Inspire (The Muse #1)(15)
Author: Cora Carmack

I must have been holding my breath during his speech because he leans down and kisses me before murmuring, “Breathe.”

And I do. I drag in air desperately, and he smiles. “Well, there’s fact number one. You like it when I tell you what I’m going to do to you, don’t you?”

“Gods, yes.”

He laughs. “One God wasn’t enough for that one, huh? I’ll keep that in mind.”

With a hand on my shoulder, he maneuvers me to sit on the bed, and then he kneels in front of me. With a gentle hand, he picks up my foot and props it on his knee. He studies the scrapes for a moment, but they must all be minor because he abandons that foot to pull up the other. He looks confused for a moment and I say, “Don’t you dare ask me if I’m drunk again.”

“It’s just … I could have sworn there were scrapes on your feet, but they look fine now.”

I stiffen. Well, that at least tells me what time it is. We must have passed midnight sometime between the shower and now. Whatever might have happened to my feet was undone with the start of a new day.

I lie, “Just sore is all.”

“And I still don’t get to know how you lost your shoes?”

“Nope.”

“Did something bad happen? Was there—”

“I’m fine.” It takes all over my willpower to block out thoughts of the bad thing that happened tonight. He thinks of me as a victim when really, I’m the villain here. “A little cold though.” I scramble back and tug his comforter down enough that I can slide between the sheets. They’re cold too, and I shiver. “Take off those wet jeans and come warm me up.”

He grins. “Yes, ma’am.”

He undoes the button at the top of his pants, and I’m so eager to have him that I feel giddy.

“Wait,” I say. Then I scoot back down the bed, still holding the blankets tight against me. “I want to.”

He makes a sound low in his throat, but drops his hand away. I reach for the front of his jeans and seek out the zipper. I suck my bottom lip between my teeth as I drag it down. Since the denim is wet, it takes both of my hands to inch the jeans down his hips. Then I let him kick them off the rest of the way, along with his shoes. Underneath he wears black boxer briefs.

Boxer briefs are hands down the best invention of the last century.

I lift my eyes to his, and his gaze pierces through me as I drag that last item of clothing down his hips, too.

And suddenly, I’m nervous.

I’ve never slept with someone like this. Without knowing exactly where we stand, and how things will end with the other person. Every other time, I’ve been in control. But now, the balance of power is completely off because I want this with a desperation that puts too much out of my control.

I lift my hand and wrap my fingers around his erection, thinking maybe it will shift that balance, give me the upper hand. He utters my name with a low growl and smoothes a hand over my cheek, resting one callused thumb on my bottom lip. I tighten my grip and give a slow tug.

“Jesus, Kalli. You feel so good.”

I kiss his thumb when it passes over my lips again, and he bends, taking my mouth in a bruising kiss. He pulls back the covers and grips my hips to slide me further up the bed. Back in the open air, I should be cold, but I’m not. In fact, I’m burning up.

Wilder crawls up my body, his limbs sleek and strong. He dips and places a kiss on my sternum, just between the swell of my breasts. He closes his eyes, humming under his breath and drags his stubbled cheek over the sensitive swell of skin until his hot breath skates over the tip.

I cry out, arching under him, and he’s barely even touched me.

“I think,” he says, murmuring just above my skin, “that this part of you will have to wait.”

“Wait?” I ask, breathless.

“Mmhmm. I told you that I’m going to know all of you, but you’re so fucking responsive. And so damn sweet. I know if I taste you here …” His teeth graze my nipple for just a second, and my back nearly bows off the bed. “I’ll get impatient if I take your perfect breast into my mouth, and I won’t be able to resist being inside you.”

“So don’t. You’re not the only one who lacks patience.”

He chuckles, moving over to kiss my shoulder. “I made a promise, sweet. And I keep my promises.”

He hovers above me and presses his lips to my temple, then my forehead, followed by the tip of my nose.

“We’ll start small,” he says, moving over my cheek and down the line of my jaw. “You know, when I saw you in that grocery store, I almost thought I was dreaming. You looked … God, you looked unreal. So out of place there. Too beautiful for words.” His teeth nip the other side of my jaw before he sucks my earlobe into his mouth. “Then you were so sweet to Gwen. Instead of spending the day telling me about her favorite Disney princess, all she could talk about was you. Kalli. And every time she said your name I wanted to kick myself for not getting your number, for letting you slip through my hands.”

He moves then to my neck and at the first lave of his tongue, I grip his shoulders. I’m not sure whether I want to beg him to stop teasing me or to keep going. “Then when I saw you tonight, I thought …” He laughs and continues, “I thought I was crazy. I acted crazy, following you when you took off. And then when I lost you, I was certain I’d been hallucinating. That I had wanted to see you again so badly that my mind had gotten the better of me. Tonight I’m going to bury myself in you so deep that I’ll have no doubt that every second of this is real.”

I dig my fingernails into his muscled shoulders and give in to my instinct to beg. “Wilder, please.”

In reward, he lowers his head and sucks the tip of one breast into his mouth. I gasp and wrap my legs around his hips, using all my strength to pull him down toward me. His length falls heavy against the damp fabric of my underwear, and we both groan. He pumps his hips, sliding against me, and I press up hard.

“You’re trying to make me break my promise.”

I tangle my hand in his hair until he meets my gaze, then give him an innocent smile. “I have no idea what you mean.”

“Sure you don’t.”

He shifts back, pulling my legs from around his waist, and spreading them open. He slides down more, raining kisses over my belly and hips and thighs before settling that sinful mouth just above the line of my underwear.

“I’m going to know this part of you too, sweet. So don’t hold back. If you like something, you tell me. Okay?” When I don’t answer, he runs the flat of his tongue over the strip of fabric between my legs. I whimper and he asks, “Okay?”