Page 39 of Ashborne Forged

Yet, even as she clenched and pulsed, I walked a line that could spell disaster if I lost control. The sound of my thighs slapping on hers, punctuated by her gasps and cries, sent my body into bliss, and threatened to end this far too soon.

Panting, rasping, I tried desperately to focus. But the sight of her, sprawled in front of me, gasping, the rounds of her ass bouncing with each new joining, tested my restraint. While she keened and pleaded, I cast around for something, anything to focus on, but the tide of my own need only rose higher.

Grace, shaking, desperate, grabbed for purchase on the quilt and braced, pressing back against me so that we met harder. Harder.

Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit—

I tipped forward, over her, so her back brushed my chest. She sucked in a breath as the angle changed and I drove into her. But in order not to crush her, I had to let go of that fistful of her hair. I grabbed for her hands, twined my fingers between hers, pinning them to the bed. My breath was hot on her bare neck. I tasted salt on her skin, then let my teeth graze her nape as I thrust, again and again, fighting the rise of my own ecstasy that threatened to—

“Oh! Vos—Oh!”

Her head snapped back against my shoulder, baring her neck, her jaw slack and mouth open in a silent O. I latched onto that tender skin, sucking, as she clenched around me, then drove into her again with such force, I lifted her hips.

Her cry was wordless, sheer bliss, as her body sparked. Every inch of her skin prickled, and the hairs rose. She tightened on me a second time, and the final thread of my already frayed control was snapped.

I thrust and shouted against her skin, bucking, trembling, twitching—while the bond flooded with blinding, white light that sent my heart into orbit and pierced me to my core.

Grace collapsed under my weight, and I rolled us, curling her up, my body still twitching in the final throes of that orgasm.

When the reality returned, I hadn’t caught my breath, and Grace trembled in my arms.

“Grace—shit. I did hurt you?”

“No!” she gasped, and then she laughed.

I slumped with relief, shudders rocking through me, keeping her pinned to me, curled up, her knees bent up almost to her chest, her heels scratching my shins.

I don’t know how long we lay there, or when breathing returned to normal. I’m not quite sure when I left her body, or when she turned so our eyes locked, and I pulled her into my chest. But as darkness fell outside, and the candles became our only light, I still stared, stunned, at the golden glow on her skin—now pebbling, as sweat dried and our bodies cooled, though my ardor did not.

I was mostly under control again, though the occasional shudder still skated down my spine, when Grace combed her fingers into my hair, pushing it back and smiling up at me.

“I liked that one,” she said with an eager smile.

“I do too,” I admitted. “I just don’t want to hurt you. If—”

“It doesn’t hurt, it’s wonderful.” Her brows pinched. “Why do you worry so, about hurting me?”

“Because you’re so small,” I said, which was true, but not the true reason.

She leaned up on one elbow, pressing her breasts together, and making my mouth go dry again, but her expression was serious. She lay one, elegant hand to my cheek, her nails scratching into the stubble because I hadn’t shaved in two days, and she held my gaze.

“We have the words. I’ll tell you if it hurts,” she said. “I promise.” I wanted to smile, to make light of it, but she was solemn. Her thumb stroked my cheek. “I like it, Voski. A great deal.”

I couldn’t help but smile at that. “I am very, very pleased to hear that.”

“That was a new way,” she said a moment later, her lips curling into another bright smile. “Are there more?”

I had to swallow an outright laugh. “Yes. Many more.”

Her smile grew playful. “I want to learn all of them. All the ways.”

All of them? I swallowed. “Are you sure?”

She nodded, her eyes sparkling. “With you, yes. Show me. All the ways you like it.”

A fist of emotion shoved the air from my lungs. I reached up to cup her face as she’d cupped mine, but instead, clapped that hand to the back of her neck and pulled her down into another kiss.

When we came up for air, I met her searching gaze, and nodded. “I’ll teach you everything I know.”