Page 122 of Scorched Earth

“Oh, gods.” Her face burned. “I’m terrified to think of what he had to say.”

“He said, ‘You two are forever, which means there will be countless times. But only onefirst time, so don’t rush it.’”

Forever.

“Oh.” Lydia frowned and caught hold of his chin, lifting his face. “But that’s not all he told you, was it?”

Killian’s mouth turned up in a half smile, even as his eyes darkened, his hands tightening on her hips. “No, it wasn’t.”

He removed her spectacles and set them next to the washstand. Catching her by the waist, he lifted her to her feet, then his hand curved around the back of her head as he kissed her. Softly at first, and it gave Lydia the chance to do what she’d wanted for so long, which was totouchhim. His skin was smooth beneath her fingertips, and she trailed them over the hard curves and valleys of the muscles forming his shoulders. His arms. His back. Downward until they snagged on the waist of his trousers, stopping there half for nerves and half for the intensity of his kiss, which was soft no longer.

His tongue parted her lips, and Lydia gasped as it stroked into her mouth, stoking the heat in her core. Then he abandoned her lips, kissing down her jaw, then her throat, his fingers catching the hem of her tunic and lifting it over her head, casting it aside. The air in the room was cool, and with only a thin camisole to cover her torso, Lydia’s skin pebbled.

All thoughts of the cold vanished from her head as his hands drifted over her sides, his mouth raining kisses on her collarbone and shoulders, then down farther still, claiming the peak of her breast through the thin silk.

Lydia gasped, her knees shuddering at the sensation, only her grip on his shoulders keeping her from losing her balance. He moved to the other breast, the heat of his mouth making her ache, though nothing could prepare her for him lifting the camisole over her head and the feel of his tongue against her naked flesh.

“If you want me to stop, just tell me to stop,” Killian said as he moved down the flat expanse of her stomach, tongue catching on her navel and making her shudder.

“Don’t stop,” she breathed, for her imagination had fallen far short of reality, every part of her quivering with the need formore.

Killian unfastened her belt, and her trousers slid over her hips to pool at her feet. She stepped on the heels of her boots to drag them off, kicking leather and fabric away as he dropped to his knees before her. His breath was hot just above the top of the undergarments, his hands equally so as his fingers stroked her legs before catching onthat last scrap of clothing she wore and tugging it down, leaving her naked before him.

“You’re so beautiful.” Killian looked up at her with reverence. “The bravest woman on Reath, and you are mine.”

“Yours,” she repeated, running her fingers over his high cheekbones and strong jaw, stubble rough beneath her fingertips, face so perfect that it made her breath catch. “Forever.”

He kissed one of her hipbones and then the other, pausing a heartbeat before his hands closed around her thighs and his mouth claimed her as his.

A sob tore from her throat; there was no room for thoughts, only sensation. Her hand braced against the wall for balance as she drowned in the feeling of finally having what her heart longed for. In finally erasing all distance between them, leaving nothing behind but breath and touch and love.

When she crested the edge, pleasure she’d never known possible crashing over her like a wave, the strength of her knees finally abandoned her, and Lydia collapsed into Killian’s arms. Clung to his neck while she remembered how to breathe, her skin slowly cooling where it wasn’t pressed to his.

Yet no part of her felt sated. Not with Killian still half dressed, his breath ragged against her temple, his desire pressing against her through his clothes. For all her inexperience, Lydia knew enough to move against him, her heart skipping as Killian groaned.

“I want to know what you want,” she breathed, trailing her tongue around the rim of his ear and feeling him shudder.

“You.”

She trailed her nails down his back, tracing the hard lines of muscle and old scars. “Be more specific.”

“Lydia…”

A smile curved onto her lips, because she knew that he was warring with the propriety that was engrained with him. She kissed him, stroking her tongue over his, then murmured, “Tell me.”

Propriety lost the war, and his dark eyes locked with hers. “I want to be in you. I want to claim every part of you.”

Lydia’s heart accelerated with anticipation, and planting her feet on the floor, she rose to her feet, drawing Killian with her. She kissed his throat, his chest, struck by how in control she felt despite being so small relative to his muscled bulk. His fingers tangled in her hair as she unfastened the laces of his trousers and drew them down, Killian kicking them aside so that he was naked before her.

Nothing between them, and there never would be again.

She took hold of him, her breath catching at the heat of his skin. “Show me how.”

Killian’s hand wrapped around hers, and desire pooled in her core as his head tilted back at her touch, pulse throbbing in his throat. “Oh, gods, Lydia.”

Her skin felt on fire with need, her toes curling against the rough wood floors. Every part of her wanting more. Wanting everything.

She pushed him down onto the bed, then straddled him, her knees to either side of his narrow hips. “I want this,” she said between kisses. “I want to give you this.”