Page 21 of Consort of the Crime Queen

Not pain that I can't turn to pleasure, at any rate.

I move up until my cunt, wet and aching for touch, hovers over her face and I grip the headboard for balance. She must be able to smell me; I can smell myself, hot and musky. I can't wait any longer. I lower myself gently so that my lips are brushing against hers.

"Taste me," I demand, my voice ragged with need. Aurora obeys without hesitation, her tongue delving into my aching center. I moan, grinding down against her face as sparks skitter across my nerves.

Aurora eats me with enthusiasm, her lips and tongue teasing my clit as she nibbles and sucks. I card my fingers through her hair, grabbing a handful of it now and then to guide her, looking down at her with possessiveness and affection in equal measure. I groan as a particularly targeted swirl of her tongue sends shockwaves of pleasure through me, making me grind down on her. She grabs my ass and makes a hum of encouragement, and I have to hold on to the headboard tightly, fight to find some semblance of control before I smother her completely. But then she finds that deliciously sensitive spot once more, and I'm gone. I shudder and shake, fucking down on her face with wild, bucking hips, and I feel the flood of my juices coating her face. She doesn't stop, gentle laps of her tongue easing me through the aftershocks, her mouth turning soft and worshipful until I rise up again, let her catch her breath.

At last I shift off her and collapse to the side, pulling her into my arms. Aurora nuzzles against me, a contented sigh escaping her lips as I massage her pussy again, slowly bringing her to orgasm several more times until she sleepily protests.

I can smell myself all over her. She belongs to me now, marked as mine in the most primal way. The thought sends a surge of warmth through my veins, desire flickering back to life, even as I remind myself that she is free.

She has to be free, for moments like this to exist. Moments where, with our heartbeats and breathing in synchronization, there is only peace.

"Do you want to hear more about it?" she says suddenly.

Her abduction, she means. Her time with my father. "Of course. As long as you're ready to talk about it."

And so she tells me everything—or as much as there is to tell. I recognize my father's behavior, his insistent questioning, going over and over the same ground. It's the same tactic he used with men he thought were betraying him, testing for inconsistencies, forcing them to go over and over it again until he was satisfied.

And although I know my father would cut Aurora's throat as easily as he'd cut into a rare steak for dinner, he does not seem to have done harm to her during her time with him. There's nothing here to be thankful for, but I am glad at least that Aurora didn't have to face his true nature.

When she's finished her story, Aurora and I lay tangled together in my bed, my fingers trailing up and down her arm absently while my thoughts run wild.

"I'm sorry that it happened," I say softly. "I will never forgive myself for putting you in such danger."

Aurora tilts her head up to meet my eyes. "We both knew there was a risk. And I'm the idiot who let an obvious plant distract me long enough to stab me with a needle."

"You're not an idiot. And I never should have let you leave Elysium in the first place."

Aurora is quiet for a moment. "I hope you don't mean that," she says at last. "I hope…Hadria, I hope you understand that I can't be kept captive here, not anymore."

"Of course not," I say quickly. "You are free, little sunbeam, as free as the sunshine you remind me of. But…" I let out a shaky breath, emotions churning inside me that I can't quite name. This woman stirs something in me that I've never felt before. The ferocity of it frightens me.

Aurora seems to sense my inner conflict. She caresses my cheek with a soft hand. "But you want to keep me safe."

I nod. But that's not all that's going on in my mind. And she's too quick to notice.

"What's going on in that head of yours, Hadria?"

I remain silent, unsure how to put words to the foreign feelings coursing through me. Sensing my hesitation, Aurora goes on.

"You don't have to hide anything from me." Her voice filters through the haze in my mind. "I'm here for you, no matter what. You can trust me."

She already sees right through me in ways no one else has managed. "I've never felt like this before," I admit quietly. "About…anyone. You make me feel things I don't understand."

Aurora's answering smile lights up her whole face. "Well, maybe we can figure it out together."

"There's something else. But you must not tell anyone." I look deep into her eyes, making sure she understands how serious I am. And then I tell her about the meeting with my father, the agreement made to break up the Syndicate, renounce my claims to the Imperioli Family. "But now I don't have to," I say with a small smile. "I don't have to, thanks to your resourcefulness."

But Aurora has gone very quiet. After a while, she says, "You'd really give up all this for me?"

"In an instant."

"But if you disbanded this place, what would happen to your people?" She is gentle in tone, but her words hit hard. "You like to pretend you're some loner, but if that was true, you wouldn't have gathered all these people around you. You wouldn't have made a home for them. Elysium is more than just a big house and grounds. It's a place where they can be safe. Get support."

I give a little scoff. "Elysium is a place of work to them, that's all. And they're not looking for support. They're looking for money and the next job."

A crease mars her brow. "That's not true, Hadria. I wish you could see it."

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