Page 73 of House of Blood and Roses: Vol. 2

His hand trails over my breast, and he brushes his thumb over my nipple. I let out a small whimper in response, feeling myself relax as the desire travels through me.

"Again."

He repeats the motion and a small moan escapes from me.

"Now," I murmur.

He's even slower than before, and there's still a little bit of discomfort as he pushes into me further, but it's not painful. He stops moving, hovering over me with an intense expression on his face.

"Linc?"

"Mmhmm?"

"Are you all right?" My question comes out a little breathy.

"Yes. But I'm scared that if I move, it's going to be over."

"If it is, then it's fine," I assure him, stroking my hand down his face. "We've got time to explore this."

"I just want it to be good for you," he mumbles, his concentration lapsing slightly.

"I know," I assure him, carefully wrapping my legs around his waist. The change in position makes me gasp, but any discomfort soon subsides.

Linc groans and leans his head against my shoulder, and I can tell from his breathing that he's close to finishing.

"It's your turn to let go," I say, trailing my hand down his arm.

He nods, which is probably mostly because there's no fighting the desire within. He moves within me, the feeling of fullness unlike anything I expected. My eyes flutter closed, and I tip my head back, enjoying it even if I know this isn't going to last very long. We've done enough that I can recognise the signs of him approaching a release.

Without really thinking about it, I clench, tipping him over the edge. His movements become somewhat erratic, and he drops his head onto my shoulder as he finds the pleasure waiting for him.

My whole body is on edge, and I can tell that I want more. It's almost like I need more. But I also know that I need to give him some time to recover before we can do that.

"I'm sorry," he murmurs against my skin as he falls to the side, leaving me feeling a little empty.

"What for?" I roll over and rest in the crook of his arm.

"That was over so fast, and you didn't get any pleasure from it."

"I did," I promise him. "But it's also all right that it was fast, it's just our first time." I lean in to kiss him gently.

"The second will be better."

"I think we've got a long time to work out what we like," I remind him. "And I look forward to finding out."

He smiles lazily at me, clearly hardly able to think.

"Why don't we sleep first," I suggest. "Then we can try again."

He nods and moves so that he can pull the covers over us both. I shuffle closer, putting my arm over his chest. I've slept in this bed more than a few times at this point, but tonight feels different. Maybe because it is, this is the start of something, and I know it has the potential to be wonderful.

EIGHTEEN

It's completely dark when I wake up, and I let out a contented sigh at the feeling of being in Linc's arms. He tightens his hold around me, a hand drifting across my stomach and igniting something within me.

"Are you awake?" I murmur.

"Yes."