Page 152 of Kingdom of Embers and Ruin

To a woman who valued actions above words, Herrick expected nothing else.

Maude’s mouth was slightly swollen, and the sight of it elicited a deep sense of satisfaction in him. Before Herrick could do anything else, Maude slipped off the dresser and closed the distance between them. She put her hand on his chest, gently guiding him to the narrow bed in the room while she reached for his waistband and began to undo the buttons. Once his knees hit the back of the bed, Maude dropped his pants to the floor, freeing his length as she pushed him down onto the bed.

Before she could hide away her surprise, Herrick could see Maude’s reaction to the size of him. Determination lit her features as she ran her gaze over his cock so slowly that he could feel her attention like she had grabbed him by the balls. Herrick raised one cocky eyebrow at her when she finally lifted her dark green eyes to his and smirked.

Challenge flared in her eyes, just like Herrick had hoped. Their push and pull was his favorite game to play, and he knew how to play Maude like a fiddle.

Standing between his legs, Maude held his eye as she slowly unbuttoned her pants. With each button she freed, Herrick felt another thread on his restraint snap. The mischievous look in her eye was telling him she could play just as dirty in their taunting game.

She inched closer to his salvation, but at the last second, Maude held up one finger to push him back onto the bed,tskingher disapproval at him. He hadn't realized that he’d moved closer to her with each passing second, drawn into her space, like she was the sun and moon in the sky that he was meant to orbit forever.

With the final button freed, Herrick lunged for her. Maude let out a shocked breath as he gripped her around the waist and pivoted her underneath him onto the bed.

“So impatient,” she breathed, as Herrick bit and then kissed her neck before moving lower down to worship her curves further.

He smiled against her skin before responding.

“I’ve been patient,minn eldr, and now I need to feel you wrapped around me,” he growled, nipping at her bottom lip. “Slow will come later. I have so many plans for you.”

Maude arched into him at his words, and he took the opportunity to release the strip of fabric she kept tied around her breasts, freeing them, before bringing his hands to her waistband and stripping the leather pants from her legs. He took a second to soak in Maude’s naked body splayed out beneath him, breathing unevenly and rapidly.

“Look at you,” he breathed as he leaned down to run his nose up the inside of her thigh.

“Herrick,” she pleaded, hips bucking the closer he got to her center.

“Now who is impatient?” He let out a dark chuckle.

Before she could speak again, he ran his tongue up her center, tasting just how much she wanted him. Maude let out a delicious groan that only spurred him on to place two fingers inside of her.

As soon as his fingers entered her sex, her muscles clenched around them, and he felt it all the way down to his cock. He sucked in the bundle of nerves causing Maude to reach down and tangle her fingers in his hair.

He wasn't sure how long he would be able to carry on this way. He needed to be inside her, needed to feel this heat around his cock, needed to be lost in her body. Herrick pumped his fingers inside Maude faster as he continued to devour her, feeling her writhe underneath him. He moved his free hand to rest on her lower abdomen, forcing her to keep still.

Her skin was searing under his palm, and Herrick could feel she was close to erupting. Using just the motions of his tongue, he formed a thin layer of ice between him and Maude. When he ran his tongue up her center once more and swirled once, he felt Maude clench around his fingers. She cried out, back bowing off the bed with the force of her climax, but Herrick kept licking and sucking until she was in the final waves of her orgasm. Only when Maude went limp under his touch did he finally give her a reprieve.

Maude’s sweat-slicked body was panting when Herrick slowly made his way back up to her, settling himself between her slick thighs. Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath; her dusky nipples peaked with arousal. Herrick took one into his mouth and bit down, causing Maude to take a sharp breath in and moan as he soothed away the small hurt with his tongue.

The sound snapped something inside of him, though, because he got on his knees and found himself wrapping an arm around her waist and lifting her to hover over him. Maude threw her head back as he moved to kiss her throat. Herrick’s cock was positioned at her entrance, but he couldn’t take that last step just yet.

“Look at me,minn eldr,” he said softly, placing his other hand on her cheek so she couldn't avoid his eye. “I need to see you.”

Maude met his eye, the stunning dark green of her eyes clear as her deep red hair fell over her shoulders in long ropes. He traced his fingers over the scar that trailed down the side of her face, never subtracting from her beauty but rather proving that she had fought and had lived.

The rage that he had felt building in him when she had finally told him of how she had gotten her scar, what it was meant to remind her of, had almost crippled Herrick. The need to slaughter Helvig had increased exponentially, nearly causing his body to vibrate with a vengeance.

She had survived all these years on her own, living with the reminder that her father thought her worthless. And despite all the horrible things that she had endured, Maude had retained the soul of a good person, even if her morals tended to run on the grey side.

Maude was the strongest person he had ever met.

She is a goddess, he thought not for the first time. She gave him a small nod and leaned forward to kiss him softly. As soon as her lips touched his, Herrick sank her onto his hard length, all the way to the hilt. She groaned into his mouth.

Gods, she was perfect. Maude fit with him like she was made for him, her searing core wrapping around him tightly. Her fingernails dug into his skin as she began to ride him. Herrick plunged his hand into her hair and gripped it tight, keeping her mouth on his so he could taste every moan he wrought from her as he matched her pace, thrust for thrust.

Time slowed and sped up at the same time as Herrick moved inside Maude. She weathered every thrust, her hips moving in time with his as they both moved closer to release. Maude’s breath quickly started coming in short pants and groans as he drew his mouth down the long column of her throat down to where her fatemark was inked over her heart.

As Herrick placed a kiss on her fatemark, the black ink seemed to pulse silver for a moment before fading, but Herrick didn't notice as Maude wrapped her fingers in his hair again, pulling the dark curls back so she could look at him.

Their sweat-slicked bodies moved together in an ancient rhythm as Maude’s green eyes met his golden ones, their breath mingling in the shared space between them. Where their joining had started roughly and heated with their previously restrained lust that burned as brightly as the fire in Maude’s veins, it now morphed into something slower and deeper.

---