Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Ash’s palm slid down, trailing over the side of my throat and then my shoulder. He backed me up and drew my tongue into his mouth, sending waves of pleasure cascading through me.
Surprise rippled as my lower back abruptly came into contact with the hard edge of a table. Ash’s chest left mine, and I felt his fingers there, quickly undoing the robe’s buttons. A heartbeat later, the sides gapped, and he grabbed hold of my hands, lowering them.
“Ash,” I gasped.
He shoved the sleeves of the robe down, letting the garment fall to the floor. “Hmm?”
Cool air danced over the bare skin of my arms. “What are you doing?”
His mouth moved over mine once more as his hands went to my waist and then my hips. “What does it look like?”
“It looks like you’re undressing me.” I tipped my head back. The sight of him sent my already racing heart to fluttering.
Ash appeared mortal, but he also didn’t.
Shadows churned under his skin like storm clouds. Tendrils of eather still seeped from his body. His irises were now visible, but streaks of eather pierced the silver.
He looked stunningly otherworldly as he stared at me. “That’s exactly what I’m doing.” Thick lashes swept down. “Unless you’d prefer I not.” His head cocked as he inhaled deeply, his nostrils flaring. The tips of his fangs became visible, causing muscles low in my stomach to curl. “Though I sense you have absolutely no issue with me doing so.”
The deep rumble coming from his chest heated my blood. “I don’t.”
“I know.” His hand coasted up my side.
“I’m just surprised,” I said, sucking in a shallow breath as his hand drifted higher. The thin, silk nightgown was no barrier against the coolness of his touch. A wave of shivers followed in the wake of his movements. “I didn’t think undressing was what you had in mind.”
“Undressing you is always what I have in mind.” Cupping my breast, he grinned, and my breath caught.
My lips felt swollen as they parted. “I figured you were going to lecture me about being outside.”
He drew his thumb over the peak of my breast, the hollows of his cheeks becoming sharper as my nipple beaded. “I told you that you had no idea what I was going to say.”
“I sensed—” I gave a little jerk as his other hand folded around my right breast. “You were angry when you first returned.”
“Was I?” he asked, watching himself draw the same response as he had seconds earlier.
A heaviness settled in my chest. It wasn’t the all-too-familiar warning of anxiety but a thick, languid sensation that also bloomed between my thighs. “Yes.”
“Perhaps…” he murmured, lowering himself to his knees.
My heart thudded as my hands fell to the table on either side of my hips. The sight of Ash on his knees before me never failed to stun me into silence.
He stretched a little, his head now level with my chest. “I was wrong earlier.”
“About—?” I swallowed, and my entire body bowed as his mouth closed over my breast. The combination of the silk and his cool mouth was downright sinful. “About what?”
His head lifted, and he pressed a kiss to the swell of flesh above the lace. “About your senses developing faster than I expected.”
It took a moment for the meaning of what he said to pierce the fog of desire. “What?”
“There is no way you sensed anger from me.”
Before I could respond, his mouth moved to my right breast. He sucked deeply as his thumb and forefinger closed around the still-tingling nipple, drawing a sharp burst of dual pleasure from me. My hips twitched when he did something rather wicked with his fingers.
The shadows beneath his flesh thickened and spread. “Anger was the very last thing I was feeling.”
Gripping the table, my chin fell forward as I struggled to focus on what we were talking about. “I never said I sensed anger from you.”
He chuckled, nipping at my skin through the silk. “Yes, you did.”
“I misspoke, then.” I was breathing fast as Ash rose with fluid grace, his stare fixing on mine. The heat in his eyes scorched my skin. “You looked angry.”
Tsking under his breath, he shook his head and stepped into me. His chest brushed my already sensitized breasts. “That is not how I appeared when I looked at you.”
I had to crane my neck back to hold his stare. He towered over me. Anyone else crowding my space like this would’ve drawn out my temper, but he caused an entirely different reaction. My body throbbed with arousal as my gaze soaked in the brutal lines of his features. It was almost the same expression I’d seen in the courtyard. “You sure about that? You look the same now.”
“I was angry when I saw what had happened to our people. You are correct in that sense, but that’s not what I felt when I looked at you. Nor is it what I feel when I look at you now.” His fingers curled under the thin straps of my nightgown. His head dipped as he tugged the lacy straps down, baring my breasts to the featherlight touch of his chest. When he spoke, his lips brushed mine. “Want to wager a guess at what I’m feeling?”