Chapter 18
S he couldn’t stay, she knew that.
For many reasons.
But all those reasons evaporated from her mind when he kissed her.
Very well, I can allow one kiss.
Only one turned into two, two into three, and then she lost count as he was lowering her to the floor, his hands roaming her body, slowly, reverently, softly, as if she were the most precious thing in the world. He looked deeply into her eyes.
“I want more Lily,” he whispered.
“Lydia,” she whispered back.
He nodded. “Lydia. I want more than just a single kiss. I want all of you. And I don’t want it just tonight. I want forever.”
She shook her head. “You don’t even know me anymore.”
“I do.” He kissed her on her lips again. “You taste the same.” Another kiss. “You feel the same.” He kissed her neck, his beard pleasantly prickling her skin, and then inhaled deeply. “You smell the same.”
“It’s been too long,” she countered.
“And yet…” His nimble fingers were undoing the buttons on her shirt. He watched her with a pain-filled gaze. “I thought I lost you,” he whispered as his hands studied the outlines of her waist, then lower to her hips, her thighs.
Lydia didn’t protest. She didn’t mind him doing whatever he wanted. Because she wanted it too.
She craved to be in his arms again, and damn the consequences.
He had abandoned her when she needed him the most. He had left her to rot when he could have saved her with one bloody coin tossed her way. He didn’t have to marry her, though he’d promised. But he could have helped.
The frustration inside her mixed with the heat in the pit of her belly as he proceeded to kiss her legs, starting from the tips of her toes and moving higher and higher. He kissed her ankles, along her shin, her knee. Then he dipped his head and licked her skin, tickling her, while his hands massaged her thighs.
Slowly lowering his hands, he pressed her knees apart.
Lydia gasped, lying open before him, her single shirt collected at her waist, uncovering her most private place for him.
He looked at her like a man possessed, his eyes glinting with hunger.
He bit her on the inside of her thigh and glanced up at her. Lydia lifted her hips in agreement. She wanted him. She wanted him there.
Thorn nibbled his way up to her center, then took a deep breath, inhaling her.
“Ah! I still remember the scent of your desire,” he rasped. “So sweet, so wonderful.”
He ran his finger along her slit, gathering moisture he found there and bringing it to the top of her sex, circling it. Then he looked at her from beneath his hooded eyes and, maintaining eye contact, sucked her essence off his finger.
Lydia squirmed. Dampness gathered between her thighs, a ticklish sensation running through her body and collecting at her center. Her hips moved, demanding more of his touch. More of him.
She wanted him to claim her. Now.
He dipped his head and licked along her feminine lips.
“Ah!” With a wild scream, Lydia threw back her head, her entire body arching.
Art placed one hand on her belly, holding her down, while his other hand traveled to explore farther north. He parted her feminine lips with his tongue before pressing it against her sensitive spot, making her hips rise in response.
As Thorn continued to explore Lydia’s feminine center with his tongue, his hand traveled up her body, encountering her hardened nipple. He circled it with his thumb while weighing her breast in his palm.
Lydia felt herself losing control under his touch. She writhed beneath him, her fingers tangling in his hair.
All the anger and frustration she had harbored against him for so many years suddenly vanished in that moment.
Yes. Let him atone for his sins this way. By bringing her to heaven.
Just as she thought it, he raised his head and sat up.
“No!” Lydia cried, frustrated from the unfulfilled desire. “Don’t stop!”
He chuckled and placed a wet kiss on her belly. “Wait a moment, my love,” he whispered against her skin.
She looked up at him with pleading eyes, her body still trembling from the intense sensations he had just aroused within her. She wanted him to finish what he had started, to bring her to that peak of ecstasy and beyond.
He readjusted himself in his breeches, a pained expression shadowing his face, then covered her body with his and kissed her lips.
Lydia moaned, her tongue tracing his lips, then plunging into the depths of his mouth and tangling with his tongue. She wrapped her arms around his massive shoulders, her fingers tracing his muscles through the shirt. Arching her back, she rubbed herself against his body, feeling his cock press against her center.
Thorn groaned. “You are killing me,” he whispered between kisses.
“Take me,” she answered. “Enter me. Possess me. I want you.”
He pressed his forehead against hers and let out a bitter chuckle. “My love, you have no idea how much I want that.”
“Yes, please.”
He shook his head and kissed her deeply once more.
He moved to suckle on her neck, his hands tracing her sides. He paused, concentrating on her pointed nipples, his gaze burning through her shirt. Then he grabbed the shirt by its collar and ripped it along the center, exposing her entire body to his gaze and the cool air.
Lydia squirmed uncomfortably, hastening to cover herself from him. Letting out a playful tsk, Thorn grabbed her wrists and pinned them on either side of her body. Then he leaned down again, taking her nipple gently into his mouth and suckling it.
Lydia’s fingers flexed, wishing to bury them in his hair, or run them along his warm body.
“Art!” she cried.
He raised his head, a confused expression on his face that quickly transformed into a smirk.
Thorn moved to give equal attention to her other breast. Releasing one wrist, his hand traveled down and settled between her legs. His finger played with her slit, teasing it, circling it, then up to her swollen nub and down again.
“Please,” she breathed, her hips bucking, her restrained wrist fighting against his tight grip, while her other hand plunged into his dark locks, guiding his mouth exactly where she wanted him.
He chuckled, cool air hitting her wet nipple, sending shivers down her spine.
More. She wanted more of these sensations.
His hands, his lips. She wanted him all over her, beneath her, inside her.
A feral cry left her lips as his finger plunged inside her center. He played with her there as he licked and sucked on her breasts one at a time. Leisurely, as if he had all the time in the world.
“Art, please,” she begged again.
“Promise me,” he whispered. “Promise you will stay with me.”
She couldn’t promise that, not even as need coursed through her veins.
His smile grew more cunning then, almost feral.
Art lowered his head and dipped his tongue into her belly button. Lydia squirmed beneath him.
“Patience, my love,” he murmured as he kissed his way down to her core. Pressing his lips around her most sensitive spot, he sucked her in. Lydia’s hips shot up as she cried out. Art’s fingers dug into her thigh to keep her in place while the fingers of his other hand delved deep inside her.
He proceeded to lick and suck and kiss her between her legs, while his fingers plunged in and out of her depths.
Sweat trickling down her forehead, she writhed beneath him, moans leaving her lips with every breath.
Just as she was close to reaching the peak of pleasure, he stopped, and she cried out as if in pain.
He looked up, a calculating glint in his eyes. “Are you ready to promise to stay with me yet?”
“Art, please!” She could only beg.
Instead of giving her the pleasure she craved, he slowed his pace, going back to kiss her breasts again, his fingers gently, almost reverently massaging her center.
He did it again and again, to the point that tears appeared at the corners of her eyes—partly from pleasure, partly from frustration, but mostly from need.
Lydia wasn’t a patient person. Having had enough of the torture, she pushed him onto his back, and as he lay sprawled on the floor, she climbed on top of him. She undid the falls of his breeches and took him in hand.
They both let out a moan of relief at the sensation.
“Lydia,” he whispered.
Her new name on his lips brought up strange feelings from inside her. She nudged them away.
She hovered over his cock as she held him in her hand and rubbed him against her wet, hot center.
Art took her by her hips, holding her steady. “Take it,” he whispered. “Take whatever you want from me. Use me for your pleasure.”
Lydia let out a moan and slowly sat down, impaling herself on his hard, steel-like length. Her muscles contracted, taking him in, working to envelop all of him. She moved her hips, and he groaned as sweat lined his forehead. His fingers dug into her hips, but he didn’t rush her, didn’t force her onto him.
Instead, Art let her set the pace, his dark eyes locked with hers as she moved above him.
Lydia felt a fire building within her, every movement sending tingles of pleasure through her body. She leaned forward, pressing her hands against his chest as she rode him hard and fast.
Art’s breathing became more labored beneath her touch as he reached up to cup her breasts with his hands. He circled her nipples, then pressed against them, eliciting an animalistic growl from Lydia.
Together they moved in perfect rhythm, as if dancing to the same music.
Lydia could feel herself getting closer and closer to the edge of climax as Art’s fingers expertly teased and squeezed at her nipples.
He moved his hand to her throat and teased the sensitive spot where her pulse danced against her skin. Then he traced her jaw, her lips that tingled under his touch. He pressed his thumb into her mouth, and Lydia sucked on his tip.
Art’s eyes darkened as he licked his lips. He dropped his hand and pressed his wet thumb against the swollen nub at the top of her sex. As he started circling it, Lydia’s hips moved wilder and wilder with every swirl.
Her moans grew louder as she felt the tension building within her, ready to explode at any moment.
“Promise me,” Art whispered between gasps. “Promise you’ll stay with me.”
Lydia couldn’t hold off any longer. She couldn’t make that promise, but right now, in this moment of ecstasy, she was willing to say anything just to fall over the edge.
“I promise,” she gasped out breathlessly.
A predatory grin on his lips, Art slid his thumb lower, hitting just the right spot that made Lydia cry out. The entire world stopped spinning for a long moment. It was only her and him and this pleasure between them.
Her fingers curled into his flesh, as her entire body tensed and… relaxed just as fireworks exploded inside her mind.
Art’s primal growl echoed throughout the room as he released himself inside of her.
Lydia collapsed on top of him, both of them panting, sweat trickling down their bodies.
Art’s fingers tangled in her hair as he held her close.
“I love you,” he whispered in her ear.