Page 146 of A Bond so Fierce and Fragile

“Don’t you dare ask me if this is okay,” she hissed. “You said you wouldn’t be gentle. This… this is an exchange of needs. Like we agreed. I use you, and you use me.”

Raine’s hand dropped from her chin, and an involuntary sound left her when it found her other ass cheek and he used it to roughly lift her off the ground, forcing her to wrap her legs around him as he pressed her back against the wooden door.

His stubble scraped against her chin as he kissed her again, harder, making her lips swell and ache with each rough press of his own.

When he pulled back, the green and gold in his eyes swirled, and there was a wild edge to them—one that had her move her throbbing pussy over his clothed cock so hard he growled.

“So eager, little Rantzier,” he mumbled as one of his hands found her hair, fingers tangling in it as he pulled her head back until pain from her scalp mingled with pleasure.

She couldn’t help but moan at the sensation, and it felt as if she needed to escape her clothes, maybe even her skin, and crawl under Raine’s when he rasped, “Good to know.”

Still, after Raine had attacked her throat, licking and sucking and nibbling until she was panting, he stilled with his lips hovering over hers, hand still fisting her hair, keeping her from moving a single inch.

“Have you… have you been fucked before?” Raine asked hoarsely, and she didn’t miss how his cock twitched against her.

“No,” she snarled, trying not to meet his eyes, although it proved hard when his grip tightened even further in her hair. “Is that a problem?”

Please don’t be a problem.

She wasn’t sure who she begged.

But she wanted this. Fucking needed this.

I need this, too, little Rantzier.

Oh.

Raine’s laugh rumbled against her, and despite the heat shooting across her face, her eyes closed at the sensation of his length pressing into her, even through their clothes, and how his cock seemed to grow even harder at her response.

And it’s not a fucking problem. But… we’re taking it slow.

Something like a growl left her throat, and Raine laughed harder.

I said slow. Not gentle.

When his lips still waited above hers a few moments later—as if he was giving her a silent choice whether she wanted to stop—she used the last strength in her trembling legs to slide over his hardness.What are you waiting for?

Raine didn’t respond to her question as he turned them both around, taking long steps to the table standing in the middle of the room and setting her down on it.

Empty.

That’s what she felt when Raine released her, wrangling her own hands out of his hair and stepping back.

“Undress,” he ordered.

A thrill of heat crept down her spine at his words, but she didn’t move right away, a feeling of… not unease but hesitation cutting through her muddled thoughts.

My motto is usually “women first,” but I’ll make an exception.

There was amusement lacing Raine’s words in her mind, but somehow it felt easier not to speak out loud—like when she’d spoken to him that day after her father’s death.

Thank you,she thought back.

Oh, you should be thanking me.Raine’s brows rose playfully as he undid his boots and kicked them across the room.

His tunic went next, revealing a broad chest with dark red hair covering the top of it.

She was certain her eyes were as wide as they’d ever been following the coiling muscles, how they played beneath his skin, leading down into a sharp V between his hips, a trail of the same crimson hair that wove across his chest pointing the way to?—