Chapter 10
The door slid shut behind them, and Delilah barely had time to register the darkness of the room before Kellat’s hands were on her.
He hadn’t said a word. Not when he’d appeared at her table at the reception, the warlady’s laughter still ringing across the reception hall, and not in the corridors all the long walk back.
She hadn’t either. For once in her life she’d had nothing to say, and he’d walked beside her with that granite look on his face, and she’d braced herself all the way to the door for a conversation she didn’t want to have.
But he didn’t speak. Instead, he yanked her into his arms, and his mouth crashed down over hers.
His kiss was hot and demanding, and she made a sound against his lips she didn’t recognize.
Relief. That was relief, because he was touching her…
that he was here with her and not somewhere with the beautiful alien warlady.
Stop thinking. She needed to stop thinking and just feel.
Surging upward, she kissed him back, her fingers digging into the leather of his shoulders. She let herself drown in him. He tasted like the wine from dinner, all honey sweetness with the sharp under-note.
He pulled back just enough to look at her, his eyes dark in the low light. His breathing was ragged, braids falling forward over one shoulder, and the expression on his face was the one he’d worn in the shower when he’d looked at her like she was the only woman in the galaxy.
“Delilah.” His voice was rough, rougher than she’d ever heard it. “I—“
“Don’t.” She pressed her fingers over his lips. “Don’t talk. Just… Don’t.”
She didn’t want to hear it. Words didn’t belong here, in the darkness between them.
She didn’t want to hear excuses about his flirting with another woman.
She didn’t want sorry, or politics, or it didn’t mean anything.
And she definitely didn’t want to hear him say mine again. Not when it wasn’t true.
He nodded and didn’t say a word. Catching her wrist instead, he pulled her hand away from his mouth, and pulled her closer to kiss her again. His lips were softer this time, gentle. She shivered in his arms. It was the kind of kiss that took her apart at the seams.
So she kissed him back with everything she had, and the heat built fast and fierce between them. His hand found the strap at her shoulder and tugged once, and the dress gave way, unraveling down her body and pooling at her feet.
He stepped back, just for a heartbeat, and looked at her as she stood there in nothing but her panties.
His gaze raked down her in raw hunger. Biting her lip, she resisted the urge to cover herself.
Instead, she lifted her chin and let him see the curves and the softness she’d spent years wishing were different.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said.
“Show me,” she whispered. She didn’t know if she was asking or daring. “Don’t tell me. Show me.”
His hands spanned her waist, and he lifted her to carry her to the bed. She wrapped her legs around his hips, arms locking around his neck as he laid her down.
The mattress was huge, built for a Latharian frame. She felt tiny against it, exposed and desperate in a way that had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with the way he was looking at her.
“My turn,” she breathed, reaching for him.
Her fingers found the fasteners of his leathers, and she worked them open one by one, slower now because she wanted to. Every brush of her knuckles against the hard, warm skin beneath made his stomach tighten under her touch, those ridiculous carved abs going taut as his breath caught.
His gaze never left her hands.
God, he was watching her like she held his whole damn world between her fingers, and his cock strained hard beneath the leather, thick and unyielding.
Her fingers loosened, releasing his cock before she lost what little control she had left. It sprang free with a heavy slap against his hard, toned stomach, making her breath catch all over again.
Oh. My. God.
It was thick and proud, a solid bar of hot flesh flushed deep purple at the head, already slick at the tip. Bigger than anything she’d ever had in her hand, which was a fun little panic to have right now.
Her gaze dragged down him, then back up to his face. His eyes had gone dark, violet swallowed by blue as he watched her.
Her hand moved before she could overthink it. Reaching down, she curled her fingers around him, warm and heavy in her palm, and gave him the smallest stroke.
He made a rough sound low in his chest, his larger hand closing around hers to stop her.
“No,” he growled, his fingers tightening around hers just enough to make her pulse jump. His eyes had gone nearly all blue now, dark and hungry. “Not yet.”
She blinked up at him, breathless and confused. “I thought you wanted—”
“I want you too much.” The words came out clipped, almost harsh, but his thumb dragged over the back of her hand with tenderness.
“If you keep touching me like that, female, this will be over before I have properly touched you.” His gaze cut down to where their hands rested against him, then came back to her face. “And I intend to take my time with you.”
Fuck. Okay. That was… that was a very good plan. A spectacular plan, really.
She swallowed hard, nodding because words had currently completely abandoned her.
He let go of her hands and stepped back to strip off the pants with quick, efficient movements. She watched him with greedy eyes. He was so beautiful. Stunning, in fact.
Then he was on the bed with her, his body covering hers and his weight braced on his forearms. The heat of him was staggering, and she arched up into him, her breasts pressing against the hard planes of his chest.
His mouth found her throat and trailed down. She gasped, her head falling back as his lips moved lower. They ghosted across her collarbone and lower down, until his mouth closed over her nipple.
She cried out, her back arching off the mattress and her hands fisting in his silver hair. He suckled, his tongue swirling, and the sensation arrowed straight down to her clit. Heat pooled between her thighs, hot and liquid, and she rocked her hips, searching for friction.
He moved to her other breast and gave it the same attention, and she let out a sound that was half moan and half sob. She couldn’t stop touching him. Her hands slid through his hair, and over his broad shoulders, tracing the ridges of muscle in his back.
His hand slid down her belly, fingers dipping beneath the lace of her panties. She sucked in a breath as he parted her pussy lips and found her clit. She whimpered, her hips bucking against his hand.
“So hot and wet,” he murmured against her skin, and the words sent a fresh surge through her. “You’re so wet for me.”
He slid a finger inside her, slow and careful. She bit her lip as her body opened for him, clenching around the invasion.
He added a second finger, stretching her as his thumb circled her clit.
The tension started building at the base of her spine.
It wound tighter and tighter until she couldn’t catch her breath, couldn’t think…
she could only feel the slide of his fingers and the pressure of his thumb and the heat of his mouth on her breast.
“Kellat,” she gasped. “Please. I’m going to—“
“Come for me.” The order was deep and absolute. “Come for me, Delilah. Now.”
She shattered, clamping down around his fingers. Her back arched off the bed, as she cried out, his name torn from her throat. But he didn’t stop. Instead, he worked her through it, until she thought she might die from sheer pleasure.
When the last tremor faded, she lay there, her breathing ragged and her skin slick. He pulled his fingers free, and brought them to his mouth. Holding her gaze, he licked them clean.
She reached for him, her hand finding his cock. He was huge, thick and heavy, her fingers barely closing around him, and she stroked him, learning the shape and weight of him. He groaned, hips pushing into her grip.
“Delilah.” Her name was a rough sound in his throat, almost a plea.
She kept stroking him, thumb sliding over the head, watching his face. His eyes were closed, his jaw tight as his breath came in short, ragged bursts.
He pulled her hand away and pulled her up with him.
Turning her, he bent her over the edge of the bed.
She braced her hands on the mattress, her back arched as she looked over her shoulder.
He stepped in behind her, his hands settling on her hips as the head of his cock pressed against her.
She froze a little. Even though she knew she could take him, he still felt absolutely huge.
“Slow,” he murmured. “I’ll go slow. I promise, kelarris.”
She nodded, and he pushed inside, inch by inch. The stretch was intense, almost too much, and her breath left her in a long, shuddering gasp. He rocked gently, working himself into her little by little. Her body opened for him, taking him deeper until he was buried to the hilt.
He held still a moment, and she felt every inch of him, thick and hard, throbbing within her. Taking a breath, she dropped her head, getting used to the feel of him within her again.
Then he began to move. The rhythm was slow at first, a deep, slow thrust that hit nerve endings she didn’t know she had. Her knuckles whitened as she mangled the covers in her hands.
“Harder,” she demanded, her voice rough. “I won’t break.”
He growled, his grip tightening as his thrusts grew harder and faster. The air in the room filled with the sound of his hips slapping against her ass, punctuated by her soft moans and his deeper groans.
The pleasure started building again, coiling in her belly, but it wouldn’t crest. It just wound tighter and tighter, then stopped halfway. She whimpered in frustration.
“Shhh, I’ve got you,” he murmured as he pulled out.
Turning her over, he laid her back on the bed, bracing himself over her on his elbows, and looked into her eyes.
Face to face. Held like she was his. Like she was something precious and special.