Page 69

T he heavy dorm room door crashes open, startling me from the gripping tale unfolding on the pages before me. My head snaps up just in time to watch Arius storm inside, the scowl etched into his rugged features promising a foul temper indeed. With a forceful shove, he slams the door closed behind him, shoulders bunched and tie askew as if he’d been tugging at the silk knot.

Frowning, I set my novel aside and straighten on the sofa cushions. “What’s got your knickers in a twist, then?” I arch a brow, gaze raking over his dishevelled appearance as I bring the straw of my water bottle to my lips.

Rather than answer, Arius reaches up to loosen the constricting fabric around his throat further with a few sharp tugs. His strides eat up the space between us in a matter of heartbeats, that brooding glower intensifying until he looms over my lounging form like a thundercloud.

“It doesn’t bloody matter,” he growls, voice laced with a heady edge of aggression that sends an unexpected frisson skittering down my spine.

Before I can formulate a retort, Arius bends at the waist and scoops me bodily into his arms with a low grunt of exertion. A startled squeak punches free as my arms instinctively band around his shoulders for leverage, the abandoned water bottle and paperback tumbling forgotten to the floor.

“Arius, what the hell?” I sputter, legs scrambling to lock around his trim waist as he turns on his heel and strides toward the bedroom. Receiving no response save a terse grunt, I swallow back a fresh barrage of questions as those piercing gunmetal irises bore into me with smouldering intensity.

The moment we cross the threshold into his bedroom, Arius kicks the door shut behind us and pivots, striding across the space to deposit me on the edge of his mattress with enough force to bounce me on the springy surface. Before I can gather my wits, he snags the waistband of my compression shorts and strips them down my legs in one fluid motion, baring me to his searing appraisal.

My core clenches in a dizzying spiral of apprehension and wanton desire, all moisture fleeing my mouth as I pant softly through parted lips. Bloody fuck, why is this crass manhandling igniting such a blazing inferno of lust low in my belly?

Maintaining that scorching eye contact, Arius reaches down to unfasten the buckle of his belt, thumbing open the button and zipper of his trousers in a series of deft motions. Unable to tear my transfixed stare away, I watch with rapt fascination as he releases his cock from its confines, the thick length bobbing free with a groan of relief.

One arm bands underneath my knee, large hand gripping possessively into my thigh, hauling me flush against the edge of the mattress and spreading me wide. There’s a moment of stillness, the only sounds our mingled ragged pants echoing through the charged air. Then Arius is guiding his rigid cock to my pussy, that flushed crown catching on my labia and forcing a strangled whimper over my lips.

And with one powerful snap of his hips, Arius buries himself to the hilt in one devastating thrust.

“F-fuck!” I cry out, head lolling back as that exquisite burn of being stretched and filled consumes my senses.

Arius pauses, suspended above me with his palm braced on the mattress beside my head. His forehead drops toward mine, dark lashes fanning across those chiselled cheekbones as he reacquaints himself with the snug heat sheathing his cock. The muscles in his shoulders cord and flex as his free hand shifts to grip my hip with bruising force, thick fingers digging painfully into the bandages hiding the aftermath of the Hunt.

“Christ, …” he rumbles, the low timbre of his gravelled drawl vibrating through me in a delicious shiver. “I fucking… need this.”

Before I can process those muttered words, Arius draws his hips back in one languid stroke, savouring every slick inch of friction until just the swollen tip remains nestled inside my entrance. Then, with a low growl rumbling in his chest, he slams home once more, burying that impressive length with a punishing thrust that punches the breath from my lungs in a strangled moan.

“Nngh—fuck. You’re so bloody tight, srdie?ko,” he rasps, accent thick and sultry. Before I can formulate a response, Arius withdraws in another languid stroke, stopping just before he slips out entirely. Then, with a carnal snarl vibrating against my flesh, he slams home once again.

The force of his punishing thrust rips a strangled cry from my lips as my eyes roll back into my skull, lashes fluttering as I fight to keep them open. Pinned beneath his rigid body, all I can do is clutch at the flexing muscles of his arm and edge of the bed as Arius quickly establishes a ruthless rhythm. Each powerful snap of his hips drives the pierced head of his cock into my g-spot with exquisite precision. Fucking hell, he’s like a man possessed.

“Oh god, Arius.” His name spills unbidden from my lips, quickly dissolving into a litany of whimpers and mewls in tandem with the relentless pounding stealing my coherency. Just as I’m certain my unravelling orgasm is cresting, Arius shifts his weight and snakes his free hand between us.

Calloused fingertips immediately latch onto my swollen clit, thumb swirling tight concentric circles in tandem with the merciless stimulation already threatening to shatter me. My spine bows clean off the mattress, legs trembling with the strain of keeping my hips angled to meet each punishing thrust. Bloody fuck, it’s too much—too intense. Already I can feel that first shattering climax rapidly gaining momentum, cresting and ebbing like a tidal wave crashing over me.

“A-Arius—fuck. S-slow down,” I manage to gasp, fingers digging into the corded sinews of his arm in a futile attempt to ground myself. “I’m—sh-shite. Wait….”

Rather than heed my frantic plea, Arius snarls with renewed aggression. His rhythm falters for a split second as he snakes his other arm beneath my shoulders, fingers tangling into my dishevelled tresses in a punishing grip.

“No,” he growls, accent thickening with exertion and arousal. “Ty bude? ?pini? moju poste?, ?i sa ti to pá?i alebo nie.”

I can’t discern the meaning behind those foreign syllables, my consciousness too fragmented and hazy to focus beyond the cresting euphoria consuming me from root to crown. But bloody hell, there’s something primal and visceral in the timbre that has every inch of my skin prickling with gooseflesh. With a low whimper reverberating in my throat, I surrender to the onslaught—muscles rigid with anticipation as my orgasm rapidly crests and crashes over me with earth-shattering intensity.

Dimly, I register releasing a raw sob of overwhelmed bliss, nails dragging a fresh welt down Arius’ sweat-slicked nape. He shudders at the sharp sting, pelvis snapping forward in a particularly brutal grind that whites out my vision for a breath. When the muted roaring in my ears clears, I become aware of him murmuring a low, indecipherable litany against my pulse point.

While a detached part of my psyche wonders just what the blazes could have Arius wound so bloody tight, the rest of me can’t be arsed to give a toss. Not when the man is intent on fucking me through the mattress with enough single-minded intensity to rearrange my guts.