Page 45 of A War of Embers

Slowly I lower myself onto a plush couch. There’s a moment where the cool fabric envelops my full body before it wears off. I glance around the room, but Rowan is nowhere to be seen. There’s a fireplace across from me, with a lone chair off to the side. Stonework makes up all the walls, giving it a cabin-like feel. A small kitchen sits behind me with a doorway, presumably leading to a bedroom I can’t see.

Leaning forward, I pull my hair off my nape once again, hoping for some movement of air to cool me down. My clothes are plastered to my body at this rate. Twisting, I yank off the sheath of my sword and toss it on the lone chair before unzipping my jacket to do the same. My shirt underneath is usually loose, but clings to my skin in a sopping wet mess.

Screw it. I need relief. I peel off my shirt and drop it onto the floor, looking down at my stomach where the normally hidden veins are glowing a neon blue. They’re not bright like a beacon, but noticeable all the same. Kicking off my shoes, I let my bare feet touch the stone floor and practically moan at the coolness of the rock.

A deep, sharp hiss comes from behind me.

Turning around, I spot Rowan holding out a damp cloth, but his gaze is focused on the bare parts of my body.

My eyes rake over him, noting the way his muscles strain against his clothes. His shirt is now clinging to him. He was a beautiful, vicious monster the first time I ever saw him. Now? His beauty is only amplified. The tattoos on his lower jaw begin to swirl and move as his tattoos climb down his body like a living being trapped in ink under his skin.

“Here.” The baritone of his voice sends a shiver cascading down my spine.

I take the cool cloth and loop it around my nape. Almost immediately my body sighs in relief. “Thanks.”

Rowan steps forward, his gaze still raptured by the veins on my stomach. He walks forward, almost without thought, until his fingers come up and dance along my skin. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen anyone like us.”

“Sereia doesn’t glow?”

“No.” Rowan’s fingertips continue tracing up one side and down the other until the waistband of my pants stops him from continuing.

The heat radiating off his body is thicker than the air outside. Yet I can breathe easy in it now somehow. I open my mouth to ask him if the people here become accustomed to the heat, but I don’t get the chance.

Rowan’s head bends down until his breath whispers across my neck. For a split second I wonder if he’s laying his cheek on the very edge of the cloth, but then I feel the wet drag of his tongue from the bottom of my throat up to my chin.

Something harsh and loud rattles in his chest as he brings his head back up. Gone are the mossy green eyes I know well. Replaced with a darkness so black I doubt anything vibrant ever finds its way back out.

He suddenly wrenches the cloth off my nape, tossing it aside on the floor, before yanking my body into his. The heat of his skin sears me, building back up the fire we were previously trying to extinguish. Then his mouth captures mine in a kiss so fierce, I feel the echo of his heartbeat in my chest.

There’s nothing kind about the way he attacks my mouth as if I owe him my pleasure. The way he licks at the seam of my lips demanding entrance before sucking greedily on my tongue like he owns me. The sensations crawling all over my skin make it hard to think straight.

I can’t help but give in to the heat. Moving my hands to his chest, I tear at his shirt until his skin slicks across mine. Reveling in the heat that no longer seems to be abusing my body, but igniting me now instead.

He roughly bites at my lip, dragging his tongue over the wound. His hands begin to roam over my body. One bunching my hair at the back of my head, refusing to give me the option to pull away. The other slides down, forcing his way between my trousers and skin until he’s clutching the globe of my ass in his hand.

A moan slips out of me as I claw at his shoulder. The thickness of his cock presses into my stomach from behind his pants. Soon he shifts, pushing his weight into me until we’re as close as we can get while standing in the middle of his living room.

I tear my mouth away, greedily sucking in air as his head moves towards my breast like we can’t be parted. His teeth graze over my nipple before sucking hard. My back arches at the pleasure mounting in my blood, making me hiss between my teeth.

His hand slides out of the back of my trousers, coming up to plump the flesh of my neglected breast in his hand. He tightens his grip, my nipple caught between two of his fingers as he presses them together then tugs.

A rush of pure desire floods my body. The heat in my veins being chased away by the onslaught of arousal dizzying my mind with pleasure.

Rowan releases my nipple with a pop, leaning over to roughly drag his tongue over the other one before gripping my chin in his hand to force my starry gaze to his. “Get on your knees,” he growls.

My mind blanks as I obey. Sinking down into the stone floor, the coolness shocking my system just enough to tighten my nipples on their own.

His hands reach down unfastening his pants, his dark eyes tracking my every breath. A moment later his cock springs free, the thick head bobbing in front of my face with a pearl of precum glistening in the moonlight. Slowly he pumps his hand down his length before dragging the tip from my cheek to my lips, leaving a string of his essence across my face. “Open,” he growls.

My thighs tighten as I shift on the floor below him. Hesitantly, I open my mouth right as he surges inside. There’s no preamble as he fucks my mouth. His hands tangle in my hair, keeping me from being able to pull away. Tears slide down my eyes as he forces his way down the back of my throat, but I moan at the depravity and roughness of it. The only thing he allows me to do is glide my tongue around his shaft and suck while I let him lead.

All too soon Rowan pulls out of my mouth. Saliva, tears, and some of his cum drip down my chin at his sudden withdrawal. I reach up and wipe it off with the back of my hand, never once removing my eyes from him. His dark gaze doesn’t waiver as he slowly releases his fingers from my tangled hair.

“You didn’t finish.” Even to myself, my voice sounds hoarse after having his cock choke me for the last few minutes.

A small smile tilts the corner of his lips like my comment makes him proud. Like he wants me to want him. “I’d prefer to have a willing female, so I’ll ask. Do you want to fuck?”

I drag my numb legs off the floor, standing before him where we can be as close to eye level despite our height differences. “If I didn’t want to fuck, I’d have bitten you.”

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