Page 135 of Burning Ember

I shake my head slowly from side to side. “No. Maybe. Ugh, that was amazing.”

He laughs out loud this time. “I’m glad you liked it because I plan on doin’ it often.” Lifting me under my arms, he repositions me to lie in the middle of his big bed. Half of his body blankets mine, and his heavy erection makes itself known against my thigh.

A hum of sexual energy flutters through my stomach.

He caresses my cheek. “You look tired, babe.”

“I am, a little.” It’s the truth, but I’m also tempted to see what he’ll do. Does he actually have this much control? When it’s blatantly obvious he’s hurting?

“Are you?”

Pulling away, his eyes leave my face and move down over my body. They sear a trail from my breasts down my belly to my sex. His fingertips barely graze the softest part of my belly before his hand draws back.

Mav clenches his eyes shut tightly, exhales and falls to his back. “I am, yeah. We should sleep.” And it’s like he’s remembering what we did a moment ago, because his tongue comes out and sweeps over his bottom lip.

I turn toward him and the lure to touch him is more than I can fight anymore. I lay my hand over his stomach. The moment I do, he groans low in his throat and his abs tighten. His eyes are still closed as I glide my fingers over his abdomen. He moves his hand from his chest to grant me full access. I read the skin on his abs as if it were brail, and memorize every sound of pleasure he makes. Moving on to his chest, I tease him with my fingertips, circling his nipple, and then sliding them up his sternum, before tracing the words of his tattoo. After I’ve explored his upper body to my heart’s content, I tentatively touch his jaw and feel the hair there tickle my fingertips. The same hair that’s left a temporary burn between my thighs and along my neck.

Good Lord . . . my Luce is handsome.He has a face and a body no woman in her right mind could resist. Yet he’s so much more than that.

I never had a chance, did I?

No.

From the moment I saw him, he’s captivated me. Shoved his way into my heart.

When I reach his lips and brush the pads of my fingers over them, Mav’s mouth parts. I fell in love with these lips that first day. Though they were wrapped around a cigarette, they were still the sexiest lips I’ve ever seen. Lush and made for kissing.

Finally, his eyes blink open, and as they focus on my face, they burn with a heat that nearly singes the air between us.

He’s looking at me as if I’m his next meal, and he’s been stranded for so long without food.

We stare at one another and I wonder why he’s waiting. Why he’s not kissing me? Stroking me? Having sex with me? What happened to his declaration to fuck me?

“Mav?”

He gives me a lazy smile, “Yeah, baby?”

I palm his cheek and study his face. “What are you waiting for?”

He turns his head and places a kiss on my palm. When his eyes meet mine again he says, “You. I told you. You control this. I don’t want to push you more than you’re willin’ to give.”

But I want more. I want what you promised me.

The words hover on the end of my tongue.

Tentatively, I move toward him. I wrap my hand around his nape. Drawing closer, I keep my eyes locked with his. He doesn’t move an inch. He waits for me to come to him, for me to press my lips to his. He opens and my tongue slips inside and laves at his in languid strokes. He grips my neck and matches my movements, my intensity, and my momentum. But he’s holding himself back. A tide of hunger lies dormant under his skin. Beneath the soft kisses there’s a ferocity waiting to be unleashed.

I crave it and the biker who takes exactly what he wants.

I kiss him deeper, more aggressively. My hands roam and I touch him without censor. I suck his lip into my mouth and scrap my teeth across it before letting it go. My hand ventures down his stomach and covers his erection over his briefs.

Mav hisses, “Fuck!” and bucks against my hand. Then he stills my hand with his, and says, “You don’t have to.”

This time, I shush him. Using my mouth, I stop him from talking and kiss him without restraint. We’re all lips, tongues, and hands. We’re frenzied and so hot that the air between us is sweltering.

Breaking the kiss, I rasp, “I want the rest of what you promised me.”

He’s up on his elbow a second later and gripping my neck tightly. “Doll.” His thumb strokes my jaw. “I swear to God, babe, I need to be inside you more than I need to breathe. Actually, I’m losin’ my mind over here. But are you sure? I’ll be patient if that’s what you need me to be.”