Page 77 of The Crow Games

“May I . . . ?”

“Yes!” I panted, and he unhooked my suspenders, then undid the fall front of my trousers.

He crooked a finger inside the waistband of my undergarments and made my belly dip as he skimmed a knuckle gently across the skin below my navel.

“I want to be your comfort,” he said, his voice a gravelly purr. He opened the front of my shirt with fingers that shook. “I want to be your everything.”

Muscles low in my stomach clenched. “Asher . . .”

He nipped at my ear, then sucked gently at the sensitive skin at my throat, and a whimper slid out of me. His touch trailed from my jaw to my neck to the exposed skin at the top of my breasts. Little tempting touches I felt the phantom of long after they were gone. My nipples hardened, overly aware of the gentle drag of the linen from my chemise.

I bit my lip hard, a pressure building into an ache low in my stomach. It was so tempting to take everything he was offering me and more. But my favorite thing about him was how safe my feelings always were with him. And I wanted his feelings, his heart, to be safe with me too. Accepting comfort from him while offering him nothing in return felt too much like betraying him.

“I can’t just take from you,” I told him.

“Just the once, I’ll let you,” he groaned in my ear, and he moved against me, his desire for me pressing hot and heavy at the thin barrier of fabric that separated us. “It doesn’t have to be a habit.”

“It isn’t fair to you.”

“It’s plenty fair,” he said, his tone light as he teased my jaw and neck with his lips. His fingers returned to curl inside my waistband. “I think it’ll only take the once.”

I chuckled. “Just the once, and then I’ll be addicted to you?”

“That’s right.” He rocked against me, and I moved my hips with him until I was awash with the warmth of him. “I already am. That’s how I know.”

“You do feel good,” I confessed breathlessly. He might just be right. It probably wouldn’t take much at all to make me obsessed . . .

Without a doubt, nothing would ever be the same again if I took all that he was offering.

He claimed my lips with a heavy kiss, encouraging me to wrap my legs around his waist. “You feel good. You taste good. You sound good. The years of my life stretch endlessly before me, and I’ve never felt like this before, like Ican’twait.”

But it wasn’t fair. My fingers tightened around his shoulders. “I want to do right by you.”

“Let me be whatever you need, Maven. Let me have you, and we’ll figure the rest out,” he begged.

I couldn’t. He was giving too much without demanding consideration for his heart. We weren’t in the same place. His feelings had climbed to a lovely peak I was too low and lost to be able to reach right now.

I just wanted the peace chasing bliss with him would offer. I wanted an escape.

He wanted . . . more.

I leaned up and kissed his nose, ignoring every screaming protest of my needy body. Thunder boomed outside, joining in with its own objections. I shook my head. He smiled at me, understanding in his dark eyes. I wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about him now, about everything that would have transpired had I just nodded my head yes.

I’d be pondering the “more” of it all until I drove myself mad. Damn him. I hated being noble. Being kind was stupid. Why couldn’t I just be a little selfish?

“It was worth a shot,” he said.

“It was anexcellentshot,” I groaned.

Then he spun me toward the bed, and he stretched me out across the bottom bunk.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Just something I can’t stop thinking about,” he said, tucking me in under the blankets. “There’s not many people in the world who can tolerate my touch. I hoped you’d indulge me. Or would you rather sleep alone tonight?”

I chewed at my cheek, uncertain how to feel. Was I still being selfish if I accepted comfort from him in a different way? I decided this was all right. This was something I could do for him that felt reciprocal. And it was impossible to say no to him twice, not when he was so tempting.

I scooted over so he could slide in behind me.

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