Page 139 of Labyrinthine
I glance down at him, my breath hitching—but not from fear. I smile—slow, playful, sharp as a secret—but he misses it, mistaking mischief for doubt. His eyes darken with retreat, not disappointment.
“If you’re not ready, I can wait, Mallen.”
I laugh, loud and reckless, and he doesn’t. His arms tighten around my waist as he rises to his feet, lifting me with him. I pretend to squirm in protest, and we both play the game, knowing it’s a lie.
“Azhara,” he murmurs against my skin, his voice hoarse, fingers trailing downward. “I’ll be gentle. This might hurt a little. At first.”
He carries me to the bed and lowers me onto the sheets like I’m sacred. Then he follows, his weight pressing me down, surrounding me, his hips locking between mine. His lips find mine again, and in the dark hunger of that kiss, I lose everything but him.
Fingers work at the laces of my clothes. I reach for him, hands dragging across his skin, desperate for a tether, anything to hold me in this moment before I come undone. I’m trembling—not just with want, but with wonder, with the ache of stepping into the unknown.
Mallen stills. His gaze catches mine, searching. He sees it. The flutter of nerves I thought I’d hidden.
His mouth descends slowly, reverently, until it finds my breast. He groans, low and guttural, as his lips close around me. When his teeth graze, I cry out, and his grip on my hips tightens.
“I love the sounds you make,” he whispers. “Never hide from me.”
His mouth finds my breast again, slower this time, as though he’s relearning me with reverence instead of hunger. The sensation coils through me like lightning, sharp and bright, and I arch into him, needing more. My leg winds around his waist, drawing him closer. He groans as our hips meet, breath catching in his throat.
“Azhara,” he breathes, as if my name alone might undo him. He lifts his head, brushing his nose along my cheek. “Tell me what you want.”
I guide his hand downward, and he pauses—his brow furrowed in quiet restraint. Not stopping me. Just waiting.
I meet his gaze, pulse racing. “I want you,” I whisper. “Please.”
Something in him splinters—not restraint, but the softest part of him, the part he never speaks of. The part that once waited in the dark and called my name.
“You never have to ask,” he murmurs, reverent. “I’m already yours.”
When his fingers slide between my legs, I gasp—sharp, instinctive. He stills.
“You’re shaking,” he murmurs.
“I want you,” I say quickly. “It’s just…it’s more than I expected.”
His hand cups me gently. “I’ll take my time.”
He kisses me as his fingers begin to move, slow and sure, and the world narrows to the heat rising beneath his touch. Hewatches every flicker of my breath, every shift in my body, like he’s charting stars across my skin.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispers. “Gods, Azhara, I’ve dreamed of this. Of you.”
His voice anchors me like breath to bone, and I surrender—to him, and to the truth I’ve tried so long to silence.
My hips lift to meet him, chasing the rhythm he sets. A moan escapes me, unguarded and raw. His expression darkens—not with lust, but with awe.
He presses deeper, his finger sliding inside. I stiffen at the sudden stretch, but he’s already stilling, kissing my cheek, murmuring low comforts against my skin.
“You’re doing perfect,” he says. “Tell me if it’s too much. I’ll stop. Always.”
I shake my head, breath hitching, and after a heartbeat, he begins to move again.
Each slow thrust stokes the heat inside me, every stroke unspooling what I’ve kept stitched behind ribs and breath and years of solitude, until it spills from me in gasps I don’t try to hide. My hands grip the sheets and then his shoulders and then his hair. I lose track of what I’m clinging to—only that I need to hold on.
“Mallen—” His name breaks on a gasp. “Don’t stop.”
Another finger joins the first. I cry out, body clenching, but he’s patient—so patient—easing me through it with steady hands and gentler words.
The heat crests higher, pressure coiling in my belly. I’m teetering on the edge, breathless, aching, every nerve strung tight.
