the one to make the next move,” she’d advised with a cheeky smile. “Give him the illusion of control, even if ye are the one in charge.”
The urge to laugh rose up within Aila. Her nerves were getting the better of her. She wasn’t in charge of this situation in the slightest.
However, reminding herself of Fyfa’s advice, Aila let the moment draw out, and when she finally answered him, her voice was low but firm. “Aye.”
XIX
WANT
CASSIAN STARED BACK at Aila, noting the tension upon her face, the gleam in her smoke-grey eyes.
She was lying. Aila’s infatuation was clear. She wasn’t going to admit it to him, but she believed herself in love.
He should send her away. He certainly shouldn’t have let her into his bed-chamber.
But now she stood before him clad only in a flimsy shift that showed every curve, her full lips parted with want. The scent of rose enveloped him, blending with the sweet smell of her clean skin.
His groin started to ache, and hunger tightened his chest, making it hard to breathe.
He needed to rip open the door and order her out, and yet he didn’t move.
As if sensing his indecision, Aila stepped close to him. And like she had the evening before, she raised her hand to his chest, splaying it over his heart.
But this time no clothing separated them, and the feel of her palm against his skin seared him like a brand.
Cassian sucked in a shocked breath.
It still surprised him that so shy a lass could arouse such a response in him. Aila was painfully inexperienced. Yet there was a sensuality to her that triggered a primal response within him. It made Cassian lower his shields. It made him cast aside everything he’d worked hard to keep at arm’s length for so long.
Aila made him want.
She’d be able to feel his thundering heart under her palm. She’d bewitched him. He literally couldn’t move, couldn’t speak.
With her other hand, she gently traced the lines of his chest, her fingertips sliding across the Eagle mark above his right nipple.
Her touch left a trail of fire in its wake.
He had to send her away.
“I’m yers, Cassian,” she whispered. Only the faint tremor in her voice gave her nervousness away. But the lack of polish to her seduction, her vulnerability, made aching need spiral up inside him.
He groaned a curse and placed his hands over hers, and then, with the blood roaring in his ears, he bent his head and kissed her.
She tasted incredible.
A heartbeat later, he let go of her hands and pulled Aila hard against him, his hands cupping her face as his mouth ravaged hers. She kissed him back with equal ferocity. The night prior, there had been a slight reserve in her; he’d sensed that she’d never been kissed before.
But now she was ready for him. Her tongue danced with his, exploring, caressing, tasting—and when she gently bit his lower lip and dug her fingernails into his upper arms, the last of Cassian’s own resolve snapped.
He reached down and ripped the shift off her. The sound of rending fabric filled the bed-chamber, but neither of them noticed or cared.
Now Cassian had moved, he couldn’t stop touching her.
Hades burn him to cinders, she smelt good. The scent of rose wreathed around them, and the taste of her skin, as his mouth trailed down her neck, turned his hunger into a rampaging beast.
Picking Aila up, he carried her over to the narrow bed and lay her down upon it.
Seeing her laid out there—her pale, shapely limbs glowing in the firelight; her pert breasts straining toward him, their hard, pink nipples begging to be sucked—Cassian caught his breath.
Aila stared up at him, her full lips swollen from his wild kisses, her walnut hair spread out in waves across the pillow.
He had to have this woman.
Cassian unlaced his braies and then pushed them down over his hips, letting them fall to the floor.
He watched her gaze widen, fastening upon his erection. Glancing down, Cassian saw that his rod was swollen and hard. Such a sight would frighten many virgins, but Aila stared at it as if she’d never seen anything so wondrous.
The hunger on her face made lust barrel into him. The wanting was so fierce now that he felt maddened by it.
Cassian went to her, crawling over Aila and kissing her once more. The kiss was wet and desperate now—their tongues, lips, and teeth clashing as hunger took them both. And all the while, his hands were