The Uphill Climb by B. M. Bower (essential books to read .txt) 📕

The garment fell to the floor, and I stepped out of it and slipped off my kitten heels. Valentine stood in front of me shirtless, kissing and nipping my neck, and I wanted more. I reached between our bodies and palmed his erection. It was thick and hot and pulsing under my touch.

He groaned, the sound making my breath quicken, my nipples tighten, and every nerve ending screamed for his touch.

“I want you.” The words slipped from my lips as I fumbled with his belt buckle, somehow opening it with a clink. “Now.”

Valentine growled, his eyes lighting up.

My tongue darted out to lick my lips, and I unzipped his fly. His length leaped out of his pants, settling into my palm as though it belonged there. I closed my fingers around the organ, moaning as it thickened and pulsed at my command.

“Mmmmm.” Valentine nipped and sucked on my neck, his large hands massaging my ass cheeks.

I licked my dry lips, moving my hands back and forth along Valentine’s thick length. The skin was as luxurious as the silk of his shirt, covering ridges and prominent veins that coursed with power. It had a life of its own, lengthening and pulsing at my command.

Valentine moaned, sending a thrill of excitement through my insides at the effect I had on him. The sensation settled in my core, which already hungered and fluttered for his touch. I tightened my grip around his shaft and continued stroking, squeezing and twisting around his thick head.

He stared down at me with eyes of molten lust, and his cupid-bow lips parted to let out shallow breaths. His fingers wrapped around my shoulders.

My mouth watered, and I longed to drop down on my knees and take him in my mouth the way I had done in Gourmande.

I felt Valentine’s groan across my wet folds, and my core quickened with need. My gaze landed on a dusky nipple, and I ran my tongue over the puckered flesh. At Valentine’s responding gasp, my grip tightened around his girth, and I clenched my thighs together to hold back yet another surge of need.

“Stop,” he said in a command that made my muscles freeze.

With a growl, Valentine scooped me into his arms to make the short journey to the four-poster. By the time he lowered me onto the mattress, his pants were somewhere halfway across the room, leaving him completely naked.

I scooted to the headboard, an ornate design that twisted and swirled up to the canopy rail, and pressed my back against its iron frame.

Valentine stood over me, as majestic as a Titan, his hand wrapped around a bronze erection that stole my breath. The extra blood I suspected he had been taking must have gathered there because I didn’t remember him being so large. Precum glistened on his purpling tip, and my ravenous core pulsed in response.

“How do you want me to fuck you today?” he growled. “Should I pound into you from behind like I did for your blood oath, or pin you to the mattress and pummel you without mercy or restraint?”

My eyes bulged. Both options sounded equally appealing.

“I want to look into your eyes.”

His growls rose, and he crawled onto the mattress and formed a cage around me with his arms. “You are a wonder, Innamorata. When I think you will shrink away, you say something that surprises me.”

I slid my arms over the contours of his biceps, settling them on his broad shoulders. “Maybe now, you’ll stop thinking I need to be locked up for my own protection.”

At first glance, Valentine’s eyes appeared as deep as red wine with rings of black around his irises. As he moved toward me, the bedside light separated the hue into indigo and violet and the color of blood.

“You’re more powerful than I ever imagined.” His deep voice rumbled through my insides, slipping between my heavy heartbeats. Valentine placed a soft kiss on my lips before settling at my side and positioning me onto his lap. “That doesn’t mean I won’t protect you with my life.”

His words melted my heart. I settled atop his thighs, slid toward his broad chest, and wrapped my arms around his neck. With me sitting above him, our gazes finally met, and I stared deep into his eyes.

“I can look after myself,” I murmured. “You need to trust me.”

Valentine’s arms slid around my back. “The Demon King—”

“Can’t hurt me because I used my blood to resurrect his body. He tried pulling off my engagement ring, and got attacked by his own magic.”

Valentine smirked. “Serves that bastard right.”

“And he’s going to help me punish the Mage King for what he did to your heart,” I added.

His hands slid up my back, and through my hair, sending pleasant tingles down my spine. He crossed his legs in a lotus position that tilted me closer into his chest, and he brought me down for a kiss.

“I’ve arranged some protection for you,” he said while caressing my lips with his own. “A pair of demons who can wield hellfire and are immune to fire-based attacks. They will watch your back in case Kresnik realizes you aren’t in Hell.”

“What—”

Valentine swallowed my protest with a kiss so domineering that my toes curled. He took my wrist, and raised my arm high up against the railings, making sure to wrap my fingers around the metal swirls.

“Don’t move. Don’t speak. Don’t do anything except take what I give you,” he said.

My breath quickened. I parted my lips to say something, but only managed to gasp as he adjusted my legs around his hips and took hold of my ass.

I clung onto the headboard’s iron curls, wondering how he expected me to ride him with my hands restricted.

With both hands on my ass, Valentine eased me onto his erection. The blunt head of his penis slid against my slick folds and rubbed against my aching clit. A jolt of ecstasy shot through my core, making it clamp hard enough to