the bed. He wiped his wet mouth against a perfect calf and the feel of her skin stirred the need he’d denied for months. Denied for her.
“My turn,” he bit out, shifting both of her legs to one shoulder and taking himself in hand.
Pliant and drowsy-eyed, she touched his thigh with gentle fingers. He froze, wondering if she’d changed her mind now that the Novium was appeased, and whether he could stop if she had.
The look on Reed’s face made Eve’s eyes sting with unshed tears. The hand gripping her ankles was flexing convulsively and his throat worked as if he wanted to speak, but couldn’t.
“I want you,” she whispered. Inside me.. . with me.
Take me, then. He lunged forward with a snarl.
Her resultant cry was both pained and pleasured. She had forgotten how he felt inside her, so thick and long, nearly too much. Before she could catch her breath, he launched into a pounding rhythm, surging into her with a force that shoved her into the headboard. Placing her hands above her head, she pushed back when he pumped, shoving him so deep it ached in just the way she needed.
Today, she was as greedy for him as he’d always been for her. He was raw, without artifice, with none of the steely control Alec usually displayed. Reed climaxed immediately and unabashedly—his head thrown back, his neck taut, his abdomen rippling with working muscles. He roared as he came, his wings bursting free in an explosion of white, his thighs straining as he took his pleasure in her willing body.
Eventually he slowed, his chest heaving. He spread her legs, wrapping them around his hips and settling over her. His mouth moved over her face, kissing her, his gusting breaths a separate caress over her damp skin. One arm slid beneath her shoulder, anchoring her. The other hand cupped her breast, kneading. Beneath her calves, she felt his steely buttocks clench and release as he propelled himself into her. Slow, steady, and deep.
Reed—the ferocious one, a man known for his penchant for rough sex—was making love to her. The relief and. . . joy of being connected to someone brought tears to her eyes, but she blinked them back.
“Mmm. . .“ He purred like a contented panther. A drop of sweat dripped from his brow to her cheek and he licked it away, then nuzzled against her. “That was worth waiting for.”
His luxuriant, leisurely thrusts made her moan and arch upward. “Reed,” she gasped, shivering into a violent orgasm beneath him.
His smile held a hint of male triumph. His eyes were dark and intent, his biceps flexing as he rolled her nipple between talented fingertips. Against the backdrop of white feathers, Reed’s skin was golden, glistening with a fine sheen of perspiration that told her just how aroused she’d made him.
He pressed his lips to hers and whispered, “Now we can get started.”
***
Alec stood before the wall of windows in his office and ran an agitated hand through his sweat-soaked hair. The air smelled of sex and fury, as did his skin. His shirt was torn and wet. He yanked it over his head and tossed it aside, then shoved down the boxer briefs he’d lowered only enough to free his erection.
His stomach roiled and he found himself wishing he could vomit. He felt violated, as if he’d raped his own body.
Want you inside me. . . with me. Eve’s breathless voice combined with the dark ones in his head to goad him into an act he regretted more than the first time he’d killed his brother.
He could barely stomach looking at the woman sprawled on the floor behind him, knowing he’d betrayed Eve with her. Izzie had started out by goading him, spurring his lust and anger, relishing his single- minded focus on rutting. She might have thought it similar to the way he’d been with her before.
That changed as the darkness overtook him. He’d merely been the vessel used to carry out the act and at some point, she realized that. Surprise had hit her first, then fear, followed by anger. In the end, the pleasure overwhelmed the rest, but Alec doubted she would seek him out for sex again. He prayed to God that he would be able to resist her if she did.
I have to gain control of whatever the ascension awakened in me.
Naked, he moved to where Izzie lay sleeping and bent to pick her up. She whimpered and rolled away from him, exhausted