fingers inside me, shattered my vision. Release crashed around me, pulsating through to my limbs and roaring in my ears. He stayed there while I shuddered around him, holding his head in place so I could ride out every current of ecstasy.
When it was over, shudders softened to light tremors, he pulled his fingers from me and slowly worked his lips up the expanse of my stomach as he stood. I should have been satiated. Pleased. And I was—but I wanted more. How could I not? In the low lighting of his room, his ink-black eyes glistened with such heavy desire that my whole body trembled. His jaw ticked as he studied my curves, and his hands traveled across my breasts before dropping to my hips.
I didn’t want to waste another moment in this stupid game of cat-and-mouse we’d been playing. Everything was on the table now. I knew of his curse, my feelings weren’t strong enough to trigger it, and all he had do to was keep his emotions in line. We could do this. Launching from the wall, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his lips to mine. He tasted of honey and of me. Of my release. I never wanted to forget that flavor. His fingers dug into my sides, and his mouth parted to let me in. In. I needed him inside me.
Tearing at his clothes, I pushed him toward the bed. He lifted his arms to the ceiling and I yanked his tunic from his body, pausing at the sight of a small black scythe on the inside of his wrist. There was something so delicate and yet so brutal about those sharp lines. I ran my fingers over it, feeling the grooves of his veins masked beneath the ink. I wanted to unearth all his stories. He touched my spirit without even trying.
I placed a soft kiss on the tattoo. Then my gaze flickered to Noc’s unending eyes.
Something unreadable flashed over his face, and he pulled his hand away. Fingers trembling, he traced the length of my jaw before cupping my chin and enveloping me in a heated kiss. Whatever that look had been, it was lost in the wake of his tongue. In the way we somehow exchanged thoughts and words with our bodies alone.
I couldn’t move my hands fast enough, and he chuckled against my lips as I grappled with his pants. “Having a hard time?”
The buttons finally gave, and I let his tailored black trousers and drawers hit the floor. “Not anymore. But it seems like you are.”
Desire thrummed deeply through my bones as I gripped his erection, and Noc bit back a curse. Dropping to the floor, I teased the tip of his hardness with a quick flick of my tongue.
“Gods,” he murmured. The look he gave me was so incredibly disarming that my heart came to a standstill. So much longing and heartache and something way beyond my grasp. It threw me and hooked me at the same time, reeled me back in and anchored me to his presence.
Physical attraction—nothing more. I wasn’t sure I believed myself, but I wasn’t about to stop now. Taking him fully into my mouth, I stroked his shaft while swirling my tongue. Noc groaned and rocked his hips in time with my hand.
“Leena.” It was more of a moan than anything, but it set my heart racing. Ever since Wynn, I’d kept sex casual. I could do it again. Keep it light. No emotions, just fun. Release. But Noc was different… Everything about us hinted at something more permanent…
I couldn’t allow myself to consider that.
“Up.” He pulled away and snuck his hands under my arms, yanking me to my feet. Gripping my hips, he spun me, splaying me across his bed. Silk sheets caressed my back as I stretched out, impatiently waiting for Noc to join me.
He simply stared. Eyes roamed the expanse of my body, jolting all my nerve endings with nothing more than his gaze.
Gods only knew what he’d do to me, what he was fantasizing about behind the glittering blackness of his eyes. Fluid and tense at the same time, he moved over me, barely restrained kisses leaving scorched skin in their wake.
“You’re so beautiful.”
I traced my thumb along his scar. “So are you.”
He leaned into the bed on one forearm, and the pressure of his erection against my clit was wondrously unbearable. I wriggled beneath him, begging for more. Gently, he pressed against my folds, and