Page 174 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
My palm melted against Ryker’s chest, his heartbeat a gallop against my skin, while my other arm coiled around the back of his neck.
His hands slid from the wall, tangling in my wild hair. But not like all the others who’d ever gotten this close to me. They’dwanted to tame it. Have it wrap around their unworthy fingers, bend it to their will.
Ryker’s fingers dug into the strands like he wanted to release them all wilder.
Unleashed.
Feral.
His strong body pressed against mine, making the flutters in my stomach turn into waves upon waves of desire.
A moan ripped from my throat as my nails dug into the back of his neck.
“You don’t even need to be talking to drive me mad,” he growled against my lips in one breath, before reclaiming them once more with an intensity that stole the air out of my lungs and made my knees tremble.
His right palm slid to the back of my skull, angling my head so he could savor me fully, while his other hand slid down my side, resting just above my hip.
He had me pinned and gasping in this sacred crypt and I didn’t care if the whole thing crumbled around us as long as he kept nipping at my lips like he was doing now.
Then, I did something everyone and their loud-mouthed uncle said The Huntress would never be able to in her lifetime–I let someone else take the lead while I stood there and took it.
And godsdamn, it felt good.
I melted between the wall and his body as he made my body sing.
Maybe I had been driving Ryker mad with this big mouth of mine, but he made me surrender with his.
Just for today.
Just for a few moments.
His hand slipped lower, grasping my thigh like he’d done it a thousand times before and pulling it over his hip.
I didn’t need any other sign.
Holding on tight to his shoulders, I propped myself up and curled my legs around his middle, and received a satisfied growl from him in return.
“Good girl,” he muttered.
Fuck.
Those two words, whichnobodyhad the gall to even utter in my presence before, did something to me.
They scratched a craving I never knew I had.
They made my legs tense so that I drew him even closer into me.
And goddamn it, when he pressed himself between my thighs, my head rolled back and another moan escaped my lips.
His kisses turned softer as he peppered them down my neck. But these touches were soft. Almost reverent.
As if he remembered Orion had almost taken the pulse out of it, leaving behind his ugly mark, and wanted to erase it with gentleness.
But I didn’t want to think about the ugly past.
I wanted him to devour me.
I tilted his head up and captured his lips this time.
