The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

our relationship was never one of raw need. That doesn’t
mean I cared any less about her, but it wasn’t like this.
There was no constant need to be inside her in every way
imaginable, and even ways not yet thought of. I never found
myself constantly hungering, and I believe you need that to
find yourself exploring those things with someone you’re
committed to,” he said, and my breaths became shorter and
shallower. “I never had what I have with you with her,
Poppy.”
I don’t know if it was the things he was doing to my
body, what was going on around us or his words, but I
teetered on that edge and then tumbled over it, falling and
crashing like the waves rolling against the beach. The
shattering release left me trembling.
Once my heart slowed enough for the pleasure-induced
fog to clear, I turned my head toward him. “Do you…do you
want to do that with me?”
He kissed me as he eased his hand out from under my
gown. “I want to do everything imaginable, and things no
one has ever thought of with you,” he said. “But I only need
you, Poppy. Now. Always.”
My heart skipped and then sped up as my chest swelled
with so much love I felt as if I could float right to the stars. I
twisted in his embrace, clasping his cheeks as I rose onto
my knees. “I love you.” I kissed him, hoping that everything
I felt for him could be communicated with that kiss, and
then decided the kiss wasn’t enough. A tendril of excitement
swept through me as I rocked back, grabbing his hands. “I
want to go somewhere…private.”
Amber glowed from within hooded, sensual eyes. “We
can go back—”
“No.” I didn’t want to wait. If I did, I would lose my
nerve. “Is there not somewhere private here?”
The tips of his fangs became visible as he bit down on
his lower lip and looked over his shoulder. “Yeah,” he said.
“There is.”