“But why?” She moaned as his breath warmed her intimate flesh. “If I’m here and I’m willing, I don’t understand—”

“I don’t know.” The words came out agonized. “Sarafina, I don’t know why I can’t let myself.”

“Let me touch you, too.” She reached out to place her hand on his shoulder.

“No.” The word was uttered forcefully enough to make her draw her hand back. “If you do that, I’ll lose control. I just need to touch you a little.”

She groaned and let her head fall back. “What if I want you to touch me a lot?”

“Let me do this. Give me.”

Of course, he wasn’t really asking for permission. Theodosius Winters didn’t do that. So before she could respond, he just took what he wanted. In the half light of the room, she watched his head descend to her sex.

Her back arched as his tongue swept over her folds, his hands bracing her thighs wide apart. He held her down like he was afraid she’d try to escape. His tongue found her clit and she relaxed into the pillows as his lips played along it, teasing it to the point of orgasm. Sensation spread out in slow waves, enveloping her body and swamping her mind until she couldn’t think straight.

Soon she was helpless against him, moaning beneath him and trying not to beg for more. Theo made low sounds of pleasure that dovetailed with hers, like he loved the taste of her and couldn’t get enough.

His tongue slipped deep inside her sex, filling her up, then went back to the slow, teasing slide against her aroused clit. Again and again, he pushed her to the point of climax, drew back, then built her up again. He pressed his fingers inside her, finding a sensitive place deep within and stroking it over and over in a semblance of what his cock would do—driving her crazy with need.

Over and over he did this, playing her body like it was an instrument. The pleasure zinged through her veins and built to a fever pitch before exploding over her. She shuddered and cried out his name, trembling from the force of her climax. After it was over, she collapsed, sated.

He swiped his tongue over the small tattoo high on her hip, a sun and moon intertwined like a yin-yang symbol. “You said I’d never see it.”

“I was wrong,” she murmured.

Theo came up to lie beside her.

Sarafina turned to him. “Please don’t run away this time. Give me that, at least.”

Silence.

She reached out and touched his chest, but her hand on him only made him stiffen. “I want to touch you.”

“No. This has already gone too far.”