Instead of scuttling away like a nervous crab, she was magnificent on her knees before him, eyes like a night sky full of stars. Hesitantly, he reached for her hair and realized she was serious when she let him take it down. The strands spilled like quicksilver into his hands, light and silken. He brushed it back from her face and breathed her in.
She’s serious.
Her scent was subtly different, spiced with pheromones, and he reacted instantly. There was no faking this, no chemical substitute for real desire, and he had spoken honestly when he told her nothing got him hotter than being wanted. His cock perked at the promise of enthusiastic sex, and she watched it happen. That only turned him on more.
“Your interest is powerful,” he said softly. “Shall we go to bed, my good wife?”
He offered her a hand up, which she accepted gracefully. She surprised him again when she pulled off her shirt and skimmed out of her trousers in careful, precise motions, then she folded her clothes and set them on the chair he’d vacated. The air in the cabin was still chilly, not enough to make him shiver, but her skin was delicate.
Raff pulled her to him, warming her with his body as they moved toward the bed together. She also tried to lend him her strength, though his leg was just a residual ache now. A night’s rest would put him to rights, but if she wanted to coddle him—well, he wouldn’t say no.
Does that make me the wolf that cried wolf?
“Are you all right?”
“Well enough to make you feel wonderful, I’ll wager. I wish this wasn’t happening in a stranger’s bed, but here we are.”
Climbing in beside him, Thalia seemed relatively unconcerned about that. “You’re excited this time,” she observed.
“Is that surprising?”
“Well, we’ve been together before, and you didn’t—you weren’t—”
“The difference is you, Lady Silver. You didn’t want me then. Now your body is soft and sweet and silky-hot. It seems you like a little misguided heroism.”
“Don’t tease me.”
He felt her flush, felt the heat shimmer up from her shoulders past her neck into her cheeks. With gentle fingertips he traced her fey features: sharp cheekbones, elegant little nose, pointed chin. Before he got to her soft mouth, she bit him.
“Is it all right if I kiss you?” he asked.
“You have my permission for…everything.”
That was heady, carte blanche to touch her, but it left him oddly tentative. He already knew her stomach was sensitive and that the idea of being caught turned her on…ah, I can work with this. Raff swept aside her hair and set his mouth on her throat, just below her left ear.
“Hope the cat who used this cabin last doesn’t circle back because of the storm. Might be shocked by the deliciously dirty things I’ll be doing to you.”
A small sound escaped her, and he’d barely touched her yet. She’s so responsive. This will be fun. He didn’t tease her further, taking her mouth in a kiss that was softer and sweeter than he planned, first just a series of pecks that deepened when her lips parted and clung, when she let out a breath that he drank in.
When she raised a hand to touch his beard, he pulled back a little. “Does it bother you?”
Eldritch males were hairless bastards from what he’d seen, so it startled him when she shook her head swiftly. “I like how it feels.”
The cabin was dark apart from the orange crackle of the fire, but it seemed to give her courage. Thalia trailed her fingers lower, brushing his shoulders and settling on his chest, flexing her nails like a cat. He drew in a breath and let it out as a groan as she tested his pectoral muscles. His nipples responded to each tease and scrape. Before, he wouldn’t have said he was especially sensitive, there, but her light, experimental touches made his abs tighten and his toes curl.
Passive acceptance wasn’t his style, so when she paused to nuzzle her cheek against his chest, he tangled his hands in her hair and kissed her. From the little gasp he swallowed, she liked the tug that brought her mouth to his. This time, he went slow and deep, tasting her while he ran his hands over her back, long, luxurious strokes that made her squirm. Her scent bloomed all around him, a deepening arousal that went to his head like strong liquor.
“You really want it,” he whispered, right against her mouth. “You’re so hot and hungry. If your loyal soldiers could see you now…”
That little nudge at her secret predilections sent a shiver through her. Thalia’s eyes closed, and Raff thought she’d never been more beautiful than with her breath coming fast, lashes fluttering against smooth cheeks. He kissed a path downward, skimming over her breasts toward her stomach, such a sweet, strange erogenous zone.
“Oh, you wish they could. See you. You want them to watch you take my cock? I bet you do. It would be the sexiest thing they’ve ever seen.”
“Stop,” she whimpered.
“Stop what?”
“Saying such—”
“Don’t pretend. You’re trembling, that’s how much you like it.” Raff bit down on her shoulder, gently. “I don’t mind if you fantasize about people watching us. I’m not shy, I’ll make that dream come true someday, if you want.”
“Oh fuck.”
“That’s the idea, princess. But I’ll make you come a few times first.”
She startled at what he guessed sounded like a bold claim and then her entire body arched when he pressed his mouth to the silky skin at her hip. Raff kissed a path across her belly, gauging her response by the way she twisted and shivered and finally sank her hands into his hair, not trying to tug him away, but silently pleading for more. He used his mouth and his teeth, slowly working lower, until she was writhing under him, hands urgent on his back.
“You’re too slow!”
“Calm down, we have all night.”
“Unless that cat
