Varen had wound me tight like a pretty ballerina, a brass key in my back. He'd turned and turned and turned until the spring clicked and loaded, and he'd set my toes upon polished wood, keyed up on the edge of a climax, about to let me go. So I'd pirouette and spin and spin and spin.

I was in charge now.

If anyone was going to pounce, it was going to be me. If anyone should be doing the winding, I was the one who was going to be doing it.

He leaned forward, the movement pushing his whole hand against my breast. I sucked in a breath, my eyelashes fluttering like delicate butterfly wings at the zinging contact. Exquisite sensation rushed outward, plucking at my nerve endings like fingers plucking harp strings. I bit down hard on my lower lip when his roughened hand pinched my nipple between his thumb and finger. A bolt of sizzling lust arched from my nipple to my sex. He groaned himself, briefly squeezing his eyes shut, a low curse falling from his mouth.

Holy hells... Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined how intense it would be to share myself with a boy, swept away by the chaotic sensations running rampant through my entire body, from simply touching me. Except Varen wasn't a boy. He was all man. A spark of anticipation heated between my legs. Arousal was a violent undertow, threatening to pull me into dark pleasure, especially with the way his erection throbbed against my stomach. Hard. Hot. Demanding.

His free hand clamped around my waist, and I carefully rose up on my tip toes. He met me halfway, bowing his head. Black hair slid over his forehead, charmingly disarrayed, almost giving him a boyish look. Both of our mouths angled toward the other, hot breath mingling, but before we met I asked, "Would you lower your lips to my breasts or dip down even further to taste the slick flesh between my thighs?"

"Fuck, Tabitha," he moaned, raw and rough. His breath vibrated against my lips and my heart faltered with excitement to realize I could make this man moan.

"Maybe you'd want me to taste you first." I nudged my eyebrows together as if I were unsure, twisting my lips in a perplexed line. I sighed, briefly glancing away toward the shelves holding crystal-cut decanters. "There's only my mouth that would be free."

His hand brushing over my breast stilled. The fingers curled around my waist bit harder. The subtle storm in the air thickened and pulsed in time with his swelling erection digging into my stomach. Aether charged on almost indiscernible currents of wind, crackling and sparking against my bare skin as if I held a firecracker too close to my body.

I couldn't believe what I was doing. But I couldn't stop myself either. The power I held over him was intoxicating and it strummed sinfully through my veins, between my legs, stiffening my nipples harder. I held him in thrall, torturing him with every glance beneath fluttering eyelashes, every fleeting nuance dancing across my features. The cadence of my speech spun a fantasy through words alone.

Bringing my gaze back to his, I met eyes gone velvet-dark that stared at my mouth. His breathtaking features were sharpened with a mixture of pain and astonishment. I wound my hand around the nape of his neck, the crisp line of his short hair prickling my fingers as I lightly urged him down and closer. His breath came faster, and his thumb swept across my nipple, back and forth, endlessly patient.

Oh gods...

I mentally shook myself awake. It would be too easy to forget myself and give him what he wanted. What we both wanted if I were being honest with myself. My spine steeled itself against him. Against those smoldering eyes, staring eagerly at me.

One of us was going to collapse and come undone, and it wasn't going to be me.

His mouth was soft and hot against my own when I whispered against his lips, "My knees would ache from kneeling on the cold wooden floor. Golden hair wrapped around your fist and my spine bowed in that curve you like so much. Looking up at you and waiting. Waiting and wondering and fearing it a little—what would my first time be like taking someone inside my mouth?"

"Hells..." he gritted out between clenched teeth. "Tabitha..." he pleaded. His eyebrows slashed forward as he swore roughly. He looked so desperate to keep control over the situation, I almost felt pity for him. I gently kissed one corner of his mouth, then the other. "I'm so innocent and inexperienced, unsure how to take you. My teeth gently scraping as you slid yourself in. And all the while you'd be wondering if I were going to bite." I arched an eyebrow, searching his face. "But that's the fun, isn't it? That something so sweet and pleasurable could hurt. And I'd feel so good as you slipped along my tongue."

He mumbled something incoherent as he dipped lower to nuzzle against my cheek, inhaling deeply. I feathered my fingers through his hair, clenching tight to pull his head back my way. His eyes were glassy with arousal, lips damp and parted. "I've never tasted anyone before," I told him, sweeping my lips along his, before murmuring, "Never touched someone in this way. I'd be curious. I'd want to run my tongue along your length, gently swirl in feathering circles, lap underneath, flick, flutter, and suck—"

"Wait...wait..." he begged, his breath ragged, pained lines tightening his features.

"Wait for what?" I asked, but I knew the answer. "For you to come?"

He closed his eyes, tipping his head back, and there was strain cording his throat, in the furrows across his forehead and grooved around his mouth. "Fuck, Tabitha," he breathed.

"That won't be long, Mr. Crowther. Not when you're sliding in and out of my mouth."

"Don't," he gasped, desperate.

But I ignored him, reveling in the power I held over him, forcing him to face me. His nostrils flared and body trembled, and his hands tightened their hold everywhere they touched my body. "How far would you push in?" I carefully leaned even closer, making sure the tray was balanced on the tips of my fingers. My mouth brushed along his warm cheek to his ear, and this time it was my breath and my voice teasing the sensitive shell. "My throat is soft and delicate and you wouldn't want to hurt me, not the first time," I whispered. "So you'd restrain yourself. An effort I imagine, not to take me the way you really want to. The back of my head knocking gently against the wooden door, making it rattle with every thrust as you bumped the back of my throat."

His hips pressed against me as he used my body to drive that thick length up and down, winding himself higher. His hand glided away from my waist to caress my backside. Hells, fire licked between my own thighs, and my clit pulsed in time with the grinding of his hips. I wanted to do the same thing too. I was standing there flustered. My panties were so freaking wet. My entire body hummed for completion, and I was on the verge of clamping my legs around his massive thigh, to seek pressure and friction.

I was so freaking turned on.

Holy hellsgate.

Freaking fuck!

"I'd gasp for breath whenever you let up that relentless pace, rocking your hips, pushing in and out. Delving deeper, testing my limits." On the last word, I captured his lower lip and dragged my teeth along the soft vulnerable flesh. A shiver ran across his broad shoulders as he moaned my name, his lips hunting mine, trying to capture me in a kiss.

Pulling out of reach, I made a humming noise, as if deep in thought, running my fingers through his silky hair, pushing it back from his forehead. "What would you taste like as you splashed the back of my throat? Earthy and rich? The salt of the sea wisping across my tongue?"

"Hells...hells..."

I rose forward and sucked his earlobe into my wet mouth and he moaned so filthily and loud, for a fearful moment I worried someone outside the room would hear.

His cheek pressed against mine, like a cat arching into a pet. Fingers clenching my flesh in a bruising grip. A low rumbling roar vibrated through his chest, reverberating through mine, louder as it crawled from his throat. His whole body shuddered. His hips jerked, the movement rough with the loss of rhythm. I wasn't sure who was pulling who closer, me or him. "Fuck. Tabitha. Fuck." Then he went rigid, one last thrust against the flat of my stomach, before he peeled away, staggering back, half-rounding forward and gasping for breath.

Holy hells...

He had...he really had!

My eyes flared wide and my mouth pursed into an O of astonishment at what I'd done.

I knew what the hells I was attempting to do, but it was another thing to actually do it. Especially as I had absolutely no experience whatsoever.

A heady power rushed through my veins, iridescent and scintillating.

I couldn't jump up and down in excitement and glee, so I did the only thing I could. I stamped forward, popping my free hand on my hip, and raised the pewter tray above my head like it was a Trophy Cup. I was so tempted to freaking spin it on a single fingertip like a pro-basketballer.

Varen had made a classic rookie mistake attempting to mess with me. Who the hells did he think he was dealing with? I tsked him like the amateur he was.

He blinked blearily, mouth agape, shaking his head as if trying to rouse himself awake. Black hair slipped forward as he stared in bewilderment at his crotch, flicking his palms outward gesturing to his erection still straining at his pants—rather impressive I had to admit—and ground out, "Oh my fucking gods."

Jack-knifing straight, he met my smug smile. Rubbing the flat of his hand across his mouth he paced back and forth, to finally swivel around and stand still. His eyes slid sideways, wide with awe, staring down at me as if I were some ethereal creature, one he wasn't sure of. One that could bite him.

And I had, viciously.

I laughed in his face, quietly so no one could hear, and the edge to it was a bit manic. "You lasted less than a minute!" I whisper-hissed.

Dark eyebrows slashed over eyes glittering with ire. His chest puffed out with his inflated ego as he rounded to face me fully. "And I could fucking go for a second round, right this minute," he hissed back, stabbing a finger down at his erection, punching obscenely against the placket of his pants as if it was indeed rearing to go.

I fluttered my hand near my mouth and mocked a yawn. "Too late, I'm tired of this game."

His nostrils flared as he canted his upper body forward, glaring down at me between slitted eyes. "I'm going to deny you an orgasm for every cruel thing you've said and done."

I arched a cocky eyebrow and angled my chin toward his erection fighting against his pants with the faint scent of his spilled sex permeating the air. "Best you go clean yourself up, Mr. I'm-Practically-A-Virgin."

He blinked, features slackening in confusion for a brief moment at the reference I'm sure he remembered saying to Rosa Battagli, but had no idea that I'd overheard it.

His lips pinched together in almost a petulant pout as he ran the flat of his palm down his waistcoat. "No need to worry about that tabby cat, I'm going back to my tiny bedroom with its tiny bathroom to wash off in the tiny shower to the memory of those delightful little sounds you make as you completely unravel."

"You didn't make me come," I shot back, triumphant that he hadn't won.

He moved fast—

A whirlwind of movement—

One hand slid along mine beneath the tray to support it as he grabbed hold of my waist and spun me around. The cupboard door thumped as I was shoved up against it.

His hot mouth captured my nipple through the tired fabric of my uniform and bra. His teeth clamped down with a sting that burst into pleasurable heat and then he flicked the tip of my nipple just once with his tongue. Like a bolt of lightning scoring from a churning sky, charged sparks speared from my nipple right to my intimate sex and I came, hard.

The orgasm exploded through my body, wicked and wild, blinding and fierce. Sweeping me up like a tornado. Black wind spinning me around in a vortex of fierce blinding pleasure.

Holyhellsholyhellsholyhells...

His broad hand slapped over my mouth before the shrill shriek could be heard.

I was distantly aware of my knees locking together as if I could hold the orgasm back, my body spasming and legs unable to hold myself upright. Another part of me was aware that the vibration of my breathy scream against Varen's palm had his body rocking and hips jerking, and my name helplessly moaned. The tray tilted drastically. All the goblets slid with a clank of metal, butting up against one another, and toppled off—metal leaving my fingertips.

And then I was lost to a white-hazed world of mind-obliterating pleasure, and I surrendered, willingly.

I had no idea how long I'd drifted in that exquisite hedonistic world.

When I finally awoke from my orgasm-induced-fugue, I found myself alone, sitting on the floor, my back slumped against the tall cupboard and my legs splayed wide. I dazedly glanced around, breathing heavily, still drifting in a pleasurable haze. I blinked sluggishly at the pewter goblets standing neatly on the tray on the floor beside my hip.

My shoulders sagged against the cupboard door as I released a whispering breath of relief. I hadn't heard a rain of metal clashing upon the ground. Obviously, Varen had caught them all before they alerted anyone lingering down the hallway we were inside the glassware cupboard entwined with one another.

Entwined in such a wicked way.

Delightful.

I blew stray strands of hair away from my eyes and rubbed a hand over the breast that he'd sucked and nipped, still feeling the tingle of aftershocks trembling through my sex.

Holy freaking hellsgate.

It had been more intense than the orgasm in the kitchen cool room. Thrilling and sharply sweetened with peril knowing that anyone could walk in on us at any point.

And so freaking hot.

The cupboard door rattled as I braced my hand upon it, using it to help me to my feet. I rose on wobbly legs, quickly undoing my messy ponytail to redo it and smooth everything back into order. Wisps of cool air soothed my flushed cheeks as I frantically waved my hands in front of my flustered face.

Putting the goblets away, along with the tray, I moved on shaky legs to the door and pressed my ear against the cool wood, keenly listening and sending my senses shooting beneath the gap, feeling out the hallway for anyone walking outside.

When it was safe to escape, I slipped out of the glassware cupboard and scurried down the hallway, heading for the Servants' Quarters and home. It almost felt like a freaking walk of shame.

A blush heated my cheeks and I knew I had to make sure I remained composed, so my aunt didn't suspect what I'd been up to. But the grin couldn't be held back, nor the thrill setting my body alight with warmth and delight.

I released a breathy laugh, snatched my wooden spoon from my belt, and twirled it around. Varen was right. His games were so much more fun than mine.