Page 11 of Cinder & Secrets (Ink & Ashes #2)

“Two.” He sips his own water, his eyes locked on me as he does.

River is the definition of gorgeous. Forest green eyes.

Blond hair. A short, well-kept beard that’s easily three shades darker than the hair on his head, accenting a face that might as well have been etched from stone; he’s so perfect.

Far more perfect than any human has the right to be. It’s unfair really.

Add on the fact that he’s tall, standing at least five inches taller than my five-eight stature, with broad shoulders, thick muscles visible through the thin fabric of his T-shirt, and a smirk that can dismantle every single one of my defenses in an instant, and I think it’s safe to say he’s pretty irresistible.

“Why am I here, River?” I finally ask, unable to take the silence a second longer.

“I don’t know,” he admits, twisting the cap back onto his water bottle before lowering it onto the end stand that sits next to the couch.

“You don’t know?” I arch a brow, my breath catching in my throat when he steps closer, taking my water bottle and setting it next to his.

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.” He steps closer.

“Was that before or after I told you all I wanted was to fuck you?” I try to fake a confidence that I don’t actually feel.

“Both.”

“You have a funny way of showing it.” I fight to keep my composure when he takes another step, our bodies now mere inches apart.

“I’ve been an asshole these past few weeks.”

“You think?” I square my shoulders.

“I just wanted to do right by you.”

“And you thought ghosting me after months was doing right by me?”

“No. That was a selfish dick move, and I’m sorry for it. But it was the only way I knew how to...”

“How to what?” I urge him to continue.

“How to get you out of my system.” He blows out a hard breath, the warmth of it sliding across my face.

I inhale the scent of him, all mint and musk.

God, he even smells like perfection. “I thought time and distance would dull the way I ache for you.” His fingers tangle around mine and he lifts my hand, flattening it against his chest.

I can feel the thrum of his heartbeat, nearly as fast and erratic as mine.

“And how did that work out for you?” I ask softly, trying to force breath in and out of my lungs in slow, steady pulls.

“How does it look like it worked?”

His fingers graze my other arm and I swear I feel that simple touch everywhere .

“What do you want from me, River?” I ask in exasperation, refusing to let him distract me. If he wants me, he’s going to have to say it.

“I already told you.”

“Tell me again.”

“You.”

I have no idea how my legs manage to keep my body upright because it feels like the ground sways under my feet, turning the world sideways.

He slides my hand from his chest seconds before his appears at the small of my back, pulling me flush against him. I damn near groan at the feel of his tense muscles pressed against me.

“I can’t make you any promises.”

“I’m not asking for any,” I reassure him.

He leans in, sliding his nose against mine.

“You better be sure, Red. I’ve spent months dreaming about this body.” His hand slides from my back to my hip, his other hand coming up to grip the other. “Once I start, I may never stop.”

“Good.” I barely get the words out before his lips crash to mine with so much force it pushes me backward, his grip on me the only thing that keeps me in place.

I open for him immediately, moaning into his mouth when his tongue slides against mine in a way that feels like he’s been kissing me his whole life.

“Keep making noises like that and this is going to be over way quicker than I want it to be.” He husks against my mouth, tugging my bottom lip between his teeth before biting down gently.

I damn near come undone.

“Quick is good.” I smile as he kisses the place his teeth just were. “Means we can do it again even sooner.” I wrap my arms around his neck, laughter bubbling in my throat as he lifts me straight off the ground, my feet swaying in the air as he moves.

Moments later, I find myself pressed against the wall of windows.

My shirt comes off first, then my bra, the cool glass biting into my skin as he pushes me flush against it, his head dipping as his mouth closes around my nipple, nipping and sucking in a way that lights a fire straight through me.

He moves to the other side and repeats the process, dragging the nub between his teeth, causing my back to arch, unable to stifle the cry that breaks through the otherwise silent room.

I feel him smile against my skin seconds before he does it again.

When his mouth makes its way back up to mine, I’m breathing so hard I briefly wonder if I’m not about to hyperventilate.

I can’t help it. The way he’s looking at me, the way he’s touching me, like he simply can’t get enough, it’s overwhelming in the most incredible way.

No man has ever made me feel this way, like I’m turned inside out, and he’s barely even touched me yet. My flesh prickles with anticipation when he pulls back, his heated gaze meeting mine.

“Last chance,” he warns, popping the button of my jean shorts open.

“Shut up and kiss me,” I say breathlessly, my heart doing a full flip in my chest at the sight of the smile that tips his lips seconds before he does exactly what I say, kissing me so completely that I feel consumed by it.

He unzips my shorts at a tortuously slow pace, pulling them down even slower, to the point that I’m tempted to move him aside and do it myself. Or at least that’s what I think until he slowly lowers to his knees in front of me.

I watch in open fascination as he kisses my lower abdomen, licking and swirling his tongue against my skin as he moves lower, lower, so low that his lips are now on my bare public bone. I hiss when he dips lower, my head falling back on a deep groan when his lips press to my center.

“You smell even better than I imagined.” He inhales me deeply, groaning, and I melt, my fingers going into his hair as I urge him further.

The first swipe of his tongue is like feeling the sun on your skin after spending months in the darkness. The second, a cool breeze against too-hot skin. By the third, I can’t form a coherent thought.

All I know is want. Need. Desperation.

He takes his time, sucking and kissing, licking and biting, driving me to the point of climax so quickly, I barely have time to brace for impact before it hits me with so much force, I feel disoriented.

My core sings. My head buzzes. My body..

. Well, that bitch has decided she no longer belongs to me at all but to the man currently lapping up my release like it’s the sweetest thing he’s ever tasted.

And then he’s in front of me, kissing me long and deep, making sure I taste every bit of my pleasure on his tongue.

“Let me grab...”

“Don’t.” I hiss against his lips, closing my fingers around the impossibly hard erection that strains against his lounge pants. “You don’t need it.”

He pulls back, eyes dark.

“You’re on birth control?”

“Something like that.” I nip at his lips.

“Something like that?” He narrows his gaze, not willing to just take me at my word, which I guess I can understand.

“I can’t have kids, okay?”

“Like at all?” His expression shifts, making me desperate to move on from this conversation.

“No. And no, I don’t want to talk about it.” Understanding passes over his features.

“You trust me to fuck you bare?” He practically moans the words.

“You forget I know you, River Jonathan Parker. Even when you’ve tried to shut me out, I know you.

And I’ve waited months to have you. I don’t want to feel you with a barrier.

I want to feel all of you.” I lean in, pressing my lips to his.

I kiss him slowly, thoroughly, letting my fingers trace the length of him over his pants before finally slipping inside.

He hisses against my mouth at the first touch. Running my fingertips from base to tip, I revel in how soft his skin is, in how hard and ridged he is for me. And when I trail my thumb over the tip, sliding through the dampness of his arousal, something in him unravels.

One minute my fingers are on him, the next my hands are above my head, one hand wrapped around both of my wrists, holding me in place.

I watch with bated breath as he frees himself from the confines of his pants, his heavy erection bobbing as he uses his free hand to part my legs far enough to allow him to settle between them.

I drop my head back on a whimper as he slides his length through my seam, my body so primed and ready for him he meets absolutely zero resistance.

Releasing my hands, he hoists one leg over his hip, then the other, leaving my bare ass pressed against the glass.

I open my mouth to object, but he quickly cuts me off, reading my thoughts perfectly.

“The glass is tinted. No one can see in.”

Without another word, he lines himself at my entrance and plunges into me in a swift motion, our bodies coming together in a clash. He fills me so deeply that I gasp, my body not accustomed to the width and length of him.

My fingers are in his hair. At the nape of his neck.

My nails scratch across his back as he moves at a relentless pace, fucking me so fast and hard that the pleasure borders on pain, and yet, it’s not nearly enough.

I want all of it. All of him. I want him so deep that I don’t know where he ends and I begin.

I want to draw him in and never let him leave. I want... everything .

With that fleeting thought, my body erupts around him, the very earth beneath us seeming to shake with the aftermath of the most intense orgasm I’ve ever experienced. But that isn’t enough for River. He keeps going, driving me to climax again before I’ve even recovered from the first.

And then, with the sexiest grunt I’ve ever heard in my life, he spills his release inside of me. And as we come down, our limbs tangled together, our panted breaths intermingling, I have only one thought... I can’t wait to do that again.