The sight of this female! Breath blistered his lungs, and his blood rushed hot. Tension vibrated from one limb to another. His shaft throbbed. Every. Desperate. Inch.
Resist! He prowled at the side of the bed once again. Answers, then hibernation. “Do you think to win my loyalty in case I must pick between you and the Astra in the end? Because you will not like the conclusion of such a battle.” Best she understood that. He would not hesitate to kill her. Would he? He rubbed the center of his chest and grated, “You choose your strength over my torment. I choose my brothers’ lives over yours.”
“That would sting more if you didn’t have a hard-on threatening to burst past your zipper.” Unabashed, she slid a hand beneath her panties. “But you won’t need to choose, darling. We’ll find a way to ensure I’m not your final opponent. Simple. Easy. Problem solved.”
Simple? Easy? He’d only ever experienced simple and easy when he’d held her in his arms.
Pacing... How was he supposed to go back to his former existence? No passion. No Ophelia. Why not have her? Why not take what he could, while he could?
“You’re really gonna make me play dirty with you?” she asked. “Okay, then. Just remember, you brought this on yourself.” With a hooded gaze, she cupped her breast while playing between her legs, tempting him as no other. “If you won’t satisfy me, I’ll have to settle for a fantasy of you. Mmm. The things I’m imagining you doing to me...”
He wiped his mouth. Don’t ask. “What things?”
“Your hands are all over me...your mouth isn’t far behind. Oh, the way you move against me... I’m undone.”
Halo heaved his breaths, fighting her pull. Soon to break. Then, he did. His control shattered; jagged shards sharpened insatiable lusts and primal urges. Master her—all of her.
Her undergarments—reduced to confetti with a few swipes of his claws. Nothing blocked her from his touch.
He didn’t let himself touch her, though. “There is no lovelier sight than you.” Glorious breasts. Amber crests. Flat belly, flared hips. Magnificent legs.
“Let me show you more. The best is yet to come.” Holding his gaze, wanton and wild, she spread her thighs for him, revealing a luscious, glistening core.
His next breath blistered his lungs, and he stroked himself through his leathers. A vow spilled from his lips, the sight sparking a madness like he’d never known. “I will give you so much pleasure, you will forget every twinge of pain I’ve ever caused you.”
Get inside her. Let nothing stop you.
“Yes. Give me,” she said, sounding drunk. “Please, Halo. I need you so much.”
Thoughts dulled as he pulled his shirt overhead. Cool air against white-hot skin. He kicked off his boots and unfastened his pants. She watched hungrily, greedily as he pushed the material to the floor.
Naked, he gave his length a firmer stroke. “Is this what you want, Elia?”
“More than anything.”
“I’m going to give it to you.” He dove down, claiming her mouth in a heated tangle. He. Felt. Everything. Lash after lash of sensation, each preceded by a storm of emotion. Burning passion. Playful affection. Tender caring. Uncivilized yearning. A churning possessiveness he couldn’t quash. She is mine!
They exchanged breaths. He filled his lungs with her before dipping to her breasts and sucking those beautiful amber buds, one after the other. She writhed beneath him, moaning his name. No sexier sound.
When she scraped her claws over his scalp, he grazed a nipple with his teeth. In a shadowed corner of his awareness, he knew he needed to slow down and prepare her. He cupped between her legs and slipped a finger deep inside her. Those hot wet inner walls clung to it, an exquisite torment.
A frenzy overtook his mind. Somehow, he remained calm on the outside.
Tracing her curves with his gaze, he commanded, “Tell me you want me more than anyone.”
“I want you more than anyone, Halo.”
He pumped the digit and added another, spreading them. More pumping. A bit more. Working the fingers in and out. Honey coated each one and wet his palm.
She writhed beneath him. “More. Give me more.” Her tiny claws dug into his shoulders as she held her prey where she wanted him at long last. As if he had the power to deny this beauty her pleasure.
“Please, Halo! Inside me.”
Yes. Claim her! The demand filled every cell, but still he resisted. He would pleasure her better than any other ever had, no matter the cost to his body. Or his sanity.
“Halo, Halo. I need...need...”
“That’s right, sweetheart. You need me.” He sucked one of her nipples at the same time he plunged a third finger deep, earning a mewl of lusty agony. “You’ll always need me, won’t you, Elia?”
“Always,” she said and moaned. “Always, always, always.”
She wasn’t the only one becoming drunk on pleasure. Dizzy with desire, Halo shot to his knees between her legs and spread her thighs as wide as they would go, baring her sex to his probing gaze. Think I can come from the sight of her alone.