Total pages in book: 222
Estimated words: 213974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1070(@200wpm)___ 856(@250wpm)___ 713(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 213974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1070(@200wpm)___ 856(@250wpm)___ 713(@300wpm)
Then there was nothing between us. He moved into me, folding an arm around my waist. The feel of his flesh against mine, cool and hard against my belly, seared my skin. Holding me tightly, he carefully brought me to the ground, one hand bracing the back of my head as he laid me out on my lake’s damp, grassy bank. The tenderness in how he cared for me nearly had me coming undone, and it would have if not for the sight of him.
The image of him above me, his dark hair falling against the sharp angles of his cheeks, his lips parted to reveal the tips of his fangs, and his features stark with need were the embodiment of pure lust.
His eyes glowed a luminous silver, catching mine as the soft edges of his hair teased my skin. He nipped at my collarbone. “Keep those beautiful eyes on me,” he ordered in that smoky, shadowy voice of his. “I want you to see how much I enjoy the taste of your skin.”
My stomach dipped and curled. “I…I won’t look away.”
His grin was icy-hot, and his lips maddening as he kissed his way down the center of my chest and then up the swell of one breast. His head tilted, eyes full of wisps of whirling eather as he dragged the edge of one fang over the sensitive skin. He hesitated at the tip of my breast, his cool, teasing breath heightening my anticipation.
“Watch me,” he murmured.
Nothing in either realm could force me to look away. He flicked his tongue over my nipple, and my fingers pressed into the grass. I moved restlessly beneath him, shivering at the feeling of the rougher hair of his legs against mine.
Ash drew the budded flesh into his mouth, sucking deeply. He smiled as he wrung a soft cry from my lips.
I gripped his forearm, and he turned his attention to my other breast. The tip of his fang skated across my nipple. “Ash,” I moaned, hips twitching.
“Mmm.” He took me into his mouth and pressed his fingers into the flesh of my other breast, deftly rolling my nipple between his thumb and forefinger. “There are only a few things in this realm better than the sound of your moans.”
“Like…” My breath came out in short gasps as his hand left my breast and glided down. He shifted, giving me a glimpse of muscles that dipped and rippled over his lower stomach before he grasped my hip and wedged the sleek, muscled length of his thigh between mine. “Like what?”
“The sound you make when you come. It’s like a siren’s song. That ranks a little bit higher,” he said, the sensation of his cool lips against my hot skin tantalizing. “But you know what ranks even higher?”
Pressing my lips together, I shook my head.
He caught my nipple between his teeth, and I cried out again, rocking against him, riding his thigh.
His tongue soothed away the wicked sting. “Your voice,” he said.
I was panting. “My voice?”
“Your voice,” he confirmed, pressing his thigh against the damp heat between mine. “It’s soft yet strong. Confident.”
“Really?” I asked, not sure I sounded that soft or confident now.
Ash nodded. “Your voice is a balm.”
Oh, gods.
“Another thing that ranks higher? Your laugh. You don’t laugh enough, but when you do? It fucking stops me dead in my tracks.”
“Ash,” I whispered, chest swelling.
He groaned, gnashing his teeth together. “And that. The way you say my name. When you’re lost to passion, and all you can do is whisper my name.” He tipped his hips, pressing against me. “When you’re angry with me and yell it.”
I laughed. “Even then?”
“Especially then.” He slid down my body and dipped his tongue into my navel, causing my entire body to jerk as sharp, pulsing sensations darted through me. “But how you say it when you’re feeling sweet? When you’ve stripped off all the beautiful shields you encase yourself in?” Laces of eather streaked under the skin of his cheeks. His tongue and lips danced lower as his thigh shifted away from me. “When you say my name as you tell me you love me?”
I might’ve stopped breathing for a few moments as the seconds stretched out.
“There’s not a godsdamn sound better than that, Sera. That, I swear.” Eather pulsed in the veins of his jaw and throat. “Because it silences all the terrible shit I’ve had to do and see and lets me feel hope.”
His words were so powerful. They soothed my soul’s rough, brittle edges. “Ash.” I sat up, bringing my face close to his. “I love you.”
His large hand wrapped around my neck, the roughness of his fingertips scraping against my skin. A spark of energy surged from him and then through me. His kiss was a combination of dominance and vulnerability, a pull so powerful I forgot who I was for a moment. I felt it shattering barriers and undoing something deep within me.