“Don’t wriggle,” he warned, and she didn’t even feel the chill of the blade touch her skin as it sliced through the leather as though it was silk.
He peeled the severed leather over her breasts, exposing her fully to his gaze. But still he looked into her eyes, and although she was tethered to his bed, and was pinned beneath his powerful body, it was the beauty of his irises that truly held her captive.
“Your silence suggests you’re impressed by the skill of my magnificent dagger.” His teasing voice was smoky, but it was his smile that was the true aphrodisiac.
“You dagger is a pretty impressive trick.”
“That’s harsh.” He spun the thing around on the tip of his finger, its deadly blade gleaming. “I don’t do tricks.”
She laughed, couldn’t help it. “All right. It’s magnificent.”
He tossed the dagger into the air before catching it by its worn hilt and shifted his weight so his erection brushed against the tender folds of her sex. She moaned, bit her lip, but couldn’t stop moving restlessly against his rigid length.
The tip of his nose brushed hers. It was a featherlight touch, unexpectedly tender, and the pit of her stomach knotted with an absurd pleasure that bordered on pain.
“How gratifying to know my weapon meets with your approval.”
His breath against her mouth was an erotic caress. She wanted to spear her fingers through his hair, wind her arms around his shoulders, and drag him onto her needy body. But, inexplicably, he maintained a whisper of distance between his chest and her aching breasts. And there was nothing she could do about it, because he had tied her up.
She tugged on the restraints, but they didn’t unravel. She hadn’t expected them to. It was beyond thrilling to be so utterly at his mercy. Without any control over what happened next.
“And leaves you speechless,” he growled, which was the hottest damn thing she’d ever heard.
She clenched her fists and arched her back in a futile effort to feel his gorgeous body crush hers. He grinned, clearly loving the way she couldn’t stop writhing beneath him, and she let out a frustrated groan. “I’m so going to pay you back for this.”
“Promises,” he mocked before brushing an electrifying kiss across her erect nipple. A mortifying squeak escaped her throat, but he didn’t seem to notice. His full attention was focused on worshipping her breasts. Licking and sucking, and spirals of agonizing pleasure ignited her sensitized clit.
“Killing me,” she gasped as she clung onto the fishnets as if they were an anchor to sanity.
Gabe raised his head, his jaw still grazing her tender flesh. “Don’t die yet. I haven’t finished.”
She choked on another laugh. Who knew archangels had such a crazy sense of humor? “I’m not promising anything.”
His fingers stroked and caressed, and his mouth and tongue were instruments of sweet torture as he inched farther down her body. It was an effort, but she managed to raise her head so she could watch his leisurely progress. Why was he taking so long? She gave a frantic wiggle, and he glanced up, masculine satisfaction radiating from him like an immortal halo.
“I’m serious,” she panted. His archangelic radiance wouldn’t distract her, and she didn’t even care that he knew how desperate she was.
“Hold that thought,” he responded before flourishing his dagger again. “I like it when you beg me.”
“I’m—I’m not begging you,” she spluttered, but they both knew she was.
His magnificent weapon sliced through the skirt before he tossed the ruined garment across the floor. “I’ll make it worth your while.”
She didn’t doubt that. She just didn’t want to wait.
With a final glint of his blade, the G-string slithered from her body. The dagger vanished, and he teased her damp heat with his finger. The breath caught in her throat and she couldn’t tear her gaze from his face.
It was only sex. But despite his taunt of yesterday, the Archangel Gabriel found her irresistible.
The knowledge was as potent as the fire from his touch. She collapsed back onto the bed and the world tipped out of focus as his tongue swirled over her aroused clit.
It was forever and no time at all before he raised his head, his ragged breath sending shivers of pleasure across her damp flesh. His fingers played with her hips and waist, and delirium hovered on a hazy horizon.
Words fluttered in her mind, somehow making a connection to her tongue. “I am going to die if you don’t hurry up.”
“I don’t do hurry up.” And they both knew that was a lie. Did he really want her to beg?
“Please.” It came out as an undignified sob as she writhed helplessly.
He rose over her, his face so close to hers she could taste her scent on his warm breath. “Is that the best you can do?”
She redoubled her efforts to escape her bonds, but that wasn’t saying much. Every molecule screamed for release, and she wasn’t talking about her restraints.
“Yes,” she gasped, infuriated and aroused that he insisted on a reply when she could barely even think.
“You need to work on that.” As he taunted her, he roughly kneed her thighs apart and the savage gleam in his eyes told her he was as close to the edge as she.
Primal power surged through her and she wrapped her legs around him, his rigid cock pressing against her wet sex. When did he take off his briefs? Not that it mattered. He was an archangel. He could do almost anything.
She squirmed, frantic with need, but still he didn’t take her. His hands smashed down on either side of her head, bracing his weight. His tangled hair framed his face, his tautly muscled shoulders filled her world, and the head of his erection nudged her swollen clit.
“Archangel.” Barely aware she’d spoken aloud, the evocative image spilled through her mind. “Gabriel.” She dragged out each syllable, savoring the taste of his name on her tongue.
He cursed in his own language, which sent another frisson of desire sizzling through her blood, and slid the head of his cock over her wet slit. The exquisite pressure teased and probed, and another dry sob of frustration escaped her parched throat.
“You want something, Aurora?” He panted into her face, looking more like a hedonistic demon of pleasure than an archangel.
“Yes.” Her fingers clawed uselessly, but he wouldn’t come close enough so she could kiss him. “Yes.”
“Tell me.” His thick erection continued to torment her, and she quivered with agonizing anticipation. “Do you want my cock inside you? Is that what you want?”
No way was she saying that. She dug her heels into his butt, her muscles straining with effort, but he was as hard as iron and as immovable as a mountain.
“Just do it.” Had she screamed?
“Say it.” His mouth all but touched hers, their erratic breaths mingling as one. “Say the words.”
His growled command was intoxicating, incinerating her reservations to ash. “I want your cock inside me.”
His eyes glittered with lust, and raw power sizzled through her veins. A surreal conviction drifted through her mind. She was the one in bonds, but it wasn’t Gabe who held ultimate power in this game.
“And?” His harsh word cut through her daze, and she blinked up at him, uncomprehending. “What else do you want me to do? Tell me.”
She licked her dry lips. He watched the movement like a hawk.
“I want you to …” The word lodged in her throat. The crazy inhibition had no place in a world inhabited by archangels and aliens and cold-hearted goddesses. “Fuck me. Hard and fast. And I want it now.”
He rammed into her, so hard and fast, her breath stalled in her lungs. His possession was absolute, enslaving her body and shattering her mind. All she could do was ride the wave with him, or risk drowning in the sensual torrent.
“You’re a great fuck, Aurora.” His words scorched through her, filthy and erotic. “You’re so tight and hot. It’s fucking insane.”
She’d forgotten how to speak, how to think. Nothing else mattered but this man, this archangel, who looked at her with such ferocious intensity and who fucked her as if the world was about to end.
And then it did end, in a cascade of sparkling rainbows that filled her universe and transported her body. Unthinking, unaware, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and clung on tight as he came, hot and brutal, and in that moment, nirvana shimmered in her soul.