There was a heartbeat of time when she didn’t move. While she summoned her courage. The only sounds were the lapping of the water at their bodies and the pounding of their hearts. She lifted her eyes to his face. Found him waiting. Saw his terrible hunger. He didn’t move, didn’t attempt to persuade her, allowing her complete freedom of choice. Destiny chose Nicolae.
She stepped close to him. So close her nipples brushed his chest as she lifted her arms to circle his neck. Her fingers plunged into his hair. “I love your hair.” It was thick and long and it slipped between her palms, caressing her skin like fine silk. Her body slid up against the cradle of his hips. She was slick from the pool, water beading on her skin, as she rubbed against him like a purring cat. Her lips trailed over his eyelids. Followed the line of his cheekbones. Found his mouth.
It was far easier to express her love, her hope, when she was standing free, making all the moves and decisions. When he was keeping his promise not to touch her. Her body ached for his, and what she was doing only deepened her desire. There was joy in locking away demons. In not allowing them control. She reveled in giving Nicolae pleasure and in doing so, allowing herself that same pleasure.
Her tongue slid along the seam of his lips, teasing, testing, licking delicately. Each stroke of her tongue sent an answering fiery throb straight through the head of his shaft. Nicolae groaned, his fingers digging into the rocks as he opened his mouth to her. They melded together, fused, devouring one another, each ravenous for more.
While her tongue dueled with his, her hands slipped from his hair to find his shoulders and then moved down, her fingers stroking every inch as if committing his body to memory. Her mouth left his so she could nibble at his stubborn jaw. Her tongue swirled over his throat, found his pulse. The breath slammed out of his lungs, his gut clenched and his erection throbbed and swelled until he was afraid he would burst.
“Not yet,” she whispered, as if to caution herself. Her tongue lapped at his pulse a second time, her breath warm with promise. “You taste so good, Nicolae.”
His entire body shuddered. “Are you with me, Destiny?” His voice was husky, evidence of his terrible need. “Do you feel what you are doing to me? Stay merged with me. Stay with me.” If she merged with him, felt what he felt, felt his hunger and his overwhelming love and admiration for her courage, she would not be able to stop, she would give herself completely to him.
Destiny hesitated only a moment before she did as he asked. Her mind merged completely with his. The intensity of his pleasure robbed her of breath, of the ability to do anything but shudder with need. The depth of his love and respect for her lodged in her soul, allowed her to see herself through his eyes. It was a view she had never expected, entirely different from her own. Courageous. Honest. Compassionate. Beautiful. Seductive. She held his heart in her hands. He was incredibly vulnerable to her. To her pain, to her fears, to her rejection.
Her mouth left his pulse, her breath swirling over his skin as her palms slid along his chest, her fingertips smoothing the lines of his muscles. She tasted his skin, lapped at the ridge of his collarbone, found his flat nipple, flicked it experimentally.
The air left his lungs in a rush. His body went rigid. Destiny, merged deep within his mind, could feel the fire coursing through his bloodstream, the whips of lightning burning from the inside out. That same fire was burning deep inside her, a conflagration she wanted to lose herself in completely.
Her hands wandered lower while her mouth feathered kisses over his chest and along his ribcage. She found his back, each defined muscle. The dip at the small of his back was intriguing. His buttocks were firm and hard as she kneaded and explored.
Nicolae shuddered with pleasure. Her fingers were driving him insane, as was the occasional brush of her body, skin to skin. He was all too aware of her mouth as it wandered over him, a slow torment he never wanted to end. He was grateful he’d had centuries to learn control; otherwise he would yank her to him to do his own exploring, to bury himself deep inside her. He also wanted to fist his hands in her hair and drag her head to him, thrust deep into her mouth to end his torment. Instead, he held himself very still, allowing her total control. Allowing her exploration.
Her tongue lapped at the crease of his hip, her hands sliding around him to cup his sacs, squeezing gently. Her breath was on the head of his shaft, a merciless torture. Nicolae dug his fingers into the boulder. “This is dangerous, Destiny.” He managed to get the words past his clogged throat.
She was in his mind. She could feel the bursting pleasure. “I don’t think it is, Nicolae. You’re enjoying this.” Her tongue lapped at the salty moisture experimentally. He jumped, every muscle straining and locked. “I know
I
am.” There was pure seduction in her voice; the fear had been pushed aside by intense pleasure. Every nerve ending in her body was alive and pulsing. She could feel the welcoming moist heat dampening her body in anticipation.
Her mouth was a silken cavern of heat and moisture as it closed tightly over him. Nicolae’s head fell back, and he gasped out her name. Wave after wave of pleasure swamped him. Swamped her. He tried not to move, tried to stay still under the onslaught of her clever mouth, but it was asking the impossible. He was losing control, his hips thrusting helplessly as her mouth tightened and withdrew, then tightened again, drawing him deeper and deeper under her spell.
“Destiny!” Her name burst from him, a plea for mercy.
She lifted her head, smiled as she licked her lips to remove every drop of his essence. Her mouth found his belly, her wet braid sliding against his far too sensitive shaft so that he cried out, catching her arms to give her a small shake.
“I am not going to live through this.”
“Oh, I think you are.” Her hands circled his neck, and she slid her wet body over his, rubbing like a cat. “Because I want you deep inside me where you belong.” There was absolute resolve in her voice.
Nicolae didn’t wait. He lifted her to the rock he had been hanging on to for his life, his body wedged between her legs. His hands positioned her on the edge of the small shelf just at the water line, so that water continued to bubble over their most sensitive parts. “You are ready for me, Destiny?” He needed her to be. He was so ready for her, he didn’t know how gentle he could be. Already he was pushing into her, the head of his erection meeting the tight resistance of her body as he inched his way into her channel. She was so fiery hot, velvet soft, tightly gripping him, that he wasn’t prepared. He shared his penetration with her, the pleasure-pain of it, the white-hot ecstasy bursting through him.
Destiny shifted, drawing up her knees, allowing him better access, watching his face as he slowly buried himself deep inside her. The magic was almost too great, too intense. She had never experienced anything remotely like it. There was resistance from her body. He felt too large, and she was too tight, but there was also such beauty and wonder and fire that she wanted more. She wanted much, much more. He stopped several times to allow her body to adjust, to accommodate his length and thickness. Each time he pushed deeper into her, she felt silk and steel sliding against each other, the friction lashing them with whips of dancing lightning. She heard herself laugh, a small, happy laugh of acceptance. She wanted him; she had taken what she wanted and he was deep within her.
Nicolae bent his body over hers, his hands gathering her bottom to him. “Are you all right, Destiny? Are you comfortable?” There was still a plea in his voice. Need. Hunger. Lines of strain were etched there. But it was her choice. Even with him buried deep inside her. Even with his every cell and nerve ending screaming for possession of her, even with the demons roaring in his head, it was her choice.