“You’re the least selfish person I know,” Cassia said, as their mouths parted. Aevrin laughed, low in his throat.
“Not sure you’d think that, if you knew the way I wanted you,” he whispered. One hand held her upright as the other roamed slowly down her back. His wandering hand traced around the plump curve of her thigh and inched up the side of her waist. “I want you all to myself.”
“Then take me,” Cassia whispered. “All of me.”
He pulled back a moment to look her in the eyes, his expression hard with need. And then Aevrin’s mouth claimed hers. His fingers slid over the waistline of her trousers. She wrapped her arms around his neck.
She didn’t really want the hassle of going somewhere; it was cold out, and late, and Aevrin wasright there. Everyone was downstairs.
And she trusted him.
Cassia slid her hands back around his neck. Aevrin kissed her deeply, his tongue sliding into her mouth. Her rancher was already hard. She could feel him pressing against her. Reaching down, she squeezed the shape of his cock through his leather trousers. Aevrin pushed against her instantly, into the cup of her hand. His own fingers tightened around her, one hand slipping beneath her tunic and skimming up her bare spine. Her whole body awoke, coming alight at his touch on her skin.
He bent, swept her up into his arms, and carried her to the bed. Cassia couldn’t help but grin as Aevrin tossed her down, her head landing on the soft pillows. He climbed on top of her, one knee between her legs, his hands on either side of her face, and stared down at her hungrily.
One kiss. Then Aevrin rose to his knees and shrugged off his jacket, tossing it to the side. She stared up at the man kneeling over her, and slowly hooked one ankle over his lower leg. Aevrin was in a short-sleeved black tunic now, the fabric tight aroundhis muscular arms. He pushed back his mass of dark curls and stared down at her, eyes roaming every inch of her body.
Cassia propped herself up and started tugging at her own shirt to get it off. Aevrin made atsknoise. Placing his hand in the middle of her chest he gently pushed her back down onto the bed. He came down with her, so that he was no longer kneeling, but caging her on all fours.
“I want to undress you myself.” His voice was low and quiet. He lowered himself to his elbows, his weight pressing against her. Pressing between her legs. His body pinned her down on the softness of the bed. Aevrin was everywhere; she closed her eyes as his mouth found hers, his lips gentle as they caressed her own. She grabbed his shoulders and clung to him.
Aevrin’s face dipped lower, his breath hot. Everywhere his mouth pressed blistered with desire. Moments ago she’d been so terrified. Now he eclipsed that, making her forget anything else existed. His lips skimmed her chin, then found her throat. Cassia couldn’t help the small noise that escaped her lips as his teeth grazed down her neck and to the collar of her shirt. He shifted his weight onto one arm as the other hand slid slowly up her thigh, then beneath her shirt. Cassia lifted her body up against Aevrin’s as his hand roamed up her back again.
He tugged her briefly upright against him and pulled the shirt over her head; Cassia maneuvered herself out of it. Before she could lie back down his hands were wrapped behind her, feeling for the buttons of her brassiere. He twisted each until it slipped open, then pulled it forward and off her body.
Back down to the mattress.
“You’re so beautiful,” Aevrin whispered to her. And then his lips were back on her neck. She wanted him to squeeze her breasts, to fondle them; but he didn’t touch them, frustratingly. His mouth was on her shoulder now, small kisses and breathsagainst her skin; the press of his tongue hot against her flesh. She arched up against him again, her skin burning against his shirt; the sensitive tips of her breasts scraping black linen.
Aevrin inched his body lower, slowly tracing her clavicle. Cassia gasped as he finally reached up to cup one of her heavy breasts. His mouth paused above her body, eyes drunk with lust as he studied her. Then his gaze fluttered shut, and she could see his dark lashes brushing the top of his cheekbone. His mouth closed around her nipple, teasing the peaked flesh. And then his tongue swirled around the tip of her breast.
Aevrin groaned against her, his hand squeezing tight. He lifted his lips and brought them to the other breast, exposing her to a chill rush of air after the wet heat of his mouth. He sucked hard as Cassia fisted her hands into his thick hair, closing her eyes and then opening them again to stare down at his adorations.
Slowly, Aevrin moved his attention lower. He shifted backwards, his mouth pressing one kiss to the rounded flesh of her stomach, then another. His hand traced the waistband of her trousers, inciting a shiver of eager anticipation from her.
“Your shirt’s still on,” Cassia whispered. “That’s hardly fair.”
Aevrin smiled up at her. The view of him low on her body, his lips still grazing her skin, made her inhale sharply, her whole body tightening in pleasure. She ached for him between her legs. He rose back up to his knees and slowly peeled his tunic off, revealing the hard lines of his body inch by inch. He was beautiful, each muscle built by the very land he lived on.
Then he tossed his shirt across the room, where the jacket had gone. For a moment she admired him in the cut of the room’s low light; his broad shoulders and sharp collarbone. The way he was looking back at her, the expression on his face softand desirous all at once. The pronounced v of muscle sinking below the waistband of his trousers.
Aevrin stepped back off the bed and dragged her to its edge by her hips. Cassia edged down until her legs hung over the end.
His pants strained over his erection so tightly it looked uncomfortable. And then Aevrin, still standing, slowly dragged the laces of Cassia’s trousers loose. Cassia lifted her hips up as he tugged the garment down, then off, peeling the tight fabric from her soft, curvaceous body.
And then her underpants. His fingers slowly—so slowly, no rush, savoring every moment—slipped beneath the waistband and pulled those down and off, too. Last were her stockings; she giggled as he peeled one, then the other, off, and he looked back at her with a smile.
And then she was naked, and lying on the edge of Aevrin Riveker’s bed, her legs hanging to the floor. Aevrin stared down at her, his mouth going slack as he drank her in. She was doing the same. Cassia bit her lip as he reached down and squeezed his own erection through his trouser, his eyes still roaming her body.
“I’m far more naked than you,” she observed, still lying back and luxuriating in how handsome the shirtless cowherd looked. Lifting one leg, she hooked an ankle behind his muscled calf and tugged.
“I like it that way,” Aevrin whispered back, his voice rough despite its hushed tone. His hand was still palming his full cock over the trousers.
“Take those off,” she suggested.
“Mm. Not yet.”
Slowly, he knelt on the rug and hooked one of her wide thighs over his shoulder. Cassia bit back a gasp as Aevrin turned his head to kiss the sensitive skin of her inner thigh. Her wholebody quivered in expectancy, the slightest touch driving straight through her. Needing something to hold, she dug her fingers into the bedspread and squeezed her hands tight around the fabric.
