"Yours."
The sound he makes—low, feral, satisfied—vibrates through my whole body.
He yanks at my flannel—his flannel—ripping it open, buttons scattering. I gasp and he's already moving to my jeans, popping the button, dragging them down my legs. My underwear goes with them. I don't even have time to feel exposed before he's looking at me—all of me—like a predator looks at prey. Like he wants to devour me whole.
"Fucking perfect." His voice is a growl. "Every inch of you."
Then he stops.
Just... stops. Hands braced on either side of my hips, eyes raking over me, drinking me in. Not touching.
"Diesel—"
"No." The word is gravel. "You made me wait. Days of watching you walk around in my shirt. Days of smelling you on my sheets. Days of getting hard every time you bent over or laughed or looked at me with those fucking eyes."
His hand hovers over my breast. Close enough that I can feel the heat radiating from his palm. Not touching.
"You have any idea what that was like? Wanting something this badly and not being able to have it?"
I whimper. Actually whimper. Try to arch up into his hand.
He pulls back. Keeps that maddening distance.
"Now you're going to find out."
His mouth drops to my neck, but it's not the devouring kiss I expect. It's slow. Deliberate. His lips trace a path down my throat while his hands stay planted on the mattress. Not touching anything but my neck.
"Diesel, please—"
"Please what?" His breath is hot against my collarbone. "Tell me what you want."
"Touch me."
"Where?"
"Everywhere. Anywhere. Just—"
"Say my name."
"Diesel."
"My real name."
My breath catches. The one he told me that night. The one no other human knows.
"Ravgor."
The sound he makes isn't human. A growl that starts deep in his chest and tears out of him, primal and raw. His whole body shudders.
"Again." The word is wrecked. Desperate.
"Ravgor." I give him every syllable. Watch it wreck him.
"That's what I want to hear." His mouth moves lower, between my breasts, not touching them yet. "I want to hear you moan my name—my real name. I want to watch you writhe. I want you to feel exactly what I felt—wanting something so much it fucking aches."
His lips brush the curve of my breast. So close to my nipple. Not close enough.
"This is payback, Eden. For every cold shower. Every sleepless night. Every time I had to walk away from you beforeI did something stupid." His tongue traces a circle around my nipple without touching it. "You're going to beg before I give you what you want."
