Page 57 of Hungry As Her Python

The things no one else got to see.

She didn’t even hesitate.

“I’m a Virgo and eating is my love language.”

I laughed, low and genuine.

“Ha ha! Good to know. We have the eating thing in common, but my choice of delights is likely different.”

I let the suggestion roll off my tongue, slow and deliberate, watching the way her pupils blew wide.

Then I kissed her jaw, trailing little nips toward her mouth. She opened for me, but I didn’t rush it—I teased.

Let her chase me.

And when she backed off, I followed, because there was no world where I could let her pull away.

“I want all of it, Maribella,” I murmured between feather-light brushes of our lips. “Every last one of your secrets. Mine. But I can be patient. I’ll wait for you to be ready.”

Her eyes were glazed, her voice distracted.

“Ready for what?”

Oh, she knew.

Her magic was singing to mine, wrapping us both in a slow, burning coil.

My Python was pacing just under my skin, restless and hungry.

I cupped her face, tilting it up until those dark eyes were locked on mine.

“Ready for us.”

And then I kissed her the way I’d been dying to—hard, deep, like I could brand her soul with the taste of me.

Her body melted into mine, soft and warm and wanting.

Sparks flared where our skin touched, and I knew she felt it too.

That connection.

That rightness.

I’d had lovers before. Special ones. Good ones.

But they were nothing compared to Bella.

She. Was. Everything.

This wasn’t about getting off—though, fuck, she could ruin me without even trying—this was about claiming something I knew down to my bones was supposed to be mine.

“Bella,” I groaned against her mouth, because I needed her to hear it, needed her to know.

“Wanna give you everything you want, sweet Witch. Don’t you know how hard it is for me to stay away?”

Her answer was breathless, dangerous.

“Then don’t.”