Chapter 20 #2
Alethea found one of the scars that ran along his chest and pressed her lips to it in a tender kiss.
She ran her touch down his broad sides, marveling at the sheer size of him.
And then she kissed another scar, and another, until she felt him tremble under her, his hands running up her back and into her hair.
She needed him to know the scars didn’t frighten her.
“Thoughts of you in this dress have consumed me the entire evening,” Nakir told her, a dark hunger in his voice.
The dress loosened with the release of one final clasp, and she reflexively held the fabric to her chest. “Let me see you, love,” he murmured, the use of the pet name enough to send her to pieces.
She bit her lip as he gently tugged the sapphire dress the rest of the way to the floor. She was wearing little else underneath, and he groaned when she was revealed to him. Her breath came in quick pants, chest rising and falling beneath his devouring gaze.
Then his eyes dropped to the new scar below her ribs—still pink, still tender, still hers to carry. He said nothing. He only lowered his head and traced the edge of it with his fingertips first, then his lips, slow and deliberate, as if he were making a promise to it.
“Now, I believe we were interrupted...”
She gasped at the memory of his head between her legs, and he shot back a devilish grin as he gently lifted her hips to the edge of the bed.
“Nakir,” she pleaded, though for what she had no idea as he placed a stockinged leg over his shoulder and dove between her thighs.
He worked his mouth diligently against her, searching for all the ways he could bring sounds from her lips.
Alethea fell apart quickly, climbing toward a height she’d never reached with a lover before.
She gasped again as he slid one finger inside of her, the temperature of the room rising.
Nakir seemed to thoroughly enjoy his work as he worshiped her body, eager to push her to that final climax.
“Thea,” he purred against her. “Let go. Come for me.”
Fuck.
She immediately obeyed, her entire body writhing as she succumbed to the building pleasure.
Her moans echoed off the walls as she scrambled for purchase in the plush duvet.
The orgasm that rocked through her had her seeing stars, arching her back.
The sound of his moan vibrating against her was the only thing that grounded her back to the moment.
It was sinful, the way she caught him watching her as she came down from the high, both panting. He revered her with his gaze, looking at her as if he were a starving man and she was his next meal.
“You are the most beautiful creature I have ever beheld,” he echoed from the Revel. “And you taste exquisite.”
Alethea’s head was still spinning when she reached forward to unbuckle his belt and push away the fabric of his trousers, searching for more of him. She shuddered as he grasped the back of her hair, forcing her to look at him through her haze of desire.
“Gods, you are perfect.” He traced her lips with a still glistening finger, and she instantly melted. He was the picture of desire. Shirtless, the outline of his arousal evident through his trousers. With his free hand, he helped her remove them.
Within seconds, he stood there before her completely undressed. She unashamedly took all of him in, heart racing as his need for her stood so proud against his abdomen.
Alethea slid off the bed to her knees in front of him. Nakir groaned at the sight of her there, shuddering when she ran her hands up his thighs before taking hold of him.
“Fuck, Thea. You don’t have to—”
But she’d already closed her lips around him, and when she peered up through pale lashes, she saw him give in to her. She was grateful this wasn’t her first time for everything.
Making the same deliberation he had, she took him into her mouth slowly at first, determining what made him release those glorious sounds and then continuing to chase them.
Nakir’s moans had her rubbing her knees together, hunting for any kind of friction as her own desire dripped down her thigh.
His breath hitched as she sought his pleasure, and she peered up at him again.
Nakir growled with something like impatience, lifting her easily off the ground and setting her back on the bed. “You are going to ruin me.” He moved them effortlessly to the center of the mattress, where he sat up against the headboard and pulled her onto his lap so she was straddling him.
They were completely exposed to each other. She felt him everywhere, in a way that had her squirming against him.
He took his time admiring her, so she took advantage of the opportunity to do the same. She ran her fingertips along his horns again, delighting when it elicited a low growl from him and relishing the way his hands tightened around her waist.
“I like them,” she breathed, running her nail down the ridges of one.
His smile was hazy as he held her, his hips shifting purposely underneath her. “Do you now?”
Alethea’s breath caught in her throat, her grip on one horn tightening in response. “Yes.”
Someone had once called him a monster, but she could no longer imagine him as anything less than what he was: a man with whom she was falling deeply in love. That should terrify her, and maybe when the haze cleared, it would.
“Have you done any of this before?” Nakir asked, his tone gentle but curious.
“Some of it, yes.”
“With that Delaney prick?” He wrinkled his nose at the thought.
“Yes,” she told him in a laugh. Reingard was the last person she wanted to be thinking about right now. She ran her fingers through his silky black hair, admiring his darkness—without and within. “I haven’t gone further than... this.”
“Never?”
“Never.”
She and Reingard had exchanged several scandalous letters and snuck off a few times to fool around together during her time in Azmarin. But that was years ago now, and she had never allowed herself close enough to anyone else.
Nakir pressed a languid kiss against her neck. “I am honored.”
Alethea whimpered, leaning into his warmth. “I’m assuming you have as well. Done all of this.”
“I have,” he told her truthfully, without apology. “Does that bother you?”
“No. I know you had a whole life before you met me.” She tried not to picture him with Xytharia, whose imposing figure was enough to leave her feeling painfully inadequate. But Nakir wouldn’t worship between her legs or call her exquisite unless he meant it.
“Sometimes, that’s hard to believe,” he confessed.
Her fingers trailed down to the amulet around his neck. “What’s this?”
“A reminder,” he told her softly.
She wanted to ask him more, to pry further, but the far-off look in his eyes told her this wasn’t a place he wanted to go right now. Nakir held her close to his chest, their bodies touching everywhere possible. He pressed a tender kiss to her forehead.
Desperate for more, she wrapped her arms around his neck, tilting her head to kiss him on the lips instead. He inhaled sharply into the kiss, finding her hips and rolling them against him. The air shifted once more, her heart racing as the length of him slid against her.
“Fuck,” Nakir moaned against her lips, breaking the kiss and letting his head roll back. “Tell me to stop,” he commanded breathlessly, sending a surge of desire through her.
“Don’t stop. Please.”
“Please what, love?”
Alethea moaned as he lined himself up to her but waited for the final word.
“Please fuck me.”
She expected him to press himself inside of her and ravish her the way his eyes promised, but he waited. When he spoke again, his voice was low and rough.
“Is that what you want me to do—to fuck you?”
She opened her eyes to look at him, so full of desire she could barely think straight. “No.”
“No. Tell me what you want.”
“I... I want you to make love to me.”
“Good.”
And then he guided her down onto him, sinking into her slowly.
The sheer girth of him stretched and filled her, the sensation strange but incredible beyond her wildest imagination.
Nakir lifted her again and then slowly brought her back down once more.
Each time, she took more of him; each time, he filled her completely.
Her back arched with this new form of pleasure, her hair falling behind her.
When she dared to open her eyes, she found him watching her with lust-fueled adoration.
Alethea kissed him, letting her tongue dance across his lip while he lifted her up again before he finally fully sheathed himself inside of her.