He tugs on one nipple, then moves to the other, rolling it beneath the fabric until pleasure and pain dance with each other. I didn’t even know this is something I enjoy, because I’m so used to pretending and performing for clients that I no longer know my own body. In Gideon’s hands, I’m rediscovering myself.
I’m learning that I havewantedfor years, for decades. That, for all the good luck my collar has brought me, it has never sated the hunger that grows and gnaws inside me. That pretty jewels and a queen’s magic can never replace who I am inside. That in his deep eyes I see myself as I truly am, and I’m ready to unleash her.
As much as I want to have all of him now, I take my time, slowly unbuttoning his shirt and letting it fall to the floor before my fingers roam the planes of his muscular arms.
I intend to memorise every inch of his beautiful body. He must be thinking the same as he peels away the golden silk to reveal my breasts. His hands graze my skin, soft but certain – an experienced lover.
It’s been so long since someone took care of me, since I wasn’t the one doing all the work.
An ache builds in my bones – they’re kindling stacked for an inferno.
Gideon breaks our kiss to trail his lips down my neck, tugging my chemise lower still. He scrapes his teeth along the edge of the collar before moving to my bare breast. His pulse throbs and I’m so aware of how vulnerable he’s made himself to me, and he doesn’t even know it.
He’s not the only one vulnerable.
I gasp as his tongue swirls around a hardened bud. His knees hit the floor with a thud, and he looks up at me, his eyes anchoring on mine. My chest is a raw wound of need and desire andhonourthat I’m the one he’s chosen to kneel for, that I might be worthy of him.
I moan, tangling my fingers through his hair and arching into him as he sucks me into his hot mouth. No matter how much he gives me, no matter how he splinters his chest open to reveal more of his gooey human heart, it will never be enough. I’m lying to myself that I will be able to give him up.
He’s human, he’s human, he’s human…
What of it?whispers the evil, monstrous side of me.So what if it’s forbidden by Upyr law? Where were they when you were taken against your will? Did they help you when you were broken? Why care for their laws when this is something you want?
If I offer him the Kiss, he may choose it.
I choose him. Iwanthim.
I don’t want tonight to end.
Gideon takes his time with each nipple, making sure to give them equal attention before his lips trail down my stomach, pushing my chemise down to the floor as he moves along my body. He remains kneeling, a supplicant at his altar. Gently, he pushes me back onto the bed, his kisses trailing fire over my thighs as they near the aching need between my legs.
Men rarely go down on me. When they do, it’s to satisfy their egos. They get off knowing they can make me crazy. I’ve perfected the art of wriggling beneath their furious lappings and clamping my thighs around their faces as I scream through a fake orgasm. Once, I forgot mystrength and made a client pass out. Jacques dumped him in the street, where he’d have assumed his wretched state was from the absinthe he’d imbibed. (I kept his coin. I am a businesswoman.)
But usually, my pleasure is not even a distant thought. They expect me to blow their tiny dicks and if they don’t finish then I have to ride it and pretend I enjoyed it. Most of the time I do – there are far worse jobs on this earth than fucking a man who worships you – but I’m there for the coin.
Gideon is different.
He lays me back on the bed and slides an embroidered pillow beneath my head so I can watch. I think he likes me watching. His eyes never leave mine. They’re dark as night and hooded with desire.
He kneels between my legs, his warm hands pressing into my knees, driving my legs apart and holding me in place. His breath kisses my core, warm puffs of wanting as his restraint thins. Fire licks me from the inside.
With deft fingers, Gideon pushes aside my silk underthings before sliding his tongue over me.
His tongue is molten sin.
I gasp. When he strokes my clit again, I have no control over the way I writhe or the curses that fall from my lips. He laughs against me as he devours me like a starving man at a banquet.
I rake my fingers through his golden hair as my arousal perfumes the air, mingling with the metallic scent of his blood to create a libertine bouquet. His tongue writes poetry against me. Everything about his touch has my body on fire, and when he adds a finger along with his expert tongue, I buck my hips against his mouth, desperate for more.
“Did you want something,ma petite déesse?” he murmurs, raising his other hand to play with a nipple, rolling it between his fingers while he curls his other finger inside me, stroking over a spot that makes my body feel like it’s seen the sun for the first time in decades.
Gasping, I buck my hips closer to his awaiting mouth.
“I’m afraid that I can’t quite hear you,” he murmurs, lifting his head so I can see that cheeky grin spreading across his features. “You’ll need to speak up.”
“Gideon, you b-b-b—” I gasp, the insult not quite able to slip past my lips as he kisses hot air against my needy flesh.
“Gideon, you beautiful, generous, magnificent specimen of manhood,” he finishes for me. “May I…?”
