Page 148 of The Encore’s Crown

There's nothing stopping us now except the last choice of how. I kiss her again, deep enough to make every muscle in her body pull toward mine, then force myself to let her go. My hands slide from her waist as I kneel back just far enough to consider the next move. Whether to lift her onto me or lay her down against the bed and finally feel all of her. Her teasing smile disappears as our eyes meet. All the laughter fades beneath the realization that this is finally happening.

Just her and me, closer than we’ve ever been, with nowhere left for either of us to hide.

Finally, I stand and step out of my pants without taking my eyes off her, then hook my thumbs beneath the waistband of my boxers and drag them down the rest of the way. The look on her face makes arrogance settle naturally into my posture, shoulders back, every muscle tightening beneath her attention as I rise to my full height in front of her.

Her gaze drops along with her hands. She grips my hips and pulls me closer until I’m standing between her knees, close enough for her breath to spill hot across my dick. Her mouth follows, teasing without hurry, lips and tongue drawing reactions as they coax my tip mercilessly. My hands slide into her hair, desperate for something to hold onto. Anything that might keep me grounded long enough not to come yet. She looks up at me through her lashes, shamelessly satisfied with what she's doing to me.

“Enjoying yourself?” I manage, the words escaping as something closer to a groan.

The answer in her eyes nearly drops me to my knees again. I let her keep teasing me until the pressure builds almost too fast to control. Then my hand closes gently in her hair, guiding her back just enough to make her look up at me.

“Natalia,” I warn, my voice already rough. “You keep that up and this is going to be over embarrassingly fast.”

Her smile turns wicked. Before she can test the threat, I climb onto the bed after her. Understanding flashes across her face. She braces one hand behind herself and starts backing toward the pillows, never taking her eyes off me as I follow. The farther she retreats, the more her legs open to make room. By the time her back reaches the mattress, I’m above her, one hand planted beside her head and the other sliding along her thigh.

She opens beneath me like the lotus inked at the back of my neck, something pure unfolding from everything between us that's been tangled and wounded. All the muddy emotional bullshit I made her wade through. I’ve never felt less worthy of anything or more determined not to ruin it.

I touch her gently first and her body responds at once. Arousal, heat and softness meeting my fingers. Natalia exhales my name, head falling back against the pillows. I move slowly enough that she begins moving against my hand. Her fingers grip the sheets. I kiss her stomach while my hand keeps working, feeling the muscles tighten beneath me. My lips travel higher, kissing between her breasts before closing around one nipple. Natalia arches beneath me while her hands find my back, then my hair. I give the other breast the same attention, my fingers still teasing her entrance until her body is restless beneath me.

“Kiri, please.”

The plea ruins my plan to torture us both a little longer. I kiss her as her legs close around my hips, dragging me down until I’m fitted against the heat between her thighs. The first contact pulls a rough sound from both of us. I slide against her, teasing everything that's aching for me like I'm aching for her. We're close enough that one motion would change everything. Natalia squirms beneath me, trying to close the last inch between us, but I pin her hip in place until she stills. Then she says the one thing guaranteed to destroy what’s left of my control.

“I need to feel you.” The words leave her on a breath, barely coherent beneath the desperation in them. She reaches between us and closes her hand around me. Every thought leaves my head as she guides me closer, but I hold there for one last moment. Her eyes lock on mine, asking for everything without a word.

Then I push in slowly.

Her heat closes around me, and every muscle in my body goes rigid. Natalia’s lips part and her nails sink into my arms. I stop halfway, fighting for control.

“Fuck.”

I move deeper. Every inch feels unreal, hotter than I imagined. She’s soft and slick around me, her body gripping every inch so tightly I have to grit my teeth to keep from losing control before I’m fully inside her. Natalia gasps and pulls me down until my lips are on hers. I can feel her everywhere. Around me. Beneath me. Her legs locked against my hips, her breath against my mouth, her heart pounding through the place our chests meet.

“You okay?”

She nods quickly.

“Yes.” Her voice shakes. “Don’t stop.”

“You have no fucking idea how good you feel.”

“I might.”

A laugh breaks out of me, helpless and breathless and the vibration of it only adds to the sensations. She rolls her hips and my whole body shudders. I kiss her again, answering her motion with mine. Slowly at first, drawing almost all the way out before pressing back into her, letting both of us feel every part of it. Natalia’s mouth opens beneath mine. Her sounds start small, trapped against my lips, then grow as her body adjusts and begins matching me.

This.

This feels so fucking good I don’t have language for it. There's nothing in Khmer or English I can use to make sense of it.

This is exactly what I was afraid of.

Because being inside her doesn’t feel like taking anything. It feels like finally finding the thing I’ve spent all this time refusing to name.

I keep one hand beneath her neck and the other at her hip, holding her steady while the rhythm builds. She fits around me so perfectly, like her body has been waiting to prove every reason I gave for stopping was bullshit. Her nails drag down my back. I groan into her throat. She curls one leg higher around me, changing the angle, and the next stroke pulls a cry from her. I do it again and her head tips back. Again. Her body tightens around me. I kiss her throat, listening to every broken sound she gives me now that there's no one to overhear or a reason to stay quiet anymore.

“That’s it,” I murmur against her skin. “I love the way you sound. I need to hear it.”

So she gives it to me.