His eyes reflected the sun in the water, glittering down at me.
“The truth,” he repeated.
That night flashed in my head. His mouth, hot over mine. Fingers digging into my thigh as he wrapped my leg around his waist. His breath between my thighs, his tongue riding the waves of my body. Kye’s eyes heated, and I knew he was remembering it too. His heartbeat increased, the heady scent of arousal reaching me as he drifted a step closer.
“The truth is, I knew you wanted to kill me the night I married you. But I needed to know what you tasted like before you did.”
64
I’d gone still at his words, though heat and desire raged within me, my body a lit torch, burning hot and bright. He ran his fingers up my bare arm, sending a feverish wave splashing over my skin. Golden eyes churned, molten and deadly, but I was not afraid. His hand found my chin, thumb smoothing over my jaw, pulling me into him, and I closed my eyes.
A brief moment of nothing came and went. Then warmth spread over my mouth, firm but soft. He brushed his top lip against mine, silky as a feather, the rough scrape of stubble grazing my lower lip. I felt him exhale, breath colliding with my face as his lips sank into mine. Tentative, his mouth voicing a worry he couldn’t put into words—and I answered, though what the worry was I didn’t know. A static washed over me, buzzing in my head, vibrating in my belly. It fizzled deep down, leaving a dull ringing in my ears that felt far away, an electric jolt flashing warm and sharp down my spine.
His scent and taste were suddenly all I knew, and something stirred deep within me. Some predator I’d never met prowledin my head, chasing away all thought and reason as I met him stroke for stroke, greedy for more.
His hands found the nape of my neck, fingers lacing into my wind-blown hair, curling into a careful fist. Tugging my head back, his opposite hand trailed down my throat and chest, stopping at my stomach, where he gathered my dress in his hand, hiking the satin over my hips until he ran out of material. Then he returned, the heat of his mouth like a brand over my skin. My mouth opened under his, and that solitary movement seemed to banish any benevolence from his body.
His tongue swept through the confines of my mouth to meet my own—luxuriously delicate, dangerously rough. I pushed back, the edge of my tooth nipping at his flesh. Kye murmured in response, hands roaming under my dress, the flick of his fingers soft at my center.
Instantly, my breath turned ragged.
I felt him smile over my mouth. “The truth?” he asked, catching at the swath of material between my legs and drawing it aside. "I burned for you as we stood under that altar. And I've been burning for you since." The sweep of his touch sent shivers through my legs and stomach, and I became butter in his arms, melting as he teased me. My legs opened, inviting him in, my spine arching as he walked me backwards into a rocky outcrop, waves lashing over our thighs.
I followed unquestioningly, like a drowning woman tossed a lifeline, no choice but to hold on and see where she was taken. I would have followed him anywhere on the pebbled beach, but he only led me a few feet away, lifting me onto the rock and wedging himself between my legs.
Twining my hands in his hair, I pulled him back in, unwilling to lose the warmth of his body, the feeling of his hands on my flesh. My fingers drifted down his back, collecting his shirt like he had my dress, and pulling it off over his head. Eyes trailingover his skin, I took in every inch of him I could. The rough-hewn shape of his stomach might have been chiseled out with a hammer were he made of stone. But he wasn’t. He was skin and hard muscle, breath and heat. My hand ran down the length of his Leihaniian tattoo, digging in as he returned to my lips like fire in my mouth.
Sweet, hot fire, scorching me from the inside out. His thumb glided over the center of me, stealing a moan from my lungs as he swept precise, slow circles into my core. I shuddered against him and he tugged my head back with a handful of my hair. The rock bit into my elbows and thighs as I sank onto it, ribbons of arousal tightening in my abdomen as he lifted my dress further up my body, tugging my bralette aside with his teeth and stealing a rosy peak into his mouth.
I chanced a look down at him, and his burning eyes met mine, mouth locked around my nipple. He sucked, hard.
The tide was coming in, each wave rougher than the last, stretching further up the beach. We both ignored it. My breath trapped in my throat as my blood raced, liquid and hot. He thrust my legs wider with his forearm, weaving past my undergarments and sliding a finger into me. I realized how wet I was, and a growl lit from him in response, vibrating against the sensitive skin caught between his lips. He probed deeper, adding a second finger, the small stretch decadently rough.
Mihaunain the stars. Fire kissed along my center as he pulsed his fingers within me, his thumb drawing a circle into the apex of my thighs. I knew he was watching me, drinking me in as the flames of his touch devoured me whole.
The pressure in me built, roiling and tumbling, and I withered under its weight, every tendon that traveled along my bones stretched tight. My breath grew husky with need, the sea air suddenly hard to catch with the net of my shallow gasps. I twisted and coiled until I thought I might break open. He knewbefore I did. Thumb and fingers still hard at work, he captured my mouth with his as I came undone, watching in sweet agony as the water glittered with stars.
His name left my mouth in a moan—I didn’t even realize I’d said it. But I heard it, half wild breath and half plea. He heard it, too, and he convulsed at its sound, his body vibrating against mine. I’d turned to putty, and he lifted me off the rock, carrying me through the haggard waves and over the last few dry pebbles to a tall tuft of grass at the base of the cliff.
If the tide continued to build, we’d be sitting underwater in ten minutes. Neither of us seemed to care. Still recovering from the crash of nerves against my core, I realized I was lost before he even lowered me into the soft grass—but my body cried for me to keep going.
To venture to a place I never thought I’d have the chance to go.
Our eyes met, and my appetite for more suddenly snapped wide open. Dress falling back into place, I pushed upright onto my knees, my mouth aching for his. I ran my tongue over his lower lip, smooth and full, tasting the small scar in the corner. My hands roamed over theVof his lower stomach, and for a moment, he went still.
I unbuckled his belt.
Anticipating, his breath struck me in sharp bursts along my cheek.
I unbuttoned his pants.
His hands looped around my back, tugging me into him.
A tickle of saltwater swept the side of my leg and sneaked away.
Heart pounding, my fingers slid beneath the hem of his underclothes, finding what I’d been in search of and wrapping around it.
Mother moon.
