Total pages in book: 401
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
“Fuck,” he groaned.
My skin flushed—though not from embarrassment—as he stared at the most intimate part of me. At one time, his bold gaze and my lack of experience would’ve caused me to try to close my legs. I’d been so incredibly sheltered that, despite my curiosity when it came to what Miss Willa wrote about in her journal, it had never occurred to me that a man like him could look at that most hidden part of me with such intensity—such want and need.
But now, I wanted him to look his fill.
And Casteel knew it.
He didn’t take his eyes off me as an arrogant grin formed on his lips. “You know what the prettiest part of you is, Poppy?”
A flutter moved from my chest to my stomach as his hands slid up my thighs. “What?”
He drew his bottom lip between his teeth. “Your pussy.”
My eyes went wide, and heat swamped my face. Did he just…? That was such a…crass word, but not when he said it.
Casteel’s chuckle was low and smoky. “So pink and pretty.” He placed a hand near my shoulder and leaned over me. His lips brushed my heated cheek and then the shell of my ear.
“Don’t move,” he commanded, his voice gravelly, drenched in heat, and edged with hunger.
I obeyed without a second thought, shocking even me.
He rose with a fluid grace I’d always be envious of, and I watched as he stood beside the bed. My lips parted as he shoved his breeches down his lean hips. Every part of him was beautiful. The toned muscles of his thighs and especially the scars—the proof of how strong he was at his core—that were a few shades paler than his golden-bronze flesh.
He stepped out of his breeches. My breath hitched as he reached down and gripped the hard, veiny length of his cock. Pleasure coiled tightly in my stomach as he stroked himself.
“I am too damn selfish—too greedy—when it comes to you,” he bit out, just the tips of his fangs visible as he climbed back onto the bed. “And I love you too much.”
Emotion clogged my throat, a mixture of equally powerful love and lust as I stared up at him. I cupped his cheek, feeling the stubble there. “Casteel—”
He moved fast, his lips crashing against mine. Liquid heat rushed through me as my hand slid across his cheek and into the silken strands of his hair.
Casteel lifted his head, and my eyes locked with his as he prowled over me, his strong arms and body caging me. I was at once reminded of New Haven—when he woke from a nightmare and nearly fell into bloodlust. His eyes glinted with that same edgy, wild need and endless hunger as they had then, but it wasn’t my blood he was starved for now. Nor were his eyes the chilling black they were in New Haven. They were like pools of heated honey, lit by the silver aura behind his pupils.
Casteel took me with one deep thrust. My cry got lost in his hoarse shout as he seated his entire length inside me. The fullness was almost too much, sending a burst of pleasure and a twinge of pain through me. The slickness between my thighs told me I had been more than ready, though.
I followed his gaze and looked down past where the tips of my breasts grazed his chest to where the sleeping gown was pooled around my hips. His chest rose and fell heavily as he stared at where we were joined. I bit down on my lip as I felt him twitch deep inside me.
Casteel’s fingers curled around my chin, lifting my gaze to his. He held himself completely still, buried inside me. “Are you okay?”
I flattened my hands against his chest and nodded.
A muscle flexed along his jaw. “We can stop—”
“Don’t you dare.” I lifted my hips, making me gasp and him groan.
“Thank fuck,” he grunted, and then began to move.
Each of his thrusts was deliberate and powerful, driving into me, over and over. The cool metal of his ring slid across my breasts as I arched off the bed, following his lead, seeking more of the exquisite friction that built with every motion. He hooked an arm under my thigh and lifted it. My head kicked back as the angle took him even deeper, sending bliss darting through me.
“Look at me,” he commanded, his hand folded around my throat, just below my chin. He tilted my head back until my gaze met his. “Keep your eyes on me.”
Tension curled low. The command? The…dominant hold? It sent a wicked pulse straight to my core.
“I need to see your eyes open. I need to know you’re with me,” he gritted out as he held me there, his eyes locked onto mine. There was no escape as his hips moved faster and faster, his pupils dilating.