Page 52 of Nightbane
Oro laughed.
Helaughed.
His hand slid slowly down his face, then curved to the back of his neck. He groaned. His voice was dark as midnight as he said, “Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare wear anything else.” She had never heard him so ... possessive before. It made the bottom of her spine curl, made her think about them, and the bed, and the fact that they would soon be in it, together—
Any hope that something would happen between them died when Oro changed and slipped beneath the covers before she could diligently study what he wore to bed. Then, the flames of the room were extinguished.
She squirmed beneath the covers. Her nerve endings were on fire; she felteverything. The sheets against her legs, her shirt against her chest, prickling with need, the fabric of that shirt riding up, nearly showing the lace she was wearing underneath.
Oro was silent behind her. Warm, as always. She tried to even her breathing. Suddenly her heart was beating far too quickly.
Isla slowly smoothed a leg across the sheets until it met his, scalding her in heat that dropped right through her.
He was there. He was always there for her, wasn’t he?
“Oro.” The word was swallowed by the dark silence of the room. Seconds passed.
“Isla,” he said, his voice free of sleep, like he had been awake this entire time as she had shifted uncomfortably with need. Need forhim.
She turned around to face him. “I—” she said. She closed her eyes tightly. What was she doing?
He reached a hand to her shoulder, likely to comfort, but she wanted more thancomfort. She immediately placed her hand over his.
She found his amber eyes in the darkness, clouded with concern. No, she wanted them to be filled with something else. She looked him right in the eye as she said, “I need you.”
Oro stilled. He swallowed. His gaze sharpened, suddenly on high alert.
“Isla—”
“No.” She shook her head. “Please, don’t tell me that it will confuse me, or it’s the wrong time.” She shifted closer. “I want you. Right now. Ineed—”
Intimacy. Pleasure. Those were the words she didn’t say, but the way his eyes closed for just a moment, his jaw clenched, told her he knew her meaning.
Her body shifted closer, until the hand that he had placed on her shoulder fell to her hip. She slid the sheets down, so he could see her, all of her, in his shirt.
He took in her every inch, and his hand clenched the excess fabric at her side, as if he was physically stopping himself from touching her skin.
“Touch me. Please,” she said.
His own rules were forgotten.
She wasn’t sure she was breathing as his fingers slipped up her leg, then beneath the waist of her underthings. His hand curled around her backside, his thumb stroked the inside of her thigh, so close, soclose—
Isla looked from the sight of her body nearly exposed, his hand on her, to him, now just a few inches away. In his eyes, she saw torture.
She frowned. “Oro, if you don’t want—”
Before Isla could finish, he flipped her around and gripped her hips. She gasped as he pulled her toward him, up against him and the proof that he wanted this just as much as she did. The pulsing heat within her became a wildfire. She arched her back and ground against him, making him curse.
Oro slid his hands up to her waist. He leaned down to whisper in her ear, in a deep voice that scraped against the back of her mind. “Knowing you’ve been wearing my shirts to bed, Isla,” he said, “it drives me mad.” His lips touched the edge of her ear. “That’s what I’m going to think about when I’m alone.” He pulled the shirt up, exposing her underthings. He looked and drew a sharp breath, taking in the lace. “You. In my clothes.”
Her heart was going to break out of her chest. They both watched as his fingers slowly, slowly, too slowly, slid their way down to where she wanted him most. Finally, he reached her, and she closed her eyes tightly as he found the proof of her own desire. He stilled, his hand right there, rightthere—
She froze too, wondering if she should be embarrassed...
“Do you want this?” he asked.
She looked over her shoulder at him. She had never wanted anything more. “Yes.”
