Page 46 of Queen of War and Ruin

I’m in a room with the most beautiful woman in the world, and godsdamn it, I’m tired of pretending I can resist her. If she’s going to fight me, then fuck it. I’ll fight right back.

I let the wine bottle fall. It hits the ground with a dull thud; the room fills with the thick scent of red wine. Lilias gasps and releases my wrist.

I grab her, then spin, pushing my chest against her back as I wrap my arm around her waist. My cock throbs against the swell of her perfect ass.

“Princess,” I whisper into the soft curve of her ear.

She whimpers, and her hips rock back, pressing into my stiff cock.

“You’re used to people obeying you, aren’t you?” I ask.

Her breath catches as my hand slides down the front of her dress; I grit my teeth against the blind rush of arousal. The room smells like wine and my wife’s perfume, and gods, I’m tired of waking up every morning hard as iron, tangled in my sleeping roll, rising through layers of erotic dreams about the woman now in my arms. The woman I haven’t touched since we came together in the hayloft of a run-down little inn for the best sex of my entire life.

I’m tired of ignoring her, of ignoring this, the fire that burns through my veins every time I’m close to her. The aching need to touch her. I turn toward her, closing my eyes as I press my lips to the soft curve of her neck. Her pulse shivers against my mouth, even as her hips rock, grinding against my cock, sending wave after wave of need through my body. She shivers as I run my fingers through the folds of her skirt, not even sure what I’m looking for until I find the pocket and sink my fingers into it.

“You think the snake should obey you too?” I whisper as I part the fabric. “You want me to do everything you tell me to do?”

She gasps, and I find the hole she cut in the pocket of her dress. Just like I told her to. My fingertips brush against the heat of her naked thigh as I pull a trembling breath over her neck. Gods, she smells good. I let my fingers creep higher as she pushes her hips into mine.

And then I feel the rough leather strap of the sheath I gave her. I almost moan as I brush the dagger’s pommel. It’s warm with the heat rising from her body.

“You still have my dagger,” I say, my lips against her neck.

She gasps something in reply, and her hips rock against my cock. I clench my jaw to keep from groaning against the wave of pleasure. My fingers trace the strap of the dagger’s sheath along the curve of her thigh, creeping closer and closer to the place where her legs meet.

“Gods,” she chokes. “Gods, don’t⁠—”

I freeze.

“Don’t stop,” she gasps.

She reaches up, sinking her fingers into my hair as her back arches against me. I look down at the swell of the world’s most exquisite breasts, and then I press my fingers against the heat of her dripping sex.

Chapter 26

Lilias

NEVER ENOUGH

Don’t ever stop, my mind screams.

I’m shaking against Zarek’s chest as his fingers slide up my thighs. My breath catches in my throat, pleading for something I can’t even put into words. The ache between my legs is almost painful, that desperate longing to feel him again, to go back to the barn in the rain, back to the time when things between us almost made sense.

“Don’t stop,” Zarek whispers, his breath hot against my neck. “Is that another command, Princess?”

I can’t stop the low, animal plea that slips through my lips. I’m trembling, burning, soaking wet, and my gods, this is worse than kissing him a hundred times in a dozen little towns. Because then, I didn’t know what he could do. I didn’t know how good he could make me feel.

“You expect me to obey?” he growls.

I gasp for air as my back arches, rocking against him. I sink my fingers into his hair and cling to him as my body burns. His fingers are so close, dancing across the top of my thighs. Sliding over the folds of my sex.

“Gods,” I choke, “please⁠—”

“Tell me,” he whispers, his voice low and rough against my neck. “Tell me what you want.”

His fingers trace a long, slow path down the cleft of my sex, then back to the top. He’s so close to the place he touched in Detec, the place he devoured in the barn. My hips rock against his hand, my breath coming in ragged, desperate gasps.

“Please,” I pant, barely able to form words. “Please⁠—”