I obeyed while she stroked me up and down. “Shit,” I mumbled against her lips. “I want to devour you.”
I felt her smile. “I wouldn’t complain.”
“Laila,” I growled. There was a limit to how much temptation and teasing I could stand, and she was getting dangerously close to snapping my control.
Her thumb swept over my tip, swirling the drop of moisture around the head, and my eyes rolled back. Every bit of my concentration was onnotcoming all over her hand.
Shifting so I was propped on one arm, I slid my free hand under her shirt and tugged down the cups of her bra. I stroked the smooth flesh of her breast, feeling her nipple harden under my touch. Her body was so responsive, and it drove me insane.
“Are you particularly fond of this shirt?” I asked her.
She glanced down and frowned. “Why?”
That wasn’t a yes. Gripping the neckline, I tore the material down the middle.
Laila gasped, but judging by the way her eyes darkened, she wasn’t too upset with me. I lowered my mouth to the peak of one breast and palmed the other one while she writhed under me. She was everything, every sexual fantasy I’d ever had and a few that I hadn’t. I thrust into her hand, biting back another groan. It was amazing how something could feel so incredible and so unsatisfying at the same time. I wanted more,neededit. There was a very real possibility that I would burn from the inside out in the near future.
“I want to feel you,” Laila said, picking up the pace on her hand job.
“You’re going to have to be more specific, sweetness,” I said through gritted teeth.
“I want you inside me.”
I stilled. She didn’t mean it. Couldn’t.
“Joriel?”
“We can’t.”
“You told me I deserve more than a lust-fueled fuck in an alcove. I’m curious what exactly it is that you think I do deserve.”
“Commitment,” I murmured in a low voice. “You deserve to be loved. Cherished. Your first time, and every time after that, should be with someone who loves you with his whole being and will continue to do so forever. Someone who sees you for the stunning person you are and would do anything for you—protect you, worship you, stand back and watch you kick ass.”
She gave me an amused grin as she reached up and skimmed my jaw with her fingertips. “Can I ask you something?”
“Always.”
“Do you want me?”
Her words sent a bolt of lust straight to my dick. “More than you can imagine.”
“What if we got married?”
I blinked, her words not making sense. There was no way I’d heard her right. We were from different worldsbeforeI’d sold my soul to the Devil. She couldn’t tie her life to mine, join with me. I’d ruin her.
“Do you love me?” she asked.
“Laila.” Of course I loved her, but saying it wouldn’t help anything. It wouldn’t change who we were.
“Answer the question,” she said, her eyes holding mine.
“It doesn’t make a difference. I can’t have you either way.”
Hurt splashed across her face for a second before her expression smoothed out, becoming almost regal. “Why are you trying to push me away?”
I lowered my forehead to hers. “Because I have to,” I told her honestly. Not that I could lie to Laila. “You were born to live in Father’s court. I won’t take that from you.”
“If you don’t want to marry me, you can tell me that. I would never push you to be with me if that’s not what you want. But don’t tell yourself that this is formybenefit.”
