"Beautiful," he murmured. "So small. So perfect."
Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, tracking hot paths into her hair. She didn't even know why she was crying. Only that she'd been holding on so tight for so long, and he was making her let go.
He kissed the tears away with a low murmur, his lips warm against her temples. Then his mouth traced lower. The line of her jaw. The sensitive skin beneath her ear. The column of her throat where her pulse fluttered wild against his lips.
He took his time. That was what undid her.
She expected him to rush. Expected the same frantic pace as their kisses, all heat and desperation. But he moved down her body slowly, like they had all the time in the world. His mouth found her collarbone, teeth scraping lightly before his tongue soothed the sting. Lower, to the swell of her breast, where he paused just to breathe her in.
"Kirr..." His name came out shaky. Needy.
"I've got you."
Closing his mouth over her nipple, he sucked, and her back arched off the bed. The sensation shot straight down between her thighs, sharp and electric. He didn't let up, working her with his tongue while his hand found her other breast, rolling the peak between his fingers until she was squirming beneath him.
Her hands started to drop, reaching for him.
"No." He didn't even look up. Just that single word, and she froze. Put her arms back above her head. Her whole body trembled with the effort of staying still while he took her apart.
He kissed his way down her stomach. Pressed his lips to the soft curve of her belly that she'd always hated, the part of herself she tried to hide. But he kissed it like it was precious. Like every inch of her was something to be savored.
When he settled between her thighs and pressed them wider, she tensed.
"Kirr, you don't have to?—"
"I know." He looked up at her, golden eyes dark with hunger. "I want to. I want to taste every part of you."
Then his mouth was on her, and she stopped thinking entirely.
His tongue traced through her folds, slow and deliberate, learning what made her gasp and what made her moan. He found the bundle of nerves at the apex and circled it, teasing, never quite giving her enough pressure. She tried to lift her hips, to chase the sensation, but his hands clamped down on her thighs and held her still.
"Be still," he growled, the vibrations against her slick flesh making her tense. "Take what I give you."
She whimpered. Actually whimpered. Shit… she'd never made that sound in her life.
He rewarded her with more pressure, sucking lightly while he slid one thick finger inside her. The stretch made her clench around him, desperate for more. He added a second finger, curling them to find a spot inside her that made stars burst behind her eyes.
His mouth and his hand worked together, building her toward something she felt gathering at the base of her spine. She was shaking now, trembling, her hands fisted in the sheets above her head because if she let go she'd grab his hair and try to take control, and she couldn't, she couldn't?—
"That's it," he murmured against her. "Let go, kelarris. I've got you."
She shattered as her climax ripped through her without warning, her body convulsing around his fingers while his mouth kept working her through it. She might have screamed. She definitely sobbed, the pleasure so intense it almost hurt.
When the aftershocks finally faded, she lay boneless on the mattress, gasping for air. He kissed the inside of her thigh, her hip, her stomach, working his way back up her body while she tried to remember how to breathe.
He shed his own clothes then, tossing the heavy leather uniform aside. When he was finally bare, her breath caught all over again.
He was magnificent. Muscles corded under bronze skin, scars weaving stories across his torso that she wanted to learn. And when she looked down...
Her eyes widened. Oh god, he was huge. Thick and hard and already leaking at the tip.
"Kirr," she breathed, a nervous flutter starting in her belly. "I don't know if..."
"You will," he promised, moving over her again. He braced his weight on his forearms, caging her in. "I've got you. I won't hurt you. Trust me."
He kissed her again, and she could taste herself on his tongue. His hand moved down between their bodies, spreading the slickness from her orgasm along his length. She felt the blunt head of him press against her entrance and tensed.
"Breathe," he commanded. "Look at me."
