“I don’t want to do something we end up regretting,” he says, planting one last lingering kiss against the inside of my thigh before pulling away.
I force myself to take a deep, rational breath. “I’mprotected, if that’s what you’re worried about. Silphane root. I never miss a dose.”
“It isn’t that. Though that’s good to know.” His eyes glaze over in thought for a moment before he slides an arm around my waist, hooking and pulling me with him as he rolls onto his side.
We end up facing one another, no longer touching—save for the arm he keeps around me—but we’re still too close for me to think straight.
“Was this the torture you had planned for me all along, when you first dragged me back to your city?” I mumble. “Making me want you, only so you could ultimately deny me? This was a long, cruel game you’ve been playing, if so, and you’re even more of a maniacal bastard than I gave you credit for.”
“I assure you noneof this wasplanned. And you have effectively shattered every plan I had regarding you, anyway.”
“Why are you torturing me, then?”
He’s quiet for another long moment. “Earlier, you asked about the magic you felt in my office. There’s something else you should know about it.”
“What’s that?”
“That strong emotions can sometimes trigger it against my will. And what happened earlier…I wasn’t entirely in control of that. After everything that’s happened tonight, and then…it was what Selwick said, about our enemies violently targeting you.” He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, as if he’s still fighting for control, even now. “The thought of anyone taking you away from me, it…did something to me.” Another deep breath. “Youdo something to me. Something I’ve never really dealt with before.”
My heart is suddenly pounding so fiercely I can’t hear my own thoughts over it, making it hard to form a coherent response.
“And until I get a better hold on this,” he says, “it’s probably safer if we take it slow. At least for tonight. Because I’m not certain I could hold off the more beastly, unpredictable parts of myself.”
I try to nod—to show him I understand—but I don’t think I actually make any noticeable movement. My heart is still entirely too loud, my head spinning from his latest confession.
You do something to me.
“Look at me,” he whispers, and I force myself to, though I’m not sure meeting his eyes is any safer—it certainly does nothing to douse the desire burning its way through my core.
“I want to savor you the first time, anyway,” he continues. “Earn you. There will be other nights to abandon all restraint, if that’s what you want.”
I swallow hard at the thought. “Bold of you to assume there will be other nights.”
“I’d be willing to bet on it.”
Another ribbon of heat curls through me. “You can’t be certain.”
“But I am.” He leans in, letting his lips brush against my ear with the words, and it’s all I can do to not climb on top of him and abandon every rational thought I have left.
So, yes.
He makes a valid point.
And he knows he does, judging by the small smirk that flashes across his face.
“Insufferable man,” I mutter.
“Unbearable woman,” he replies, and then he’s kissing me again—softer, more restrained than before, but I’m so close to the edge that it feels like torture just the same.
“You have to stop kissing me if you’re not planning on doing this fully,” I complain. “It’s cruel. It’s…” I trail off, biting my lip, still unwilling to admit—at least out loud—how badly I want him.
“Well, I do have a reputation for cruelty,” he says, his thumb tracing the spot I was just biting.
“Yes. You do.”
His fingers move away from my mouth and sweep lower, curling around my throat. His grip is light, but I can feel the tension coiled in his muscles, the urge he’s fighting to take a more possessive,claiminghold on me, consequences be damned.
I understand his hesitation.
