Page 37 of Hymn of Breath and Bone

Caspian chuckled, the sound throaty against me as he replaced my hand with his, teasing and pinching as he continued to swirl his tongue in an increasingly steady rhythm between my legs.

I gripped the blankets beneath us, my head thrown back in the pleasure of being consumed, small noises of need escaping me unbidden.

Just when I was about to demand more, I felt him at my entrance, a finger sliding in and curling gently as he continued to taste and lick and taunt me.

“Please,” I begged, hardly knowing what I was asking for, just knowing that Ineededhim in a way that couldn’t be satisfied by anything less than all of him.

“Patience,” he murmured, slowing his rhythm and making me whine in frustration. Caspian laughed, making up for his slower pace with a second finger. “I told you, Urchin, that I would make this last.”

“Cruel,” I breathed, unable to form a complete sentence as words seemed too difficult to fully grasp. “Wicked.”

“Yes,” Caspian agreed, flicking his tongue once before he removed his fingers from me.

I let out a little sound of protest that was only stifled when I felt his tongue take the place of his fingers, thrusting into me as if he could claim me with just his mouth. His fingers made gentle circles where his tongue had been, and the change in sensation made me reel with tensions as he pulled me back from the edge I had almost fallen over.

“I hate you,” I whimpered, feeling the vibrations of his laughter against me, which was his only reply as he once again replaced his tongue with his fingers.

He didn’t speak, focused on the task of my release, and I felt his brow damp with sweat and my desire as he began to bring me once again to that glorious, glittering edge.

“Don’t come until I tell you to,” he commanded, kissing my inner thigh before returning to his feast.

I whined in protest, my need so heady it was the only thing I could focus on.

“Not yet,” he ordered, as I almost succumbed, his command pushing me back from the ledge again as I moaned and cried out.

“Please, Cas.”

“Now,” he said, and as if a dam had been opened inside me, I shattered, the orgasm splintering along my bones and down my spine as I arched into him, the sensation suddenly too much to bear.

I tried to scramble back, my body still shaking with climax, but he held me fast, his pace unchanging as he continued to guide me through the throes of ecstasy.

I whimpered, feeling my pleasure spike and build again. “I want you.”

“That’s how the night ends, Urchin,” Caspian replied, lifting his mouth just long enough to deny me. “And I'm afraid we’ve only just begun.”

He pressed his mouth to me again, repeating the delicious torture of his tongue against my core until I was shuddering with a second climax, the screams and cries of release so loud I was sure the entire sea heard me.

“That’s it,” Caspian purred, his approval spurring me on and on as tension uncurled within me. “Take everything, Marina.”

“Please,” I begged, practically whimpering in my need for him. “Please.”

Caspian chuckled, scooping me up from where I had fallen limp at the end of the bed and arranging me more fully on the mattress as he braced himself above me.

I ached for him to fill me, but the insufferable beast seemed content to let me suffer.

“I’ve had a very long time to think about how I might do this, Marina,” he murmured, flicking his tongue over a taut nipple. “Every position and combination and fantasy—and I’ve had some very dirty fantasies.”

“Pick one,” I begged, wrapping my legs around his hips to try to pull him closer. He laughed, his hard length rubbing between my slick thighs and making more liquid heat pool there. “Stop teasing me, you wretched male.”

“Hmm.” He rubbed his nose against my neck, shifting my hips so he was nudging at my entrance. “But which way?”

Two could play at this game. I shifted a hand between us, gripping his length and making him utter a curse.

“Naughty,” he teased, grabbing my hand and pinning it above my head, his tip still poised at my entrance. He nipped at my lower lip, his teeth scraping against swollen, aching flesh. “But you’ve made your point. Are you sure, Marina?”

I met his eyes, intending to give him an incredulous glare, but he was earnest and searching, as if he thought there was still a chance I might change my mind.

“There’s no going back,” he added, brushing his nose against mine in such a contrast to the swaggering and teasing that I melted a little.