Page 134 of Sworn to the Shadow Throne

Caution told me to be careful. To maintain a scrap of my dignity.

But caution and my damned dignity could burn to ashes. “Mind, body, and soul, Luna. You control it all.”

Seeing her smile, the nagging anxiety receded. I had the weight of a kingdom on my shoulders, my poor behavior hanging over my head, and danger was arriving tomorrow. But when her lips found mine again, all of it simply melted away.

The moment her hips pressed into my chest, I groaned her name—a question, a plea, a prayer all in one.

“Yes,” her whisper slipped out between kisses. “More.”

I was instantly hard.

Pace yourself. Or, by the gods, you will explode.

I had just enough discipline left for that. The same discipline that had held my magic in check during the interrogation this morning, that had kept my voice even when I wanted to put my fist through every vase of Coryanthus’s flowers—I turned all of it toward the singular task of not terrifying her with how much I wanted this.

The restraint would be agony, but I would suffer it a thousand times over for her.

She wanted me. After the abduction, the broken promise, the careful distance, she was here, saying yes. I would give her everything she asked for and nothing she didn’t for the rest of my damned life.

Standing on a chair was great for kissing, but I needed her comfortable. My hands slid down her sides, grasping her hips to hoist her up. She wrapped her legs around me, skirts splaying around my waist, and we were body-to-body.

So soft.

Her ribs moved against me as she breathed in, pressing her breasts into my neck. Dear gods, my trousers were suddenly too tight. I didn’t think I’d ever been more turned on in my life, and she’d only kissed me.

Muffin squeaked from his place on the table and shot out the door to escape into the balcony garden I’d had made for him. Good choice.

I carried her to the edge of the bed and slowly lowered her onto it. “Much better,” I whispered, dragging my lips up her cheek to trail kisses around her ear. “Tell me what you want.”

Her knees were drawn up on the bed, straddling my waist. I was so close to paradise that it physically hurt to keep myself still. But the pain didn’t matter. I’d stay here all night if that was what she wanted.

She’d gone still by the time our eyes locked again, as if she were braced for me to say or do something that would unravel everything that had just happened between us. Never.

“I’ll be here, waiting, begging for anything you’ll give me.”

Chapter 37

Lunette

Owain hovered above me, dark purple eyes blazing, waiting to hear what I wanted. I’d already chosen, but old fears cropped up, holding my tongue for a long moment.

He’s a prince. What could you possibly offer him?

He could have you then toss you out once he’s had his fill—just like everyone else.

But, gods, hadn’t he stood by me today, practically shouting his public claim on me in front of a hall packed to the brim with soldiers? At court what one did publicly mattered far more than anything done privately.

“And what will you give me, Owain?”

Was that my voice? Why did it sound like a challenge? I’d told myself I would see how this went without letting my fear get in the way, but this was a side of myself I didn’t know I possessed.

“In private…more of whatever you want. I’m not limited to two hands, one mouth, and one cock, Lunette,” he whispered, eyes blazing, as he tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. His warm breath ghosted across my sensitive neck before he leaned even closer to nibble on the lobe of my ear.

Two… Holy gods, the places my mind went were filthy.

“And in public?” I pressed, trying not to moan as he pressed his body even closer to my core. I couldn’t show how much power he had over me—not yet.

“Just as it was today. Me, proud to be by your side.”