“What…” I’m still breathless, overwhelmed with the sensation and presence of him as he presses his nose to the crease of my hip and nips at my black satin thong.
“I need you,” his voice rumbles against me.
My grip in his hair tightens as he runs his nose down my inner thigh and grazes his teeth over my tender skin.
“Not here.” He pulls away with another groan, this one sounding almost painful, then sweeps me into his arms. My shoes somehow end up in my lap, then he blurs us up the stairs. It’s the only way I can describe it.
I blink, realizing I never had any chance of escaping him. Shifters can run faster than humans, but apparently vampires beat all. He moves so fast my eyes can’t even track where we’re going, and in a matter of seconds, I’m back on my feet in front of our hotel room door, one of his hands still gripping my waist while the other searches his pocket for the keycard.
When he finally pushes the door open, we crash through and I take the opportunity to turn the tables on him. I pushmy body against his, backing him into the wall this time as I rake my fingers through his hair, pulling his lips back to mine.
The groan he lets out is swallowed by my mouth and I revel in the power of making this stoic manfeel. I angle us toward the bed, our mouths still hungry as we lick and suck and taste each other. He stumbles and mutters something about “practice pillows” under his breath. My laugh is more like a breathy sigh between his lips; neither of us is willing to let anything interrupt this moment.
It feels like we’ve been building toward this since he first walked up to me on the sidewalk, before I knew who he was. We’ve been circling each other for weeks; me wary and distrustful, Asher apparently unsure what to make of me. But in such close proximity, it was bound to happen. The tension snapped, and we can’t resist the force of it bringing us together.
Nor do either of us want to anymore.
When we part for air again, both panting this time after having landed horizontally on the bed, I have to tear my eyes away from the fangs peeking out from his kiss-swollen lips. I’m sure mine are equally red and puffy, but I’m also sure we need to have a quick conversation before we go any further.
“Wait.” I raise a hand to his chest as he leans over me again.
Asher backs off, settling on his side facing me.
“We can stop," he says, and I smile at how tortured he sounds as he says it.
He swipes a hand down his face, and I take pity on him.
“No, I don’t want to stop. We do need to check in real quick tho. I’m not on birth control, but I’m clean, got tested a couple weeks before this trip. You?”
“Also not on birth control, and also clean," he replies.
I roll my eyes.
“Really? Now is when you want to make jokes?”
He growls and buries his face in my neck, sucking on thattender spot right behind my ear. I nearly get lost in him again, before I manage to squeak out.
“Ash… condom?”
“Don’t have one, don’t care. There’s plenty else I want to do with you.” His voice is deep and gravelly, and my toes curl as I give in to the haze of lust taking over every ounce of my body.
19
CURSES
RAYA
Time filtersthrough in flickers of awareness. All I know is Asher.
His smoky, cedar scent with a teasing hint of bergamot, his sensual touch trailing over every inch of my skin, his wicked taste on my tongue. One second we’re making out and dry humping over our clothes like the horniest of teenagers, and the next I'm naked and he’s swiping his tongue down my neck.
His mouth circles my nipple, grazing it with his fangs and I suck in a sharp breath. His lips smirk against my pebbled skin before he sucks the tender bud into his mouth, laving it with his tongue while pinching the other and rolling it between his fingers.
I moan and close my eyes, tilting my head back as I fall into the sensations. I lose time again, lost in the pleasure, when I surface to his teeth scraping up my inner thigh. I spear my hands into his hair, eyes flying open when I register where he’s going.
Asher pulls back to look at me, but instead of meeting my eyes, he gazes down between my legs. His rumble of approval vibrates through my thighs draped over his shoulders.
“So wet for me, sunshine.”
