Page 144 of A House of Gold
He pulls my shirt up slowly, deliberately. The fabric drags against my oversensitized skin, and I gasp at the sensation. The cool air of the cathedral hits my exposed skin, and I shiver despite the heat burning through me.
Croesus tosses my shirt aside. His hands hover over my skin, not quite touching. "You're beautiful."
"Can't, need you to touch me."
"I will." His fingers trail up my sides, feather-light. "But not yet. Not until you breathe."
"I am breathing."
"No, you're panting. Breathe, Raven. Deep breath. That's it."
I force myself to breathe. In. Out. In. Out. The lust screams at the delay, but Croesus is right, I need to stay in control of this, not let the sin take over completely.
"Good." His hands move to my back, finding the clasp of my bra. "Again."
I breathe. He unclasps it easily, slides the straps down my shoulders. The fabric falls away, and suddenly I'm exposed from the waist up in front of seven fallen angels.
Seraph makes a soft sound, approval or hunger, I can't tell.
BeautifulIdris's voice whispers in my mind.Croesus is a fortunate male.
"She's mine," Croesus says aloud, his voice carrying a warning. His hands finally, finally touch my bare skin, palms sliding up my ribcage to cup my breasts.
I arch into the touch with a moan I can't suppress. His thumbs brush over my nipples, and electricity shoots straight to my core.
"That's it." His mouth finds my neck, kissing and biting as his hands work my breasts. "Let me take care of you."
"More."
"Patience." But his hands move faster now, less gentle. Squeezing, teasing, driving me higher.
Behind us, I hear Kael growl low in his throat, feel the temperature in the room spike.
"Control yourself," Seraph snaps at him.
"She's…" Kael's voice is strained. "The lust is…"
Affecting all of us.Idris finishes.This is what eighty-three years of concentrated desire feels like. And she's channeling all of it.
"Fascinating," Dorian breathes.
Croesus ignores them all, his focus entirely on me. His hands leave my breasts, sliding down to the waistband of my pants. "These need to come off."
"Yes."
He unbuttons them slowly, slides the zipper down with deliberate care. Then he's pushing them down my hips, taking my underwear with them, stripping me bare in the middle of the cathedral floor.
I should feel vulnerable. Exposed. But the lust has burned away any shame. All I feel is need.
Croesus runs his hands up my thighs, spreading them wider. "Lie back."
I do, the cold stone floor against my back a shocking contrast to the heat of my skin. The power of the place flashes through me, siphoning off some of the lust, enough I can think a little more clearly.
He positions himself between my legs, still fully clothed, and the unfairness of it makes me whimper.
"You're wearing too much."
"Am I?" He sounds amused even as his hands stroke my inner thighs, getting closer to where I need him but not quite touching. "Tell me what you want."
