hope of restraint was shattered by her response.
He groaned, drinking deeply of her lips as his hands ran an impatient path down her back until he reached the edge of her pants.
Still it wasn’t enough.
He needed more.
Slipping his hands beneath the waistband of her pants, Ariyal peeled them off her legs and tossed them aside, pausing only long enough to kick aside his own jeans before he slowly sank to his knees.
Jaelyn made a faint sound of surprise, but Ariyal was too enthralled by the sight of her spread before him to notice.
She was exquisite.
Perfect.
And, unable to resist temptation, he leaned forward to worship the very heart of her femininity with his tongue and teeth.
He wrapped his arms around her slender thighs, urging them farther apart as he relished the slick satin beneath his tongue. She tasted of cool shadows and stormy nights.
A heady combination that could easily become addictive.
Her faint moan whispered on the air, and Ariyal glanced upward to catch a glimpse of her as she gripped the edge of the table, her back bowed and her head tossed back in blatant pleasure.
Yes.
This was what drove men to conquer empires and destroy civilizations. It made reasonable men commit murder.
This exquisite, wondrous madness.
And he was lost, he inwardly accepted, capturing her clitoris between his teeth. She gave a keening cry as he tormented her tiny knot of pleasure. The sound echoed deep within Ariyal, stirring that primitive, possessive part of him that he wanted to ignore.
Mine ...
The potent word echoed through his mind, branding across his heart.
With a low growl he forced away the dangerous thought, concentrating on Jaelyn’s pleasure. He wasn’t going to ruin the moment.
Not when he couldn’t be certain it would ever come again.
As if to reward his dedication to his current task, Jaelyn moaned, her fingers plunging into his hair to pull it free of the braid. He gave her a last, lingering lick before he was off his knees and standing between her legs.
Grabbing her hips, he scattered heated kisses across her cheek.
“Are you ready for me, Jaelyn?” he breathed.
Her hands skimmed downward, grasping his cock and angling it toward her waiting body.
“I’m ready,” she said with an edge of desperation in her voice, her fingers stroking him from the tip of his erection to the thick base. “Please, Ariyal.”
Ariyal hissed as he battled back the looming orgasm. He wasn’t ready to lose himself in oblivion.
“Tell me, Jaelyn. Tell me you want me,” he commanded as he watched her eyes glaze with need.
“I already told you,” she rasped.
“I need to make sure it’s crystal clear between us,” he breathed, leaning down to brush his lips over hers. “I won’t be accused of forcing you.”
Her arms lifted to encircle his neck, her eyes glittering like jewels in the moonlight.
“No man could force me.”
“Then say the words.”
She cursed, but, tilting back her head, she met his stubborn gaze.
“I. Want. You.”
“Ariyal.”
“Ariyal.” Her nails raked down his back. “Happy?”
“I intend to be,” he muttered.
Sliding his hands over her breasts, he molded the firm mounds, lowering his head to taste the puckered tip. She quivered, her legs circling his hips as she urged him to put an end to their torment.
“Ariyal ... dammit.”
He chuckled, smugly proud of his ability to reduce her to begging. Then her fingers tightened around his cock and his laughter became a low groan of need.
Bloody hell. He was close.
Too close to continue his teasing.
“You win,” he muttered, his hands smoothing down the curve of her waist before slipping between her legs, his fingers closing over hers to guide his aching cock to her welcoming entrance.
“Always,” she breathed, her determination to have the last word ruined as she gasped in pleasure as he stroked deep into her body.
He gripped her hips, his features tight with retrained need.
“Hold on, Jaelyn,” he said. “This might be a bumpy ride.”
She flashed her fangs, moving her hands over his chest as she tightened her muscles to clamp around his cock, which was buried to the hilt.
“Bring it on, fairy.”
Barely recalling how to breathe, Ariyal claimed her lips in a possessive kiss, pulling out until he was once again poised at her entrance. Jaelyn muttered low words of protest, reaching down to grab his ass.
His soft laughter echoed through the empty house. “Slower is sweeter, Jaelyn.”
Sucking his lower lip into her mouth, she dug her nails into his flesh.
“Do you want me to beg?”
He eased back inside her, a thin sheen of sweat coating his body as he buried himself