Kane shifts onto one arm. Slowly, he undoes the laces of his breeches. The anticipation coils tighter within me, my body throbbing with need, as he frees his thick cock.
“It’s this or it’s nothing.”
“This,” I whisper against his lips. “I need you. I want you.”
“You have me,” he murmurs, brushing his lips against mine in a tantalizing tease.
He positions himself at my entrance. The tip of his cock teases me, making me gasp, and my body responds instinctively, my hips lifting to meet him.
“Do you want to be mine, Little Fawn?” He inches forward, pushing inside me just enough to make me moan, then pulls back.
I whimper, my wrists straining against the silk bonds. “Please, Kane…”
“Tell me what you want,” he rasps. His cock teases me again as he pulls on my bindings, and the silk digs into my wrists.
“I want to be yours,” I moan, trembling. “Only yours.”
His grip on my wrists tightens, possessive and unyielding, his body dominating mine. “Good girl.”
With one powerful thrust, he fills me completely. I cry out in pleasure, stretching around every inch of him, satisfyingly full.
He cuts off my cries with a fierce kiss. His tongue explores my mouth with a hunger that matches the intensity of his thrusts. It’s all-consuming, every inch of my body flaming, on fire, beneath him.
When he pulls back, his eyes lock onto mine. His breath is hot against my skin as he leans in, and his lips brush my cheek. “You look so good tied up. So beautiful. Mine for the taking.”
The praise sends a thrill through me. I arch my back, lifting my hips, begging for more. And he gives it to me, each powerful thrust driving deeper.
My pleasure builds into a tightening coil ready to snap. Every movement, every touch, drives me closer to the edge.
With a moan of his name, I tumble over, my body convulsing around him. My cries fill the room, mingling with his groans of satisfaction as he continues to driveinto me, riding out my climax until I feel him tense. His grip on my cuffs tightens, and I’m even more full than before as his body shudders against mine.
For a moment, we stay like that, breaths mingling, bodies entwined. After seconds…minutes…hours…Kane reaches up. He unties the knot and gently untangles the silk laces from around my hands. Pulling me close, he kisses each wrist, soothing the marks left by the restraints.
“Does it hurt?” he asks, tracing the indentations.
I shake my head, a lazy smile spreading across my lips as I rest my head against his chest. “You could never hurt me.”
And the words feel so true, my heart aches. Even though I know they’re a lie. Because he can hurt me. Because he will if I don’t protect my heart. My pleasure is the only thing that can truly be his. But for the first time in a long time, I feel at home in my own skin. I’m afraid the barriers I purposefully constructed, the new mantras I know I should live by, are now in pieces around us.
“It’s good we were there when the fire broke out,” Kane says, his voice thick with exhaustion. “I don’t want to think what would have happened to the palace if I hadn’t been able to help stop it.”
I stiffen and take in a lungful of air, searching it for smoke. We were so busy creating heat of our own that I forgot all about the flames and the feast, the way Four’s eyes blazed blue, how he left me for dead.
“Why did they do it?” I ask, blinking back images of the men attacking the king, spitting fire, knowing it could end us all.
“It is…complicated.”
I lift my head and look up at him, into those eyes that have seen through me since the second I landed in Towerfall.
Kane’s hold on me tightens, his muscles rigid as if he’s fighting himself, before he says, “Power has shifted since Alderic’s father died. The former king was a strong and giving leader who distributed the kingdom’s wealth, kept his people fed, made the land fertile. Now…”
“His son wants it all for himself.”
“No.” Kane shakes his head. “Alderic is a great man, as good as his father—better even.”
“Then why set the fire? Why attempt to assassinate him? Why form a pitchfork-wielding mob outside the palace gates?”
Kane pushes himself up, his back resting against the wooden headboard. “Alderic is not himself, and I will see to him as soon as I can without drawing attention and make sure his injury is not deadly.”
