A satisfied rumble vibrated from Damon’s chest and made a quick puh, puh, puh sensation against her skin. “Fearsome grizzly, offering your submission so soon.” Damon leaned forward and clamped his teeth onto her neck, hard enough to draw a moan from her lips, but not hard enough to break the skin. He released her and murmured against the base of her throat, “No need to submit to me, love. I like you how you are.”
Love. The way he uttered that word dumped heat between her legs. She wanted to feel the burn of his hot skin against hers. As if he could read her thoughts, he pulled the hem of her shirt upward and over her head in one smooth motion, then unsnapped the back clasp of her bra with an easy snick. With one finger, he hooked the front of her open bra and pulled it from her arms. He blinked slowly as he dropped her undergarment off the edge of the bed, then dragged his gaze back to her bare breasts. Now the insecurity set in. Damon had lived for eons and had likely been with countless women over the course of his existence, while she was a novice who, at age thirty, had only managed to sleep with one college boyfriend and her crew mates. And none of those times had she encouraged them to look at her body.
“You’re beautiful.”
“I’m freckled.”
“I’m scarred. Does it make you want me less?”
She shook her head and answered honestly, “I think it makes me want you more.”
Damon leaned forward and sucked gently on her earlobe, then whispered, “I like your spots.” Easing back, he traced a constellation of them over the tip of her shoulder.
Nervously, she said, “You must have very good vision in the dark.”
“Impeccable vision.”
“Faaantastic.”
Damon angled his head, and his eyes narrowed slightly. “Can you not feel how hard I am between your legs, Dangerous Clara? Can you not feel how badly I want you? How badly I want to be inside of you.” He leaned down, drew one of her nipples into his mouth, and grazed his teeth against the sensitive skin there as though he was punishing her. “I’ve never seen a woman so beautiful. Now,” he murmured, rolling her on top of him until her legs straddled his hips, “own me.”
Eep! Own him? She was more of a wiggle around on the bottom and hope for an orgasm type of gal, but Damon—sexy, dominant, apex legendary predator, Damon—was handing her the reins in his bed. “I don’t think I’ll be very good at this.” Where the hell had her confidence run off to?
Damon grabbed a pillow from above him and fluffed it under his neck, then linked his hands behind his head. With a crooked, cocky smile, he said, “Take my pants off.”
Right. She could do that. Look sexy. She scraped her nails down his hips as she fumbled with the elastic band of his thin pants. He tensed under her and made an inhuman hissing sound. She thought she’d hurt him, but when she muttered, “Shit,” and looked up to apologize for what a horrid seductress she was being, his eyes were narrowed to hungry slits and his smile turned positively wicked.
“Do that again.”
Mmm, the dragon liked her claws. Eyes on his face, Clara grabbed the elastic on either side of his hips and dragged it slowly down his thighs, clawing him gently as she unsheathed him. Damon shivered, and under her touch, gooseflesh raised from his skin. The breath she exhaled was still shaky, but her hands had stopped trembling. His skin was like hot tap water that was almost uncomfortable to touch but still bearable. She liked that he ran hot. Finding her bravery, she looked down at his long, thick shaft. It was red and swollen, ready for her, and already a drop of creamy moisture sat on the tip. She smiled and bent down to taste it before she could change her mind. The second she touched her mouth to his dick, his hands went to her hair, gripping her gently as he drew a knee up on one side of her and let off a soft, helpless groan. Holy sexy balls, he was hot. Damon curled his hips forward as she slid her mouth over him. She thought he would shove her where he wanted with a grip as strong as his, but he didn’t. He kept his hands gentle in her hair, guiding but not forcing. She eased off him, then back down, circling him with her tongue.
“Fuuuck,” he gritted out as she took more of him. His abs flexed every time she slid her mouth over him, and relaxed when she pulled slowly off.
She wasn’t scared about what he would think anymore or insecure about the way she looked. Now, she was molten in her middle, and her want for him outshone any hesitation.
She unsnapped the button to her jeans and ripped the zipper slowly down.
“Touch yourself,” he whispered as he watched her shimmy out of the rest of her clothes.
Feeling like a goddess under his intense gaze, Clara straddled her knees on either side of his hips and locked her arm near his ribs. She rocked forward, arching her back as she ran her hand between her breasts and down the center of her stomach, lower and lower until she touched the top of her sex.