Page 86 of Taste of Death

“No,” he choked out. Color darkened his cheeks and the sight of it delighted me.

I grinned as I stroked him, soaking up the blissed-out torture in his face. “I’ll make sure to keep reminding you.”

“Amy.” Novak leaned over me, his fists gathering up my T-shirt. “You have me in the palm of your hand and I’ll do absolutely anything for you. Please let me see you. I’m dying to love your whole body utterly and completely, so please don’t hide from me.”

It felt like staring out over the edge of a cliff. One simple step could ruin me beyond recognition, or lead me to the greatest freedom and bliss. I would never know until I fully placed my trust in Novak’s hands and took that leap.

He waited for my answer with the patience of a saint, eyes rapt on my face.

“Okay,” I said in a shaky whisper. “You can take it off.”

The material lifted and I closed my eyes, unwilling to risk the chance of seeing disappointment in his expression. I lifted my arms to let the shirt, my shield, disappear, and then immediately brought them down to cover myself.

The next thing I felt were Novak’s arms wrapping around my back, pulling me against his chest. He was so warm, like a life-sized space heater. Wherever the idea that vampires were cold came from had no basis in reality.

“You’re so brave,” he said, lips on my forehead. “And utterly stunning. You make me fuckingache, akra.”

I unfolded from my defensive position just slightly, letting my head come to his shoulder and my legs dangle off the edge of the desk. His hands smoothed up and down my back, palms flat and fingers wide. I’d never had so much of my bare skin touched by another person before.

“Are you okay?” Novak kissed my temple.

“Yeah.” My hands went around his waist, seeking more of his warmth. I was okay as long as he wasn’t face-to-face with my scars. “This feels nice.”

“That’s good, but,” his touch rounded my hips, running down my thighs. “I want you to feel better thannice.”

One hand slid into my hair, curling into a fist at the base of my skull. He drew my head back and kissed me roughly, nicking the corner of my lip and sucking the blood that welled in the cut. While I was distracted by the pleasure pulsing through me, he slid one hand up my abdomen and kneaded a breast, plucking my nipple until I cried out.

“I’m going to spend centuries pleasing your body until you love it as much as I do,” he promised with a growl. “It won’t happen overnight but you will learn to love yourself, Amy. You will realize your worth, I swear to you.”

I was wordless and panting, taken aback that this wasmehe was talking to. He leaned back to look at all of me, reverence and awe in his eyes like I was a work of art. And for the first time in my life, I didn’t want to hide.

“So fucking stunning.” Novak’s gaze traveled down my body at a leisurely pace, not inspecting but appreciating.

His hands followed his eyes, running downward over me in loving caresses. I held my breath for a moment when his touch passed over my scars, but he didn’t linger on them. Nor did he hurry past them. He simply gave them the same loving attention as the rest of me.

When he dropped to his knees between my legs and gazed at me there, I fought the urge to clamp them shut. Fought the chill of vulnerability telling me to cover up and scuttle away.

Novak’s strong hands kneaded my thighs, working pleasure into my sensitive skin, then he quirked an eyebrow up at me. “If you deny me tasting you here, there’s a strong chance you’ll break my heart.”

I forced out a nervous laugh. “We wouldn’t want that, would we?”

His grin was predatory as he leaned in and licked a long stripe up the center of my core. I gasped at the sensation, but couldn’t fully process the pleasure as he licked me again and again. Then his mouth covered me, lips sealing like a kiss while his tongue plundered and explored.

Before I knew it, my hands braced on the desk behind me, my head fell back, and my hips bucked against the face of my vampire lover. Novak held my thighs apart as he feasted on me, teasing me with swirls of his tongue on my clit until I shook with impending release, then he backed off to suck on my labia and slid his tongue inside me. He moaned against my skin, sending more vibrations to tease me toward orgasm but never enough to get me there.

I was desperate to come and never felt so wanton and uninhibited in my life. I didn’t recognize myself like this, stark naked and sweating, head thrown back and breasts thrust in the air, getting eaten out on the edge of a desk.

“Novak… ” My fingers tangled in his long silver hair, urging him up toward my clit to give me sweet release.

He answered with a moan that might have been my name, but resisted my pulling. The more wound up and desperate I got, the more he seemed to enjoy himself. When his mouth broke away and he began to stand up, I could have cried.

“Why’d you stop?” My fingers headed straight for my clit to take the edge off, but he stopped me, catching my wrist and returning it to my side.

“Because I’m taking this moment to be selfish.” He licked his lips with a wicked grin, stepping in so close that his cock rested on my inner thigh, the skin warm and velvety around its thick weight. “I want to be inside you when you come.”

“So what are you waiting for?” My thighs squeezed his waist, ankles locking at the small of his back.

“Nothing.” He stroked my cheek and leaned his forehead on mine. “Just… savoring you.”

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