Hidden Moon (Nightcreature 7)

"I am touching you. " He kissed my closed eyelids.

I grabbed his hands, pressed them to my quivering stomach. "Everywhere. "

He lifted one palm to my chest and pushed me backward until I lay flat against the mattress, then stood and took off his clothes.

The storm had passed leaving only clouds behind. The room was so dark I could only tell what he was doing by the sound of it. For an instant I regretted the necessity of that darkness; I wouldn't mind seeing him. Then the bed dipped, and I sat up.

"Where are you going?" He reached for me; even in the complete darkness he managed to catch hold of my arm.

"I want to feel your skin against mine. "

"You will, a ghra. I promise. " He pushed me back again. "But let me. " His fingers brushed the waistband of my pants, curving beneath; then he ran the smooth surface of his nails along my belly, running his thumb down my zipper and flicking over me just once.

I arched, gasped, and he quickly divested me of every stitch of clothing below the waist.

He went onto his knees to take off my socks. My legs hung over the end of the bed. He kissed his way back, running his tongue up my inner thigh before skipping right over the good part and pressing his mouth to my stomach.

His weight lay over one leg, his skin hot against mine. I draped my ankle over his back, rubbed my heel at the base of his spine, and he scored my skin with his teeth, then swept his tongue into my belly button. I never would have imagined that such a thing could almost make me come.

My shirt went the way of my underwear, and he buried his face between my breasts, filling his hands with their weight, gathering them together so he could flick his tongue back and forth over their tips so languidly I had to bite my lip to keep from ordering him to both hurry up and never stop.

"Your body, so soft and round, I dream of it in the night," he murmured. "I want to see every curve. "

I tensed, thinking he meant to turn on the lights again. Despite being aroused so deeply I might have agreed to anything, I still wasn't ready for that.

"Shh. " He ran his hands over my arms. "I'll learn all there is to know like this. "

He explored every inch of my skin With the tips of his fingers, tracing each curve with the tip of his tongue. He cupped my feet, pressing his thumbs against the arches until I moaned as the tension flowed free. His palms skated across my calves, my thighs, sliding over the hollow at my waist before teasing my breasts until they throbbed.

He nibbled my earlobe. "Turn over, Claire. "

I was both relaxed and on edge. Since I didn't want him to stop, I turned over.

Then he started again at my feet and worked his way upward, mouth first this time. I never knew how good it felt to be kissed at the small of your back, to have your shoulders stroked and kneaded while someone sucked on your neck.

The heavy, heated weight of his erection slid along the curve of my rear end, and I rubbed against him. He slipped into me just a little, and I gasped with delight at the sensation. He began to withdraw.

"No. " I arched my back, taking him in more deeply.

"A minute," he said, voice hoarse. Then he was gone, and I had never felt so cold and alone.

A rustle, a plastic snap, and he returned, urging me onto my side so he could pull me against him. My back to his front, he curved around me. We fitted together just right.

He moved my hair aside and kissed my ear, his hands still fluttering over me, smoothing down my flank, sweeping up to my breasts, teasing and tempting.

I could see nothing. Even though I knew a night-stand sat here, a chair there, not a shadow remained. The windows didn't shine or reveal a lighter shade of midnight. It was as if Malachi and I had been trapped in a sightless universe where sound and scent, taste and touch were heightened.

His kisses became something more as he took small folds of flesh between his teeth and suckled. My skin seemed on fire, shot through with electricity reminiscent of the vanished lightning.

I rubbed against him again, and suddenly I was on my back as he muttered in three languages. He leaned in and kissed me, hard and fast, his hair brushing my face while his erection jutted against my hip. "I don't think I can wait. "

"You don't have to. "

I urged him closer, drew him to me, opened myself, and let him in. Yet still he hesitated. "If you're not ready. "

"Malachi," I groaned. "I'm so ready I may get there without you if you don't shut up. "

His laughter caressed my face, warm and sweet. "Well, then," he said. "We can't have that. "