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Growing more focused and intense, he swooped down to kiss me again, deeper this time. His tongue tasted of mint and snow, dipping and nipping at my lips while one hand eased up my thigh, his fingers teasing along the ultra-sensitive skin until I trembled.

“And as for no waitin’, I can forgive it.” The words hummed against my lips as his hand continued its torturous path upward. I urged him closer, arching up to press my bare chest against his, gasping at the electric feeling of ice against fire. His other hand tangled in my hair, exposing my throat to his hungry kisses, punctuating each word. “Anythin’ for you, love. Fire. Torment. I’ll raze the world bloody, so long as I can keep ye.”

Time disappeared into fluttering moments of need and want – the chill of his hands trailing fire down my sides; the tight muscles of his back flexing beneath my hands as I learned every inch of him; the shiver that ran through me as he kissed my earlobe, my throat, across my collarbone, and down my sternum to my heart.

He mapped every sensitive spot with soft strokes and kisses, already sure of what made me sigh and pull close against him, balancing desire and anticipation on a knife edge. Nicholas played my body like an instrument he’d mastered lifetimes ago, bringing me to the precipice with deliberate touches before easing away, building a tension in my core so exquisite it bordered on pain.

I writhed beneath him, utterly at his mercy and desperately trying to hold on to some semblance of sanity. His eyes followedevery response of my body, drinking in each gasp and moan with undisguised delight. When I arched into his touch, he growled his approval, the vibration travelling through his chest into mine.

“You know…” I managed, breathless. “Your timing is… questionable.”

As his palm slid down my stomach to trace the edge of my underwear, my hips rose to meet him instinctively. He hooked one finger in the waistband, drawing them swiftly away, his eyes burning into me with a smirk. “Aye, but my execution is flawless.”

I had to agree, as he ran the lightest of touches across my inner thighs, stroking upward with tantalising patience until he reached his target – working my body as though he’d known it his whole life. His kisses shadowed the path of his hands, until he settled at the apex of my thighs. I gasped at the surprising warmth of his tongue.

Driving my hips against him, with him, his tonguefound my swollen centre and a strangled cry tore from my throat. He slipped one finger inside me, then another, curling them to hit that perfect spot while his tongue worked tight, merciless circles and strokes in time with his fingers.

I couldn’t hold back. My hands fisted in his hair, pulling him closer, his skilled mouth and fingers driving me higher until I was begging with need. The sweet, coiled tension inside me built to an unbearable peak before I broke completely, my entire body convulsing as fire flooded through me and I came apart beneath him with a cry.

His answering growl vibrated against my skin. “There’s the sweet sound I’ve been dreamin’ of,” he murmured against me. The look on his face was pure satisfaction, his gaze locked on my face from between my thighs, his lips still wet. He hadn’t been lying about his talents, that was for sure. But I wanted more. I wanted all of him.

Drawing himself upward, his usually emerald eyes were almost black, the golden flecks catching the lamplight like embers. The faint dusting of freckles across his nose made him seem almost young despite the predatory grace of his movements, and I drank in every detail of his face, learning it by heart. His mouth found my breast again, sucking hard enough to make me cry out. I buried my hands in his hair, holding him there as the fire burned through me in aftershocks of pleasure. The crush of his body, his careful strength as he held me – it was enough to make my muscles draw taut with need again.

His teeth grazed my nipple, and I didn’t hesitate to give in to the sensation. As he moved himself between my legs, his hair brushed against me like silk – the otherworldly coolness of him a delicious remedy for my burning flesh. His familiar scent of earth and pine grew stronger as his breath ghosted across my skin, and my hands flew to his hips, fumbling until he helped me remove the last barrier between us, freeing all of him at last.

I couldn’t resist exploring him further, wrapping my hand around his length. Nicholas inhaled sharply, his eyes heavy with desire, jaw clenching as he fought for the control I so desperately wanted to break. As I stroked him, feeling the sheer size of him, hard and ready against my palm, he groaned, jerkinginvoluntarily into my touch, his head falling back to expose the strong column of his throat and the crescent-shaped scar there.

“Careful, love,” he whispered. “Even my control has limits.”

I tightened my grip, thrilled by his response – by the power I had over him. His body trembled beneath my fingers, his defined abdomen tensing with each stroke of my hand, Celtic knots dancing. I tilted my neck back, exposing the bare flesh as I continued caressing him. “Maybe I want you unrestrained.”

“You dinnae ken what you’re askin’.” He pulled himself back to rest on one arm and drew an errant lock of hair away from my shoulder.

Anticipation made my pulse race beneath his fingertips. “Yes, I do. I want all of you.”

He hesitated, but I pulled him down toward me again. When his sharp teeth broke the skin above my collarbone, my entire body shook. The sting of his bite dissolved into sweet ecstasy as my blood flooded his tongue and he groaned against me, shuddering with me. I felt the moment he truly lost himself in the sensation, a primal growl vibrating from deep in his chest, the fire in my soul filling him.

When he withdrew, he gazed at me open-mouthed, his pupils blown wide in the dim light. A tremor ran through him, electricity skittering across my skin in response. His teeth caught his bottom lip, scarlet welling from the cut. He kissed me again, and the coppery tang made my head swim, awakening something dark within me. The fire in my blood burned anew, brighter and more terrifying than I’d ever known it.

When he broke the kiss and finally moved between mythighs, he settled back against me and I caught a flash of something wild in his eyes – darkness barely contained by his ever-present iron restraint. A darkness of my own leapt up to meet him, but I knew he was still holding back.

I arched my hips up against him, and the initial press of him entering me drew a soft gasp from my lips. His jaw clenched, but a low moan escaped as my body yielded, slowly accepting every inch.

“Gods, Erin,” he breathed, his voice breaking on my name.

At first, each movement he made was measured, though I could feel the power held in check beneath his muscles. A sound of pure pleasure rumbled deep in his throat as I wrapped my legs around him again, locking my ankles and erasing any space between us. His eyes sought mine, a vulnerability there I hadn’t expected to see – a question.

I answered by rocking my hips up to match his thrust, drawing a quiet snarl from deep in his chest. His control was a visible thing, straining beneath his skin.

“Don’t. Hold. Back,” I whispered against his throat.

Nicholas growled in response, pulling almost completely out before slamming back into me with enough force to make the headboard crack against the wall. I cried out in response, almost undone again, and he set a punishing rhythm, each thrust hitting places so deep within me I hadn’t known they existed.

“Yes,” I gasped, digging my fingers into his shoulders as he nipped at my throat again. “Fuckingyes.”

The dual sensation of his teeth marking my flesh and thefeeling of him inside me, filling me completely, was almost overwhelming. I tensed my thighs, capturing his hips and urging him deeper, harder – feeling his restraint slip further with each stroke.

“I dinnae—” he groaned, his rhythm faltering slightly as pleasure overtook him. “Gods!” Though usually breathless, his breathing now came in ragged gasps, his eyes wild as they locked on mine.