This Side of the Grave (Night Huntress, #5)(53)

He rolled onto his stomach when I directed him to, revealing those wide shoulders, the narrow curve of his waist, and the twin hard mounds of his buttocks. This time, it wasn’t enough for me to merely caress him. I crouched over him, running my mouth down his spine and feeling his shiver underneath my lips.

The taste of his skin and his scent was like an aphrodisiac. I climbed on the bed, letting my hair tease his flesh as I continued to drag my mouth over him, licking and nibbling everywhere. He began to make low, guttural noises with every new inch of his back, ass, and legs that I gave the same thorough attention to.

“Sweet bleedin’ hell, luv, this was a smashing idea.”

His voice was strained, and his hands were now clenched into fists. I didn’t comment on him speaking this time, but bit gently into a muscled cheek, not breaking his skin with my fangs, just applying pressure. Then my tongue crept out for a long lick while I pressed my bare breasts against the back of his thighs. His shudder reverberated underneath my mouth and along my subconscious as his arousal touched me even though his hands stayed where they were.

“More.”

The word was almost harsh in its vehemence. I smiled into his skin as I dragged my body lower down his legs.

“Don’t worry, I’m not done yet.”

I turned him back around, my lips trailing along his hip to the flatness of his stomach. His muscles bunched underneath my mouth in expectation, but I only blew a teasing breath on the hardness jutting to his navel before sitting back. The bedroom was lit by candles on the nightstand and the dresser, natural light being easier on vampire eyes instead of the glare from electric bulbs, but now, those candles would serve a different purpose.

I scooted off the bed, stopping when Bones’s hand shot out to land on my arm even though his eyes were still closed.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

I pushed his hand off with a throaty laugh. “You’re having a hard time being obedient, aren’t you? If you don’t behave, I won’t do what I intended, and trust me, you’ll wish I had.”

That wicked curl was back on his mouth even as he dropped his arm. “My sincerest apologies, mistress, for my shameful disobedience. If you pray continue, I vow my complete submission.”

Smart ass. Despite the promise, I knew Bones was about as submissive as Genghis Khan, but that was okay. I’d make what I knew was just his temporary compliance count.

I took one of the candles off the nightstand, considering Bones in the light of the flickering flame. His body was stretched out, arms once again behind his head, limbs completely relaxed even though he was still hard as a baseball bat in one very notable place. All this bounty, mine to enjoy. I licked my lips. Damned if I knew how I’d gotten so lucky, but that was a question for another time. Now was the time for action, not contemplation.

I moved closer until my legs pressed against the side of the bed. “Do you remember the first time you bit me here?” I asked, tracing my finger over the tight bud of his nipple.

“Yes.” One word, hissed with all the weight of desire that I could feel through his emotions.

“It felt like your fangs were burning me.” My voice was no more than a whisper from the shiver of remembrance, and I blew out the candle with an unsteady puff. “I can’t duplicate that with you because you’re not human,” I went on. “The juice in my fangs won’t feel the same, but maybe this will be close.”

Then I poured some of the hot wax that pooled in the candle directly onto Bones’s nipple.

His whole body arched while a strangled groan tore from his throat. I didn’t wait for the wax to harden, but covered it with my mouth, biting into his skin and tonguing the searing mixture at the same time. His back arched again, strong hands tangling in my hair to press me closer with enough force to drive my fangs deeper into him. Pleasure blasted across my subconscious, inciting me to bite him again, pushing the wax aside in my mouth to swallow the heady vintage of his blood.

Then, before the wax cooled too much, I poured the remains from the candle onto his other nipple, rewarded by another guttural moan. I waited a second before switching my fangs there next, alternately licking and sucking the hard, heated peak. Once I’d swallowed another decadent mouthful of his blood—and possibly a few stray bits of wax—I leaned back, wiping my mouth of any spare drops and staring into his scorching green gaze.

His power throbbed beneath my hands, the scent of his lust heavy in the air. It mingled with the smoke and fragrance of my own arousal, creating an erotic ambiance. Without taking my eyes from him, I leaned forward, brushing my breast along his side as I reached to put the extinguished candle on the nightstand . . . and grab the other lit one.

Very slowly, I ran my free hand down his body, brushing aside the remaining bits of wax on his chest before following that thin line of dark hair to where it widened at his groin. Bones’s eyes didn’t close as my hand circled around him, but his lips parted, revealing those sharp twin fangs. I moistened my own lips as I looked down at the hard flesh in my hand. It overflowed my grip, pulsing with a different sort of power, the tip wet with the palest drop of pink as I stroked with firm, smooth pumps. Then I glanced at the candle in my other hand before meeting his unblinking gaze.

“Do it,” he said, his voice so rough I almost didn’t recognize it.

I blew the candle out with a soft puff that still left it smoldering, then poured the entire scalding contents onto the hard flesh in my hand.