Page 4 of Savage Devotion (Savage Reign #1)

ARABELLE

T here are secrets and mysteries hidden behind those thick, black lashes and equally dark eyes. They hold me captive, forcing curiosity about him deep into my thoughts. Yet I seal them away and stay in the here and now.

It’s better to be held captive by his body caressing mine than the darkness surrounding this man’s soul.

Dimmed lights throw the entire club into vast shadows. Shades of neon colors pierce through the canopy of black to cast rays of pinks and greens to cut across our bodies as we move through the gyrating crowd.

Step after step I follow his lead, not giving myself time to regret following my lustful desires rather than my rational thinking. My thudding heart makes me strain to hear him over the music but I catch a few words that have me faltering in my step.

“I wish I could take you home with me. Tie you up, never let you go.”

I heard tie you up just fine, but that voice deserves another chance to say those words to me.

“Excuse me?” Images of the dirty deed play out in my mind.

Sounds fun, if not a tad bit scary. Just how close did he live?

I could use a night of letting loose and forgetting what brought me to New Orleans and kept me here.

His knowing grin says he knows what I’m up to. This is madness, but I push for more, anyway. My heart races as I lean my body closer and press my lips close to his ear. “Where do you live? Is it nearby?”

I’ve never felt so alive. This must be what it feels like to have just let go and let fun take me wherever it wants. Safe? Not so much. But for once I want to feel alive. Why not tonight? And why not this man?

“Harlon. A small parish north of the city.” Not even the cutting acid green of a nearby sign penetrates the shadow of regret overtaking his handsome face. It’s there one moment and then gone the next.

And then apparently he’s done talking.

His hard, muscular body feels amazing against mine as he leads me through two quick steps and a slow forward step.

My feet follow his regardless of it being years since I last shared a dance.

Firm hands hold me closer than what the rumba calls for and with every movement he makes I can feel I’m not the only one aroused.

And I like it. For once I want to lose control and shed the responsible woman always following the rules. Even if he is a bad boy.

And with a man who is drop-dead gorgeous. He’s older than me by at least ten to twelve years. Dark tailored slacks highlight muscular legs and the way he moves with such graceful finesse you would think he was born to sweep women off their feet.

Around us, fellow patrons move to the edge of the dance floor as we dominate the entire space. We glide, turn, dip and sway until he simply takes my breath away. With his powerful hands on me, the words between us now are spoken by our bodies.

I raise my eyes to find him watching me when the spicy melody dips to slow cadence.

The tips of his fingers brush against my jawline.

I follow his silent instructions and part my lips as he sweeps in.

The bold sweep of his tongue against mine forces a moan from deep inside me.

I’ve never been kissed like this. By a man whose hunger is evident in every breath he steals.

The hard bristle of his evening stubble stings against my chin and cheek, stirring up the need to feel with other parts of my body.

“Liam,” I groan against his lips when he takes mercy and releases my mouth from his ravenous kiss. His powerful arms turn possessive and I let him take more of my weight.

“Yes, beautiful? I’m yours for the evening. Tell me what you need.”

Warmth creeps over me, floods my veins and settles between my legs as a soft moan slips past my lips. Mine for the evening. Endless bad ideas float through my mind and all of them involve a bed and this man. “Are we really doing this?” I ask, hoping I’m reading his signals.

Lights dip lower and so does his voice. “As long as you’re okay with it.”

I am.

As if reading my thoughts, or maybe feeling how my body moves into his a little more he slides his warm lips over mine again.

Hard meets soft.

He tastes of good tequila and off-the-charts sex. Whether this is a bad idea or good is irrelevant.

“Follow me,” he murmurs over my lips.

He laces his thick fingers through mine, and I look back to find my friend smiling my way and nodding.

There’s a tiny part of my brain that clicks on saying following a stranger to God knows where is the first rule of how to get dumped in a six-foot hole, but my inner danger-dar isn’t whirling.

I can’t put my finger on it, but I know this man means nothing more than a shared night of passion.

We wind our way through the crowd toward the back, where a hidden door opens into a wide hallway. Accent lighting illuminates an ascending staircase, I never saw before.

Once we are inside, and the door closes, it’s just us.

No music. No patrons.

Just our body heat and the dark, sexual tension pulsing between us as if it has a heartbeat of its own.

Those strong callused hands grip my waist and I’m instantly pinned to the wall. The mountain of a man in front of me is the only thing I can see, feel…taste.

His thumb swipes over the pulse point on my throat, and he tips my chin up. With only a few lines of conversation between us, he takes my mouth in a hard kiss.

Please, Lord. Don’t let me fall.

It happens then. I feel his hard length press against my starving folds and I groan wantonly. A hand moves to the small of my back. Then lower until his hands are beneath my skirt and digging into the plumpness of my ass cheeks.

I shut my eyes and let my head fall back. It feels so good. My heart races and I have to force myself to go at his pace and not tackle him to the floor and ride him bareback on the stairs. Without encouragement from me, my hips start to grind against the hard ridge of his cock.

A masculine curse curls over cool blasts of air from overhead vents. And the sound leaves whiplashes over my soul.

“Arabelle,” I murmur over his lips when I manage to break away for air. “My name is Arabelle.”

His mouth roams up the side of my neck. “Beautiful,” he says and then fists my loose hair and drags my head to the side so he can nip and lick his way down the other side. The hardened length of his erection grows impossibly harder at what I can only assume is from learning my name.

“I’ll shout your beautiful name as I’m coming balls deep inside your exquisite body.”

A whimper falls from my lips as he jerks the sides of my halter top down and forces my breasts to spill over the top.

Plump, eager, and ready for his hot mouth, the hard tips jut out desperate to be ravaged by the force of his hunger.

He doesn’t disappoint. The burning sensation of stubble against tender skin makes me hiss in tortured pleasure. I cry out as his lips surround a nipple and he tugs it deep inside the wet confines of his mouth.

Possessive fingers clench the rounded curves of my ass and the slow, dry thrusts of his hips have the long length of his erection caressing me just right for me to lose all good sense.

I shut my eyes and swallow thickly. With only the thin material of my panties and his dress slacks between us, I can feel all too well he’s going to hurt when he finally slides into me. And I can’t wait.

Suddenly my feet are back on the floor, and Liam is on his knees. He throws one of my legs over his massive shoulder and those hands on my ass hold me in place for his hungry mouth.

Tearing cloth filters through the stairwell and I see my panties fall to the floor in the soft lighting a second later.

Ay Dios! Hot, sticky juices spill to wet my folds and thighs. He groans in appreciation when his lips seal over my bare seam. I won’t lie. My knees grow so fucking weak from the feel of his tongue sliding through my wetness I have to grip his shoulders from fear of falling over.

I look down to see him watching me as he licks and sucks my clit and my juices covering his mouth.

For a second I forget where we are. But when I cast around with my hands for purchase to hit a sleek handle, I realize anyone can come through the door to find me half naked and a man eating me out.

“Liam,” I groan. With every shuddered breath I take my breasts quiver. He looks past my bunched skirt, and his attention narrows on the pink, hard tips.

My cheeks flame red as does the rest of my body.

From the risk of getting caught, the pure pleasure he’s giving my body, and uncontrolled lust. “Liam, please. We…oh, yes…” I gasp and lose my train of thought for a moment.

“Reaper, damn it, we need to move,” I finally force out only to get a warm chuckle against my body.

Another slip of his tongue and this time he growls possessively. “Play with those pretty pink nipples, baby. Twist and tug ’em for me. I’m not stopping until you give me what I’m after.”

He’s completely ignored my plea. I don’t care because my hands are already following his gruff order before I have a mind to stop them.

“Tastes like heaven,” he murmurs and dives back in for more.

His mouth moves against me as his fingers grip my ass hard enough to leave bruises.

He pulls me into his mouth and holds me in place as my hips start to grind against his face.

Hard stubble scratches against tender flesh and I only grind a little harder, a little faster.

The burn meshes with the lust to create a twisted combination of pleasure and pain.

From the tips of my fingers to my toes, adrenaline laced with fiery lust prickles throughout my body. And then my orgasm slams into me. Robs me of my sanity and spills down his throat.

“Fuck, yes. Give me more.” I bury my fingers into his hair and ride the last waves as he flicks his tongue over my throbbing clit and cleans me of every last drop of my release.

“ Dios mío. Que paso ? What just happened?”