average human’s Reviews > Control My Night > Status Update

Heat fused in the pit of my belly. It took everything to stay still at the play of his lips rising higher and higher. My hands went to the soft curls of his hair, tightening my grip. A sigh collided with a shiver.
Casting around a glance, Silas sat on the ground, his back against the stone bench. I straddled him within the protective circle of his arms, bare from the waist down and more naked than I’d ever been with another person. He shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around my hips to keep me warm—then clutched me tighter, holding my gaze.
“You’re beautiful, Keeks,” he whispered.
It felt like a fist had squeezed my heart. I smoothed my hands across the goosebumps on his bare arms, weaving them into the hair at the base of his neck.
“So are you,” I replied. I wanted to say more, but again, I couldn’t find the words.
One kiss, then two, became a persistent, pulsing rhythm of demanding lips and shifting hips. His fingers moved down, gently parting me. One slipped inside. I’d become wet, heated, and electricity strung my body tight as his thumb danced over where I was most sensitive, his tongue moving within my mouth in time with his hand below. I moaned, jerking, as he slipped another finger inside. If I hadn’t been clutching his hair, I would have melted.
My panting breaths were the only thing I could hear above the muffled chatter of departing patrons from the ballet performance and their exiting vehicles. I rode his fingers, alight, surging, seeking an end that felt inches from reach. It was almost too much.
Pressure built. I swallowed. Please, I whispered to my beast. I mentally reinforced her cage walls, leashing her down.
Was the cage strong enough? Was I?
“Hold on,” I whispered, nearly whimpering as his fingers drew away. “How quickly can you generate a shield?”
Silas searched my expression. “Seconds,” he replied. “Less, if I’m prepared.”
My heart hammered. “My beast. I … when we were last this close, it felt like I was going to scream. I’m worried I … I mean, I’ve never done this before, I don’t know what to expect …”
Stop talking, Keanna. No doubt he could already tell from the clumsy, untutored way I’d grabbed at him against the wall. Though he didn’t look surprised, his features softened.
“This is enough,” he reassured me. “Being like this is enough. We don’t need to go further.”
His offer cemented my determination to continue. “I want to. I think I’ve got a handle on her, but just in case …”
“I trust you.”
“But I don’t know if I can trust me,” I pleaded. “Promise if I lose control, you’ll use your shield to protect yourself. I can’t hurt you, Silas.”
Time crawled as he gazed into my eyes. What was he looking for? Finally, he cupped my neck.
“We’ll go at your pace, Keeks.” He pressed a kiss onto the curve of my chin. “We can wait if it means making sure you feel comfortable.”
Warmth enveloped my heart. He wasn’t just saying this. I knew he meant it.
Just like I knew—without a doubt—that I’d fallen for him. I couldn’t imagine life without him in it. I’d walk away from this night irrevocably changed.
“I’m ready.” My words almost matched Silas’s for their huskiness.
His fingers teased me while I undid his belt. His thumb passed over me, again and again. I’d combust soon for sure.
I worked his jeans down, freeing him. He straightened his spine against the bench, hissing at my tentative, then firm, touches. If I’d thought him hard before, he became harder still underneath my hand.
I’d explore him later. I couldn’t wait any longer.
“Stay on top.” Silas positioned me so I sat poised above him. “Let’s keep you in control.”
I’m really doing this.
Trying to relax, I inhaled, lowering until I felt the tip of him push inside. I sank down—
Pain sliced upwards. I gasped. His jaw hardened as he cupped mine, passing his thumb over my parted lips, working between them. I caressed it with my tongue, biting gently as I breathed through the stinging, burning, stretching sensation. My beast hated how much it hurt, but otherwise allowed me to slide down, taking him in completely.
Silas breathed in a slow, measured way that I mirrored. His hands trembled, the rattle of his exhales hinting at the effort it was taking to keep himself still. He rained kisses over my cheeks and the exposed parts of my neck around my collar until the pain lessened. Until I could focus on him inside me, underneath me, his flecked brown eyes watching the changing landscape of my expressions and making sure I was alright. Looking at me like he couldn’t look away. It halted the self-consciousness that bubbled, the automatic fear I was doing something wrong or taking too long.
“You’re doing so good, baby. You’re amazing.”
His affirmation joined the heat lancing my abdomen. Pain transitioned to pleasure as I moved my hips, our limbs entwining further. The rough material of his jeans rubbed the backs of my thighs. Grass slid underneath my knees. His soft hair tickled my fingers.
Silas continued to whisper encouragement while cradling my face, the safety net of his hands ready to catch us both. Thumbs brushed my cheeks, my lips. He studied me just as I studied him. The constellation of moonlight-bleached freckles under his eye entranced me, as did the minute changes in the set of his jaw. His breath became mine as our jagged gasps filled the garden. My beast remained a contained—but enthusiastic—spectator. She no longer lurched at my throat and stayed where she was, waiting for my summons.
She doesn’t want to hurt him, either.
With this realization, I relinquished the tight hold I had on her. Checked with every step back she wasn’t about to take advantage of her freedom.
She didn’t fight. Didn’t even move.
My entire focus reduced to him: his scent, the firmness of his chest. The pressure of his hands as he guided me. His kisses marked me, tormented me, cherished me. These past weeks Silas had woven a shield around my heart. Protecting me. Protecting us both. He’d become my safe haven, my fortress.
The tightening sensation rose higher and higher. With a staying motion at my beast, I ignited from within, shattering around him and muffling my cries against his shoulder. He released a gravelly moan that tightened my abdomen all over again, grabbing my hips and driving up into me. Somehow, this prolonged the pleasure soaring through my body. My pulse thundered. He gave a final hard thrust and stilled, his forehead finding the crook of my neck as he loosened a groan.
I held him tight as he exhaled, long and slow. I’d never felt this light. Vulnerable. Connected. Our breaths steadied, cheek to cheek, aftershocks rolling under my skin.
And I’d stayed in control.
Awareness of my surroundings returned in degrees. The persistent percussion of traffic beyond the wall. The smell of cut grass and woodsmoke. The cool breeze playing through the trees.
“Are you okay?” Silas whispered, kissing my forehead.
Okay? I was amazing. My chest felt like it was about to burst—in the best way. I understood why people sacrificed everything for this. What the songs and movies and books meant.
I love him.
“I wish we could stay here,” I replied.
The corner of his mouth tugged up wickedly. “I hear there’s beds back at the estate.”
I shivered, both from the cold and the thought of being with him inside the cocoon of bedsheets. Navigating every inch of his body. Exploring how to make him moan like that again …
“My appreciation for the passageway behind our rooms just increased tenfold.” I pressed lazy kisses to his lips. Doing this again and again … oh, I wanted to. So much. I tightened around him. He gave a noise of agreement, hardening again inside of me—
Soreness blossomed between my legs. I winced.
Silas caught it, giving a soft smile and kissing my palm. “We should go.”
Another moment, slipping through our fingers like sand. I wanted to hold Silas forever, but he was right. Our absence wouldn’t be missed for long. We had to find a way to reconnect with Arwood and the team.
I giggled at my jelly legs as we stood. I was a glorious mess: grass punctured my knees. Moisture coated the inside of my thighs. Sweat pooled under my sweater. The slight soreness became a radiating dull ache.
And I didn’t care.
Silas helped me dress, then held my hand as we returned to the wall we’d snuck over … but not before drawing out one final, languid kiss. I clambered up the footholds in a sated, lovestruck bliss—
My beast keened in warning. I halted Silas at the top of the wall.
A few feet away, leaning against a sidewalk tree, stood Steadman with his arms folded. The moonlight cut across his face, illuminating murderous angles.
Silas went very still. So did I.
How long had Steadman been standing there?
I dropped Silas’s hand, even though the damage was already more than done.
Steadman strode for the parked car on the other side of the street, not even waiting to see if we would follow.
Icy trepidation replaced the lingering heat in my chest, curdling my stomach into queasiness. It was hard to pinpoint what made me sicker: that Steadman had seen us mussed, holding hands and together, or the repercussions for him finding us here, so far from the warehouse. Immediately, my mind went to Silas’s family, Arwood’s blackmail, and the Sect. We’d jeopardized our standing with all three.
In my wanting, I’d jeopardized all three.
I descended unsteadily. The streetlights bathed Steadman in yellow as he thumbed a quick message on his phone.
“You two have an interesting interpretation of ‘get to safety,’” he said, tone dripping in condemnation. From the neck down he was filthy, blood-spattered in places, his bullet-resistant vest singed. Only his face was wiped clean. He’d escaped. Had he managed to save his team? I knew better than to ask.
“We didn’t know where else to go. We had no way of contacting anyone …” I trailed off, my thoughts sluggish from the whiplash of emotion, my excuses pitiful. I quit before I dug a hole I couldn’t come out of. “How did you find us?”
Steadman gave me a look that inferred I was too stupid to live. “We track our assets, banshee.” He gestured to my collar, then turned to Silas. “And you. Your compliance should have been warranted. I have half a mind to make a call.”
No!
“I—”
“It’s not his fault,” I jumped in. “It’s my birthday, and I haven’t been out in Prague yet.” Words fell out of my mouth, instinct hijacking my tongue. “I made him take me here.”
Steadman’s eyes narrowed. “His inability to keep his dick to himself is his fault. But”—he ignored Silas as he went to speak again—“I honestly don’t give a shit. It’s my job to get you both back. Come.”
The driver sat alone inside the vehicle. Matej wouldn’t join us ever again.
“I kept telling Arwood he couldn’t put two kids together and expect them not to fuck around.” Steadman opened the door. “Get in, and if either of you so much as breathes wrong, the other will die. Got it?”
We got in.