Page 91 of Master of Storms
“I still want to kiss you.” His whisper skimmed her jaw, and then his lips followed them. A ghostly caress that had her yearning for more. “Do you know what it feels like to know I’ve tasted you once? I can still feel your nails digging into my back, Solveig. I can still feel the mark of your teeth in the skin of my throat. You haunt me. And every night, I hear you gasp as I kiss my way down your neck”—his hand splayed firmly over her midriff—“and I dream of the sounds you would make if you let me kiss my way lower.”
Lower, to where the trail of his fingertips led.
Past her belt.
Over the buttons of her breeches.
Solveig froze, breathless with want as he touched herthere.
Right where it ached the fiercest.
And their eyes met as he drew back, practicallydaringher.
Marduk leaned closer, until his breath stirred her lips. “I’m not the only one who aches, am I? Your eyes turn molten sometimes and I can almost feel your lips on mine. And your fingers curl into your palms as if you’re fighting not to reach out and touch me. Despite everything, you want me and I want you. And maybe we can keep lying to ourselves, but maybe there’s no reason to do so. We’re alone here, Solveig. Nobody would ever know.” His voice softened to a whisper. “Only you. And only me.”
It wasn’t right to want a man so. It wasn’t right, and yet it had been years since she’d felt another’s touch, and worse, all she could remember was his, and she wanted—no, she needed—it to be more.
One night.
“I would know,” she whispered.
“Yes.”
It was a dare.
She looked into his eyes, and maybe this was what she needed? Maybe she’d be able to breathe again if she just let this happen. Maybe she’d no longer feel like chains constricted her chest every damned time he looked at her, if she drove this wretched feeling from her veins.
But he promised pleasure, and she didn’t want mere pleasure.
She wanted it to be a fight. She wanted to slay these treacherous demons within her heart. She wanted to punish herself for even wondering what it would feel like to have his hands on her skin.
“Maybe we need to deal with this attraction between us, once and for all?” he growled.
Solveig bit his finger, watching the heat flare to life in his eyes.
“What will it cost me?” he whispered.
Her heart skipped a beat. “Surrender. Complete and utter surrender.”
There was a devilish heat in his eyes. “Then you have it.”
“Just this once.”
Marduk’s eyes widened, but she was sliding a hand up his chest, feeling the erratic thump of his heart. Fierce desire flared in his amber irises as if the monster of his own need was unleashed.
“As you wish,” he whispered.
No more words. No more promises. No more secrets.
“Then kiss me.” Solveig grabbed a fistful of his collar as his mouth lowered to claim hers.
* * *
There wassomething to be said for surrender.
Marduk kissed as if she’d aimed her ballista at his dam walls and an entire torrent of passion was bursting through. He slammed her back against the wall, claiming her mouth as if she’d given him permission to own it.
It took precisely two seconds to realize this wasn’t surrender. Or not on her terms. Indeed, she found herself lifted up, her thighs clamping around his hips as his tongue lashed against her own.
