Page 24 of Waves (Tangled Crowns #6)

Without a word, Keelan planted a gentle kiss on my lips and then bent down, lowering his mouth so that his lips ghosted over one of my nipples.

My hands came up to his back, grabbing onto his firm shoulders and squeezing as I experienced the first lick from his velvety tongue.

And the strange and beautiful luxury of feeling precious.

A queen might have many things, but devotion could not be bought nor commanded. Only freely given.

With the gentle laps of his tongue and the slide of his hand down my belly, Keelan sought to show me the true definition of that word.

His motions were careful, measured, and intent on bringing me pleasure in soft beautiful strokes.

Letting my bloodstream absorb his tenderness as his fingers dragged slow symbols across my clit.

If he was writing true words, I couldn’t tell, because my mind was simply a glittering firmament, a thousand sparkling suns that couldn’t touch one another, a thousand disparate sensations, each beaming light.

Somewhere deep inside me, a gnawing hunger manifested. Not just lust, it went beyond that. But I wanted to devour Keelan. Not only his body, but all of him—I wanted to swallow up his entire soul.

The ache grew dark. Urgent. Tinged with violence.

His fingers dipped inside of me as his thumb drew a gentle circle around my clit.

Wicked, sensuous delight catapulted through me, from me, shooting up my spine and down my arms all the way to my fingertips, which curved into Keelan’s shoulders, digging brutally in. My legs stiffened and my toes straightened, pointed, bright energy seizing my entire body in its delicious hold.

Violent, merciless pleasure.

A vicious thrill.

Fierce and feverish bedazzlement.

I bit the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood and reveled in the flavor.

He stroked me through my orgasm until its grip on me faded and my limbs sagged down into the mattress, until I was a limp puppet in his hold.

When my breathing evened out to a soft and steady pace, his lips released my nipple and his head rose, a gentle smile carving out his dimple, his eyes full of softness instead of the rough need I’d expected would be caged within them.

“Good?” he asked.

“Much better than good,” I responded, my hands sliding up from his shoulders, across his corded muscles, and wrapping around the nape of his neck. Pulling him down, I gave him a kiss that told him exactly how good it was.

Lips nipping, I was engulfed by a desperate need to return this sense of buzzing vibrancy he’d given me.

So, I let my hand drift down his side and between us.

The small rises of his ribs and the smooth plane of his stomach gave way to that soft trail of hair.

And then my fingers grasped his hard length.

“Let me,” I whispered, and that was all I had to ask. Without a word, Keelan seemed to know what I was asking for. He slid backward on the bed until I was forced to release him and then he stood by the side.

Scrambling to my knees, I quickly reached for him again, my hands wrapping around him and my head dipping down. Lips wrapping around the thick head of his cock, I let my tongue drag across the underside.

His hands came up to my hair, grabbing it, gathering it, pulling it back from my face to peer down and watch me work him over. Watch me bob along his length and use my throat to take him as deeply as I could.

He gave a soft, half-swallowed moan when I reached a pace he liked and so I kept going, slow and steady and deep, trying to coax him to madness as gently as he’d done for me.

Faster than I expected, his hands dropped my hair and closed around my upper arms, and he begged, “Avia, I need to be inside you.”

Releasing his cock, I sat up straight, gaze meshing with his as he leaned forward, slowly levering us both back down onto the bed. My thighs dragged up the sides of his hips until I wrapped my legs firmly around him, ankles locking together. His cock found my opening and pushed.

Oh, the stretch.

I practically purred as Keelan teased me, bobbing lightly at my entrance, pushing in just enough for me to feel his head, feel the way he pressed me apart, the dragging, drenched heat sending me spiraling.

My hips pulsed in tiny bucking movements that made the mattress thump as I tried to get Keelan to sink further. But he seemed determined to draw each moment out as long as possible and he distracted me with shallow, sweet, open-mouthed kisses until I collapsed beneath him, compliant.

Once I’d given up, he leaned back, breaking our kiss but continuing the gentle penetration.

I fully expected him to wear a triumphant expression, something smug and bright.

But instead, he reached up and cupped my face, his fingers gently tracing the curve of my cheek, and his expression was solemn. Almost pained.

“Do you even know what you mean to me?” he whispered, the words just a scrap of breath, as if he hadn’t really meant to speak.

But the words hovered between us, shimmering and gleaming, tugging at my chest.

“Everything,” he admitted, before slamming into me with a force that could have wrecked the stars.