Page 196 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
From her maddening movements, my towel was hanging onto my hips through miracle alone.
She was so very eager, tongue seeking out mine, nails digging into the back of my neck.
I could taste the passion she’d denied herself–or had been denied.
I carried her to my bed and set her down slowly, chest still pressed to hers. I wouldn’t let her go for a second.
“I’ve dreamed of having you in my bed since that first day,” I whispered against her puffy lips fiercely. Let her know how she affected me. “I couldn’t sleep the entire night, trying to listen for each of your movements through the door.”
I didn’t mention how I’d heard her sobbing too many times to count. Or how many nights I walked up to the door, debating whether I should open it or not.
But I convinced myself she didn’t want my comfort.
Back then, she probably didn’t, even as her mouth covered mine now, demanding and hurried.
I fisted my palms in the sheets above her head.
I knew what she wanted. I felt it in each sway of her hips and each small groan she tried to swallow.
Something hard and fast and rough.
Something to make that mind of her quiet for a moment.
But that’s not how she deserved to be worshiped right now.
Her hands might have been leaving blazing trails down my back, but she’d said she was scared of what she wanted.
First, the fear had to go.
Then we could indulge in all those depraved thoughts Iknewshe hid inside that brilliant brain of hers.
Our first time together couldn’t be just a haze of moans and gasps that melted into silence as fast as they appeared.
It had to mean more.
I needed it to mean more.
And when her movements slowed and a tension crept into her body, I knew I’d been right to not match her frenzy, no matter how good her body felt against me or how I craved her little stuttered breaths in my ear.
It took all of my strength to break the kiss and lean on my forearms above her.
“Do you want to stop?” Godsdammit, I meant the question to sound cool and calm, not breathless.
“No,” she said quickly, straining her neck to claim my lips once more. But she stopped a breath away. “Wait, doyouwant to stop?”
I hated what I heard in her voice.
Disappointment.
Doubt.
“Solkar himself would have to reach out of the sky once more to make me stop.” I kissed her forehead, earning a surprised gasp from her. “What’s going on?”
Allie’s lips tensed in a shaky smile. But then they fell as she plopped her head down back onto the mattress. She covered her eyes with the heels of her palms.
And I waited.
Ravenous, rock hard, and in rapture at her beauty, I waited.
