“Don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep.” Adrian pinned his lip down, then brought his index finger up to pinch it. Held between his thumb and his finger, Adrian tugged. There wouldn’t have been much pain, but the move was suggestive enough that he knew Sterling would understand itsmeaning.
It was a warning of thingstocome.
Sterling did not back down. He tugged his head to the side, but in the next second his cheek met Adrian’s hand, and he nuzzled against it. “I don’t say anything Idon’tmean.”
“And I’m going to make youregretthat.”
Adrian leaned forward and tilted his head to the side. His lips met Sterling’s, the contact made all the more stunning by the deprivation of their sight. In the dark, all they could count on wastouch.
So Adrian put his hands togooduse.
The kiss cemented. Sterling kissed him hard, and Adrian kissed back with equal desperation. His hands trailed down Sterling’s body, over his shoulders and along his chest, until he found Sterling’s hardened nipples. For a little while, Adrian pinched and stroked, never pushing Sterling beyond the point of pleasure. The cock beneath him was now hardened in full, and it pressed against Adrian’s ass as if begging to beletin.
It wasn’t going to bethateasy.
Before Adrian could let that happen, he needed to let go of his guilt, his hurt, and his poisonous thoughts. He needed to cloud his mind with desire and overshadow his weakness withpower.
He needed to takecontrol.
The fingers pinching Sterling’s nipple tightened, and Adrian twisted one to the side. Sterling gasped, but his pain was muffled bytheirkiss.
So Adrian crankedagain.
Like this, he owned Sterling. With a single flick of his wrist, he could bring the most powerful man in The Shepherd to hisknees.
The exchange of power wasintoxicating.
“Hurt for me,” Adrian whispered through the kiss. His teeth clacked against Sterling’s, but it only made him want more. “Take it. Take all of it. Take it insideofyou.”
The only response was the broken moan Sterling fed into his mouth, hitched with pain only seconds later as Adrian pinched and tugged at his nipple. Sterling’s body arched toward him. He shook. He stifled his pain through clenchedteeth.
But still, it wasn’tenough.
Adrian broke the kiss and released Sterling’s nipples. As Sterling struggled to catch his breath, Adrian pushed him down onto the bed and held him in place with a flattened palm. Through the darkness, he groped for Sterling’s thigh, and when he found it, his hand made its way upward until it found the leg of Sterling’s silk boxers. Adrian tugged them out of the way until the elastic lay loose around Sterling’s knees. Boxers gone, Adrian’s hand resumed itscourse.
Sterling’s ballswerehis.
“Look what I’ve found,” Adrian whispered. He palmed both of them at once, allowing his fingers to roam over Sterling’s heated skin. “What do you think I want to do with these,Sterling?”
The only feedback Adrian received was a sharpinhalation.
Adrian’s fingers tightened, but not enough to cause pain. With a hum of contentment, he imagined the look on Sterling’s face. The golden-haired god dethroned, features contorted in agony and excitement, eyes squeezed shut and lips sealed tight. How beautiful he’d look with the muscles in his neck strained. The red in his cheeks would spread to the tips of his ears, maybe even down hischest…
“You have a safe word.” Adrian bit down on his lip, eager to share his pain with Sterling, then do away with it entirely. They were so close. “If it’s too much, if you’re hurting and you really want me to stop, all you have to say is ‘fern,’ and I’ll bring youbackdown.”
“Okay.” Sterling’s voicewavered.
Adrian let his head fall back. A smile bloomed across his lips. Gradually, his hand tightened, and with it began the end of his internal turmoil—the only solution that had ever let him forget who he was, even if just for a little while. “Then let’sbegin.”
18
Sterling
Pain.
Searing, agonizing,excruciatingpain.
Sterling’s mouth fell open, and he lifted his hips to meet the hand that slowly clamped around his balls. The attempt was of little use. As soon as he perked his hips, Adrian changed tactics, carefully tugging the loose skin so it was taut. The reason he did what he did was clear—if Sterling chose to fall back onto the bed, he’d hurt himself in theprocess.
