Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
“I have to disagree with that. You are officially the best person to go to sleep next to.” The short hairs on his leg tickled mine as he drew himself up. “To sleep beside.” He kissed my shoulder. “And to wake up with.”
The corners of my lips turned up. “You have to say that.”
“I only speak the truth.” His arm loosened as his hand moved, skimming over the curve of my waist. “Was it another nightmare?” His palm drifted over my hip. “The Dark One?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it. I almost wished it was that nightmare. Those were a product of the past. This one felt like…like a harbinger. I swallowed.
My gaze shifted to the exposed beams of the ceiling awash in streaks of moonlight. A chill entered my skin. “It wasn’t that kind of nightmare.”
Casteel traced small, idle circles on the top of my thigh. “Tell me about it.”
“It’s not a big deal,” I told him. “Morning will be here soon, and we still have a ways to go, right? We should be asleep—”
“Poppy.” The hand on my thigh returned to my hip and then firmed, tilting me so my body was on its side, facing him.
I pressed my hands to his chest. “I don’t even remember it.” In reality, I wasn’t sure how I could forget it: the sight of him, cold and gray, bloodless and immobile.
My heart sped up again. Why would I dream something like that? Now? I pressed my lips together, suddenly hearing Kieran’s voice in my mind.
The heart doesn’t care how long you have with someone.
Gods, I suddenly understood what had spawned such a nightmare, such feelings of panic and helplessness.
In the moonlight, Cas’s gaze found mine. “Tell me about it.”
My eyes narrowed. “You’re being incredibly bossy.”
“And you’re being incredibly evasive,” he replied. “That worries me.”
“It shouldn’t.”
“And it makes me more curious,” he continued, his hand squeezing my hip. “Makes me wonder if you were dreaming of another, and that is why you’re being so vague.”
“Really?” I stated dryly.
“Yes. My ego got diminished somewhere between Saion’s Cove and here,” he said. “I am now in need of your assurances.”
There wasn’t a single part of me that believed Casteel’s ego was capable of weakening. Or that he believed I’d dreamt of another. In fact, I doubted his ego would even allow that to enter his mind.
But I’d learned that two could tease. “You’re right.” I drew a finger down the defined line of his chest. “It was another—”
He gave my rear a light smack, catching me off guard. Surprise caused me to let out a little squeak, but a dart of wicked heat made me jerk.
My eyes narrowed on him. “That was uncalled for.”
Casteel’s chuckle danced over my lips. “You liked it.” Unfortunately, he was right. He palmed the flesh he’d tapped. “And I know you weren’t dreaming of another.”
“Then why did you suggest such a thing?”
He moved his leg again, nestling his thigh between mine. “Because I wanted to bask in the glory of your assurances.”
“You’re insufferable,” I said, fighting a laugh.
“You meant to say insatiable.” Casteel’s head lowered, his mouth finding mine with unerring accuracy.
I immediately opened for Casteel. His kisses were compulsory, even these slow, languid ones where he seemed to sip from my lips. Tiny shivers broke out across my skin as his tongue flicked over mine in an intimate, sensual dance.
Using the hand on my rear, Casteel hauled me closer. I gasped as those coarse leg hairs dragged across the most sensitive part of me. The unexpected friction caused my hips to twitch.
“I love how responsive your body is to mine.” He pressed his thigh up, causing more friction against me. I shuddered as darts of pleasure radiated out from my core. A deeper, dark chuckle teased my lips. “Have I told you that?”
Before I could think if he had, the hand on my rear tugged me onto his thigh, and he moved his leg up again, hitting that taut bundle of flesh. Tighter, hotter ripples of pleasure skated through me.
Casteel’s lips returned to mine. My fingers curled, digging into his chest as he moved me again. The kiss deepened, and he rocked my hips against his hard thigh. Soon, I needed little guidance. His growl of approval rumbled through me as my thighs tightened around his, and I strained against him, feeling my breath picking up and my core clenching. I knew I was damp against his skin. Wet. My cheeks warmed, knowing he could feel my slickness.
His head tilted, and the kiss turned harder, fiercer. Then he broke the contact, his arm clamping down on my hips, stilling me.
“Cas,” I cried out, my body vibrating with unspent desire.
Nipping at my lips, he made that deep sound again. “I need to be inside you when you come, and I need you on top, riding me when you do.”