It wasn’t like before. He didn’t take his time or show restraint. Nor did his mouth leave mine even when he pulled me upright into his lap. I straddled him instinctively, wrapping my arms around his neck for balance.
“You undo me,” Lucien murmured against my lips. “I didn’t realize how cold my life was until you lit a fire to it.”
I didn’t answer. I had no words for that. Instead, I kissed him until we could barely breathe.
Lucien slowly opened my blouse buttons, then paused, catching my gaze once more.
I nodded—no hesitation—and he pushed the material off my shoulders and tossed my top behind us. Apparently, that was the unspoken signal. We tore at each other’s clothes with a sense of urgency, as though we would die if we didn’t get the other naked. Buttons scattered, zippers split, fabric ripped, and none of it happened fast enough.
Finally, we removed the last pieces of clothing, and I could enjoy the masterpiece laid out before me. Lucien’s hands explored and memorized every inch of me. He took the time to discover what I liked, what excited and pleasured me, even what made me laugh.
And I happily returned the favor. I learned he liked it when I dug my nails into his back. Not hard enough to bleed, but hard enough to show him I meant business. He liked when I ground my hips against him, when I nipped the tip of his ears, his lips, his cock.
It was the last one that nearly broke him. I’d just wrapped my lips around his length and started tasting him when he pulled free and pressed me down onto the couch, his body poised over me. His hands found mine and he lifted them above my head, pinning them in place against the cushions.
Then he started moving down the length of my body, worshipping me with that wickedly talented mouth of his. He gripped my legs and carefully eased them over his shoulders, exposing my most intimate spot to him. He looked up at me from between my thighs, and the heat in his eyes nearly scorched me.
Without warning, he lowered himself, his mouth instantly finding his intended mark. He unleashed his skills on me with a confidence he’d clearly earned. My breath caught, then fled entirely, stifled by the sensation of him devouring me.
I lowered my arms and fisted my fingers in his hair, holding on for dear life.
Lucien didn’t stop. He read every gasp, every arch of my spine, every cry, and adjusted his methods until finally, heat burst through me, and I broke apart. I moaned his name as waves of pleasure crashed through me until I finally slumped back against the couch, utterly spent.
Gods, I hadn’t felt this way in so long. Maybe ever.
Lucien climbed up my body, his mouth gleaming with proof of my satisfaction and his eyes dark. He slipped one arm around my waist and pulled me up from the couch, once again straddling me across his lap.
“I could do that forever,” he said. “But there’s something else I desperately want from you.”
I nodded eagerly. I knew exactly what he wanted, and I wanted it too. That relentless need hadn’t subsided since I’d felt his fangs scrape my throat earlier in my loft.
Which was why I tilted my head, granting him full access to my neck.
“You’re sure?” he asked.
I merely hummed my assent.
Lucien’s hands slid up my back, slow and steady, drawing me closer until our chests touched. He nosed along my jaw, breathing me in, making my whole body hum and my skin prickle with anticipation.
And then I felt it.
The scrape of fangs against skin.
My breath hitched and Lucien’s lips stilled against my neck. He pressed a kiss, then sank his fangs into my throat.
The pain was instantaneous but gone in a blink. What followed was something else entirely. Heat. Euphoria. A full-body buzz that made me arch against him with a gasp.
Pleasure flooded my system, molten and dizzying, curling low in my belly. My fingers clawed at his shoulders as I rocked against him, seeking friction, needing more. Lucien gave a deep and guttural groan, then grabbed my hips and, in one smooth motion, thrust into me. I cried out in pure ecstasy and sank onto him, my body molding perfectly around him.
A shuddering breath escaped me as I clung to him. I wanted to ride him, take him deeper, but my body was unwilling to obey, too drunk on ecstasy.
Instead, Lucien started moving beneath me and my eyes fluttered shut as a thousand different sensations overtook me. I ached for him to go faster, harder, but I also wanted to revel in this moment. This was our beginning, and I never wanted it to end.
Every thrust sent a new wave crashing through me. Every pull of his mouth made my toes curl. He had me stretched around him, completely full, utterly exposed, and I didn’t care. I wanted it. Wanted all of him.
A low sound rumbled in his chest, something feral and pleased. The vibration pressed against my skin as he drank deeply one last time, then finally retracted his fangs. He kissed the spot he’d bitten, slow and reverent, and I felt the wound begin to close. The second it did, he tightened his grip on my hips and thrust so deep, I felt I might choke on him.
Gasping, I clutched his shoulders, my head falling back.
