Page 124 of Lucifer's Mirror
I have no intention of going to my own bed. I’m leaving at dawn. Alone. That doesn’t mean I have to be alone tonight. But it occurs to me that I don’t actually know where Khaosti sleeps.
What am I supposed to do? Go knock on every door until I find him?
I’m still standing undecided at the bottom of the stairs when a noise from above startles me. I look up.
Problem solved.
Khaosti stands at the top of the stairs. He’s still dressed as he was at dinner, and my gaze drops down over his long, lean body, then back up, lingering on the way. When I reach his face, I suck in a breath. He’s staring down at me out of heavy-lidded eyes, his expression intense, his lips slightly parted.
I hold myself still as he slowly makes his way down the staircase to come to a halt in front of me.
I lick my lips, and his gaze follows the movement, his nostrils flaring.
He doesn’t speak, and the seconds stretch out. There’s a sense of inevitability to our meeting. This is going to happen. I’ve known that from the moment he first kissed me. Actually, that’s not true. I’ve known it from the moment I crashed into him back on Earth. I took one look at him, and some deep, dark part of me knew he was supposed to be mine. But I shut the knowledge away, locking it in a corner of my mind along with my memories.
It wouldn’t have worked. Oh, I’m sure the sex would have been out of this world, but emotionally, I wasn’t ready to handle the consequences of intimacy with a man like Khaosti. I couldn’t have met him as an equal then. There was too much of me missing.
That’s no longer the case.
I can more than meet him halfway.
But I want to be out of here, in the fresh air, under the stars. I reach out my hand, and he slides his fingers into mine, and that now-familiar jolt of electricity leaps between us. My whole body tingles. Without a word, I lead him to the door and out into the night. The moon has risen and lights the path to the clearing in the forest.
We don’t speak on the way. I’ve nothing to say right now—words can wait. Anticipation is tightening my muscles and my skin, catching my breath.
My memories have returned, but I was right—I’ve never done this before. Never even come close to wanting to. Now want and need are warring inside me, heating my blood, sizzling along my nerves.
As we step into the clearing, Khaosti tugs me around so we’re facing each other. He still doesn’t speak, just lowers his head and kisses me. As his mouth touches mine, something almost primeval awakens inside me. My lips part, and he fills me with the hard push of his tongue, flooding my mouth with the taste of heat and spice.
He urges me back until I hit the smooth trunk of one of the huge trees circling the clearing. He raises his head, and we both gasp for air, and then he’s kissing me again. Long, drawn-out kisses that make my knees weak and my blood turn to fire.
The long length of his body presses into me, and I hold onto his shoulders, rubbing myself against him. I hardly notice as his hands grip the sides of my T-shirt, only realizing it when he breaks off the kiss to tug it over my head and toss it to the ground.
He takes a sharp breath as he stares down at my naked breasts. My nipples pucker in the cool air, or maybe it’s the intensity of Khaosti’s heated gaze.
His hands slide down my sides, my skin tingling. I hold my breath as he lowers his head, his tongue swiping across my nipple, sending pleasure shooting through my body, settling low in my belly. Then he sucks it into his warm mouth; only his hands on my hips stop me from collapsing to the ground. He repeats the process with my other nipple, biting down—pleasure and pain—causing a moan to escape my throat. His hands are at my waist now, unfastening my pants. He shoves them over my hips, taking my panties with them. I kick off my boots, and then I’m naked.
He steps back and just looks at me. In the gleaming moonlight, his expression turns wolfish, a feral glint in his amber eyes. Then he hauls off his own T-shirt, and it’s my turn to stare because he’s perfect, all sleek, lean muscle. But I don’t have long to appreciate him because we’re kissing again. This time I slide my tongue into his mouth and nip at his lips with my teeth, and he groans.
Then he falls to his knees in front of me, and I run my hands through his black, silky hair as he presses his lips against my bare stomach.
I go still.
Oh, I know where this is going, and I definitely don’t want it to stop. At the same time, I’m not sure I can take it without spontaneously combusting. Still, I’m willing to take the risk.
His breath ruffles the curls at the base of my belly, and my sex feels hot and swollen. Then he kisses me there, and my body turns into one big ache of need.
If he stops now, I’ll die.
But he doesn’t stop. His tongue snakes out, sliding between the folds of my sex, and nothing has ever felt so good. He lifts one of my legs and drapes it over his shoulder, baring me to his touch.
I peer down as he opens me with his clever fingers and then presses his mouth to my core, the sight so erotic that my blood burns in my veins. I’m conscious of nothing but his touch. His tongue pushes inside me, and my head goes back. He licks long, slow strokes along my sex, then circles my clit. It pulses with need, and my hand tightens in his hair as my hips push against him, needing more.
Inside me, everything is tightening, building. I’m hovering on the edge of something, and I know I will fall at any moment. And I don’t care. Then he sucks my clit into his mouth, bites down ever so gently, and the world explodes in a kaleidoscope of colors. Waves of pleasure wash over me, and I ride them. He sucks again, and I’m flying.
When I come back to myself, I’m lying on the ground, boneless and replete, my body still throbbing with the memory of pleasure beyond anything I ever imagined. I’m so glad I didn’t do what Hecate said and go to bed alone. This is so much better.
Khaosti stands over me. He’s looking a little smug, but maybe he deserves it.
