Page 38 of While She Sleeps (The Hunter and The Thief #1)

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

EMBER

S hame rolls over me like a steamroller, and my chest aches at the thought of Orion leaving.

I’ve always prided myself on my strength, but I’ve been anything but since Travis died. I’ve been falling for months, and this feels like the inevitable crash my therapist warned me about.

And yet my hand is still between my legs, slowly circling my clit even as my body fills with fear that he’s about to walk out the door.

“Let me help you channel your pain, Little Flame. Let me help you.”

The words are filled with desperation, like the idea that I hurt myself doesn’t disgust him as much as it does terrify him.

Tears fill my eyes of their own volition, and I find myself nodding despite myself.

I’m supposed to be walking away after tonight, but at this point, I’m pretty sure I’m deluding myself.

There’s something about Orion that I doubt I’ll be able to give up.

Like a drug working its way through my veins, dragging me closer to addiction as I seek my next hit.

“Okay,” I whisper on a choked sob, and he’s on me in a second. His warmth envelops me as he covers my body with his, pressing kisses along my exposed throat as his hand covers mine, urging me to move faster, to bring myself closer to the edge.

“Thank you, Little Flame.”

“For what?”

“For letting me take care of you.”

My brows tug together in confusion, because shouldn’t I be thanking him for wanting to take care of me?

But I’m distracted from my thoughts as he nips the sensitive skin on my collarbone at the same time he presses my fingers lower until the only thing between them and my entrance is the tiny pair of panties I found in the dress box.

“Tell me, Little Flame, when you’re alone in the dark, do you press your fingers into your pretty little cunt?”

I swallow down the moan that tries to escape at his question, but find myself nodding my answer without thinking about it.

“What about toys? If I open your nightstand, will I find a vibrator or a dildo you use to get yourself off?”

Fuck. His mouth is going to be the end of me if he keeps this up. The trails of kisses and bites continue across my chest, and I’m certain I’ll be covered in his marks in the morning. The question is, why the fuck does that turn me on so much?

“Yes,” I whisper. “I have a couple of toys I use when my fingers aren’t enough.”

He groans long and deep against my skin, and the sound is almost my undoing as he grinds my palm down on my clit. “Show me.” He brushes his lips along my throat before shoving himself back with his muscles bunched and his hands barely tugging from my skin.

The cool room rushes around me, and I shiver, already desperate for his body to cover mine again.

Orion makes me feel desired, wanted, needed, and it’s a heady feeling to have a powerful man falling apart for me.

He reaches for the bedside table and pulls the drawer out, his eyes widening as he takes in my small collection of toys. It’s only a couple of vibrators and a dildo that I’ve used on rare occasions, but he looks at them like a kid in a fucking candy store.

“Aren’t men supposed to be threatened by sex toys?”

He chuckles. “A man that’s threatened by a bit of silicone is not a man at all, Little Flame.” His hand dips into the drawer. He pulls out the smaller of the two vibrators as well as the dildo, and I swallow thickly at the size of the damn thing.

I still don’t know what I was thinking when I bought it.

It’s too big for me to take unless I’m turned on as hell, which I guess right now probably qualifies.

My fingers are dripping with my desire, and the lace of my panties is drenched.

Somehow, I think I could probably take it without too much issue.

I bite down on my bottom lip as I circle my clit in focused strokes.

I’m so fucking close I can almost taste my orgasm.

Usually, if I come once, I can come over and over again with ease, so after the way Orion had me falling apart at the restaurant, it’s taking all my effort not to tumble over the edge without his permission.

He drops the toys to the edge of the bed and crawls across the mattress until he’s positioned himself between my parted thighs.

“You’re such a pretty sight, Ember,” he murmurs, sliding his hands up my thighs until they’re resting on either side of mine before moving back to my bent knees. “I can barely stop myself from tearing those panties off your body and sinking into your cunt.”

I shiver as his words move over me. “Then why don’t you?” I ask.

His eyes darken until intense black pupils stare back at me. “Because when I slide into your pussy for the first time, I don’t want to be gentle. I want you so fucking wet and desperate that you’re begging me to fuck you so hard you’ll be feeling me for a week.”

My eyes widen, and it earns me a deep chuckle as he squeezes his hardness through his pants. I’m assuming he hasn’t stripped out of them because he doesn’t trust himself not to fuck me, and the idea of that only drags me closer to the edge.

“Do you like that idea, baby?” he asks, leaving one hand on his cock while he reaches for the vibrator with the other. “Are you as desperate for my cock as I am for your sweet pussy?”

I nod against the pillows. “Yes,” I moan, my hips shifting as they unconsciously try to seek more pleasure.

“Are you close?”

“So close,” I breathe.

“I bet you can taste your orgasm, can’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Your pussy is fucking dripping. Such a needy little hole for me.”

God, his words could make me fall apart on their own.

He drops the vibrator between my thighs and reaches for my panties.

His deft fingers wrap around the delicate lace at my hips, and he tugs sharply.

There’s a slight sting a moment before the fabric gives way, and he shoves the ruined panties into his pocket, leaving me almost completely bare to him.

His eyes lock on my pussy, and his groan is so fucking sexy I’m pretty sure he’ll be able to see me clenching around nothing as he looks his fill.

“Fuck, Little Flame. I knew your cunt would be pretty, but Jesus. How am I to stop myself from ruining it when it’s so fucking tempting?”

“Ruin me,” I whisper. “Please, Orion.”

He drops his head back, and his eyes fall closed as he tries to regain his control, but from the way his shoulders are bunched and his hands are fisted, I don’t think he’s having much luck.

“I’m pretty sure if you asked me to tear out my own heart and hand it to you, I wouldn’t be able to say no to you.

” I’m not sure the words are even meant for me, but they hit me right in the chest, the fluttering of butterflies in my stomach only intensifying.

“Please.” I nibble at my bottom lip. I’m not sure if he’ll break, but fuck, I want to watch him as he does. As his control snaps and the feral beast lurking in the shadows breaks free.

His eyes snap to mine, and my breath catches in my throat at just how wild he looks with his chest heaving and his barely there veil of composure.

“Not yet, Ember,” he forces through gritted teeth.

“I don’t want your first time to hurt, and that means preparing you appropriately.

I’ll decide when you’re ready for my cock. ”

A shiver of need spreads across my skin, and his knowing smirk makes my core clench with need.

Orion Henderson is going to ruin me, and I’m going to beg him to do it.