Page 92 of The Stolen Crown

I leveraged her into my lap, buried my face against her neck, and breathed her in.

“I want all of you,” I whispered. “I want to be inside you, want your body against mine. I want your screams, your taste. I want it all, I do.”

She tilted her head and pressed a soft kiss to the side of my neck. “I’ll follow your lead here, Hearttalker.”

“Your touch is different. It is sweet and…safe.” I eased her back so she was looking at me and trapped her face between my palms. “I want this, Mira. I won’t let them take you from me.”

Then I crushed her mouth with mine. A little whimper of surprise slipped from her tongue to mine. I pressed her sweet body against me, her breasts to my heart, and for once, the nightmares were quiet. Like the taste of her—sea air and sweet berries—brought something safer and stronger than the darkness of the past.

My palm slipped under the hem of her skirt once more.

Mira shuddered when I leaned forward, maneuvering her body beneath mine. My thumb traveled up the inside of her thigh.

I paused and caught her gaze. “Yes?”

“Yes.” She nodded, eyes fluttering closed.

I teased the heat of her center. Soft and soaked. I only wanted more. Not so many days ago, I would be rushing to scrub off the sensation in an instant.

With Mira, I wasn’t certain if I’d ever get enough. I circled one finger around her swollen slit. Mira’s breath was hot against my throat.

“Tait, gods…”

I grinned against her skin. “Words, Vicious? Do you want me to stop?”

“Don’t you dare.” Mira’s head fell back, and her neck arched at the same moment her hips bucked, seeking more pressure.

Those slender fingers threaded through my hair and clung to the roots like she was desperate for purchase, like my touch sent her body into a frenzy.

Never had I seen such a perfect sight.

I held my breath and speared two fingers inside her until the silver rings I wore were coated in her pleasure. I paused, one breath, two. My stomach didn’t twist; my skin did not burn in disquiet. All I felt was Mira, the pulses of her body, the rough rise of her breath. I would die a grateful man if I had the pleasure of feeling this over and over again.

Mira rocked her hips against my hand.

“Give me that mouth.” I gripped her jaw and pulled her lips to mine. My tongue demanded entrance; she offered it. Our teeth clacked, our bodies arched, as though we could not cease devouring each other.

With my thigh, I nudged her legs wider, then pressed my thumb against the apex of her core.

Mira whimpered. “There. Tait, don’t stop. Please.”

Gods, to hear the breathless cry of my name on her tongue was all I wanted. What else mattered, save finding new ways to show my vicious princess how much I planned to cherish her, how desperately I never wanted to hear those cries for anyone but me.

“Let me feel you soak my fingers.”

Mira’s eyes opened. She looked at me like she could not puzzle out who spoke, then a sly grin spread over her full lips. She held firmly to my wrist, kept my palm in place, my fingers pumping in and out, and she writhed beneath me.

There was no attempt to hide her need, her desire. Mira took what I offered, and she held no shyness in revealing how fiercely it belonged to her. Another breath and her spine bowed off the ground. Her body stiffened and her thighs clamped around my arm and hand.

She cried out, still slowly circling her hips over my hand until the pulses eased.

I reared over her and took her lips with mine. “I need more of you.”

Mira laughed. “Hearttalker, I am following your lead, and I daresay, I’m getting the better end of this deal.”

“I could watch you fall apart all damn day.” Apprehension rippled down the back of my neck when I reached for my trousers and nudged them down my hips again.

I blew out a long breath. This would not be another nightmare. This was Mira, my Vicious. A woman who challenged me, who confessed her fears of being unworthy. A woman who could have anyone, but for months she had kept her gaze on me. She knew every jagged secret of mine and pulled me closer, threatened gore and violence on my behalf.