Page 176 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
Not yet.
I still had to get accustomed to this lustful, reckless part of me.
The one which Ryker had brought to the surface.
Because I didn’t have to be the leveled, steady one for once.
I could indulge in all the things I thought weren’t possible for someone like me and let loose.
Maybe because I knew Ryker could face it and not shy away. But encourage it.
And, oh, how he encouraged it, with each grip of my thighs and roll of his hips.
He kissed me like he wanted to drink my very essence, all that control of his cracking.
It scared me, how much I wanted to be consumed.
“Come here,” he rasped and pulled me away from the wall, carrying me in his arms like I weighed nothing.
“Don’t have a choice now, do I?” I teased.
“Pff, you should have told me, I don’t want to impose on your princely time.”
He loosened his grip on my thighs and, for the barest moment, gravity claimed me. He caught me instantly, just as my surprised giggle reverberated around us.
“Gods, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more beautiful sound,” he said, laughing.
I playfully smacked his shoulder. “Mean.”
Yes, I was definitely out of my mind.
After a lifetime of being called too tall and too loud, him holding me so easily and reveling in each of my sounds drove me wild.
My teeth grazed his neck, tongue swirling across his skin. It should have been a punishment for the joke, but from the way his chest vibrated, he didn’t mind one bit.
He laid me on the edge of the table gently, capturing my lips once more. The table was still hot, but it was nothing compared to this heat.
And I wanted all of it.
To burn and blaze through me.
His fingers began unbuttoning my coat quickly.
The fire crackled behind us, casting a golden glow on his face. I didn’t know what this Solkar of theirs looked like, but he couldn’t have been more beautiful than this man watching me with unrelenting desire.
“You look like you have a halo around you,” he whispered reverently. “You’re gorgeous.”
“I–” I’d never been called that. Beautiful, a few times. Peculiar, more than once. Never gorgeous. “Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome,” he said, voice hoarse and filled with a promise that made me tremble. He took my earlobe between his teeth, eliciting an ungodly sound from me.
Just as he popped open the last button and the coat began to slide from my shoulders, a tremor shot straight through me.
But it hadn’t come from me.
Ryker and I froze at the same time, twin shocked gazes blazing into each other.
The ground was shaking.
