Page 178 of Nyx

"You won't. I promise. What will ruin it is if I do something you don't want, but I won't know unless you tell me. Promise me."

"I promise," I say, reminding myself that it's okay for me to use my words if things go in a direction I don't want them to.

His eyes drift away as he takes a step back, his eyes taking their time to drink me in.

I know the second he sees the scar he noticed earlier, but this time he doesn't look angry. He simply leans forward and presses a soft kiss to my shoulder.

No one, other than medical staff, has touched me there, but it doesn't send my mind into a frenzy. I'm too lost in the feel of his hands on my body to get distracted by my past.

His lips move as his hands work to open the clasp of my bra. I normally don't wear one to bed, but as comfortable as I have been here, I still haven't felt comfortable enough to go without one.

The fabric falls from my skin, and I pull my hands from his body only long enough to let it drop to the floor between us.

His mouth moves again, planting tiny kisses all over my neck and chest. My nipples tighten from a combination of arousal and the cool air in the room.

For a split second, I consider asking him to turn out the lights, but there's a whisper in my head telling me that I don't want to miss a second of what I'm going to experience with this man by covering it in darkness.

He presses a soft kiss to my left breast, but that's the only warning I get before he wraps his lips around my nipple and draws it into his mouth.

I moan, the sound escaping before I can control my reaction.

I clamp a hand over my mouth, embarrassed at the noise I made.

He pulls his mouth free, standing to his full height as he looks down at me.

"What's wrong?"

I shake my head, feeling a little ashamed as he reaches up and pulls my hand away from my mouth.

"I was too loud."

He shakes his head again, his teeth scraping over his bottom lip.

"No, Juliet. You weren't too loud. Did it feel good?"

I nod.

"Tell me," he urges, and I can feel the heat in my cheeks grow even hotter than before.

"It felt good."

"Can I do it again?"

"Please," I beg.

He lowers his head again, this time turning his attention to my right breast. He doesn't pepper kisses on my skin this time; he strikes at my nipple, licking the tightened bud before drawing it into his mouth.

I moan again, this time not bothering to cover my mouth or hedge my reactions. I feel his smile, as if he's won some sort of victory, against my skin. When he pulls his mouth back, he nips at the tip of my breast, and yet another moan rumbles from my lips.

"You liked that," he says, an observation, not a question.

"I did," I confirm.

"Then you're going to love this," he says.

He crouches, his thumbs hooked into the waist of my sleep shorts. He drags them down, his movement halted when he sees the other scar left behind from Graham's attack.

Instead of letting it put a damper on our moment, he presses another soft kiss to that area and continues to lower my sleep shorts until he's urging me to pull one leg out and then the other before casting them aside.