Page 87 of Dare

This much pleasure. These many sounds.

I hadn’t turned to glimpse him. Yet I heard everything my moans did to this man, coarse noises grating from him and hitting the edge of my throat.

Famished, Jeryn’s mouth opened and closed on my skin, kissing the delicate curve of my neck as if it were my mouth. For the second time, his tongue flexed and lapped over the ink markings, swabbing as if to wipe them away.

Or to ingest them. To take my place.

Divine Seasons. What was happening to us?

My head spun from the tug of his mouth, the liquid thrust of his fingers, and the arousal pooling from my cunt. Then without warning, Jeryn peeled his lips away. Muttering a curse, he slid his fingers out of me, the loss so acute that I grunted in protest.

Get back here, dammit.

The prince stalked around my body and faced me. Shadows slashed through his features, those irises piercing through the murk. His expression bordered on merciless, the harsh lines of his face riveted by the sight before him. I hadn’t known coldness could be this enticing, this profound, this smoldering.

That look was mine. Tonight, it belonged to me.

Despite the bindings, I wasn’t the captive in this scenario. From the entranced way he looked at me, I never had been.

Power shot through me. In this moment, I could request anything from him, and he would offer it freely. I might be tethered and on display, but I had this man ensnared.

My very own villain prince.

Perspiration glazed his torso, the muscles of his abdomen contracting as he prowled my way. The moment my breasts grazed his bare chest, our breathing staggered.

With effort, Jeryn unpinned his gaze from mine and traced the pads of his fingers over my body, trailing the same path his knife had in the castle, except softer and safer. What he’d called an examination became an exploration, and what had been atonement became admiration.

Him, an observer. Me, a wanderer.

Like this, he touched me in a way I had always wanted to be touched—with unbridled worship.

His fingers drew across my collarbones, then over one puckered nipple through my nightgown. From there, down my ribcage to my hips, and the outer edge of my thigh. My blood raced, his path leaving a brushfire in its wake.

“Your temperature is elevated,” Jeryn observed. “Otherwise, everything is in working order.” Pausing for effect, his baritone narrowed to a sliver of noise. “Thus far.”

Those ruthless fingers stalked beneath the hem of my nightgown, riding up my inner thighs and pausing inches shy of my aching pussy. Aggravated, I groaned and nudged my waist toward that teasing hand.

Jeryn’s nostrils flared, but he spoke calmly. “The last time I had you like this, do you know what I really wanted to do?”

Yes. I knew because a horrible part of me had wanted the same thing. I licked my lips, the motion triggering Jeryn’s attention. His eyes raked to my mouth, his pupils eclipsing those irises.

I saw his intentions. As much as my villain prince fancied answers, he also fancied actions.

My pulse slammed into his. I let the request fall from my lips. “Demonstrate.”

Those orbs glinted. His free arm jerked, and something flashed in my periphery, though I couldn’t look away from him. Not until the scalpel knife materialized. I sucked in a breath, then released it as his gaze returned to mine, reminding me that nothing he did would hurt.

Not in a bad way. Nervous energy replaced fear as his fingers choked the hilt. With a deft click of his thumb, a slender blade flipped upright. “How many nightgowns do you possess?”

“Plenty,” I assured him, because the ruins had preserved the wardrobes of multiple females.

The prince approved of that answer. “Good.” Then the fabric ripped in a single tear as he ran the blade down the middle. My nightgown split and flared around me, my tits and stomach and limbs pushing into view.

Humid air caressed my nipples and the patch between my thighs, the sensation wondrously erotic. The material hung in two panels from my shoulders. Jeryn left the straps alone, his features tightening as he beheld every curve of my body.

“Much better,” he said. “Now spread them.”

Arousal puddled in my cunt. I delayed for a moment, enjoying how it affected him, the ledge of his jaw ticking. Another minute, and he would use that marvelous word again.