As lovely as the sentiment was, she didn’t want to rely on him. It would create an imbalance in an already imbalanced relationship. When one person always gave and the other always took, the scales never evened out.
Now wasn’t the time to tackle such a serious issue, however. “How does your body feel?”
“Ready. I want you. I need you. Take me in your mouth or take me in your body. Just take me.”
Ecstasy...agony of her own...both unfurled deep, deep inside her. Perhaps she and Baden weren’t so imbalanced, after all. The powerful warrior was willing to beg for her. “Are you in pain?”
“Yes, but it’s different now. Better and worse at the same time.” He bolted to his feet. “I will have you,” he all but growled. He hooked his fingers on the lapels of her robe and gave a little push.
The material floated to the floor, leaving her naked. His gaze stroked over her from head to toe, both reverent and ablaze with lust, making her shiver, the intensity of his need feeding her own.
“Yes, you will have me.” She brushed her fingertips over his nipples, an urge to bite and scratch him—to leave no part of his body unmarked by her passion—assailing her. Astonishing her. She’d never before experienced such animalistic urges, but damn if she didn’t like them. “How do you want me?”
“In every way.” He gripped her by the waist, carried her to the bed and tossed her atop the mattress. As she bounced, he placed his knees on the edge and crawled toward her. “Spread your legs.”
She smiled at him, slow and seductive. “Are you saying it’s on till dawn, pekný?”
“I’m saying I’m finally taking what’s mine.”
20
“The only reason a woman should kick her man out of bed is to make love to him on the floor.”
—Amun, keeper of Secrets
BADEN ROSE TO his knees. Katarina was, without a doubt, the most erotic female in creation. With her naked body angled toward him, she leaned back on her elbows, thrusting up her breasts and drawing his attention to the dusky crests in the center.
Destruction purred his approval, issuing no demands. He wanted what Baden wanted. Perhaps even needed it.
Unable to resist her magnetic allure, he traced his gaze down the flat plane of her stomach to the tiny thatch of dark curls already wet with arousal. As commanded, she parted her mile-long legs and bent them at the knees, placing her feet outside his thighs, offering a full-frontal view of his new paradise.
“Do you like this? Want it?” The husky quality of her voice as she parroted his words back to him...she knew the power she wielded over him and reveled in it.
He couldn’t fault her. His shaft, already throbbing with want, wept at the tip. “Like is too mild a word.” He trembled. He ached. And he no longer cared about the pain of skin-to-skin contact. The pain of not having his hands on this woman had already proven far worse. He’d tossed and turned last night, a man haunted.
“I have to taste you.” He sounded drugged, his words slightly slurred.
“You already have,” she teased. But she wasn’t as calm as she appeared. Her nails dug into the mattress. “Or have you forgotten?”
As if he could ever forget. “This time, I want to tap straight from the source. Let me.”
Her eyelids lowered to half mast, too heavy to hold up. “Drink from me, then.”
He slowly threaded his fingers around her ankles to tug her toward him. She was his to devour. Their gazes held as he placed her feet on his shoulders, leaving her completely open to him.
He leaned in, anticipation burning him alive. Waiting...waiting until...she gasped his name, a benediction, and writhed her hips. Then he did it. Stroked his tongue over the heart of her pleasure. She cried out, her passion too great for her small body to contain. I did this, caused this.
Pride coursed through him, even as the sweet, sweet taste of her threatened to unman him. She was like candy, a nectar he would crave all the days of his life. An aphrodisiac. A torch to his discipline.
Destruction demanded more, and Baden was all too happy to obey. He dove in for another taste but ended up staying for the entire meal. He licked, sucked and nibbled, and even thrust his tongue deep inside her, mimicking sex. She writhed her hips faster, harder, grinding against his face, chasing his mouth whenever he lifted his head.