Page 135 of The Spider Queen
His skin was nearly too hot to touch and raspy with whiskers.
I shivered. “How is it that you’re in your human form?”
One of his arms wrapped around me to tug me closer. I had to crane my neck to look at him. He reached with his free hand to cradle the back of my head.
“Kiss me,” he said, not answering my question.
“Thane—”
“Kiss me, Poppy,” he said, his voice desperate. “It’s been too long since I’ve…Kiss me.”
My heart galloped in my ears. “I can’t reach you,” I whispered.
His head bent and took my lips in an exquisitely gentle kiss as if he were afraid he’d break me.
But I wanted him to break me.
Violent passion swirled like smoke in my belly, only to shoot out of my mouth into his. I kissed him like I was dying. Biting and clawing, we ripped the clothes from our bodies.
He slammed me down onto the stone altar, his hands gliding up and down my feverish skin.
We looked silver and black in the light as we joined.
I couldn’t think, I couldn’t breathe.
I could only feel.
Wrapping my legs around him, I yanked on his hair. His lips left my neck and met my mouth. Our tongues battled with lust and anger. Thane pulsed long and hot inside me.
I cried out in pleasure as I felt the tension between my legs build and build until it spilled over. I clutched him to me, but he refused to be held. He was a beast, and he raged. And he wasn’t satisfied until I came again underneath him.
Only then did he give in to his own pleasure.
He howled like a baying animal that had found its mate. The sound caused goose bumps to rise on my skin. It was as if my own body recognized the call—and I had answered it.
Thane pressed his forehead to my chest. I rested a hand on his lower back and traced his shoulder blade with the other.
He slid out of me, kissing my belly as he left my body.
I felt empty.
I sat up on the stone altar and drew my legs up to hide my nakedness. My tangled brown hair formed a curtain over one eye as I watched Thane slip into his pants. He was turned away from me, so I had a perfect view of his muscular back and shoulders.
He was taller, bigger, and more dynamic than I’d thought. I had been unable to stop myself from being with him.
Suddenly, he turned his head to look at me, his eyes raking down my form. Smiling softly, he picked up the black shirt I had wrenched off him and offered it to me. I put it on and buttoned it. He chuckled and then rolled up my sleeves.
When he was finished, he laced his fingers through mine and brought our hands to his lips. “Come with me, Poppy.”
Chapter 54
He led me away from the stone altar and into the band of swaying trees.
Fire was in my blood and doubts plagued my mind. I felt guilt, remorse…and elation. We’d been inevitable. The moment I’d come to him, I wanted him. But now…shame over my betrayal of Hunter ran deep.
Cocking my head to the side, I attempted to discover the source of the noise. “Are the treeshumming?” I asked.
He nodded. “If you stroke their bark in the right way, they’ll sing for you, but it happens rarely for most.”
