Her words were impish and much livelier than when he last left her, and Acacius couldn’t help but feel partially responsible for her change in mood.
“It wasmymove, remember?” She said it with a bite to her tone that only amplified his arousal.
He took another daring step until his shin met the toe of her shoe. “Oh, I recall vividly.”
Acacius looked down, still unable to see through her nebulous shroud, but from the height of her resting foot, her legs were crossed. She sat on his altar, and a flush of warmth pooled in his core imagining what she looked like doing so—her long black strands grazing the tops of her thighs, slouched back in an unbothered demeanor, lulling him with her irritating confidence and lethal, vacant gaze.
Acacius dropped to his knees, gently removing her suede heel.
Marina’s breath caught, like the quick dip of a breeze, barely audible if not for his heightened hearing. The challenge to unravel her, piece by piece, kindled within him.
He dragged his lips up the top of her bare foot to her ankle. Gooseflesh spread across her skin. “Release your darkness from my realm, Rina, or I will unleash my Olethros on you.”
“Are there teeth behind that threat?” She bent her knee and lifted her leg, deepening the slit of her gown for Acacius to leave wet kisses up to her thigh.
He paused, fully intending to tease her until she became crazed, begging for more. “Absolutely. I crave for our monsters to meet.”
Marina’s long nail caught underneath his chin. Her strands spilled into the crook of his elbow, and her breath fanned over his mouth. “Our monsters live within us, Acacius.”
The muscles in his abdomen clenched, exercising his self-control at the sound of his name on her lips. “I’ll show you mineif you show me yours.” He slipped his hand underneath her dress, his fingers grazing the elastic of her lacy underwear.
“Go on then.” She held his jaw between her fingers and licked up his cheek. His body flushed with a rush of heat. “Do as you say. Take your revenge.” He shivered in response to her breath in his ear, raspy and warm.
Her knees parted for him, and he slipped two fingers inside of her.
She sucked in a sharp breath, lifting her hips to him.
He curled his fingers into her center, the muscles in his forearms flickering with his languid movement.
Her breath picked up, and she arched back, slapping her palms on the altar.
Acacius’s jaws flexed. To have this control over her was intoxicating. She was becoming an addiction, something he still craved even when he was deep inside of her.
An overwhelming desire formoreaccelerated in his pulse.
He pulled his fingers from her warmth, slipped them into his mouth to taste her, and lifted from the floor.
His palms planted on each side of her, caging her against his altar.
Her breath sped up, and she locked her legs around his waist, grinding her hips against his length, all too eager. Tangible proof that the goddess was just as much of a fiery mess as he was.
His mouth came down on her collarbone, and he tugged at the neckline of her dress.
“You are maddening.” He dipped his head and devoured her breast, flicking her pebbled nipple with the tip of his tongue.
She jerked underneath him and gripped the backs of his shoulders, digging her nails deep into his skin. “It seems that you don’t mind being mad.”
Her mischief sparked his lust, and he tugged at her body chain with his teeth, tempted to rip it into fragments. Breakingit didn’t feel right, though—not when he knew the effort that had gone into making something so beautiful.
Instead, he dragged his lips up her sternum and painted thick bruises across her neck, tired of talking. It had been days since he last had her, and it was all he could think about. The ways he wanted her, where he wanted her, how he wanted her.
Her hand moved up his nape and into his hair.
Acacius’s breath quickened.
During their first encounter, she’d barely touched him, and now here he was, the small motion of her knuckles twisted in his strands pulling his center taut.
He kissed up her chin and devoured her lips. Her mouth parted for him, and he swallowed her breath, intertwining their tongues. She tasted like dark chocolate and white wine, and he consumed it ravenously.
