Chapter 14

FOURTEEN

Kill the lights.

Bea couldn’t believe she’d just asked him to do that.

The intimate atmosphere, the tantalizing view of Mavrel’s naked form, and his sheer openness had unraveled her so quickly.

There was something liberating about being away from Earth, free of human conventions and expectations.

She felt like she could do whatever she wanted, and right now, the only thing she wanted was him.

He was only too happy to oblige. They both knew that. It was up to her to give the word.

Mavrel’s long, slender fingers slid up her arm, over her shoulder, along her neck, across her jawline. He was oh-so gentle, but she could sense the tension in him—tightly contained, on the verge of exploding.

His restraint was a huge fucking turn-on.

And now, in the darkness, when she couldn’t see him at all, the intensity of his touch was amplified a hundredfold.

He was already imprinted on her, right down to the smallest detail. She’d already imagined how she would recreate him.

She didn’t resist when he curled his arms around her and laid her down on the sofa.

She shuddered in delight as a tendril of his silken hair danced across the bare skin of her arms.

The darkness was absolute. Not even the faintest glow leaked through. And they were sealed away, unable to be detected, cocooned in this quiet, cavern-like space.

He could do anything to her.

That was part of the thrill.

She had no idea what he was going to do.

And she was pretty sure he hadn’t been with a human woman before—or any other, for that matter.

It was entirely possible that he was a virgin.

So how was he so smooth and confident? How did he know how to press all the right buttons?

“Can I just take a moment to admire you?” he rumbled. “I’ve been wanting to do this so badly. I just didn’t think you’d be into it… so soon.”

She laughed softly. Someone as attractive as you? Are you kidding? “I’m not as innocent as I look. And for the right person, I don’t hold out just for the sake of holding out.”

Delicious tension wound through her core as she remembered that he could see in the darkness.

He was looking at her.

His magical fingertips traced across her face before gently grazing over her hair. She felt him shift. Suddenly, he was above her, surely looking down.

She reached out and found his face.

Closing her eyes, she traced over his features: his high forehead, sharp nose, full and sensual lips. Fangs that made her blush when he gently nipped at her fingers.

It didn’t take much for her to slide her hands down across his shoulders, slipping beneath the silken edges of his robe, pulling the garment off to reveal his bare torso.

She traced over him, imagining each line, shading, dip, and arch.

Warm, smooth, lean, sinuous.

Powerful.

Otherworldly.

And ever so slightly dangerous.

But not to her.

To her, he was nothing but sweetness and light.

He leaned in, his hair brushing against her cheek, his warm breath feathering her skin. “I need to undress you.”

“Go right ahead,” she whispered.

A low growl reverberated from deep within his chest—a sound that was completely inhuman.

Oh. My. Goodness. Bea kept her eyes closed, content to bask in the quiet intensity of his presence. His scent—clear, cool, and crisp, like winter pine—enveloped her.

She’d never experienced anything quite like this; never wanted anyone so badly.

He found the zipper of her dress. She didn’t have to explain to him how it worked.

Deft fingers unraveled her with ease.

He pulled up her skirt with careful urgency, drawing the slinky fabric over her legs, her hips, her belly, her breasts…

And she shifted and lifted herself in places to accommodate his silent request.

At last, he pulled the garment up over her head, over her raised, crossed-over arms.

It disappeared into the darkness, leaving her in just her shoes and her undergarments.

Bea kicked off her silver shoes—remade by Mavrel’s magical technology—the damn things that had caused this predicament in the first place.

All of a sudden, Mavrel wasn’t moving anymore.

She reached out and felt him, pressing her palm against his warm, hard chest.

He didn’t say a word.

“What’s wrong?” she whispered, experiencing a moment of self-doubt. Was he having second thoughts?

“Nothing’s wrong. ” Mavrel’s voice was hoarse. “It’s just that…”

“ What? ”

“I… I did not know that such things existed.”

“Things?” Now, she was both desperately aroused and confused.

“These… garments. ” The last word came out as a cracked whisper. “ I could eat you alive. ”

“Oh. Those. Yeah, well, it’s a good thing I don’t do things by halves, then.” She’d almost forgotten she was wearing the sexiest lingerie she owned: delicate, lacy, and black. A barely-there bra of gauzy mesh decorated with intricate floral embroidery. A matching G-string with the same pattern, subtly obscuring her entrance behind a black silken leaf.

She’d just wanted to feel good in her beautiful dress, and pretty lingerie made all the difference.

Bea swore she hadn’t been thinking about anything else.

“What’s this?” Mavrel’s hand glided across her bare skin, over her right side, starting at her lower ribcage, skimming over the hollow of her waist, caressing the swell of her hip. “You’re marked.”

Ah. Bea smiled. That was her tattoo. A blue lotus flower— Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea to be precise—adorned with intricate swirling elements, extending from just below her ribcage to her hip, the vibrant pigments of delicate purplish-blue and green contrasting with her “What do you think of it?”

“I don’t understand it, but I think it looks amazing on you. It’s so very you. Bold. Vibrant.” His voice was filled with desire and curiosity. “There’s a meaning behind it?”

“There is, and I’ll tell you sometime. But not now. Please, just ? — ”

“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he whispered, and she felt his warm breath across her belly.

She almost wanted to tell him to give them light again, just so she could see his expression, but from the sound of his voice, she could imagine it.

Imagination could add so much more to the real thing.

Right now, her imagination was on fire—along with the rest of her.

Suddenly, her mind expanded, a million tiny starbursts of brilliant light exploding behind her eyelids as his lips connected with her bare skin.

He kissed her there, over the art that encapsulated a thousand memories, some painful, some triumphant.

Slow, reverent, decadent. He took his time, exploring the curves and planes of her body. His roving lips found her nipples, sucking them through the thin mesh of her bra. The diaphanous barrier heightened the sensation.

She arched her back, surrendering to his touch.

How … is he so good at this?

Especially when… he’s never…

She ran her fingers through his impossibly soft hair, down his neck, over his back, which was lean and sculpted, muscles flexing as he moved over her.

What a fucking dream he was.

His thumbs replaced his mouth, gently encircling her hardened nipples as he trailed a line of kisses down her belly, below her belly button, right down to…

He buried his face between her legs and inhaled deeply.

A low moan escaped him, a ragged, primal sound.

Bea whimpered, her need spiraling far beyond her control.

Far beyond anything she’d ever known.

He was deft and gentle as he slipped his fingers underneath the straps and removed her lacy garment, sliding it down over her hips, maneuvering it over her legs, making it disappear into the ether.

Then, he kept true to his word and kissed her there, right at her entrance, and his tongue quickly found her clit.

How did he…?

Bea gasped as he sucked her gently, and he was utterly perfect at it, knowing exactly how much pressure to apply, how to encircle her tender nub with his tongue so she received just the right amount of pleasure.

Enough for it to be insanely good.

But not enough to tip her over the edge.

Not just yet.

She was floating in the void, on pure lightness, suffused with ecstasy.

She lost all sense of time or space as he gave her the gift of pure pleasure.

She didn’t understand how or why, but somewhere in the haze of her lust-clouded thoughts, it occurred to her that at least some of the rumors were true.

And his tongue was the most devious thing ever.

Enough to finally tip her over the edge.

Into the most intense climax she’d ever known.

He held her until she was completely spent—or so she thought, until a wild feeling came over her, and she needed him more than ever. She ran her hands over his bare torso, untying the silken belt, pulling his trousers down over his hips, practically tearing at them in her eagerness to undress him.

At last, she felt his hardness.

Big, straining, so taut she wondered how he’d held back all this time.

She found a hint of pre-cum at his tip and covered her fingers in it, using it to ease her strokes as she closed her hand around him and moved back and forth, encouraged by the low sounds of pleasure coming from his throat.

“I want to see you now, Mavrel,” she whispered, peering up into the darkness.

He uttered a command in Kordolian, his voice barely audible.

A soft glow appeared, just enough to illuminate his strained features.

Eyes like molten drops of amber.

Face etched from silver, a Renaissance sculpture animated by barely held-back restraint.

Tendrils of pure moonlight, the strands of his hair cascading over his shoulders. He could almost be a fairytale prince.

But he was limned by darkness and all too real.

Fangs emerged between slightly parted lips. Pale eyelashes fluttered as his eyes rolled upwards, and he groaned with pleasure.

A sense of awe overcame her as the sudden realization struck her. She was his first.

First human.

First ever.

She’d caught a glimpse of his soul beyond the barriers of what set them apart, across the chasm of different worlds.

Through the hyperbole and the history, the rumors, the propaganda, the misunderstandings…

The burden of being Kordolian.

The fragility of being human.

The biological imperative.

Maybe she could understand these things, just a little…

She was just an ordinary human from Earth, but right now, she was his first, and deep down, she knew she would also be his last.

So when he leaned in and brought his temple against her lips and gently whispered that she was to kiss him there, she did so, and the sound of his ragged, desperate whimper nearly broke her again.

It seemed he liked that, so she did it again, kissing him just below his hairline, the tip of her tongue dancing across the subtle protrusion where his horn used to be.

“Ahh…” A deep groan reverberated from him, right into her very bones. “I need you now. ”

“Please. ” She was wanting again, differently this time. “I want you deep. As you like it. Don’t hold back.”

Finally, his restraint broke. He wrapped her in his arms and entered her, holding her tightly, making it clear that he was in control now.

And there was nothing to do but let him engulf her.