When Darkness Ends (Guardians of Eternity #12)(47)

And innocence.

Christ. A shudder raced through him. It should have terrified him. There was no way in hell he deserved such purity. Not with his jaded soul.

But he’d discovered long ago to grasp happiness when it was offered.

And that was exactly what he intended to do.

Not giving her a chance to protest, Cyn had her swept off her feet and cradled against his chest. Leaving her clothes abandoned on the hallway floor, he entered her bedroom and kicked shut the door.

He wasn’t going to risk being interrupted.

Gently laying her on the wide mattress, Cyn wrestled off his heavy boots before he was shedding jeans. At last naked, he stood and simply savored the sight of his princess.

She was . . . a work of priceless art.

Hair like a cresting dawn spread around her ivory face. Her eyes an exotic amber with flecks of emerald that burned like green fire. And her slender body wearing nothing but the tiny thong looked so perfect, it might have been chiseled from marble by the hand of a master.

Shivering beneath the intensity of his slow survey, Fallon licked her dry lips.

“Cyn?”

He perched a knee on the edge of the mattress, planting his hands on each side of her shoulders.

This would be her last opportunity for second thoughts. Once he took her there would be no going back.

For either of them.

Almost as if sensing this last step had to be hers, Fallon lifted her hand to slide it over the tense muscles of his chest. Distantly he was aware of a chilled rain pelting against the stained-glass windows and the crackle of the wood burning in the fireplace, but his sole focus was on the woman who was spread like a pagan offering beneath him.

Holding her burning gaze, Cyn smoothed his fingers up the inner flesh of her thigh, tugging her legs apart so he could catch a glimpse of her glistening clit. He growled deep in his throat, shaking his head as she lowered her hands to cover the evidence of her arousal.

“Don’t hide from me, Fallon,” he murmured, swooping down to scatter soothing kisses over her face. “I need to know you want me.”

“I . . .” Slowly her muscles eased, her hands returning to his chest as she met his searching gaze with a trust that sliced straight to his heart. “I do.”

Something moved inside Cyn at the soft words. Something so large that he was certain that the world would never be the same.

His kisses became more heated as he followed a path over her cheek and down her throat. He paused to lick and suckle her straining breasts, chuckling softly as she arched her back off the bed in a silent plea for more.

He lingered, teasing the tight nubs with lips and then with his teeth, careful not to break her skin with the aching points of his fangs. She hissed in pleasure, her nails digging into his chest as she experienced her first taste of passion.

Promising himself that some night he would discover if he could make her climax just by caressing her breasts, Cyn slowly moved down her quivering stomach. Each kiss was lingering, deliberate. A sensual promise that was intended to stroke her desire to a fever pitch.

Cyn lifted his head, capturing her startled gaze as he settled between her legs, his fingers sliding delicately through her feminine heat.

“Oh,” she breathed, a flush staining her cheeks.

He waited, allowing her to adjust to the sensations that were bombarding her. Only when she released a quivering sigh of pleasure did he slowly replace his fingers with his tongue. She gave a small gasp that settled into a groan of ecstasy as his tongue dipped into her moist heat.

His eyes slid shut in pure bliss.

Her honey was sweeter here, the crisp, utterly feminine scent of champagne intoxicating him.

Over and over he teased at her tiny bud of pleasure before dipping his tongue into her body, bringing her tantalizingly close to the edge of completion before pulling back.

At last she gave a choked groan of need. “Please . . . Cyn.”

“Yes,” he husked, unable to wait another moment.

Running one fang along the sensitive inner length of her thigh, he briefly allowed himself to relish the image of drinking deep from that tender spot.

Someday . . .

Until then he had another hunger to satisfy.

One that was hammering through him with enough force to make him groan.

He needed to be buried deep inside her.

Crawling onto the mattress, he stretched out beside her and gathered her in his arms. Then, holding her gaze, he rolled onto his back until she was perched atop him. She blinked, pressing her hands against his chest as she regarded him in puzzlement.

“I’m twice your size and double your weight. This will be more comfortable for you,” he muttered, barely able to form the words as her legs naturally draped on either side of his hips, her hot clit pressed against his erection.

She bit her bottom lip. “I don’t know what to do.”

Tenderness clenched his heart. She looked so beautiful, but fragile, vulnerable.

He had to make sure she never regretted giving him her innocence.

“Like this,” he murmured, reaching to guide her hand to his fully erect cock.

His entire body clenched with agonized pleasure as she delicately curled her fingers around him, nearly torpedoing him straight into an orgasm. Bloody hell. He was supposed to be an experienced hedonist, not a randy schoolboy.

“Did I hurt you?” she asked.

“Christ, no. It’s perfect. You’re perfect,” he groaned. “I need to be inside you.”