Her legs gave up underneath her. But before she could collapse, he held her.
He got up, and his arms moved around her, one across her back and the other sweeping beneath her knees. He lifted her up against his chest and carried her away from the windows.
Her body felt boneless as it still hummed in pleasure.
He carried her without effort, his stride unhurried, his breathing steady in a way that hers was not. The room moved past her in soft amber and shadow. The pendant swayed once against her skin as he walked.
He reached the bed and set her down before straightening above her.
His eyes moved over her face in the low light.
She looked up at him, her heart loud in her ears, the pendant cool at her throat, and her body waiting to receive him in eager anticipation.
He shrugged off his robe and then moved on top of her. He gripped her knees, pushing them apart, and then entered her with a single thrust.
Her back arched, and she gasped at the familiar fullness that burned yet drove her crazy.
“Hold me,” he commanded. And she did.
She gripped his shoulders, biting her lower lip hard, trying to stop her moans and gasps from escaping. But she failed.
He took her with an intensity that made her gasp.
His grip on her thighs was hard, and his rhythm was punishing, each thrust angled to drag against a spot that made her thighs tremble. Sweat slicked between their bodies, her skin burning where his chest grazed her nipples with every movement.
His golden-brown gaze dissected her every micro-expression—the flutter of her lashes, the hitch in her breath, and the way her throat worked when she swallowed back a moan.
She shattered within minutes, but he didn’t stop.
She turned her face into the pillow, but he caught her chin, his thumb pressing into her jaw until she met his eyes again.
“Again,” he commanded, his hips moving with the same relentless rhythm.
She let out a sob and shuddered again, her body accustomed to obeying him each night.
Even as pleasure ripped through her, she hated the loss of control.
She hated how easily he made her lose her mind.
She watched as sweat dripped from his handsome face while he prepared to coldly withdraw from her.
But before he could move, her thighs clamped around his waist, her heels digging into the small of his back, pulling him deeper.
His rhythm faltered, and his breath hitched, the first crack in his control. His movements grew jagged, and she could feel the tension coiled in his muscles and in the way his abdomen flexed.
“Let me go,” he gritted out, his voice stripped of its usual steadiness.
She didn’t follow his command. Locking her ankles tighter, she arched against him.
His hips jerked involuntarily, a groan escaping him when she flexed inward again, her body squeezing him. His forearm trembled where it braced beside her head, his other hand slipping from her knees to clutch the headboard for balance. The carved wood creaked under his grip.
“Yamini, let me go,” he growled, his hips jerking as he tried to pull away, but her thighs locked around his waist, her anklesdigging harder into the small of his back. The muscles in his abdomen tensed, his breath coming in ragged bursts as she clenched around him deliberately, her body refusing to release him. His fingers scraped against the headboard, the polished wood protesting under his grip, while her nails scored down his shoulders.
And then, it happened. His control shattered with a guttural roar that echoed off the vaulted ceilings, his body slamming into hers one final, desperate time as he spilled deep inside her. His hips stuttered uncontrollably, the force of his release making her gasp, not just from the sudden flood of heat, but from the raw, unfiltered intensity of his climax.
His face contorted in something almost pained, his biceps trembling where he braced himself above her, his usual calmness gone. And then, his weight collapsed on her momentarily, his forehead pressing into the pillow beside her head, his hot breath against her temple.
A moment later, his head snapped up. His golden-brown eyes held something she hadn’t seen before. Fury. Ice cold fury.
