I also wanted to reach that peak I was climbing fast. Too fast. I wanted this to last.
He slid a finger inside me. I whimpered, almost in tears. It was too much. So good. More.
“Shade!” I banged the wall with my hand to get his attention, and his head came up.
I knew I’d like everything that came after this, too, but right now was my turn to feel amazing. “I don’t want this part to be over so fast.”
His lips tilted up, and a warm puff of breath raced over my sensitive skin. Slowly, he slid a second finger inside me, and I felt the slight stretch.
“Baby, if there’s some fucked-up law that says you can’t come more than once, then I’m not following it.”
He went back to work, and I think my eyes actually rolled back in my head. The crest did come fast, hot and explosive, shattering me like a star at its death. There was definitely that scream he’d been talking about.
I went limp on the table, naked and out of breath. Little tremors still pulsed through me, making my body clench in places that wanted more.
“Fuck the Powers,” Shade said as he stripped off the rest of his clothes. “You’re my new goddess.”
I laughed. I didn’t care if he was blasphemous.
His eyebrows rose. “You think I’m kidding? Tess of the Table. I’m going to worship you all night.”
He scooped me up before I got a good look at his body and then strode toward his bedroom.
When he set me down on his bed, his fingers slid over the scars on my back. There weren’t many, and they weren’t that raised, but he still felt them and looked.
His countenance darkened. Even in the whole galaxy, there weren’t that many places where a person got whip scars, and I was pretty sure Shade knew that.
He didn’t ask about them, and I let out the breath I’d started holding. He usually pushed when he saw something he didn’t like. Tonight, though, I thought he had other things on his mind.
So did I. I got up on my knees and ran my hands all over him, loving the feel of his warm skin. He was strong and beautifully built, sculpted and muscled without being bulky or thick. There was a light dusting of dark hair on his chest, and I speared my fingers through it before running them up and over his shoulders and then down his arms to his hands. He was the most gorgeous thing I’d ever touched.
Shade let me explore him without trying to hurry me along. I loved that about him.
I had a sudden, burning desire to find out what his thighs felt like, so I did. Short, springy hair. Hot skin and solid muscle. My gaze dropped to his erection, my hand hovering near it.
“Can I?” I asked.
“Starshine, you can do anything you want to me.”
His words seemed to thump between my legs. The husky rumble in his voice made me burn even hotter. Down low, muscles clenched.
I wrapped my fingers around him, lightly squeezing. Shade’s nostrils flared, and his whole body tensed. I knew it was in a good way, and I stroked him from base to tip. He hardened even more, so smooth, steely, and appealing under my hand. But I needed more than this. I wanted him inside me. I wanted us to be joined. It was starting to feel as necessary as breath.
Putting one hand on his shoulder for balance, I slowly moved my leg over him, straddling him. Shade turned us so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed, his feet on the floor, stable. He kept his hands on my hips, letting me take the lead. My eyes on his, I rose up and guided him to my opening. I started to sink back down, but then stopped.
“Did you want protection?” I asked.
Shaking his head in answer, he curled his hips, penetrating me just a little. The look on his face when we came together was pure heat, and I felt scorched, inside and out.
I took my time lowering myself completely onto him. The stretch was unpleasant, and the fullness wasn’t comfortable at first, but then Shade wrapped his hand around the back of my head and drew my lips to his. He kissed me hard while he gently rocked his hips, and I forgot all about the initial discomfort. Soon, I started moving faster and sinking down farther. The intensity between us built, and everything