The kiss deepens, losing any hint of restraint. His tongue slides against mine, demanding, worshipful, and I moan into him, the sound raw and hungry.
People bustle past us in the square, but I don’t see them, don’t care. There is only this. Only him.
I gasp when his claws graze lightly over the small of my back, teasing the sensitive skin beneath my blouse. My entire body arches, responding shamelessly.
“Rapha,” I pant, breaking the kiss, breathing hard. “Please. Take me back to the inn. Now.”
His eyes darken, the red pupils blown wide.
“You’re sure?” he asks, voice strained with barely leashed desire.
“Yes.” I nod, heart pounding. “I need to… connect with you. I can’t wait any longer.”
A low, guttural growl rumbles in his chest.
“Then hold on, mea amora .”
He lifts me easily, one arm locked around my waist, and in a swirl of wind and shadow, the square vanishes, replaced by the familiar, creaking floorboards of our inn room.
I can barely breathe. My pulse is a wild drum, echoing the rush of blood in my veins. Rapha looks at me like a starved wolf, as if I’m his entire reason for existence, and every inch of me thrills with it.
His crimson eyes darken, and with a single snap of his talon-tipped fingers, the clothes he conjured for me vanish in a whisper of air, leaving me suddenly, startlingly naked.
My breath catches in shock as I glance down, cheeks flaming, then lift my eyes to his.
Rapha is bare too… and Gods , he’smorethan I remember, more than any mortal could ever be.
His body is broader, sculpted from shadows and raw power, every line carved with inhuman grace.
Andhe’s bigger everywhere now, impossibly hard, so thick and long I tremble at the sight of him, both aroused and awed.
The cool air teases my nipples, making them pebble and ache, but Rapha’s gaze burns hotter than any fire as it roams over me.
“Even more perfect than I remember,” he rasps before he lowers his mouth to mine.
He kisses me hard. No gentle prelude, just raw, consuming hunger. My knees go weak, and he steadies me, one huge hand gripping the back of my neck while the other snakes around to cup my breast, his thumb brushing the sensitive tip until I moan into his mouth.
I’m shaking, desperate, needing him like air.
Rapha pulls back only long enough to lift me easily, carrying me to the bed like I weigh nothing. His body covers mine in an instant, his warmth seeping into my bones, his scent dark and heady and overwhelming.
He kisses down my throat, slow and deliberate, leaving a trail of fire behind. When he reaches my breasts, he pauses, eyes gleaming with something darkly possessive.
“Mine,” he whispers, taking a nipple into his mouth and sucking hard enough to make me arch off the mattress.
Pleasure lances through me, sharp and dizzying. I gasp his name, my fingers buried in his hair, pulling him closer. Rapha growls against my skin and switches to the other breast, teasing and biting until I’m panting.
Then he moves lower, kissing down my stomach, making me writhe.
“Rapha, please?—”
He chuckles low, the sound vibrating through my belly. “Patience, mea amora. I’m going to taste you,” he warns, his voice rough silk, “and you’re going to let me.”
His shoulders wedge my thighs apart, spreading me wide, exposing me completely. The hunger in his crimson eyes is enough to make my heart stutter.
This is new. Does he mean…
He lowers his mouth to my throbbing core.
Gods, yes. I want him everywhere.
The first stroke of his tongue is so devastatingly gentle that I whimper, my hips bucking. Rapha anchors my thighs over his shoulders, his hands holding me open as he licks me again, slower this time, savoring every ripple and hollow of my sex.
My entire body feels like it’s dissolving. I’ve only ever known pleasure like this with Rapha, but I didn’t know I could come apart from his mouth and tongue.
He circles my clit with the flat of his tongue, then sucks. I cry out, my hands scrabbling at the bed linens.
“Gods! Rapha?—”
“Come for me,” he commands, voice deep and inhuman against my most sensitive flesh. “Now.”
I shatter on his tongue, pleasure crashing over me like a violent wave. My body arches, my muscles locking tight as I climax, moaning his name like a broken prayer.
He doesn’t stop. He keeps licking me through every aftershock until I’m trembling and weak and nearly sobbing from how good it feels.
Only then does he rise over me, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. His smile is sharp, feral, and beautiful.
“I need to be inside you,” he growls, leaning in to claim my mouth again.
I taste myself on his lips. “Please,” I whisper desperately.
He positions himself at my entrance, the blunt head of his cock sliding through my wetness, probing, teasing. My hands fly to his shoulders, anchoring myself.
“Look at me,” he orders.
I do. Gods, I do because there’s nowhere else I want to look. His crimson eyes pin me in place, full of love, ruin, and salvation.
But before he can thrust, something changes.
He goes rigid above me, and the color drains from his face.
“Rapha?” I breathe, dread slicing through my pleasure-hazed mind.
He doesn’t answer, staring past me, his eyes unfocused.
Rapha.
I startle at the voice. It echoes in the room like a blade across stone. Cold, ruthless, amused.
Rapha, you have work to do.
I lick my lips nervously. “Is that?—”
“Lucifer,” Rapha says grimly. “His timing is impeccable as always.”
My heart lurches in terror. I clutch Rapha’s arms, trying to pull him back to me. “Don’t listen,” I plead, voice cracking. “Stay with me.”
But Rapha’s entire body is coiled tight, his jaw locked. Fury simmers in his eyes as he battles the command of his master.
Finish your duty, demon of greed, the voice insists. There are souls to be reaped.
Rapha lets out a snarl so feral it chills me to my marrow. His forehead drops to mine, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
“I’m sorry,” he growls, his eyes dark with rage and regret. “I have to?—”
“No,” I beg, tears spilling. “Please, don’t leave me?—”
His lips crash into mine, desperate, brutal, as if he can pour every ounce of love into a single kiss.
When he pulls away, I see it in his eyes—the torment, the apology, the promise.
“I’ll come back to you,” he swears. “No matter what. Always.”
And then he’s gone, vanishing into thin air, leaving me aching, trembling, and utterly alone.