Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 111898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
“Prepare yourself for anything,” he commanded.
Her lids hooded. “Prepare myself?” Tendrils of curly black hair had escaped confinement and framed her face. “I’m supposed to do your job for you?” she teased, a siren he couldn’t resist.
He gave her what must be a big bad wolf smile. “The oracle likes to play with her male. Noted.”
The claim her male reverberated in his head, and it wasn’t panic he experienced but satisfaction.
Their gazes met. Had she noticed his words?
With a ragged cry, Neeka lifted her head and claimed his lips. Oh, she’d noticed. She fisted his hair and thrust her tongue against his. Any gentleness in her had evaporated. Her ferocity sparked his, the kiss becoming frantic.
As she dragged her little harpy claws along his scalp, heat rushed over him. Thoughts dissolved one after the other. The hottest, sweetest desire raged. A potent blend of sensation, frenzy, and bliss.
Driven by primitive instinct, he slid his hands over her body. Learning her hollows. Kneading her peaks. Marveling. Her every curve dawned a revelation of rapture. And her reactions to his touch...
Guttural growls erupted from him. She responded with unabashed euphoria, moaning and writhing, urging him on and on and on. So on and on and on he went. And still the kiss continued. Still hands wandered. When he slipped his fingers beneath her panties, he thought he might never get enough.
Rathbone teased and tormented her until she gifted him with a string of ragged cries. As he slid a digit into her wetness, he licked her lips, her jaw, and ran her ear lobe between his teeth.
Eyes closed, panting and writhing as she chased his touch, she tilted her head, baring her vulnerable neck in offering. His chest clenched at the sight and feel of her. Pleasure in its purest form.
Heart a thunderous boom, he traced his tongue along her carotid, where hot blood rushed. When he reached the top of her transparent tank, truth spilled from him. “I don’t think I’ll have the strength to ever let you go.”
She moaned and squirmed, sending his fingers deeper with their next inward glide. “I know you’re talking, but I don’t know what you’re saying.”
Good. He didn’t want her to know. Not yet. He wasn’t sure of her reaction—wasn’t even sure of his own.
“Was it sexy, what you said?” She rocked her hips, straining the limits of his control. “I bet it was sexy.”
“It was truth.”
She chuckled, the soft sound washing over him. “There you go, talking without letting me know what you’re saying.”
“I’ll make it up to you.” He sucked her racing pulse. As she treated him to another exquisite moan, he pulled from her, climbed to his knees, and straddled her thighs. “Look at you,” he said, and lapped at the honey coating his fingers.
Amber eyes dipped. Lips plumped from his kisses parted.
“You’re staring,” she said, half shy maiden, half enchanting temptress.
He took a long lick. “And sampling.”
She slid a leg out from between his and pressed her booted foot against his pec. “Do I meet with your approval?”
“What do you think?” He lowered his hand to stroke his straining fly, the metal teeth soon to split.
Her gaze dropped. “Mmm,” she cooed and nibbled on her bottom lip. “I think—” She gasped, confusing him. A second later, her irises turned glassy, and she peered far beyond him.
He frowned. “Neeka? Carrot?”
Silence greeted him. Was she having a vision? Not knowing what to do, he waited exactly as he was. One minute flowed into another, leaving him in a state of suspended agony. Finally, she blinked into focus, the exhilaration she’d evinced only moments before gone.
“We can steal the ilium from the Astra, but we must leave now,” she stated, already wiggling out from under him.
“Now now?” he all but roared, nothing else registering.
“Oh, good. You didn’t misunderstand.” Appearing utterly unaffected by what they’d just done—and wouldn’t be finishing—she jumped to her feet, righted her uniform, and held out her hand. The slight tremor nullified him somewhat. “Time is of the essence, and I’ve got to show you something before we confront the big bad.”
“I am the big bad,” he snapped, flashing to tower in front of her. “And I—you—” His hands fisted and unfisted. What did he mean to say? What, what?
She blinked up at him, vulnerable again. And yet, he also detected a thread of guilt. Why? “You do wish to fetch the bone, yes? You still plan to resurrect Lore?”
The stolen bone. His wife. The Song of Life. Neeka’s warning computed at last, and he forced himself to nod. Because there were too many unknown variables. Because he needed the oracle far too much for it to be anything other than dangerous. Because he couldn’t discern the truth concerning his forever queen until he brought Lore to life.
Neeka’s shoulders shrank in the slightest bit, making his chest clench. “Thought so.” She brightened up a second later, beaming a smile at him. “Shall we toast to the wisdom of your decision before we go then?”