Page 70 of Judge of Saints and Sinners

He snorted, but I could see by the way his eyes flickered red that there was some part of him that liked my compliment. My pulse fluttered as he moved his hands up under my shirt so that they were splayed against my belly.

“More,” he said softly.

Eager, I moved my hands to the hemline of the shirt they’d given me after my first night there. It was a plain black thing, thick cotton. I began to pull it up then hesitated, waiting.

“More,” I echoed, hoping I wasn't pushing him past his rather precarious boundaries. But even now, I knew that both of us needed to see everything. To lay everything bare.

Nephesh breathed out, a soft growl in the sound as he rolled his head slightly against the flattened pillow. Black, nearly iridescent black horns curled up from his temples, parting the white strands on his hair as he did. When his eyes met mine, his mouth dropped open as he dragged a dark-red tongue across a pair of fangs that had slipped free of his gums.

My breath caught.

“Now you,” he said as his fingertips, which felt sharper than I remembered, skimmed over my ribs.

I smiled at him. “You know I am good for my word.” Then I grasped my hemline, yanking the scratchy shirt from my body, and after a short hesitation, Nephesh lowered the feathers enough that I could throw it out of our space.

Under my body, Nephesh’s hips rose, grinding against mine as his clawed hands kept me still over his belly. Against my ass, I could feel the pressure of his length growing against me.

“Nothing underneath?”

I blushed at that. “Everything was sweaty and gross. I just…” My words trailed off when Nephesh pushed up onto an elbow, his mouth pressing against my collarbone in a silky hot kiss. Heat throbbed through me, just as it did every time he was close to me, but this was more insistent, a nearly painful ache that settled somewhere at the core of me, under my ribs, where I had once unknowingly hidden away his soul.

My hands stroked into his hair, finding the long strands were tangled, but I didn't care. I wanted them more tangled. I wanted them messier. I wanted to hold him there, wrapped in him knowing that I wasn’t about to leave, because we were bound together now. There was no going back.

Not for me.

Not anymore. And I knew he felt the same way. I’d heard it in the way he’d described his fear of losing me. Felt it in the way his hands had held me so desperately, even before I knew everything.

“Neph—”

His mouth settled over my breast, and I forgot what I wanted to say as his tongue, longer, so much longer than a normal man, swept out to curl around the pucker of my nipple. “Oh fuck, Nephesh.”

His eyes opened, a glowing ruby red, and for a moment, I felt a sliver of fear. But instead of turning me off, it only added to the heat of the moment. He was a predator, a creature from a world I had just barely been able to understand. These people feared him, were prepared to wage war against him.

And here we were, with him worshiping me.

My head fell back and I rolled my hips forward and back, finding the thick length of him there and gasping as the head of him rubbed against me.

Nephesh’s head fell back, his claws leaving tiny pinpricks of blood against my ribs as he groaned. “Little thief, you are pushing too far.”

“I intend to push exactly as far as I need to to keep you for myself.”

Nephesh moaned. “Such a demanding mate.” The last word was soft, barely uttered in this tiny hidden space, so surrounded by our danger. But I felt it, the bond in my chest thrumming to life in my chest.

My heart lifted, nearly choking me. “Someone has to keep you on your toes.”

Nephesh’s red gaze met mine again, the corners softening ever so slightly. Saying what he was still too afraid to say now. But that was okay, because I could be brave enough for both of us.

Rising farther onto my knees, my hands on the center of his muscular belly, I pushed back so I could hover over the rigid length of him. Catching his eyes flashing red, I lowered myself again, letting my weight rock forward then back, slowly teasing him as I found a comfortable rhythm against him.

“Justine…” Nephesh’s voice was strained as he cupped my breasts, dangerous-looking thumbs brushing over my nipples as his knees bent and he urged me into a slower rhythm. “The feeling of you… I’m afraid I will lose control.”

My belly fluttered, heat tangling at the delicious pressure of his length pressing against the needy crest of my body. A moan slipped from me. I closed my mouth, wetted my lips, and tried again.

“You don’t scare me.”

Nephesh’s smile showed off those fangs. “Maybe that’s been the problem all along.”

“Ha-ha,” I said flatly. “Now he’s funny.” I pried myself free of his hands then shifted back farther. “Here, funny, let me see more of you.” My fingers spread across the rippling abdominal muscles that leapt under my touch.