The Darkest Secret (Lords of the Underworld #7)(89)
Author: Gena Showalter

That slight hesitation revealed something her thoughts and tone hadn’t. Uncertainty. She was afraid she couldn’t please him sexual y. That she was too cold for him, that she would hurt him.

He couldn’t al ow her to find fault with herself. To question her power over him. Some men might not like their women knowing just how badly they were whipped, but Amun wasn’t one of them. The better she understood the depths of his feelings, the more confident she would be. He wanted her confident.

As she nipped at his lower lip, he released her hips, slid his hands under hers, beside his temples, and twined their fingers. She peered down at him, those pearl-gray eyes luminous—and confused, as if she didn’t understand what he was offering.

I’m not wearing a condom this time, either, he said.

Her pupils expanded as she realized what his comment meant. Surrender. He was giving in, giving her what she wanted. Risking her, the most important part of his life, to share this moment with her.

“Do you mind?” she asked, her radiant expression lighting her up from the inside out.

No. He imagined her pregnant with his child, as radiant as Ashlyn was with Maddox’s twins, and almost came inside her without a single thrust. Do you? His voice was choked now.

“No,” she whispered.

Then move on me, sweetheart. Let me give you fire, while I luxuriate in that ice. When she tried to rise, to ride him, he squeezed her hands, holding her in place. Just like this.

“Yes.” She used her knees as leverage and glided up his length, making both of them gasp.

Now kiss me.

On the downward slide, she pressed her mouth into his.

Immediately he opened, welcoming her tongue. Cool, wet, just the way he liked her. She tasted of his wildest fantasies and unending passion, both of which wiped his thoughts, his concerns, and left only need. He fought the urge to hammer at her, hard and fast, driving them both to the sweetest insanity.

They would go slowly this time. If, at any point, she seemed to be in pain, he would find the strength to pul from her.

Up and down she moved on him, savoring. Savoring until they were panting in each other’s mouth, silently gasping each other’s names, her ni**les rasping against his chest, creating a decadent friction. His blood was heating, and that heat was seeping into her. Her blood must have been cooling because that chil seeped into him, wrapping them both in fire and ice, one sensation feeding off the other.

Too fast, he said, even though they were moving at such a leisurely, languid pace, hips rol ing together, her clitoris grinding against him, her desire providing such a tight, perfect glide. Hurting?

“So…good…”

He licked his way to her jaw. Her ear. He nibbled on the outer shel , then dove inside. A shiver raked her spine and her lower body jerked against his. Another nibble and then he was licking down her neck.

He stopped at the wild thump of her pulse and sucked, drawing the blood higher, just under his tongue.

That earned another shiver from her.

“Amun?”

Yes, sweetheart. Gods, he would never tire of hearing his name on her lips. Tilt your head farther to the right.

She obeyed, and he sucked at the tendon between nape and shoulder. Her movements quickened, but the thrusts became shal ow, her body riding him only part of the way.

Sweetest. Torture. Ever. She kept him in a state of unwavering desire, his skin so sensitized even the caress of air stoked him higher.

“I—I love you,” she said.

W-what? Dare he hope she’d said—

“I love you.”

Oh, sweetheart. She was everything to him. Simply everything. After her declaration, there was no holding back. No going slowly, no taking their time, playing it safe, easing their way to climax. Amun rol ed her over, releasing her hands to grip her knees and shove them as far apart as they would go. Tel me again.

“I love you.”

He pul ed nearly al the way out before slamming home.

Again.

A cry spil ed from her lips. “I love you.”

Again. In, out. In, out. Hard, fast. The heat spreading, the ice consuming. He stared into her eyes, so deep, losing himself, glad.

“I love you.” Her nails dug into his back, drawing blood. Her head thrashed from side to side.

In, out. In, out. He released one of her legs and placed it between his own, his testicles suddenly rubbing against her thigh. The new position diminished the space between her core and his hammering erection, the rounded, weeping head scraping against her clitoris with every insistent inward pounding.

Soon she was gasping, incoherent. So was he. From pleasure, no hint of pain. And if he’d thought their first time intense, he learned the error of such a mind-set. She loved him. He owned her heart, just as she owned his. They were melded by more than their bodies. They were melded in spirit, part of each other forevermore.

Relief and ecstasy poured off him, enveloped them both, and without thought he closed his teeth over that wel –

sucked tendon. Immediately she gasped, went rigid. Her back bowed, her hips lifted, forcing him as deep as he could go, her inner wal s clenching on him, milking him.

Amun erupted. He gave her every drop, fil ing her up, branding her, staking that claim.

Mine, mine, mine. No secret. Not to him, and not to his demon, and not to Haidee.

Final y, when he had nothing left, he col apsed atop her.

She didn’t complain. She sagged to the ground, as depleted as he was. He barely managed to angle his body so that he wouldn’t crush her, but he didn’t move off her al the way, didn’t pul out of her. He was where he belonged, and he was loath to lose the connection.

Hurting?

Her eyes were closed, the long length of her lashes creating a fan of shadows over her cheeks. “No.

Dead.” He chuckled. Then my woman is pleased? Even though she had to do most of the work herself?

She blinked open those pearl-grays. “So I am your woman?”

His humor drained in the face of her doubt. Now. Always.

“Wil you—?” She licked her swol en, wel -kissed lips. “Wil you say the words, then?”

He smoothed his hands over her brow, not surprised to note that he was shaking. He had needed the words, so it stood to reason that she did, as wel . He was ashamed he hadn’t said them before now. Had been so selfish, enjoying her declaration but not offering his own. I love you, Haidee. I love you so much I ache.

Tension seemed to drain from her, though he’d never felt her stiffen. “Do you forgive me for what I did?

Al those centuries ago?”

Sweetheart. What is there to forgive? You were as consumed by your demon as I was by mine.