Page 87 of The Truth-Teller's Bargain
He rose up to kiss her, and the world around them seemed todissolve into nothingness, leaving only the electricity between them. She gasped, a sharp intake of breath that mingled with the passion coursing through her veins.
Her hands were everywhere, tugging at his jacket and his tunic as she searched for the skin underneath. She moaned at the hard lines of his abdomen, and Nakir worked at the clasps of her dress, only interrupted when she shoved his jacket off his shoulders or pulled his tunic over his head.
In the low light of the fire, Alethea’s eyes adjusted, catching a glint of the pendant still hanging around his neck. She could also see that the few scars she’d observed before were not onlyjust a few—his chest, abdomen, and arms were covered in scars of all sizes, as if he’d been sliced open by dozens of different blades. But there was something else too. Spread across his skin, irregular patches of scarring, different in texture from the clean lines of the blade wounds—raised and rough, the skin pulled tight in places.
Burns.
“Nakir,” she breathed, knitting her brows. “What happened?”
She thought she saw him falter for a moment. She hadn’t considered he might mistake her hesitation for anything other than concern. As if she could be anything other than floored by the sight of him and his powerful, muscled body. It was as if he’d been crafted by Aeshma himself as the ultimate tool of strength and retribution. Nakir may have been born with the ruinous power of Necromancy, but he’d crafted himself into a weapon that was just as deadly.
“I’m hard to kill,” he replied, his voice so low she could barely hear him.
Alethea found one of the scars that ran along his chest and pressed her lips to it in a tender kiss. She ran her touch down his broad sides, marveling at the sheer size of him. And then she kissed another scar, and another, until she felt him trembleunder her, his hands running up her back and into her hair. She needed him to know the scars didn’t frighten her.
“Thoughts of you in this dress have consumed me the entire evening,” Nakir told her, a dark hunger in his voice. The dress loosened with the release of one final clasp, and she reflexively held the fabric to her chest. “Let me see you, love,” he murmured, the use of the pet name enough to send her to pieces.
She bit her lip as he gently tugged the sapphire dress the rest of the way to the floor. She was wearing little else underneath, and he groaned when she was revealed to him. Her breath came in quick pants, chest rising and falling beneath his devouring gaze.
Then his eyes dropped to the new scar below her ribs—still pink, still tender, still hers to carry. He said nothing. He only lowered his head and traced the edge of it with his fingertips first, then his lips, slow and deliberate, as if he were making a promise to it.
“Now, I believe we were interrupted...”
She gasped at the memory of his head between her legs, and he shot back a devilish grin as he gently lifted her hips to the edge of the bed.
“Nakir,” she pleaded, though for what she had no idea as he placed a stockinged leg over his shoulder and dove between her thighs.
He worked his mouth diligently against her, searching for all the ways he could bring sounds from her lips. Alethea fell apart quickly, climbing toward a height she’d never reached with a lover before. She gasped again as he slid one finger inside of her, the temperature of the room rising. Nakir seemed to thoroughly enjoy his work as he worshiped her body, eager to push her to that final climax.
“Thea,” he purred against her. “Let go. Come for me.”
Fuck.
She immediately obeyed, her entire body writhing as shesuccumbed to the building pleasure. Her moans echoed off the walls as she scrambled for purchase in the plush duvet. The orgasm that rocked through her had her seeing stars, arching her back. The sound of his moan vibrating against her was the only thing that grounded her back to the moment.
It was sinful, the way she caught him watching her as she came down from the high, both panting. He revered her with his gaze, looking at her as if he were a starving man and she was his next meal.
“You are the most beautiful creature I have ever beheld,” he echoed from the Revel. “And you tasteexquisite.”
Alethea’s head was still spinning when she reached forward to unbuckle his belt and push away the fabric of his trousers, searching for more of him. She shuddered as he grasped the back of her hair, forcing her to look at him through her haze of desire.
“Gods, you are perfect.” He traced her lips with a still glistening finger, and she instantly melted. He was the picture of desire. Shirtless, the outline of his arousal evident through his trousers. With his free hand, he helped her remove them.
Within seconds, he stood there before her completely undressed. She unashamedly took all of him in, heart racing as his need for her stood so proud against his abdomen.
Alethea slid off the bed to her knees in front of him. Nakir groaned at the sight of her there, shuddering when she ran her hands up his thighs before taking hold of him.
“Fuck, Thea. You don’t have to?—”
But she’d already closed her lips around him, and when she peered up through pale lashes, she saw him give in to her. She was grateful this wasn’t her first time foreverything.
Making the same deliberation he had, she took him into her mouth slowly at first, determining what made him release those glorious sounds and then continuing to chase them. Nakir’s moans had her rubbing her knees together, hunting for any kindof friction as her own desire dripped down her thigh. His breath hitched as she sought his pleasure, and she peered up at him again.
Nakir growled with something like impatience, lifting her easily off the ground and setting her back on the bed. “You are going toruinme.” He moved them effortlessly to the center of the mattress, where he sat up against the headboard and pulled her onto his lap so she was straddling him.
They were completely exposed to each other. She felt him everywhere, in a way that had her squirming against him.
He took his time admiring her, so she took advantage of the opportunity to do the same. She ran her fingertips along his horns again, delighting when it elicited a low growl from him and relishing the way his hands tightened around her waist.
