Wings fluttering, Ophelia took a step back. “I’m furious with you. You put Baby in a corner. You don’t get any kisses today.” Although...it might not be a bad idea.
He didn’t seem to hear her, anyway. “Should I start with your lips or go straight for my honey?”
The honey.
Way to hold out. But come on! Shouldn’t she give him that third shot to claim her? To forge the foundation of their future interactions. To enjoy him while she could.
“You are the woman I desire in my bed. That isn’t going to change. Ever.” He narrowed eyes that glittered with raw passion. “Give yourself to me, Elia. Let me have you.”
The two sides of her remained torn. The harpy told him, “No, I don’t think I will.” Not without a fight. The nymph purred, “But I’ll allow you to win me. If you can.”
18
By sheer strength of will, Halo rooted his feet, lest he close the distance and yank Ophelia into his arms. A good warrior only struck at the proper time...
And he would be striking. Win her? Oh yes. He had tasted of passion, and he would not, could not, go back to his emotionless existence.
A soft wind blew between them, lifting strands of sable silk before her face. She’d chosen to wear another gauzy dress today, the hem dancing at her ankles. Sunlight bathed her dusky skin and turned her pale green eyes into bottomless pools of desire. With a backdrop of jagged obsidian stone, she was a wild thing. Temptation itself.
Halo had hungered for this harpymph every day of his life; he just hadn’t known it until he’d met her. Being near her for hours each day and not touching her had been a torture worse than any other. The only torture he could not endure. Because she desired him too. The way she melted into him...
And yet, she continued to hold him at an emotional distance, determined to participate in matters of warfare. If he was going to win her on his terms—and he was—he must show no weakness.
Having learned more about his female, he suspected she harbored a frothing fear—meaning nothing to those she loved. For the rest of eternity, he would remember her devastation as she’d spoken of her broken connection to Nissa.
Ophelia Falconcrest meant much to him, and he would prove it. “Shall I place the heads of your enemies at your feet?”
She lifted her chin, a beauty like no other. “I stopped collecting heads a year ago. What else you got?”
The seductress is here, and she’s taking no prisoners.
He dropped his chin, excitement fizzing in his veins. Electricity charged the space between them, heightening the reactions of his body. “Perhaps you require a hands-on demonstration of the things I’m willing to do to win you,” he said, stalking closer.
Halo backed her into the hard rock, caging her with his harder body. Her breath hitched. She slapped her hands on his chest, not to push him away but to hold him steady. Her claws curled, slicing his skin.
He inserted his leg between hers, pressing his thigh against her core. “Would you like a hands-on demonstration, nymph?”
Her eyelids dipped to half-mast. “Very much so, Immortal.”
Where to start? He stared at her. She stared right back. Together, they hovered at the cusp of...something.
Halo marveled at their differences. The hulking barbarian and the delicate rose. He might possess the strength to crush her, but she could send him to his knees with a prick of her thorns or a caress of her soft petals.
With a forearm braced against the stone and a light grip on her chin, he stated, “Do we need a countdown, or do you wish to surrender before I begin?”
“Foolish, Astra.” She melted against him, exactly as he craved, all carnal indulgence and torrid fantasies. “You think you’ve already won, not yet realizing you fell straight into my trap. I dangled the bait, and you came running without the promise of reciprocation. Meaning, yes. One point, harpymph.”
Wily female. “I’ll be earning my reciprocation.” Half smiling, half scowling, he dropped a hand to her waist and gripped her collar with the other, trapping her against him. “See if I don’t.”
“Well,” she breathed. “You’re certainly off to a good start.”
“I can do better.”
He bent his head, claiming her mouth with his own. She opened, welcoming him. Their tongues danced together, the nymph meeting his every foray with a carnal lap. Passion fed passion.
Any vestiges of his uncharacteristic playfulness vanished. Her sweetness maddened him.
How did I ever live without this?
Needs frothed, spurring vows. Halo would do whatever proved necessary to be the best lover Ophelia had ever had. He would make her come hard. Again and again and again and again. She would find contentment with him. Would have no reason to miss endangering herself on the battlefield. Pleasure would be hers for the taking. Never had there been anyone more willing to fight for the joy of another. In this, Halo would not be deterred.