Page 153

“I can taste your desire.” My lips brushed against her cheek. “Spicy. Smoky.” I growled as I rocked my hips against her ass. Sera shuddered. “I don’t even have to try to read you.”

Dragging my palm across her lower body, I dipped my hand between her thighs. She pushed her body against my questing fingers. “I...I do.”

Even through the pants, her heat was scorching—fucking divine—as I tried to reconcile the two vastly different sides of her that I’d only seen once before. “Why? Tell me.”

“I...” Sera moaned as I stroked her. “I don’t know.”

Little liar.

“I think you do know.” I shifted my arm, lifting my hand to the laces of her pants. I found the knot and easily loosened it. Her sigh brought a smile to my face. “Or maybe I’m wrong, and you don’t know.” I slipped my hand beneath the gap between her pants and waist, eager to get between her thighs, but I made sure to give myself time to feel her—to marvel at the warm softness of her skin, belly, and then finally lower, where she was the softest. Where she was so wet. “But I am not wrong about you liking it like this.”

Sera tipped her ass up just a little bit, a silent request I would do everything in my power to answer. I knew what she wanted. Dragging in her sweet scent, I eased a finger inside her tight heat.

“I like...” Sera made a breathy sound as I let more weight settle on her back.

“Like what?” I asked as her thighs clamped down. “Being dominated?”

Her entire body shook as she gripped the hand I’d placed near her. “I like...submitting to you.”

“Fuck.” I jerked against her, eyes briefly closing. I’d already known what her answer would be. I wouldn’t have continued like this if I hadn’t. But hearing her say it drove home how much more this was—it was more than lust and sex. More than getting off. I let out a ragged breath. “You never submit to me.”

Sera turned her head, and those beautiful eyes locked with mine. “I’m submitting now.”

A strange, intense sensation swept through me, seizing my gut as I felt eather bleed to the surface of my flesh. Blood pounded through me, muting the soft sounds of rushing water in the pool. “Is that what you want? Now?” I knew it was, but I needed to hear her say it. “Like this?”

A flush hit her cheeks. “I think you can feel that it is.”

Oh, I could feel it. And I’d heard it when I curled my finger inside. “I can.”

Her throat worked on a swallow. A moment passed, and then she whispered, “I know I can let this happen.”

I went completely still. What I’d felt earlier was right. This was so much bigger. It was about trust.

And she trusted me.

Me.

I wasn’t sure what I’d done to deserve it. Not when I could still see her flinch—could still taste the shame I’d made her feel when it was quiet.

“I think I understand,” I said, feeling a little unsteady on my feet.

Her lips parted as I held her gaze. I thrust my finger into her once and then twice before slipping my hand free. I didn’t look away. Neither did she. Heart pounding, I gripped her pants and shoved them down to her knees before doing the same with mine. Her breathing picked up as I grasped my cock, dragging the head over the curve of her ass. Neither of us spoke as I pushed between her thighs, entering her tight, damp heat.

Fates.

The feel of her clamping down on my cock caused every muscle in my body to tighten. Pure, raw pleasure coursed through me, stroking the beast in me once more. It wanted me to fuck. I wanted to fuck, hard and fast. But I could feel my god form beginning to slip. I could see it in the hand she held so tightly. The flesh was starting to thin, revealing the shadows beneath.

Fuck.

If I let go and took her in my Primal form? A shudder of fear went through me. She was mortal, and I was the furthest thing from that.

She was…she was too important to me.

I couldn’t lose control. I wouldn’t. Because I could be as strong as she was. Sera deserved that.

Holding on to that, I let out a harsh breath. Seconds ticked by, moving both too fast and yet too slow. In control, I pulled back, feeling every damn inch. My nerve endings fired off bursts of pleasure as I nestled just the tip at Sera’s entrance and then plunged back into her. Her moan got lost in my groan.

Her nails scraped across the stone and dug into my flesh as I picked up my pace. Each thrust felt like a thousand tiny explosions, jolting our bodies. My hips moved faster and faster, pushing us ever closer to the edge of what felt like insanity.