Page 9 of Edge of Stars

Why doesn’t he deserve to hear it all this very second? The syllables already written in my heart and decreed in my spirit…

“Maximus.” And now begging to be proclaimed by my lips. “My dearly beloved…”

But I’m silenced as soon as he kisses me again. Less deeper with his mouth but more intense with his pressure. Though it’s not for long, the contact is enough to make my whole body vibrate. I shudder from the impact, wrapping myself closer to his tall tuxedoed form.

“I…I need to tell y—”

“Not yet,” he commands beneath his breath. His lungs expand, causing my gown to shift against my breasts in wrenching ways.

Wonderful ways…

“Not yet,” he repeats, demonstrating his direction by roaming his seeking grip along my spine. “Christ. How do I get into this thing?”

A laugh mingles with my new sigh, reacting to his greedy rasp. Just hearing what I do to him…and then feeling it, in every inch of the stiff flesh that’s pushing from between his thighs…I’m joyous. Delirious. Rapidly ramping my desire to his level. Clutching at the ledge of his shoulder with one hand while destroying his pristine ponytail with the other.

“Zipper,” I direct into his ear, resisting the urge to bite down on the flesh there. Not yet. His order is now my strength, an assurance of even better things to come if I’m ready to wait. “On your right. Along the side. Yesss.”

I flow it along his neck, corresponding to how he scrapes the zipper along its metal teeth. As the nubs brush my flesh, I gasp and quake once more. Such fantastical flutterings. Phenomenal fires. Rush upon rush of the thermonuclear threads that solder us to each other, bound in gold and silver brilliance for all time.

My soul burns with the surety of it. Shines with its blissful severity.

But Maximus is brutally beautiful about needing to prove it.

I know that even before he feels his way beneath my underthings, aiming his knowing touch straight to the space between my buttocks. I’m even more sure when he keeps going, probing my trembling tissues from behind. And I’m past positive once he plumbs into me, sliding far and deep between my wet walls.

I mewl for him, trying to keep my volume beneath respectable decibels, but I’m fairly certain we’ve shredded respectable like every roll of paper towels on the shelf beside his head. Goodbye, mewls. Hello, needy hums. They’re my litany into his ear as he sets up a merciless pace, pumping his digit into me over and over again.

The moment has come to indulge temptation, and I give in by tugging at his earlobe with my teeth. But ohhh, the man is more than ready. He answers by doubling his pace—and his penetration. Another finger joins his first, stretching me in all the best ways.

“Maximus!” I can’t help yelping. “Oh…my…”

The rest of it is taken by my stunned gasp, courtesy of his own nipping teeth. They’re a harsh bite around the shell of my ear, and when I expect some soothing licks, there are more growled orders instead.

“Pretend it’s me,” he grates out. “Pretend it’s my cock, taking your purity on our wedding night. Moan for me like it is, Kara.”

I almost do. But I lean back instead, letting him see my rueful smile instead. “We both know that’s not true.”

“No?” Though his rhetoric is clear, he presses determined lips to my forehead. “Every time I’m inside you it’s the first time, sweetheart. Because every time, I see…you. All of it. The honesty of your body. The clarity of your character. The fullness of your heart. It’s all there…”

“And it’s all…my purity?” I want to be rhetorical too. I want to be so right about this. About the conviction that’s making him glow now too—even brighter than the light from my stomach, flowing out from the seam in my dress and illuminating the bottom edges of his face.

“It is,” he affirms, lips barely moving as his gaze reflects the flames in mine. “And it’s all mine. Now and forever.”

My fires feed on his raw, rugged words like a hillside full of summer brush. Within seconds, I’m a high-hazard zone, and I don’t care about anyone’s defensible space. I want to burn. I need to incinerate.

“Yes,” I rasp. “Yours.”

His gaze is hotter. Heavier. “Now and forever,” he says from locked teeth. “Say it, Kara. All of it.”

I stop to gulp as he increases his rhythm again. Driving my flames even higher.…

“I’m…yours,” I manage to choke. “Always…and forever.”

“My bride,” he growls back. “Say it.”

“Your bride.”

“My love.”