Slowly, as if shocked by her own boldness, her hands fell upon his lower stomach, right where he had cleaned moments prior. His skin was warm, his flesh hard. She traced the ridges of his muscles with a lump in her throat and an awareness between her thighs, each pulse of her heartbeat making the fang marks on her neck throb.
"You’re perfect," she breathed.
Az’s hands tightened on her, and the force of her want made her nearly dizzy—the fever in her blood worked in tandem with the heat of him to send her on a spiral of need, aching and burning.
She wasn’t sure of the exact moment their lips brushed, but in the space between breaths, he pressed his lips to hers sweetly,tasting her languidly. Like they had all the time in the world, when truly, they didn’t.
The storm raged on, and Luella felt it within her as he kissed her. She was still untrained, fumbling, letting him take the lead, and he seemed to love that—leading her. He did it with such care that she found herself willingly desperate to give up control to him. Because she knew that he would treat her well, lead her well.
The sea battered against the ship as it rocked, and tendrils of sparking power snaked out from inside her. Invisible, as they fed her storm. She was too far gone to wonder if this was safe.
She gasped against his lips. Wind howled.
Her fingers curled against his chest. Lightning cracked ominously.
His lips moved over hers, his tongue reaching out to lick along the seam of her mouth, entreating her to part her lips. She did, gasping as his tongue tangled with hers, stroking along the roof of her mouth. She couldn’t draw in enough air. Her lungs were tight, head dizzy, limbs tingling.
His large hand shifted to cup her backside, over the feathers of her gown. His palm spanned her hips, and he forced her down slightly, the movement making her shift on his lap, pleasure sparking out from between her thighs.
She tore her slick mouth away from him. She sucked in air, feeling the salty tang of it mingling with the burnt sugar taste of the demon on her lips.
"We should stop," Az grumbled, but he did not release her. He held her tighter, like he never wanted to let her go.
Luella stared at her hands on his lower stomach, fingers trailing over the dips below his navel, where his trousers rested low on his hips. He flexed under her, and she shifted back, feeling a hardness pressing the curve of her backside.
"I don’t want to," she whispered, so low that the words were barely the pop of a soft syllable, the slight smack of her lips forming inaudible sounds.
She needed this. Needed to have her second experience of pleasure with her demon protector. She wanted him to chase away her nightmares, make her feel safe.
Each sparking lance of pleasure between her thighs as she shifted against him made herremember. She did not want to remember. But it was so hard to forget. The way Tharen had touched her, the way she had not hated it, and how she had barely been able to focus on the consuming feel of release, before it had turned to blood-soaked pain.
The tips of Az’s fingers curved below the hem of her gown, rucked up to her thighs. Below, she wore a plain pair of thin silk, the only thing that separated her from him. She wanted them off.
His amber eyes stared up at her with adoration and care. "Are you sure?"
Her lips parted, chest rising and falling with rapid breaths born of desire. His hands stilled, letting her decide without distractions.
Luella nodded, lashes brushing her cheeks as she looked down.
Az grabbed her chin and forced her face to his. "Tell me, Lu. I want to hear it from your sweet, angelic voice. That voice that awoke me from misery in the dungeons… Tell me you want this."
"I d-do," she breathed. "I want this."
As if those words had been the singular tether of his control, snapping and leaving him untied, the demon broke.
The rocking hammock forced her hips to shift over him, and she gasped in pleasure, making his eyes darken with heat.
"You’re gorgeous," he said from below her, fingers spanning her hips. She felt a strange sensation on her back, and his eyesmoved to her wings. "I think you like this, don’t you, Lu? Your wings make you even more of an open book." Each movement was wrapped in care, as he grabbed the skirts of her dress and pushed them up further, revealing the small birthmark on her upper thigh. He pressed the pad of his thumb into it. "I want to kiss this. One day."
She shivered at the words. "Oh."
She was still as stone, unable to bring her body to move as his rough fingers traced the soft flesh of her thighs, skimming over the dainty silk of her panties, teasing it, before brushing above to dip underneath her gown, tracing up each bone of her ribs, skimming over her bandages.
His large chest heaved. She saw a small bead of sweat trickle down his neck. Her mouth grew dry.
"Did he get to see you?"
Az’s voice made her dazed eyes find his. She paused. He meant Tharen. "No. He touched me above my gown. I didn’t want him to take it off… so he didn’t."
