The word held weight, promise. I glanced around the bar–empty now except for the bartender wiping down tables and a couple arguing in the corner. “Your place nearby?”
“Just a few minutes” His other hand came to rest at the small of my back as we both stood, and I had to suppress a shiver at how easily it spanned the width of my spine. “Walking distance.”
I tossed back the rest of my drink, letting the spice of the ginger beer burn down my throat. “Lead the way.”
The frigid night air hit us as we stepped outside, making me crave the heat of his touch again. Before I could mourn the loss, he materialized at my side, his body deliberately close—our shoulders brushing, the back of his hand grazing mine with each step.
“Cold?” he asked, noticing my shiver. He shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over my shoulders. The scent of cedar mingled with the comforting warmth of the leather. I admired the obvious care Kronos took in his coat.I bet he could take care of me just as well.
“Thanks.” I pulled it tighter around me, watching him from the corner of my eye. His stride was purposeful, predatory—a wolf on the prowl.
We passed under a streetlight, and for a moment his shadow seemed too large, too sharp. That had to be the drink playing tricks on me.
His hand caught my waist, pulling me into the shadow of a building. “Shortcut,” he murmured, hisbreath hot against my ear. “Unless you’ve changed your mind?”
I turned in his grip, letting my back press against the rough brick. “Not a chance.” I caught the front of his shirt, pulling him close. “If this is how you catch your bounties, I have some ethical concerns about your success rate.”
His laugh was low, dangerous. “Depends on what I’m hunting.” His hands settled on the wall on either side of my head, caging me in. “Is it working?”
The brick scraped against my back through his jacket as I arched closer. “You haven’t caught me yet.”
His fingers threaded through my hair, gentle until they weren’t, pulling my head back to expose my throat. My breath hitched. “Haven’t I?” His lips brushed my neck. Not quite a kiss, just the ghost of contact that made my skin prickle.
“I could slip away any time.” I hooked my fingers through his belt loops, pulling his hips against mine.
“Could you?” His free hand slid down my side, finding the bruises from earlier. I couldn’t quite hide my wince. He loosened his grip on my hair, concern flickering across his face. “You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine.” I pulled him back when he withdrew, not ready to lose the heat of him. He studied me for a long moment.
Then he smiled—a sharp, hungry expression that made my pulse jump. “My place has a first aid kit. Among other things.”
“Is that your professional pickup line?”
“Is it working?” His thumb traced my bottom lip, and I had to resist the urge to bite it.
“Depends on how close we are to testing it out.” I let my teeth graze his finger anyway, watching his pupils dilate. “Because this alley, while exciting, isn’t—”
He cut me off with a kiss that was nothing like the gentle touches from before. This was possession, claiming, a preview of what I was in for. His hands gripped my hips, pinning me to the wall as his tongue swept into my mouth. I tasted dark spices and something metallic, like the pressure before a storm.
When he pulled back, I was breathless and trying to hide my fluster. “Two more blocks,” he growled against my lips. “Think you can behave that long?”
“Where’s the fun in that?” I said, grabbing a fistful of his close cropped copper hair and sealing his lips with mine. I traced down his chest, undoing buttons as I went, until I could pull his shirt free.
“What happened to behaving?” His voice was rough with amusement, but he made no move to stop me. Kronos’ appreciative murmurs encouraged me as I freed the fabric from his smooth torso, revealing the devastating cut of muscle trailing from his hips. My mouth watered at the sight, drawing me in to trail my lips over his exposed skin, nipping and teasing with my tongue as I sank to my knees. I ran my hand over him through his jeans, savoring his sharp intake of breath as he rocked back, fingers tightening in my hair. When he reached for his belt, I pushed his hands away. Meeting his darkenedgaze, I pinched the zipper between my teeth and slowly pulled it down.
His cock sprung free of its restraints, nearly poking me in the eye. I had to lean back to take in the length of it. Thick, pulsing, and already dripping with pre-cum in anticipation. I balked. My mouth watered at the sight, imagining how it would feel sliding across my tongue.
The first taste of him flooded my senses—salt and heat and a faint pulse of…candy apples? I moaned at the weight of him on my tongue, at how perfectly he stretched my lips. My fingers dug into his thighs as I took him deeper, savoring how he throbbed against the roof of my mouth. His fingers threaded through my hair, calluses scraping deliciously against my scalp, making me shiver. When I hollowed my cheeks and swallowed around him, his sharp intake of breath rang like victory. I looked up through my lashes to watch his face, and the sight of his wanton carnal hunger made me ache with my own.
“Beautiful,” he murmured, that strange accent thick with desire. His voice rumbled through me like thunder, making my skin prickle with heat. I swirled my tongue around him, showing off every trick I knew, reveling in the way his muscles tensed under my free hand. His fingers tightened in my hair—not pulling, just...there, a constant pressure encouraged me to keep going.
When I tried to speed up, to take control, his hands adjusted my movements. The change was so natural I didn’t even notice at first, too caught up in the way his thighs trembled under my palms. Each growl vibrated through his body and into mine.
I looked up, drunk on the power I thought I had, only to find his silver eyes blazing with something ancient and wild. His thumb traced over my cheek with surprising tenderness, catching the corner of my lips. “That’s it,” he said, his voice like gravel and sin. The praise hit me like lightning, turning my bones to Jell-O.
Something shifted then—my calculated performance melting into pure instinct. My world narrowed to the taste of his skin, the way his hands guided me exactly where he wanted.
His cum flooded my mouth, hot and thick. I swallowed instinctively, heat coursing through me at his growl of approval. The sound of his zipper and belt buckle seemed loud in the sudden quiet as he tucked himself away. “Good boy,” he breathed, fingers stroking my jaw as I finished swallowing. His hands were gentle as he pulled me to my feet, but before I could say anything clever, his mouth claimed mine. The kiss was devastating—deep and possessive, tasting himself on my tongue. My knees went weak, head spinning like I was the one who’d just found release.
