Page 19 of Ashes of Honor

Alexiares’s eyes locked on my lips, his head tilting in that way that always pulled me in and refused to let go. His tongue traced over my ear. “I think it’s time for a break.”

That voice—low, with an edge that sent heat pooling between my thighs—stripped away any lingering hesitation. “Word on the street is you can make me do whatever you want. Especially with all that power.”

Alexiares’s lips hovered a whisper over mine, the warmth of him sending a shiver through me. His presence alone stole the air from my lungs, the space between us vanishing as his hands found my hips. “Seems to me we’re at our most powerful when we’re together.”

He kissed my neck, the heat of his lips a slow burn as he nibbled and bit. Each touch was an agonizing taunt until he found his way to that spot behind my ear he knew made me squirm. The way he knew exactly where to touch, where to devour, was its own kind of magic. A soft moan escaped my lips—brief, before he swallowed it with his mouth. Gentle until he wasn’t. Until he couldn’t be. Our tongues danced. My back arching against the cold, hard wall as his teeth nibbled at my lip. I ground against him in need.

Alexiares tilted his head back with a groan as I pressed against him, feeling the hardness of his dick trapped between us. A wicked smirk played on my lips. I knew exactly what I wanted.

I dropped to my knees.

Alexiares sucked in a gasp for air, sharp and ragged, as I worked at his belt. My hands were desperate. Searching. I licked my lips, mouthwatering at the sight of him, the idea of him filling my mouth—thick, heavy, flushed with need.

“Fuck,” he groaned, his voice low and ragged as my hands moved over him, teasing the length of him with slow, deliberate strokes.

I didn’t rush. I wanted him starving for me—desperate, undone, begging.

Using both hands, I tickled the base of his balls as my tongue followed my hands. My tongue flicked out, teasing the tip, savoring the taste of salt and heat. I licked along the length of him, slow, torturous, my hand working in tandem. He tensed, fingers digging into my scalp, tightening in my hair as his hips snapped forward.

Hard, dark eyes stared down at me. Lust simmering in them as he whispered a command. “Open up.”

Outside of these four walls, I was in charge. In the bedroom with Alexiares—I obeyed, parting my lips as he thrust deep into my mouth. His grip on my hair tightened, his hips snapping forward, pushing deeper, filling my throat. There was no such thing as air, as oxygen, as he pumped his way in and out of my mouth. Using me to feed an insatiable hunger that I understood all too well. Being with him was a different adventure every time. To say we fucked like jackrabbits at every opportunity would be an understatement. An air shield surrounding our room with Elie and the dogs on the other side of the house.

Each thrust sent a pulse of arousal straight to my core, a wicked kind of power coiling between my thighs. I moaned around him, the vibration making him hiss through his teeth.

His control snapped.

With a swift motion, he yanked me upright, crashing his mouth to mine in a kiss that was all teeth and hunger. I smiled a mocking grin, daring him to do his worst. Alexiares took it as a challenge. My cargo pants and briefs were burned off my body in his impatience.

It was his turn to kneel. He kissed the scar along my waist that spelled out his name. His hands moved to replace where his lips left, rough and urgent as he spun me around. A slap, sharp and stinging, landed on my ass. Large hands gripping my hips and pushing me forward. His lips followed, trailing fire along my hips. The wet stroke of his tongue found my pussy as he dragged it up, stopping at my lower back. He kissed it, then worked his way back down. I trembled beneath him, pleasure encased me at the sensation of his hand tightening its grip as he stroked himself to the sound of my muffled moans.

“Alex—”

He knew what I needed. But he made me wait.

I clenched my thighs around his shoulders, desperate, the edge of release so close, so maddening. I wanted us to come together or not at all. The tease was as much fun as that final release.

I turned around. A struggle given how anxious he was to finish me. He peered up at me with a grin, lifting me easily and pressing my back against the wall. I wrapped my legs around him. We paused, our eyes locking in that familiar way when words were a barrier, too dangerous to speak aloud. Those three words lingered on my lips, but fear held them back, locking them inside me where they’d stayed for so long. That didn’t mean I didn’t feel them. And he knew that.

“I love you,” he said as he thrust deep inside me. The sensation made my head spin, but it wasn’t just physical. Those words. They pulled at something raw and hidden inside me.

I held on to the space behind his neck and pressed my forehead against his. Our breath mingled as I whispered, “Inevitable.”

A vow. A claim.

My own little way of saying that I intended for us to be forever. Whatever that looked like, it began and ended with him.

Amaia

“Ya know, I can practically feel the lust rolling off you two,” Reina said the second we sat down at the long wooden table our group had claimed years ago.

I couldn’t lie—being here was one of the lastnormalthings in my life. An old reliable. Covert hadn’t touched The Kitchens’s interior. They hadn’t had the chance. The low lanterns hanging from the herb and greenery-covered ceiling embraced us with a scent of home. Thankfully, Reina’s commentary couldn’t be heard by any PG-13 rated ears.

Elie sat off the side with her brother Rex, back home from his forty-eight hour deployment. They ate together whenever he wasdocked for the night. With everything going on, our navy spent more time out monitoring the water and coast line than ever before. She laughed at some joke he presumably told and his green eyes danced with joy. They shared the same caramel skin and pointed nose, but the similarities ended there. Where Elie’s hair was thick with golden curls, his dark, wavy hair had been buzzed short when he enlisted.

His jaw ticked as he took me in and tossed me a nod. Tense words had been exchanged over the weeks regarding Elie’s behavior. At the end of the day, he wasn’t here to watch over her himself, and I had an obligation to more than one person’s safety.

Harley and Suckerpunch bounded over, tongues dripping from water at the bowl at Emma’s feet. She released them from the round table behind Elie’s. Her father, Hal, pointed toward their scattered approach with a laugh. Emma’s little brother, Luke, clapped his hands with a slobbered grin. Their sister Olivia ruffled his fine blond hair.

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