She gave me that cute little snort.
“Wouldn’t that be a scandal?” I teased, skimming my hand over her right arm. The scars there were deep. How she hadn’t lost the arm or her life was beyond me.
“It would, but this…”
My gaze lifted to hers, and it felt like the entire keep shifted beneath and all around us. There was a skipping motion in my chest. The nape of my neck tingled as we looked at each other. My heart sped up. This moment…it felt like it had always been coming. As if every choice I’d made—that we’d made—had led to this. It was a crazy feeling, completely senseless, and yet… “This changes everything.”
I brought my mouth to hers, and this time I held myself in check. I mapped the line of her mouth with mine. I kissed her slowly, drawing her lip into my mouth and then parting her lips. I wanted to kiss her harder, deeper, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t let her feel the evidence of who I was like this, but I kissed her until she trembled beneath me, until I knew she wanted more.
Then I let myself explore.
I trailed my fingers down her throat and over the slope of her shoulders to the sweet swell of one breast. I flicked my tongue against hers as I felt her hardened nipple beneath the pad of my thumb. Her back arched, and her breaths against my lips turned quick and shallow. I drew my fingertips down her stomach, skating over the thin, jagged scars there and then lower, slipping my fingers between her thighs, through the soft dusting of curls.
Poppy cried out at the featherlight touch. I grinned, obsessed with how responsive she was. It would be a dream to tease and taunt her, to be cruel in the most decadent way and drive her to the brink of insanity with need. But there was no time for that.
There likely never would be.
Pain sliced through me, and for a moment, I thought she had drawn that dagger and put it to my chest. I stilled, my fingers moving gently over the softest part of her as my gut twisted—
She lifted her head, artlessly pressing her mouth to mine, jarring me from my thoughts. Her inexperienced kiss was…it was truly fucking magical, more seductive than any I’d experienced before.
I shuddered as I lifted my mouth from hers and then followed the path of my fingers. I kissed the side of her throat, a little startled by the urge to linger at her pulse. As I kept going, my jaw throbbed almost as intensely as my cock. I drew my lips over the delicate line of her collarbone and then tasted the skin of her chest. I slowed, my gaze flicking up. Her eyes were half-open as I pressed my lips to her nipple. She gasped, fingers clenching the sheet beneath us. Watching her, I drew the turgid flesh into my mouth.
Poppy’s moan brought an answering groan from me as she moved restlessly, guided by instinct. I grinned and then went lower, drawing my tongue over her stomach. She tensed as I neared her scars, and even as brave as she was, I knew having me so close to them worried her.
I would show her she had no reason to worry.
Drawing my mouth over the healed wounds, I pressed a kiss to them, paying them the respect they were due. Her breath caught, and I went even lower, below her navel. I hooked a hand around her thigh, spreading her to fit the width of my shoulders. My mouth inches from the damp curls, I looked up at her.
“Hawke,” she whispered.
I grinned. “Remember that first page of Miss Willa’s diary?”
“Yes.”
Holding her gaze, I kissed between her thighs. Poppy’s back bowed. I didn’t look away. Neither did she, but my heart pounded as I drew my tongue over her, sampling her, and gods, she tasted so damn good. So fucking sweet. I dipped my tongue into her heat, muscles throughout my body clenching with want. I shifted my head, flicking my mouth over the taut bundle of nerves.
Poppy’s hips rose, drawing a rumble of approval from me. I watched as I drew her clit into my mouth. Her head fell back as she writhed.
Fucking gods, I could come just from the taste of her, the sight of her breasts rising and falling rapidly, the jut of that stubborn chin, and the way she so sweetly gave herself over to the wildness building in her.
And I could feel it, the tremor in her legs, the quiver in her breath. I feasted on her, licking and sucking until I was drowning in her scent. Until I knew I could survive on her taste.
“Oh, gods,” she gasped, fingers digging into the sheet. Her legs straightened. “Oh, gods, Hawke—” She cried out, her body jerking and trembling as she came. Her spine flattened against the mattress as her unfocused gaze met mine.
I took one last taste of her, then lifted my head. As she watched, I drew my tongue over my lower lip.
“Honeydew,” I groaned. “Just like I said.”
Poppy shook, and I smiled.
The ache in my cock and jaw intensified as I prowled up the length of her body, clasping the nape of her neck. She watched me with those hooded emerald eyes and shivered as my thighs brushed hers. My godsdamn arms trembled when I positioned myself above her once more. Her eyes closed.
“Poppy,” I whispered, the desire for her becoming primal. I kissed her, letting her taste herself on my lips as my cock pressed against the hot dampness. My heart raced as I stared down at her. “Open your eyes.”
She did as I asked. “What?”
“I want your eyes open,” I said.
“Why?”
I laughed. “Always so many questions.”
She let out a soft little gasp. “I think you would be disappointed if I didn’t have any.”
“True.” I slid my hand from her neck to her breast.
“So, why?” she asked.
“Because I want you to touch me,” I said. “I want you to see what you do to me when you touch me.”
She shivered. “How…how do you want me to touch you?”
The way she asked that… It fucking killed me. “Any way you want, Princess. You can’t do it wrong.”
Slowly, she let go of the sheet. I watched her as she brought her hand to my cheek. Her touch was so gentle. She trailed her fingertips along my jaw, then my lips, and I felt that caress in every part of my body.
Then she explored as I had, gliding her hand down my chest, drawing a quick, deep breath from me. She continued between us, tracing the muscles of my lower stomach. When she reached the line of coarse hair below my navel, I might’ve stopped breathing. I sure as fuck didn’t move, other than to make lazy little circles around her nipple with my thumb. Not until the tips of her fingers brushed my cock.
My entire body jerked. “Please. Don’t stop,” I begged when she halted. “Dear gods, do not stop.”
Poppy did as I pleaded, her gaze locked onto me as she drew her fingers along the base of my cock. My lips parted as she followed the vein, stopping midway to curl her fingers around me. My head kicked back. I trembled as exquisite pleasure rippled through me. Her grip loosened, and my breathing picked up as she slid her hand to the tip. My entire body shuddered as her hold tightened once more.
“Gods,” I growled.
“Is this okay?”
“Anything you do is more than okay.” I groaned as she dragged her palm against my cock. “But especially that. Totally that.”
Poppy laughed and then did it again. My hips followed her movement, need rumbling from my chest.
“You see what your touch does to me?” I asked, pumping against her palm.