Were her nipples pink or brown or a color in between?
“Where do you hurt?” He ghosted his knuckles over one rigid peak. She sucked in a breath but never once uttered a protest. Encouraged, he traced a fingertip over the other. “Your bones do not feel broken,” he whispered, letting the warmth of his breath fan her ear.
“N-not there,” she said, the words barely escaping. “Not anywhere.”
“So you are well?”
She nodded, nibbling on her bottom lip. “Promise.”
There she was, chewing on her mouth again. Always a man of his word, Tristan leaned down until his lips were only a rustle away from hers. “This I am glad to hear…because now I am going to taste you.”
She didn’t pull from his grasp, nor did she attempt to push him away. She merely blinked up at him as if he’d spoken a foreign language. Then her eyes widened with comprehension. “I’m not sure—”
“I would love to hear the lecture you’ve got brewing,” he interjected, tangling his fingers in her hair to drag her deeper into his embrace. “After.”
She gulped and tore her gaze away. “One kiss? Only one? Then we’ll go our separate ways?”
“Only one kiss. Separate ways.”
“What if I taste…bad?” she whispered.
His chest tightened again. Where had such an insecurity come from? “Look at me, Julia.”
Slowly, so slowly, her long, sooty lashes swept upward until she met his stare. He knew what she saw in his eyes. Hunger. Raw, primal hunger. He wanted her, wanted to forget his surroundings, wanted to forget who and what he was, wanted to lose himself if only for a moment and renew his strength in the familiarity of a woman’s arms.
“If you taste anything like you smell, I will be in heaven.”
Lust flared in her eyes, causing the deep, dazzling green irises to darken and the lids to lower halfway. She was desire incarnate just then, and an invisible force seemed to draw her closer, closer still until his hardness nestled against her softness. Her exotic oraberry scent wafted to his nostrils, stronger than before.
He moved his hands lower and cupped the soft skin at the back of her neck, guiding her face mere inches from his. Her small, soft form fit perfectly against him, and he knew instinctively that he would fit even better inside her. Once, twice, he brushed his lips against hers, lingering, eager to absorb her sweetness.
His breath caressed her nose, her cheek. “Tell me to kiss you, Julia.”
Lick. “I—I won’t tell you. Not as an order. If you want to kiss me, you have my permission to go for it.”
He traced the seam of her lips—with his tongue. She moaned, a low, shimmering sound that weakened his knees as it washed over him in slow, erotic waves. “Okay, yes. Kiss me,” she croaked.
He did. He kissed her, slipping his tongue deep into her mouth. At first, he teased her with slow flicks, touching and retreating. But soon her dam of restraint must have collapsed, because she increased the pace. With a groan, she thrust her tongue against his, hard and fast, and locked her arms around him, her nails clawing at his back.
Passion sweetened her taste, a heady combination of savage desire and untapped wildness surging through him.
“Delicious,” he whispered, forcing his head to lift. She’d agreed to one kiss, and one kiss only. If he continued, he would push for more. He did not want to push for more. “I want more.” Damn it! The word “more” must have gotten stuck in his brain.
“More. Lots more.” Eyes glazed with arousal, she palmed the back of his head and jerked him back, holding him tight and keeping him close to her as their mouths met again. She rocked her hips forward, sank down, then rocked again.
Where had her shyness gone?
The force of her need had made her feral. But, but… he’d never before encountered a woman who erupted so quickly. Once again, he lifted his head. “Julia?”
“Don’t stop,” she said, panting her breaths. Each time the apex of her thighs brushed his erection, she clutched him tighter, a little more desperately.
No matter her former protests to the contrary, these were the actions of a woman in need of immediate fulfillment.
She liked him in that way.
Satisfaction swept through him.
“I can’t get enough.” She closed her eyes but continued to gyrate against him. “You promised more if I wanted it, and I do. Give it to me.”
With anyone else, those words would have roused his anger, reminding him of his terrible fate. With Julia, the opposite proved true. As shy as she’d been, this new aggression went straight to his shaft, making him harden and swell to the point of pain. How wet she must be. He would have no trouble sliding his massive width inside of her.
“I’ll give you everything,” he rasped, his own breaths coming a little too quickly. Once again, he pressed his mouth against hers.
Eager, she met his tongue with her own. They rolled and spared, their teeth clinking once, twice. She nipped at his bottom lip as if she wanted to devour him, then entwined her legs with his, rubbing against his erection.
He sucked in a breath. In his arms, she was both a liquid fire and a raging wild storm. At that moment, he wanted to push so deep inside her she would only have the strength to gasp his name. He wanted to feel her inner walls clench around his length as she chased her release, wanted to feel that powerful surge of satisfaction while he held her naked and poured his seed into her.
He wouldn’t have to worry about impregnating her. Percen had done him one small favor before tossing the box through the cosmos; he’d cast a spell, ensuring Tristan could not give a female a baby unless he wished to do so.
A pang of longing nearly dropped him to his knees. Longing? For a baby? With a guan ren?
No. No! The kiss felt too good, that was
