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It was normal for Hodari to sometimes have a drink at the inn after a long week of working in the mines.
Two drinks was a surprise, but he’d earned the indulgence.
By the fourth drink, I was worried.
“Dari?” I asked, putting a hand on his arm. “Is everything okay?”
His eyes lifted to mine, a little unfocused. “Mm?” They looked past me, just over my head, before dipping to meet my gaze. “Hey, you.”
“Hey yourself.” I gave his arm a squeeze and turned to look in Ashura’s direction just in time to see him approaching us. “I think he’s going to need—”
“A room,” Ashura finished with a knowing smile. “Yeah, I figured that might be the case. Got one with his name on it.”
I returned my attention to Hodari. “I’ll head home to check on Najuma. See you in the morning?”
“Wait.” Hodari’s hand came up to clasp over mine, his grip firm and insistent. “Come…” He cleared his throat, eyes flicking up and back down. “Come t’bed with me.”
Heat filled my cheeks and I tried not to feel Ashura’s gaze on us. I heard the man chuckle behind me, followed by his retreating footsteps.
“What about—”
His words came out hurried, as if he was forcing them past his lips. “Told her we’d be out late. So.” His voice dropped to a husk, and his eyes lifted to mine again. “Come t’bed with me.”
My heart jumped into my throat. We’d shared a bed since I moved in, but nothing had happened between us beyond some cuddles and waking up with him spooned behind me.
I’d wanted to jump this man’s bones the first moment I saw him, sweat on his brow, some of his broad chest exposed, thick arms and thicker thighs. His voice alone could get me wet in two seconds flat.
I should have been excited at the opportunity, but I just felt—confused.
He took my hand in his and led the way up the stairs without another word. As soon as we got to a room, as soon as the door clicked shut, two strong arms wrapped around me and pulled me so close that I could feel every inch of his body against mine.
“Darlin’,” he whispered in my ear. “Can I take y’to bed?”
“You’re drunk.” I didn’t try to pull away, though. He smelled like alcohol and sweat and dirt, and he felt like the rocks he broke day in and day out.
He chuckled, and I could feel the rumble where his chest was pressed to mine. “Might be a little.”
“More than a little,” I teased. I shifted in his embrace to wrap my arms around his neck, angling my head so I could kiss his chin. “I’m not going to take advantage of you like this.”
His eyes were dark, but not unfocused. They saw me, looked directly at me. “Wish y’would,” he mumbled.
Phoenix, this was difficult. But I didn’t want our first time to be a drunken mistake that he’d regret in the morning.
So I smiled and pushed myself up onto my tiptoes to kiss him, softly. “We’ll talk about it in the morning.”
His expression fell. “Y’don’t want to…?”
“Oh, I want to.” I ran my fingers through his hair, watching his eyes close briefly as my nails scraped along his scalp. “Just—not like this.”
He hummed with a note of disappointment, but nodded nonetheless. We pulled away to strip down to our underclothes, and I indulged in a glance downward to see that he was visibly hard through his pants.
It was so tempting. So tempting to just drop to my knees at his feet, so tempting to push him down on the bed and ride him.
Stay strong, girl. You’ll thank yourself later.
I hurried to my side of the bed and slipped under the sheets. He moved a little slower, hesitating before he slid in beside me, his eyes avoiding mine.
“’m sorry,” he finally mumbled and rolled over to face away. “Thought a few drinks would give me… courage.”
I stared at the expanse of his back, then reached out and pressed a hand between his shoulder blades. “Are you really that nervous?”
He shifted a bit, leaning into my touch. “Course I am. You’re… you. I want to do right by you.”
That was it. I could only take so much.
I scooted across the bed to nestle against his back and draped an arm over him. “Well, in the morning…”
“… mm?”
“… when the alcohol’s worn off…” I kissed just behind his ear. “You can do whatever you want to me.”
He stiffened—likely in more ways than one. “Oh, darlin’, don’t tease me.”
I smiled as I let my hand rest on his lower abdomen, tracing a circle with my fingertips. It took all of my resolve not to slide my hand further down and—
Desire throbbed between my legs, and I squeezed my thighs together, sucking in a sharp breath. I could hear his labored breathing, could feel his pulse against my palm; we were in the same boat.
“’m not that drunk,” he mumbled. “Don’t have to wait ‘til morning.”
I felt my heart twist in my chest, torn in two different directions.
If we just—fooled around a little but didn’t go all the way. That would be okay, wouldn’t it?
The muscles of his abdomen clenched as I dared to move my hand to the hem of his underthings. “Can you tell me something?”
His voice was low and husky as he rasped, “Anythin’.”
“How long have you been planning this?” I snuggled closer and toyed with the hem, slipping two fingers beneath it. “Getting drunk so you could make a move on me, I mean.”
His head tilted back, and I could see his eyes close from my vantage point, his lips parted to let out a shaky breath. “A—while. Tried without the liquor, but… couldn’t bring m’self to do anything.”
My hand stilled. “Dari.” I nuzzled my face against the crook of his neck. “What are you so scared of? You know I love you. So, so much.”
“I know, darlin’.” He moved a hand to rest it over mine and squeezed it. “I know. Just… get so damn nervous I can’t think straight sometimes.”
The urge to climb on top of him was growing stronger than I could stand. But then he started to roll over first, pushing me onto my back and bracing his arms on either side of me, his face hovering over mine.
“But ‘m not nervous now,” he murmured, his breath warm on my skin. “And I don’t think I’m drunk anymore.”
I stared up at him, my own breath stuck in my throat, searching his face. Determination was set in the lines around his eyes, and when I hesitated, he leaned in and pressed our lips together in a soft kiss.
And down below, his hard length was pressed along my thigh, a small push of his hips grinding the heat of it into my skin through his underclothes.
I gasped his name against his lips and shuddered from head to toe.
“Been dyin’ to see you,” he whispered into the kiss. “Been dyin’ to know you.”
There was no use in trying to resist anymore. I spread my legs to invite him closer, hooking one over his. “Then know me.”
He sat up on his knees, the blanket falling away, and I gazed up at him, worshipped the view of him with every fiber of my being. Adored the hard lines of his muscles, wanted to trace every scar with my tongue.
And then my eyes fell to where he strained against the beige cloth that barely kept him decent, and my mouth went dry.
He watched with an intense gaze as he started to pull my underwear down, his fingers brushing against the sensitive skin that craved his touch, until I was fully exposed to him.
“I knew things’d be different down here,” he said, reverently. “You’re gorgeous, darlin’.”
“Different?” My skin tingled with a mix of desire and a little bit of insecurity. “How different?”
His eyes flicked to mine and he gave a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I like it.”
Before I could say anything else, his thumb brushed over my folds, rough and calloused and wonderful. It slipped between them, exploring, touching, feeling.
The muscles of my thighs twitched with every stroke of his thumb, and my back arched off the bed as I struggled not to grind myself against his hand. My mouth fell open and I gasped out a little whimper when he found the right spot that sent shivers of pleasure through my veins.
“Here, hmm?” His thumb moved in a firm circle. “Y’like that?”
I couldn’t make words work, so I just whimpered again and nodded. He chuckled and I watched, helpless, as he scooted back and leaned down to replace his thumb with his tongue.
The sight of his head between my legs, the sensation of his warm tongue moving against my clit—my eyes threatened to roll back and I sucked in a shuddering breath. He hummed, the vibrations going straight to my core, and I tried not to tighten my thighs on his head.
I gripped the sheets beneath me and just focused on breathing as he ran his tongue down and around, lapping through my folds. Everything was warm and wonderful and a little delirious as he stopped on my clit again and sucked, hard.
I felt myself getting closer, closer—my hips lifted off the bed, pushing into his face, chasing more sensation. He didn’t pull back, just kept sucking and teasing with his tongue.
“Dari—” I gasped. “Hodari—”
The tension rose up and released all at once, a wonderful, overwhelming feeling of coming apart at my very core. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move except for the uncontrollable twitch and tremor of my abdomen as I came.
It felt like forever, and at the same time, it was over too soon. I collapsed against the bed, and he took the cue to pull back, looking up at me with soft eyes and shiny lips.
“Good, darlin’?”
I made a half-hearted attempt to speak. The sound that came out was a little breathless and a lot like a whine.
He chuckled. “I’ll take that as a yes.” There was a pause, and then he asked, “It’s a yes, right?”
“Yes,” I gasped. “It’s a yes. I swear to the Phoenix and Dragon both, if you don’t take me now—”
His eyes crinkled with a smile and he moved, one arm braced by my head and the other stretched between us to free himself from his underwear. I felt the warm, velvety skin brush against my thigh, and I wrapped my legs around his waist to pull him closer.
“I’ll take care of you, darlin’.”
He pressed his lips to the corner of my mouth, and I turned my head to force him into a proper kiss. I could taste myself on his tongue, and I shivered with delight when I could feel himself push against my entrance.
Even bracing himself, I felt enough of his weight above me that I felt safe. So, so safe. This was exactly where I was meant to be.
And then he started to slide inside me, his girth stretching me wide, and I knew for a fact it was true.
He paused, eyes searching my face. “All right?” he asked, a bit breathless, a bit strained.
“More than.” I tightened my legs, digging my heels into the curve of his ass. “Don’t stop, please.”
His arm between us moved to rest his hand on my thigh, fingers caressing a small circle. He lowered his head to put his lips by my ear. “Y’feel so good, darlin’.”
I whimpered as he filled me completely and held there a moment, then started to slide out halfway, and I braced for the push back in. And when he did, it wasn’t with a snap of his hips or a hard thrust, but a slow tenderness that let me feel every inch of him inside me.
Tears pricked at my eyes as I reached up to get my arms around him and hold him close. “I love you,” I gasped out as he fucked me slowly, gently. “I love you so much.”
His lips moved against my ear. “Love you more’n words can say.”
I don’t know how long we stayed like that, just moving together and feeling one another. I wanted it to last forever. I wanted the world to stop so I wouldn’t have to spend a moment without him inside me, on top of me, whispering sweetly in my ear while he filled me over and over.
He grunted on a slightly harder thrust in and turned his head to nose at my cheek. “Should I pull out before—”
“No,” I quickly said, shaking my head.
“Y’sure?”
I’d never been more sure of anything in my life. I lifted my hips to meet him, and he took the cue. His hand on my thigh slid up to grab my hip, fingers digging in just a bit as he held me in place and started to move a little faster.
The angle changed, and the friction forced a little sound past my lips that seemed to be just what he needed. He pushed in all the way and held there, and I felt a distinct throb where we were joined while he groaned in my ear.
His lips found mine again and we exchanged breaths between soft kisses, panting into each other’s mouths while we came down from the high.
“Darlin’,” he finally muttered, pulling back just enough to look into my eyes, his own soft and full of emotion. “That was…”
“Yeah.” I didn’t have words for it either. None that really captured the wholeness of it, anyway.
He cleared his throat, a slight blush crossing his skin. “Much as I want to just fall asleep in your arms right now, we should get home.”
“Just a few more minutes?” I asked, sliding a hand up to bury my fingers in his hair. “Then we’ll go. I promise.”
He hummed, his eyes closing briefly as I dragged my fingers through his dark locks. “Sure thing.” He lowered his head to rest it next to mine, his breath on my neck. “May I say somethin’ indecent?”
That sent a fissure of heat through my gut, and I smiled. “What?”
“Much as I enjoyed that… an’ don’t get me wrong, I surely did.” I felt him grin against my skin. “Lookin’ forward to next time already. ‘m already thinkin’ about it.”
Phoenix, I love this man.