticize her appearance. Her insecurities disappeared the longer she saw herself from his point of view.

They said humans only used ten percent of their brains. She was coming to suspect that wasn’t the case for immortals. Layers of awareness unfurled within her imagination. Sensory details multiplied until she lost track of the improvements.

Every time he pushed their mental link, her brain seemed to undergo a software update, perceiving new colors she couldn’t name and seeing the world around her in such vivid contrast to before, that she cognitively gobbled up all the delicious details. It was sensory overload, but not in a bad way.

He was a drug. An organic form of ecstasy that awakened every nerve and overdosed her brain in pleasure hormones. She could literally feel her happiness rising as he looked at her. And when he touched her… She felt him in every single cell of her body and the ethereal matter that made up her aura, until nothing but pure euphoria rushed through her entire being.

His finger brushed delicately over the wing of her collarbone. “Soft.” He caught her knee, quickly tugging her legs apart. “Docile.” His thumb traced her lower lip, gently pulling her mouth open and dipping inside. “Pliant.”

Without exerting force, she bit his thumb and he chuckled.

“But never without fire.” He pulled his finger away and grazed the press of her pierced nipple through the damp towel. “I think your vivacious spirit arouses me even more than your body.”

She was definitely a vibe and should probably be grateful he was one of the few people who appreciated her fiery energy and volatile temperament. Most people found her intensity draining.

“Your intensity matches my own,” he said, fully present in her thoughts. “I enjoy your beautiful mind as much as I enjoy your body.” He tugged open the towel, exposing her naked breasts and bare sex, then nudged her shoulder so she fell flat on her back.

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