Page 118 of Kingdom of Crowns and Daggers

Grinning, he presses against me, tilting his head down and blocking all the light until all I see is him. His lips brush kisses over mine as he speaks. “Yes, just like you were hoping I would, which is why you let me catch you leaving. You’re the best assassin in this kingdom, Alyx. You could have disappeared without me ever knowing, but you wanted me to. You were hoping I would stop you, weren’t you?”

Swallowing, I search his gaze. “Maybe.” It’s the only weakness I admit to, but Joha has no issue being weak for me and bridging that gap.

“I love you, Alyx. If I have to use this to keep you with me, then I will, and when that is done, I will find something else. I am never letting you go.”

“If they find out what I am, they will?—”

“I do not care,” he interrupts, his voice harsh. “Let them make demands. I have given them everything, but they do not get to take you from me.” He cups my face, and I lean into his hands, greedy for his every touch. Maybe I should worry about how deeply I feel for him, Orion, and Crux, but as I look into his eyes, I cannot seem to care. “Say you will stay.” His lips ghost over mine, cajoling me. “Stay.”

It hurts as much as it heals me because I know this will not end well.

This time, my tears do fall, and Joha kisses them away. “You do not get to leave me, Alyx. I cannot do this without you. They can have my mind, my body, and my future, but you have my heart, and I cannot live without it or you.”

“You are a fool,” I murmur, my voice thick.

“For you? Absolutely.” He grins, kissing each of my eyelids before pressing a soft kiss to my lips. I don’t react at first, torn between what I need to do and what I want to do. “Stay with me. Stay with your fool,” he pleads, kissing me between each word.

I kiss him back, tears sliding down my face. The saltiness mixes as our tongues tangle in a languid, loving kiss. His hands tighten on my cheeks as he presses me against the door.

I grip his shirt, pulling him closer before we break apart. His desire-filled eyes freeze me in place as his hands slide down my shoulders, across my sides, and around me. I gasp as he yanks me up, lifting me into the air. He doesn’t look away and neither do I as he spins and walks us across the room and lays me on my bed, crawling up my body, his lips meeting mine in a hungry, promising kiss.

My hands slide greedily down his back until they meet the strip of his exposed skin at the base of his spine where his shirt has risen, and I explore the muscles on his back as we kiss. He pushes up, pulling his mouth from mine.

“I’m going to remind you why you belong here, and I’m going to keep reminding you how much I love you until the day you believe it. You were always supposed to be mine, Alyx, just accept it.”

Never one to be outdone, I wrap my legs around his waist and spin us, pinning him down on the bed. My hands grab his and hold them above his head as he grins up at me. “More like you belong to me, my king.”

“Prove it,” he says, twining his fingers with mine as he lies back.

Arching a brow, I lean down and bite the edge of the tie on his shirt, and then I tug it down, watching it unravel. The material parts, exposing more of his tanned, muscular chest for my greedy eyes. I lean down and place a kiss at the base of his throat, feeling him swallow against me as I move farther down and do the same.

Sliding my lips across his collarbone, I nip the skin there as he groans. I watch his eyes slide shut, his lips parting as he arches into my touch. “If they could see their perfect king now, on his back and begging for me to touch him, what would they think?”

“That I’m a lucky bastard.” His eyes open and clash with mine.

Releasing his hands, I slide farther down, taking his shirt with me, and then I flick open a dagger from my side and cut it away. The material falls to my bed as I run my lips across his chest, licking and sucking his nipples. When he groans, I slide lower, kissing along his impressive abs and over his hips as I unlace his trousers. I push them down his thighs so he’s naked for me. His cock is hard with precum leaking from the tip, and when I lean down and blow a warm breath across him, his length jerks for me as he moans.

“Alyx.”

Keeping him trapped in my gaze, I lean down and dart my tongue out, dragging it along his tip and tasting his desire as he watches me.

I taunt him, observing his every reaction. His hands fist the sheets above him, and his torso stretches as he lifts his hips for more. It’s a fucking perfect sight.

Gripping his cock, I slide my tongue down the veiny side, tasting him as I torture him. I suck the tip as he gasps, lifting his hips off the bed as he tries to bury himself in my mouth. Chuckling, I pull back, waiting for him to slump, then I suck him again, pushing him to see how much it takes for him to break. I ignore my own desire and slick thighs as I suck on and nibble his cock until he cries out. My nipples harden, pebbling in my shirt as red-hot desire races through me. The most powerful man in the kingdom is letting me control him. It’s a heady thought, leaving me wet and wanting until he finally snaps.

Jerking up, he throws me down next to him, pressing me face down into the soft bedding. His hands grip my trousers and he yanks them down, quickly stripping me until I lie naked below him. He forces my thighs open with his hand and cups my pussy, making me groan. “You like teasing me. You like playing with me. I can feel you dripping against my hand.”

“What do you plan to do about it?” I ask, grinding into his hand as I widen my thighs to give him better access.

“I would tease you back,” he murmurs as he leans down, biting the soft flesh of my ass. I yelp, even as the sharp pain fades into pleasure. “But I need you too much.”

His fingers slide through my desire, then his thick digits thrust inside me as I cry out. It’s my turn to grip the bedding as he fucks me with his fingers, curling them so I see stars behind my closed eyes. I push back for more as he bites and kisses along my ass and then lower. He licks around where his fingers spear me before his lips cover my clit, sucking and kissing. Joha adds a third finger, stretching me deliciously, and I rock into his touch, gripping the bedding as I give myself over to him.

“You taste like heaven, better than the most expensive wine. You taste like perfection and all mine,” he whispers against my pussy, making me groan, and he lashes my clit with that silver tongue until I reach for my release, trembling below him.

“Come for me. Come for your king,” he orders.

I come apart with a muffled scream, clenching on his fingers as pleasure racks my body, leaving my legs shaking. He fucks me through it, and when I slump, he pulls back and I roll. My eyes land on him as I pant. Smirking, he lowers his hand, glistening with my cum, and strokes his cock as he watches me.

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