Page 26 of Gilded Locks

He quirked a smile that was part angel, part devil, that devastating dimple flashing like a dark promise hidden behind his tanned cheek. He lowered his head until his breath ghosted across her lips. His eyes closed, and he breathed deeply like some sort of wild animal. “I won’t pretend I don’t want you.”

When he looked at her again, the intensity of his stare went beyond anything she’d ever experienced. “Ash.”

“That’s right. Say my name. Say it like a prayer. Let it be the first thing that crosses your lips when you can’t take anymore, and you’re begging for mercy.” His smile curved and widened. “But you won’t want it to stop. You’ll be begging for it to go on forever—if you let me have control.”

His hand slid under her sweater, fingertips between her ass cheeks. He gently pulled, spreading her in such a possessive manner that breath skittered past her lips. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” The tips of his fingers only needed to shift ever so slightly, and he’d breach her.

“Do what you’re doing.”

“What am I doing, Mary? Tell me.”

If he thought he could offend her modesty, he was wrong. “You’re holding my ass.”

“And?” He teased the crack, zeroing in on the tight little pucker. “Does it make your pussy wet, knowing I want to stretch every hole you have?”

All she had to do was walk away. She wanted to be the sort of woman who would slap a man for less, but she also wanted to see how far he’d push her. This wasn’t just her test. It was his.

She swallowed, not confirming or denying.

“I bet those interior muscles are starting to clench.” He leaned forward, trapping her earlobe between his teeth, sucking, licking, sending liquid heat to her core as chills raced down her spine. “Wanting to be filled…”

Her breath caught, and she shamefully moaned.

He released her ear and chuckled. “I’ve got you now, printsessa. Say mercy.”

Her words silently formed the word, but no sound came out.

“I didn’t hear you.” He dragged his touch between her legs, nudging her knees apart. She widened her stance. “Good girl.”

Sliding a finger through her folds, he chuckled when he found her slick with arousal. Mortification burned across her cheeks when he teased her open.

“Still think I’m hiding cruel intentions?” He curved his fingers, sinking his touch deeper until she leaned into him.

Her eyes closed at the unexpected gentleness. “Ash…”

“Yes?” He grazed his pillow-soft lips over hers, pumping his finger slowly through her shamefully slick heat.

“Ash, please…”

“Please, what, printsessa?”

She didn’t know what she wanted. Her breathing turned heavy as she leaned into him, partially gripping his muscled shoulders for support, partially hiding her face against his neck in shame.

When he kissed her, it was gentle. Soft and careful, nothing like the brutal claiming she’d expected from a man like him. His lips moved against hers with infinite patience, like he had all the time in the world to learn the shape of her mouth and the feel of her body.

She gasped, losing the rhythm of the kiss, and clung to his sleeve. Thick, corded muscle twisted beneath her grip as he worked his fingers in and out.

“Getting braver now…” He rubbed and teased, more deliberate than before, as if seeking that sweet release for both of them.

She should push him away. She should remind him she hadn’t agreed to anything yet. She should try to maintain some shred of dignity. Instead, she melted into him like snow under an August sky.

Her hands fisted in his shirt, pulling him closer. Tension rippled through him, and she sensed him holding back in order to stay gentle with her.

“Once you give in, we’ll show you things you never imagined. Things that make a woman’s mind splinter into a thousand pieces while her body shatters like glass from the pleasure.

“You can’t break what’s already broken.”