Page 201 of Lady of Ashes

He moved before she ?nished speaking, his mouth closing around a peaked tip and sucking hard. She moaned, her back arching beautifully, as her hands landed on the desk behind her. He slid his hands down her thighs to her knees, pushing them wider and stepping further into her. His mouth moved to her other breast before his tongue was tasting her neck, and her head fell back, another breathy moan escaping her.

He pressed a kiss below her ear before he said in a guttural tone, “Do not move.”

“What?” Her head snapped up.

His hands were still on her knees, and his ?ngers ?exed in emphasis when he repeated, “Do not move, my Love,” before stepping away from her a few feet.

She gaped at him, and he lazily slipped his tunic over his head, hiding his smirk. But she hadn’t moved. Not an inch. Her hands were still braced behind her, her chest thrust forward, and those luscious breasts on full display. Her legs were still spread wide, giving him a view he was certain he could spend the entirety of the afterlife staring at.

“I am supposed to be distracting you,” she said petulantly, her eyes watching him intently when he stooped down to unbuckle his boots.

“And you are doing a wonderful job, my Love,” he replied when he stood back up, toeing the boots off. “I assure you, the only thing I am thinking about right now is sinking my cock between those pretty thighs you have spread open so nicely for me. I am completely and utterly distracted.”

This time, he didn’t hide his smirk when her cheeks ?ushed. He watched her eyes dip to where his ?ngers were at the buttons of his pants. Watched her throat work as he slipped them off. Watched the tremor go through her body when he started making his way back over to her. Her head tipped back so she could look into his face, her lips parting, and tongue darting out, swiping along her bottom lip.

“What are you waiting for then?” she rasped, her voice low and throaty in a way that had his cock twitching against her.

“For your manners to make those rare appearances.”

“Sorin.” He was pretty sure she’d meant that to be a reprimand, but it came out as a plea, a note of desperation in her tone.

“Or begging,” he said. “That works, too.”

Before she could spout off with whatever was surely to come from her mouth next, he was gripping her hips and yanking her forward onto his length. He groaned at the same time her breath caught, and he captured her lips with his mouth. Her arms looped around his neck, ?ngers twining in the hair at the base of it. Her legs wrapped around his waist, heels digging into his back and pushing him further into her as she rocked against him.

And when a hand dropped down to grip the edge of the desk, the nails of her other hand dug into the nape of his neck; and one of his hands slipped over her mouth to sti?e the sound of her coming. Not that it really mattered. It was no secret what they had been coming up here to do. Cyrus had made certain of that, forever a busybody. But even if he hadn’t announced it, the sound of the desk hitting the wall with every thrust into her, certainly told them everything they needed to know.

Her forehead was against his shoulder, his hand moving up and down her back as they both worked to steady their breathing after he’d followed her over the edge of pleasure. She’d unwound her legs, letting them dangle over the edge of the desk, one hand resting on his chest over his racing heart.

“One of these days,” she rasped, “it will be me with the upper hand in these distractions.”

“Everyone should have goals,” he replied, a breath of laughter coming from his lips when her other hand pinched his thigh sharply.

He didn’t bother to tell her that she already had the upper hand in every way. He didn’t bother to tell her that all she had to do was say the word, and he’d be on his knees before her. He didn’t bother to tell her that she already held all the power. That he would crawl through every darkness, every ?ame, and every shadow to worship her in every way possible.

He didn’t say any of that. Instead, he tipped her mouth up to his, brushing his lips lightly against hers. Then he was scooping her up and carrying her to the bed, where he made sure she was sleeping deeply before he let himself follow her even into the depths of slumber.

CHAPTER 41

SCARLETT

“Ithink you’ve got it,” Scarlett said, studying Auberon’s latest drawing of the Mark they were going to be using. “Are you ready?”

The vampyre met her gaze, his blue eyes bright. She didn’t miss how they dipped brie?y to her throat. Neither did Sorin, and he shifted subtly closer to her. “How will this work exactly?”

“I have no idea,” Scarlett said with a shrug. “I suppose we are about to ?nd out.”

They were outside on a terrace of the villa. The sun was shining brightly, and she breathed the fresh air deep into her lungs. She rolled her shoulders, stretching out her neck as they moved to the dirt beyond the stone patio. Shaking her arms out, she glanced at Juliette and Nuri who were sitting along the low terrace wall. Scarlett had no idea what they were going to ?nd when they ?gured out where the Contessa was, but the dread coiling in the pit of her stomach told her it wasn’t going to be anything good.

“You good, Love?” Sorin asked, coming to her side.

“Mhmm,” she hummed, pushing down the unease. He had already ?lled a small glass with his blood, Cyrus now holding that cup ready and waiting for her.

Auberon dropped to his knees in the dirt, a knife in hand, and Scarlett knelt opposite him. The four Fae gathered around them. Azrael hadn’t been particularly happy about this development, but Talwyn had been surprisingly amenable to the idea, agreeing that they needed to ?nd the Contessa as quickly as possible.

Auberon cut a gash along his palm, dipping his ?nger in andbeginning to draw the Mark she’d made him practice for the last hour. When he was done, Sorin handed her a dagger, and she quickly dragged it down her forearm, letting her blood spill over it. She didn’t know how much of her blood it would take, but the moment the ?rst drop hit the Mark, she felt a tug at her shadows. White ?ames raced along the Mark, tracing every line and angle as her blood dripped onto it. Shadows ?lled her vision and twined around her arms.

“Anything?” she heard Sorin grit out to Auberon.

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