Standing before me
So bold and bright
Blinding
Like the sun
So striking
Almost unreal
“Ember.” The sound of Asher’s voice brings me back to reality.
I blink away my thoughts that are still forming poetry and outstretch my hand to him. I trace my fingers up the front of his stomach, which flexes and sends heat soaring through my body. My hand pauses on his chest before traveling to his shoulders then around to his back. His focus is entirely on me, his gaze relentless, yet beneath it, there’s vulnerability. Asher looks human. And the look only amplifies as my fingers connect with the lower part of his wings where they rise out of his skin.
“God, they’re so soft,” I whisper in awe, stroking the feathers with my fingers.
He shudders as he lets out this soft moan, then his head lowers towards my neck. He buries his face into the crook of it and breathes in my skin. “God, that feels so good...”
I press my lips together, fighting back the urge to moan with him as I continue to let my fingers explore the base of his wings, the feathers getting softer the higher I go. He gasps for air as his shoulders start to tremble and then suddenly his wings are folding up into his back as his head snaps up.
“I can’t take it anymore,” he growls as he grabs me by the waist. Before I can react, we’re stumbling back onto the mattress, landing with a hard bounce.
His eyes darken as he jerks my shirt off and then undoes my bra, chucking it to the side. My breasts spring free and my nipples perk as the cold air hits them. I fight to maintain my breathing, but I can barely get control of anything inside me; my heart rate, my body heat, my desire. I know I’ve done this before with him, but for some reason, I still feel as nervous as the first time.
When he covers my body with his and conceals his mouth over mine, my nerves vanish and turn to eagerness. The fiery heat of his chest spreads to mine and my back curves upward as his fingers graze my nipple. I gasp, biting at his lip as my neck angles back and I draw my mouth away from his. He nips and sucks a path of kisses across my jawline, down to my neck, and when his mouth covers my nipple, I cry out, threading my fingers through his hair, pulling him in while seeking a way to release the helpless energy building in my body.
Finally, he sits up, his mouth leaving my breast. With one flick of his finger, he undoes the button of my pants and then tugs them off my legs along with my panties. Before I even have time to process being naked, he spreads my legs, and seconds later, the cold metal of his tongue ring flicks across my skin, sending an eruption of sweltering heat throughout my body.
As he moves his tongue and drives me further and further into blissfulness until I can’t breathe, I clutch onto the blanket while my body bucks against his mouth. Every part of my body pulsates as I climb higher and higher, drifting out into sheer ecstasy.
Seconds or maybe minutes later, I start to come back down. I can barely see, but I feel his mouth leave me. I hear the sound of a condom wrapper being peeled open, however I don’t open my eyes, spreading my legs when he shifts to position himself between them. He lowers his body closer to mine and I grip onto his arms as his mouth reaches mine. Then, with one swift thrust, he sinks deep inside me as he pins my arms beside my head and kisses me fiercely.
I cry out, stabbing my fingers into his back as he rocks into me. Want, desire, and passion potently flood through me and I can barely breathe. He thrusts into me again and I move my hips with him, meeting him in the middle. We continue to move rhythmically until our skin is covered in sweat; until we can’t breathe. Until we’re drifting away from everything, coming undone together, holding on, never wanting to let go.
Minutes later, he carefully slips out of me and rolls to his side, his arm slipping around me. He hugs me against his chest as I work to catch my breath.
“I think I’m glad I got banished.” He sounds like he might mean it.
I place a soft kiss on his chest. “I think I’m glad, too,” I mutter, still breathless.
At the moment, I mean it. Because right now, I could live in the wonderful solitude we’ve just created. Just Asher and me and no one else. However I know when I wake up the next morning it just might be gone.
We lie there for a while, in the silence, only it’s not as maddening as before. In fact, it’s sort of comfortable having him there with me. He makes everything else a little less terrifying. Eventually Asher starts to kiss me again, unable to keep his hands off me. I welcome his kiss, opening my mouth and letting his tongue slide deeply inside while his hand drifts up my spine. When he reaches the center of my back, however, and his skin brushes the spot of flesh between my shoulder blades, I jerk back from the tender pain.
“What’s wrong?” Asher asks in concern.
I bend my arm and reach over my back, wincing the moment my fingers touch the area and the pain doubles. “My back hurts,” I say, bringing my arm forward. “It’s probably from falling on the ground like a dumbass when Raven was here.”
Asher’s brows furrow. “Can I see it?”
I shrug and then roll over onto my stomach, shivering with excitement as he leans over me. “It’s not that big of a deal,” I try to tell him, flinching when he touches the area. “It doesn’t hurt that bad.”
He’s silent for a while as he continues to examine me. “You said you fell?”