“How kind of you to say,” I managed wryly.
He watched the glide of my tongue along my lip, his smile gone. “Oh, I’m not a kind man, Princess,” he murmured.“Didn’t you know?”
I didn’t respond at first for fear of dislodging the thumb on my lip. One taste of him was more than enough to know that a second would be unwise. I’ve heard ladies speak of temptations such as these. Especially where Lord Rhysander was concerned. Rumor of his prowess was legend, according to the maid. I had no desire to cloud my mind even with such distractions.
“Lord Blaque,” I said before my voice cut out.
When he didn’t respond, I looked up and almost fumbled backward. His eyes were no longer a tranquil blue. They were bright and turbulent, like chaotic, angry waves after a violent storm. The hand on my jaw snaked to the back of my neck to jerk me forward against his hard body. My hands came up to catch my fall and land on the firm, tightly knitted muscles of his chest.
“Rhys—” I started to protest, but was unable to finish. Since when did I call him Rhys? The hard, insistent press of his lips against my own robbed me of all words and common sense.
I had been kissed before, not that Gideon or my tutors ever knew about those stolen moments, and I thought I knew everything there was to know about the act. Sloppy, wet things, kisses. I thought, at the time, I was preparing myself for this, when I would meet the man I was promised to and we would kiss for the first time. An immature part of me thought I could surprise him with my worldly knowledge based on my meager experience.
I was wrong.
Insteadhesurprisedme.
Rhys guided me backward with one powerful movement, though I didn’t notice it other than as a passing thought that it felt like walking on clouds. His hand caught against the wall and then his body was trapping me there. Could it be called a trap if you didn’t want to leave it?
The moment his chest brushed against mine, and his tongue plundered my mouth, I forgot about keeping theupper hand and kissed him back.
My hands found their way into the incredibly soft material of his cape. It flowed around and over his powerful shoulders, shrouding us from the outside world. His smoke-cinnamon scent was all-encompassing, filling me up and making me drunk on it. That was the only excuse I had for drawing my hands down his chest, to his waistline, to tug the thick material of his shirt from his breeches.
Pure madness, I told myself as I slipped my hands underneath to the taut skin of his abdomen. The muscles there contracted against my tentative touch and he growled against my lips.I liked that, I thought as I swallowed the sound. I wanted more, more of his madness, his kiss. My fingers traced through the soft hair on his stomach and followed it up the hardness of his chest. My fingernails scraped over the flats of his nipples and he hissed, crowding me into the hard stone wall until my hands became trapped between us.
His own hands tugged at the strings binding my bodice together until they loosened and the material hung off my shoulders. His deft fingers divested me of the top entirely and cool air swirled around me. My nipples tightened in response and that sent a wave of awareness through me. I noticed the open door one of the maids had forgotten to bring to after they left. I heard the clang of servants in the hallway beyond and realized anyone could peer in at any moment.
Noticing my distraction, Rhys tugged the cloth of my chemise under my breasts and broke the kiss, leaving me feeling lightheaded and tender-lipped. He brought his head beside mine, nuzzling me cheek to cheek, his nose scenting at my hair. My hands were freed long enough to grip his long locks and then his lips were moving down my throat and chest, leaving a tingling streak of gooseflesh in their wake.
His hands cupped my breasts and my head knocked against the stone wall, one or the other sent sparks of light over my closed lids. Rhys crouched the slightest bit to bring his head level, then took one aching tip into his mouth and sucked deeply. I arched against him, unprepared for such adeliciously wicked onslaught. One hand held the other breast, loving it gently, fingering small, featherlight circles that rivaled the slick flicks of his tongue. His free hand skirted down the line of my leg, rough fingers dug in the flesh to bring the heavy skirts of my dress and underclothes up just enough that he could find the aching heat of my center.
The cavernous room swallowed my feeble moan as his fingers traced me through the thin material of my undergarments. He finished his attentions to the other nipple and kissed a path back up my neck, abandoning the wet tips of my breasts in the cool air, too sensitive and wanting.
He took my mouth again and this time I managed to prepare myself for the hard assault of his lips. I met him with a battle of my own, pressing against him, even as his fingers searched for the closures to my underthings. When that proved too difficult, he growled again, took the center piece in his hand and rent the material with a vicious tug.
My arms wrapped around his shoulders and I gave into the kiss until I didn’t know where he ended and I began. He nudged my legs open with one powerful thigh and then his fingers delved into my wetness. I groaned into his open mouth and he broke apart to whisper, “That’s it, pet,” before he captivated me with another long, open-mouthed kiss.
One finger traced all the slippery, intimate parts of me under my dress and I was too consumed by desire to be wrought with inhibitions. A sting, then a feeling of fullness, an aching tenderness that shocked a gasp from my chest.
“Shhh,” he said against my lips, “I’ve got you, Elena.”
“Yes,” I said before he resumed the kiss and the short, pulsing movements of his finger. I heard a clatter in the hall and my gaze darted to the door, but he didn’t stop his ministrations. If anything, his fingers moved more insistently, fluttering against a part of me that shot fire over my entire body. Something inside of me sparked to life and muscles locked, starting with my toes, moving up to my calves, and then my thighs and stomach. My breath shortened, my chest ached, and he shoved my face in his neck so he could whisper in my ear.
“This body, it belongs to me. You see how it weeps for me? How it responds only to me?” He angled his finger in a come-hither gesture, tapping against the source of my desire, strumming me from the inside out and I stopped breathing entirely, my whole being focused on the movements of his hands. “This is the essence of our deal, Elena Darkmoore, future Queen of Acasia. You’ll. Be. Mine. In every way and until the end of time.”
I came apart against him, sobbing against his shoulder and his ruthless assault continued until he’d wrung every last drop of pleasure from me.
When naught but an echo was left, I looked up, my chest heaving and froze. Lord Blaque was standing in front of me, a respectable distance between us. His shirt was tucked into his waistband and his long, ebony hair was no more mussed than when he stood in front of my court. I glanced down at my dress to cover my disheveled state and found that nary a strap or ribbon was out of place. My garments were in pristine condition and I was not pinned against the wall like I was mere moments before. The only remnant from our interlude was the riot of sensation still tumbling through me.
Lord Blaque still had a hand cupping the side of my jaw, but his eyes were no longer stormy, but calm. Had I imagined it? Had it all be some sort of fantasy? A fantastical dream?
Underneath my gown, my body still quaked from the tryst. I could still feel him inside me, remember how he felt, hot and hard, against me. It couldn’t have beenmy imagination.
The hand at my neck pulled me closer, and I stepped forward tentatively, afraid I might fall without the guiding presence of his palm. His scent wafted over me and my body again came to life. He rubbed his lips possessively over mine and I recalled his taste with startling clarity. I stifled the groan that rose in my chest and kept my hands between us to ward him off, even as I yearned for him.
“Damn it all to Slaine,” he bit out.
His eyes were hard as stone when he pulled away and I realized I had completely underestimated him, despite the warnings. He smiled, though it was more like a slash of teeth, and it reminded me that he wasn’t safe at all. There was a beast lurking just beneath the surface. “My dragon can’t wait to be bound to you, it seems.”
