Finally, his mouth released her nipple with a pop. He kissed the valley between her breasts.
Both his hands stayed where they were, palms full of her breasts, fingers kneading in slow, firm rotations as his mouth descended across her ribcage. He kissed each rib he could feel beneath her skin. He kissed the soft skin below her sternum. He kissed the slight curve of her belly.
Cixi looked down at him through half-open eyes. Her lashes were damp. Her lips were bitten raw. She watched Cassian press his mouth against her navel, his tongue dipping briefly into the small hollow, and his pitch-black hair, now diluted into light brown, lifted to meet hers.
He held her gaze as he kissed her belly. His eyes never left hers, and the sight of him there, his swollen lips dragging across her stomach, his hands still working her breasts, watching her with that focused, burning hunger, made her entire body tremble.
