Page 78 of Lady of the Lake

His mouth lowers to my throat, his breath a delicious whisper of sensation before his lips meet my skin.

I tilt my head back as he brushes his lips over my throat. He kisses me with lazy strokes of his tongue that send pleasure coiling through my body. I shift my hips against him, and he drags his hand under the hem of my dress, slowly, tortuously. The silky material of my gown shifts against my skin in an exquisite sexual torment. Need spreads low in my belly, pouring through me like melted honey.

But beneath the warmth, something sharper curls inside me. Guilt. I’m lying to him, always.

Talan lifts his head. “Now, Nia. Tell me about your parents.”

I run my hands down his chest and under his shirt. “That’s one way to kill the mood.”

A lie. Every inch of me craves his touch as my fingers trace the sculpted ridges of his abs. His muscles flex beneath my touch.

I pull his shirt off and run my hands over his finely carved body. His muscles flex under my touch.

Liquid heat pools in the coppery depths of his eyes. His fingers tighten on my thigh, moving higher. “You’re unpredictable and utterly alluring, and I need to know everything about you, including exactly how you’ll feel wrapped around me.”

Heat pulses through me, and I shift my hips against him. “I’m afraid I’m terribly boring, even if I’m a demi-Fey.”

“I doubt that.” He hooks a finger beneath the strap of my gown, tugging it down—first one side, then the other. As he pulls down the top of my gown, the air kisses my bare breasts, and my nipples harden.

Talan’s gaze brushes over me, and his breath catches, his eyes smoldering. “Fuck. I want to interrogate you.” His voice sounds rough, hungry. “But you look distractingly hot.”

“Maybe now is not the time for talking, then?” My heart pounds like a drumbeat.

His eyes darken. “Then why don’t you tell me what you want?”

My smile deepens. “Only to stay warm.”

Talan chuckles, low and wicked. “Liar.”

He leans down. His mouth closes over my nipple, and I gasp. A deep, sensual ache makes my thighs clench. I run my fingers over the muscles of his bare back, desire pooling in my core. As his tongue swirls, tasting me, sexual pleasure plunges through me.

I shouldn’t let this happen. I should be keeping him at arm’s length. This is reckless and doomed, but I can’t resist him. I want to let myself go completely, just once.

He pulls his mouth from my breast, his gaze flicking to mine. Copper flares in his eyes. “Take off your underwear and lift your dress for me.”

“So bossy. What makes you think you can order me around?”

“I already know what you want, Nia. I’m just giving you permission.” His breath warms my breasts. “I know what you need from me. You want me to make you come so hard that you will never look at another male again.”

My fingers slide through his hair. “So confident.”

I reach under the hem of my dress and slide my underwear down to my ankles, then off.

His eyes gleam. “Good girl. I will make you come, Nia, but I’m not going to fuck you for real until you tell me all your secrets.”

That comment makes me bite my lip. As much as I want to hand the truth over to him and give him what he wants, it will break this spell I’m living in now.

I pull the hem of my dress up anyway, and his gaze sweeps slowly down my body, his eyes darkening with ferocious hunger. The way he’s looking at me like he’s about to lose control completely sends a dark thrill plummeting into my core. He’s desperate, the perfectly composed prince coming undone before me, and I want this moment to last forever. His expression is worshipful.

He opens my legs and lowers his face to my thighs, his breath hot against my skin. Slowly, his lips graze my inner thigh, his mouth warm and wet. He’s savoring me, teasing me, and making me ache for him. Liquid heat pools between my legs.

I coil my fingers into his dark hair, trying to shift him where I want him.

He looks up at me from under his long, dark eyelashes, his eyes burning with delicious sin. “Patience, my little demi-Fey. I’m savoring you.”

His mouth returns to my skin, warm, demanding, worshipful of my body. He’s teasing me, trying to make me unravel, to beg. Desire pulses inside me.

At last, he starts to kiss and lick me right where I need him. His tongue laves over my clit, each stroke an exquisite torment of pleasure, and I let out a moan.

---