Chapter 25
Shade had been right; he was a good dancer. He glided us effortlessly around the room, supporting my body as he led me into spin after spin. My eyes didn’t leave his. I could get lost in those orbs, the liquid silver when his emotions were heightened.
Did he feel what I did? The fire burning hotter the longer he held my body close.
Shade lowered me into a dip, leaning over me as he followed me down. His warm breath tickled my throat, and my body flushed. The heat built into an inferno, coiling tight and low, and my breathing increased.
He lifted me slowly, bringing our bodies flush again, each inch of gradual contact torturous.
All I saw was him. All I felt was him.
Him and need.
Need to be touched. To be kissed.
Touch me.
I couldn’t stop the silent plea. Despite everything, I needed him to quell the fire blazing within me, needed it more than I needed air.
Shade’s grip tightened, bringing me impossibly closer and drawing a whimper from my lips. I hadn’t thought his eyes could darken further, but they did, reflecting the need pulsing through my veins like a living, breathing thing.
Then his mouth was on mine.
I melted, his touch sending waves of warmth flooding my body.
I was on fire. Heart pumping. Blood rushing. Skin tingling.
It was everything I remembered and more.
At his urging, I parted my lips, giving him permission to explore my mouth, and he dominated me with his tongue. His lips.
Commanded me.
I wanted it. Craved it.
He gripped the base of my neck, angling me to deepen the kiss even further, and I was helpless to resist.
Weightless.
Floating in his hands as he took what he wanted.
He walked me back until I hit the wall, and I moaned at the pressure of being sandwiched between it and him. The hand on my neck gripped my hair, tugging lightly on the strands.
He was everywhere. Each touch igniting a fire deep within me. A burning heat. An insatiable need.
I didn’t want it to end. Didn’t ever want him to stop.
I needed more.
As if reading my mind, Shade’s hand settled around my throat to hold me firm.
I welcomed it, the dominant move only heightened my pleasure further.
He continued to plunder my mouth while his other hand drifted along my collarbone then traveled lower, leaving a riot of tingles in its wake.
He grazed my breast, and my nipple pebbled under his touch. I arched into him, seeking more.
He released my mouth, his lips hovering over mine, and I panted beneath him. He pushed a leg between my thighs, giving me contact exactly where I needed it. “Is there something you need, Adelia?”
His gravelly tone traveled down my spine and settled in my core, hot enough to make me writhe on his leg. He groaned in response.
So much. I needed so much.
I wanted to say the words, but my brain wasn’t firing properly, too overcome with the pleasure his touch elicited.
“Your words, my Solis. I need to hear you say it.” That name—the one he scarcely used—increased the heat on my skin and, combined with the tightening of his hand on my throat, sent me into a state of near euphoria.
“More,” I moaned, rolling my hips aggressively against him. “I need more.”
“Good girl,” he growled, then captured my mouth again, devouring me with lips and tongue. My body awash with sensation, I couldn’t stop myself from grinding against his leg again, taking my pleasure higher.
He released me, then spun me around so my front pressed against the wall, and made quick work of the laces at my back, placing a soft kiss at the curve of my neck before he pushed the sleeves of my dress over my shoulders.
He moved agonizingly slowly, baring my body to the cool air until the fabric pooled at my feet, with only my undergarment covering me.
Shade’s hands were a soft caress exploring my body, touching everywhere but where I needed him most. Only when I whimpered again did he finally hold my aching breasts in his calloused hands, fingers pulling and twisting at my nipples.
He trailed open-mouthed kisses along my neck, nipping the skin as he played with the hard peaks.
I arched into him, his erection digging into my backside, and pulled a guttural groan from his chest, urging me to writhe again.
Delicious torture. That’s what he was doing to me. Each touch had me dissolving further, and I rubbed my legs together in an attempt at relief.
Shade chuckled against my skin, the vibrations sending another wave of sensation through me. “Such a needy girl for me.”
My breathing was heavy as he ran his hands down my stomach, eliciting gooseflesh along my skin, then slipped a hand into my undergarment. The groan he released when his fingers slid through the wetness there was positively erotic, and I whimpered in response.
His forehead rested onto my shoulder as he explored. “Is this all for me, Adelia?”
“Yes!” I cried out when he pushed a finger into me, the friction causing heat to build to a fever pitch.
I had touched myself before, intrigued by what the Madame Dee’s ladies had told me, but it was nothing like this.
A second finger joined the first, and my hips undulated, thrusting onto his hand.
I wouldn’t come back from this, the pleasure he elicited from my body, no one would be able to compare.
He built me up until I was on the brink, then when his thumb pressed against my clit, I shattered.
Waves of pleasure-filled warmth had me opening my mouth on a silent scream.
Shade didn’t stop, he thrust his hand as I convulsed around him, prolonging my pleasure until white spots danced before my eyes.
When he finally removed his fingers, I sagged against him, utterly spent. He turned me to face him, putting his mouth on mine again, softer than he had before. It built steadily until his movements became desperate again and my body begged for him.
How could I want more? He had already pleasured me so thoroughly, had me ready to collapse, but his continued touches built that craving again. I wanted more.
He moved us without removing his lips from mine and lowered me onto a lounge. When his weight settled above me, the flaming desire just doused with my climax, raged again.
I would never get enough of this.
Enough of him.
When he made his way down my body again, he kissed and nipped at every available piece of skin, paying particular attention to my breasts, sucking and lapping each in turn.
Stroking that fire higher still. Once I was a panting, writhing mess beneath him, he trailed open-mouthed kisses along my stomach until he reached my lace-covered pussy.
My eyes locked onto molten silver, and Shade didn’t look away when his fingers hooked into my undergarment, dragging it slowly down my legs. When he finally slipped it free, I clenched my legs closed, a sudden shyness sending heat to my face.
No one had seen me there before.
Shade knelt before me and lightly trailed his fingers from my ankles to my knees.
The touch relaxed my muscles, but he still hesitated, eyes questioning as he waited for my permission to continue.
That look, his desire for my consent, banished all shyness.
He wouldn’t do anything I didn’t want. If I wanted him to stop, he would.
Right now, I didn’t want that. He had already brought me such indescribably intense pleasure.
One hit and I was already addicted.
I wanted it again.
I nodded, heart racing in anticipation. Eyes locked on mine, he slowly pushed my legs apart, watching my face for any sign I’d changed my mind. He wouldn’t find one.
When he finally looked down, the pure, unrestrained desire in his eyes sent a fresh wave of heat through me, making me squirm.
“You are the most exquisite thing I have ever seen,” he growled, slipping his fingers through my slickness, coating his fingers. Another whimper escaped when he teased my entrance. It turned into a full moan when he circled my clit.
He pulled away, my hips trying to follow, missing his touch. Then he shocked me by lifting his fingers to his mouth and sucking them between his lips. He closed his eyes and released an erotic moan of his own. The sight of him enjoying the taste of me on his fingers made me feverish with need.
“Shade.” His name was a breathy whisper on my lips. A plea.
His eyes opened to show me a hunger that spoke of a man starved, and I was his salvation. He lowered before me, directly above my soaking pussy, and I was enraptured by the sight of his head between my thighs.
It was then I heard it. Murmured conversation outside the suite.
We snapped our heads toward the door.
There was a small moment of frozen panic before I scrambled away from Shade, rolling off the couch with a loud thump.
The voices stopped, and I fumbled for my discarded dress. Once in hand, I hurried to the bed chamber. I glanced back at Shade before closing the door. He stood beside the lounge, unruffled and still clothed, his hair a messy knot at the back of his head.
Catching my eye, he lifted a piece of lacy fabric. My eyes widened when he winked and tucked my abandoned undergarment into his pocket.
The door snicked shut, and I fell against it, my fingers dusting my swollen lips. The way he kissed me. The way he touched me.
Gods, it was everything.
Still flushed, my skin tingled in all the best ways as I replayed what we had done over and over. The hummingbird in my stomach seemed to have taken up permanent residence, and warmth spread from the center of my chest, filling me with bright joy.
Muffled voices sounded from the other side of the door, and I hurried to the small room keeping my clothes. It would likely only be Wista, but the thought of Terym changing his mind and wanting to see me tonight had me rushing to get dressed.
Reaching for a clean nightdress, my eyes caught on the extravagant gown hanging just inside the door. Wista dropped it off earlier, ready for me to wear the next day.
To my wedding.
To a man who wasn’t Shade.