Amanda Bonilla - When Shadows Call

“I am aware of your circumstances, Darian,” he whispered against my forehead. “And do you realize what it does to me to know that I will be your first?” He kissed my temple, down my cheek, and at last laid his lips to the corner of my mouth. “I want you so much, it is torture to be gentle and take my time with you the way you deserve.”

My entire body trembled beneath Azriel’s touch. He took his time, admiring every inch of my flesh with his skillful hands. I tried to sit up, opened my eyes to look at him, but he eased me back against the tub and brushed his fingers across my eyelids. “Just feel , Darian.” He traced a finger between my breasts, venturing lower, down my abdomen. My stomach clenched as he circled my belly button, but when he ventured lower, I couldn’t help the trepidation that stiffened every joint in my body.

“Relax,” he said. “Darian, trust me.”

“I don’t think I can,” I whispered.

He put his mouth to mine and spoke against my lips, “You gave me the gift of companionship. Let me give you pleasure.”

I arched my body toward him, and a small wave of water lapped at the edge of the tub. I may have eased his loneliness, but he’d given me so much more than I gave him. He’d freed my soul from the darkness that had eaten away at me for years. I wanted him. With every touch he made me feel more alive. “I trust you,” I said before pressing my mouth to his in a kiss.

Azriel leaned further into the tub and his hand wandered, caressed, dipped down into the water and closed around my hip. I opened my eyes to find him staring, his gaze drinking me in, and I became lost in its dark depths, hypnotized by his beauty. A drop of water tickled my flesh as it ran from my chin, down my throat. Azriel bent his head and I gasped as his tongue flicked out to lick the water from my skin. He cupped the back of my neck with one hand, while the other wandered from my hip and across my belly. His mouth found mine, a gentle caress of lips. He kissed me with care, plying my mouth to open as his tongue traced my lips. What had been gentle evolved into something more frenzied as my tongue slid against his, tasting, searching, and wanting more.

My body thirsted for something, but I knew not what. Azriel continued to kiss me until our breaths melded together as one. My skin tingled with a pleasant heat and my hips thrust toward Azriel’s hand in a silent plea. I broke our kiss in a gasp as his fingers found my core, and I cried out as he caressed me in a way I had never imagined.

“Azriel.” His name on my lips elicited a moan of approval, almost a growl as it rumbled in his chest. Sweeping waves of pleasure brought me to the precipice of something . . . the answer to the need that had grown within me.

In one fluid motion, he took me in his arms and lifted me from the tub. Water splashed across the tiled floor and dripped from the edges of the tub. Azriel claimed my mouth in a deep, bruising kiss that left me breathless as he carried me into the next room. With total disregard for the pristine bedding, he lay me down on the duvet. I took in his magnificent form, my eyes devouring every inch of his exposed body from his corded arms, to his strong shoulders, down the muscular ridges of his stomach, and past the dusky line that trailed from below his belly button and disappeared in the waistband of his trousers.

His dark eyes shone with an otherworldly light. Awestruck, I could do nothing but stare at his masculine perfection. I’d discarded all thoughts of modesty or propriety. Azriel had become my guardian angel. My rescuer. My savior. I wanted him like I’d never wanted anything in my entire life. Our souls had become one when he made me a Shaede. He had given me strength—both in body and spirit—and an eternity to explore both. And in return I wanted to give him the only thing I had to give: myself.

I eased myself to the edge of the bed. Fingers trembling, I reached out, grazing my fingers on the flat expanse of Azriel’s stomach. His muscles clenched and his eyes became hooded. I cursed my innocence, wishing I could be the beautiful seductress he deserved. Nibbling at my bottom lip, I looked up at him, and lost myself in the endless depths of his eyes while my hands wandered to the fastenings at his waistband.

I took a deep breath, savoring the scent of summer blossoms and spring rain. But underneath the heady fragrance was something sweeter still, like warm honey. “That smell,” I murmured. “It’s wonderful.” I couldn’t describe what my senses absorbed. My body reacted to the scent, pulsing again with need. “It’s you, isn’t it? I think I can smell your . . . your desire.”

Azriel seized my face in his hands, gazing intently into my face. “Extraordinary,” he breathed with a slow shake of his head. “So very special.”

Every word from his mouth was pure seduction. Each glance, charged with sensual energy. Even in these intimate moments, he showed me there were more lessons to be learned. Azriel wanted me as much as I wanted him. He made sure I’d gleaned the truth of it not only from his actions but through the intoxicating aroma surrounding him. No longer afraid or worried for my lack of experience, I released the top button at his waistband, and then moved to the next.

His breath hitched in his throat as I unfastened the last button and slid my hands along his hips to ease his trousers down over his glorious backside. As the fabric pooled at his feet, I allowed my gaze to wander as I memorized every minuscule detail of his body. I’d never seen a naked man before, and marveled at the sheer strength and perfection displayed before me.

“Do you like what you see?” Azriel asked.

Yes . God, yes . I reached out to touch him, to feel the magnificent hard length of him, when he stayed my hands. “Not yet, love. I told you, I wanted to worship you with my mouth,”—he flashed a devilish smile— “and I intend to do just that.”

Azriel eased me down on the bed, passing his palms down my body as he knelt where my legs dangled over the edge. My bones seemed to dissolve as he planted light, warm kisses from my knee, up the inside of my leg. The curls of his hair brushed my thighs and I couldn’t help but reach out and comb my fingers through the silky strands. His breath felt cool against my still wet skin and I shivered.

He guided one leg so it rested on his shoulder. I held my breath in anticipation of what would happen next, but nothing could have prepared me for the bliss that burst upon me when his tongue passed slowly over my center. The way he seemed to savor that first moment of contact as much as I did sent me into a dizzying spiral of ecstasy. He moaned against my flesh and the vibration caused me to arch against him as I pushed the back of my calf against his shoulder. For so many years I’d been nothing but an ornament: untouched, placed on shelf for display. Azriel treated me as something more, and finally . . . finally , I felt like a woman.

Each stroke of his tongue brought me closer to abandon. Nothing mattered but this moment, the blinding pleasure that tore my breath from my chest in desperate gasps of air, the delicious heat as Azriel’s mouth explored that most secret part of me as if he’d known my body for an eternity. I writhed against him, the soft pressure of his tongue circling my flesh before he fastened his mouth over my center and sucked. He tasted me this way, alternating his tongue and mouth until I thought I would die from the intense pleasure of it. I felt as though I would implode, like my body had taken a deep breath and held it.

And then, I came apart.

I cried out as thousands of stars burst within me, an explosion of sensation that blossomed from my core outward like its own solar system. Lost to the pleasure, my brain seemed to go completely numb. I savored each delicious pulse that spread like rippling waves, lifting me on clouds of pure sensual bliss.