Page 74 of Crucible
His expression gives nothing away as he calmly waits for my answer, and I think it’s the patience that has me saying, “You.”
Seth’s smile drops, and he whimpers like a dog that’s been kicked. Thorin just storms into his room and slams the door. I do flinch that time.
“Smart choice,” Khalil says.
It doesn’t feel that way to me, especially when he backs away and looks me over like I’m some broodmare he’s inspecting before mounting. I shiver.
“My room,” he orders. “And don’t bother wearing that bullshit in my bed.” He nods to my tattered costume dress. “You have ten minutes to get yourself ready for me. Go.”
“Can I watch?” I hear Seth ask as I slip past.
I don’t realize I’m holding my breath until Khalil answers. “No.”
Seth makes another wounded sound.
My hands are shaking by the time I reach the den, but I don’t immediately go to Khalil’s room.
I make a couple of detours first.
Khalil’s bedroom is pitch-black when I step inside after a quick shower.
The lamps on the bedside table are off, and so are the tiny lights woven through the branches of the canopy. They’re usually on, even during the day, so the darkness is jarring at first.
There’s no shade over the windows, but the moonlight doesn’t touch the room as if it doesn’t want to bear witness to what’s about to happen.
I’m still mustering the courage to drop my towel when I hear the shower turn off. Khalil had been there the moment I stepped out of the bathroom, but thankfully, all he’d done was go inside and shut the door. It gave me time to find the weapon I’d carefully stashed inside my towel.
I quickly tuck the glass shard under the pillow I’ve been using, and only then can I breathe. Diving under the covers, I bring them to my chin as I peer over them with my gaze glued to the door I’ve just now realized is arched.
I’m being ridiculous.
Jumping when I think I see a shadow move in the corner by the window, I peer a little closer, but Khalil steps through the door, turning my brain into a puddle when I notice his glistening chest and the towel around his waist.
I swear his shadow grows larger the closer he gets until it seems like he’s ten feet tall. Khalil doesn’t speak as he rounds his beautiful bed. When he nears the dresser where I thought I’d seen the shadow move, he pauses and swears for some reason. I sit up a little to see what’s angered him and if it’s me, but Khalil drops his towel, and I get a brief glimpse of his muscled ass and long dick before he slides into his side of the bed.
His side.
The thought of owning a place in his bed has my heart skipping a beat.
Khalil leaves his lamp off, and I can’t decide if he does it out of kindness. I can’t see more than the outline of his body, which means I’m still thinking clearly, but I also can’t see…anything.
Without a single fucking word, Khalil wraps an arm around my waist and yanks me under him.
It’s so quiet in the room that the sheets rustling sound loud to my ears. My hands immediately find Khalil’s shoulders to hold him off so I can think. The raw power I can feel underneath his warm skin says I don’t stand a chance.
“Wait,” I plead when he nudges my legs apart. “Can we…can we slow down?”
I unintentionally moan when his lips find mine, and for a while, I forget that I don’t want to be here.
Khalil is an amazing kisser.
His full lips feel like pillows against mine as he shows me how he likes it. I’m not a novice to kissing, but right now, I feel woefully inadequate as I try to keep up. I can taste the mint on his tongue as he feeds it to me, and my lashes flutter as I try to keep my eyes open but lose the battle.
The moment I’m relaxed, I feel him undoing the knot between my breasts, and I come crashing back down. We’re still lip-locked when I make a desperate grab for the towel, but he catches my hands and pins them to the mattress. With his free hand, he yanks my towel away, and I cry out as he tosses it over the side of the bed. Turning my head away and breaking the kiss, my gaze lands on the corner by the window again, and I swear the shadows take shape, pressing in closer.
Lifting my head, I squint to see better, but Khalil sinks his teeth into my flesh without warning, and I gasp. My gaze snaps to him, but he’s already watching me with a mouth full of my breast. The possession in his eyes sends a flare of pain and heat rushing from the spot he claimed down to my toes, and I hear the silent command.
Eyes on me.
