Page 88 of The Truth-Teller's Bargain
“I like them,” she breathed, running her nail down the ridges of one.
His smile was hazy as he held her, his hips shifting purposely underneath her. “Do you now?”
Alethea’s breath caught in her throat, her grip on one horn tightening in response. “Yes.”
Someone had once called him a monster, but she could no longer imagine him as anything less than what he was: a man with whom she was falling deeply in love. That should terrify her, and maybe when the haze cleared, it would.
“Have you done any of this before?” Nakir asked, his tone gentle but curious.
“Some of it, yes.”
“With that Delaney prick?” He wrinkled his nose at the thought.
“Yes,” she told him in a laugh. Reingard was the last person she wanted to be thinking about right now. She ran her fingers through his silky black hair, admiring his darkness—without and within. “I haven’t gone further than... this.”
“Never?”
“Never.”
She and Reingard had exchanged several scandalous letters and snuck off a few times to fool around together during her time in Azmarin. But that was years ago now, and she had never allowed herself close enough to anyone else.
Nakir pressed a languid kiss against her neck. “I am honored.”
Alethea whimpered, leaning into his warmth. “I’m assuming you have as well. Done all ofthis.”
“I have,” he told her truthfully, without apology. “Does that bother you?”
“No. I know you had a whole life before you met me.” She tried not to picture him with Xytharia, whose imposing figure was enough to leave her feeling painfully inadequate. But Nakir wouldn’t worship between her legs or call herexquisiteunless he meant it.
“Sometimes, that’s hard to believe,” he confessed.
Her fingers trailed down to the amulet around his neck. “What’s this?”
“A reminder,” he told her softly.
She wanted to ask him more, to pry further, but the far-off look in his eyes told her this wasn’t a place he wanted to go right now. Nakir held her close to his chest, their bodies touching everywhere possible. He pressed a tender kiss to her forehead.
Desperate formore, she wrapped her arms around his neck, tilting her head to kiss him on the lips instead. He inhaled sharply into the kiss, finding her hips and rolling them against him. The air shifted once more, her heart racing as the length of him slid against her.
“Fuck,” Nakir moaned against her lips, breaking the kiss and letting his head roll back. “Tell me to stop,” he commanded breathlessly, sending a surge of desire through her.
“Don’t stop.Please.”
“Please what, love?”
Alethea moaned as he lined himself up to her but waited for the final word.
“Please fuck me.”
She expected him to press himself inside of her and ravish her the way his eyes promised, but he waited. When he spoke again, his voice was low and rough.
“Is that what you want me to do—to fuck you?”
She opened her eyes to look at him, so full of desire she could barely think straight. “No.”
“No. Tell me what youwant.”
“I... I want you to make love to me.”
