Page 43 of Kingdom of Crowns and Daggers

It’s like the spell pops. My hands grip his back, my lips part, and he rumbles a satisfied groan, deepening the kiss. His tongue sweeps inside my mouth and tangles with mine as we duel for dominance and submission.

I’ve been kissed before—I am not a virginal maiden, after all—but I have never been kissed like this.

It’s as if I am the air Crux breathes, as if he could not bear to part with me even for a second. We melt into one.

His hair hangs down around his face, shielding us, and his hard body pins me down more securely as he deepens the kiss. It’s brutal and hard, just like him.

Perfect.

It’s is better than I could have ever imagined, but annoyance fills me—annoyance because he waited so long and that he dared to kiss me right now, while my mind is on another man.

Unable to let him be in full control, I wrap my legs around his waist and flip us once more. My hands pin his above his head and my thighs bracket his waist, pressing my core to his rapidly hardening length. The feel of the huge organ makes my eyes widen as I perch atop it. He arches up, chasing me and kissing me harder.

“Are you happy to see me, or is that a blade?” I ask between kisses.

His lips tilt in a smirk. Sliding one hand down his body, I find a dagger in his pocket and tug it out, throwing it away. “Happy to see me it is,” I murmur as his hands snap up, breaking my grip. His meaty fingers grip the back of my hair and pull me solidly down across him, holding me hard and fast as he bites and sucks my tongue until all I can do is moan and relent.

His knee suddenly wedges up and flings me back.

I tumble to the mattress as he crawls up the bed, stopping to kiss my chest over my rapidly racing heart, and then his lips are on mine again. Groaning, I fist his messy hair, tugging him harder against me until our teeth clash.

Desire so strong I choke on it races through my blood, heating me until I cannot take it. I roll my hips, needing more of his brutal, punishing touch.

Needing to be lost in him.

All the years of repressed desire, wondering, and wanting from afar erupts between us until we fight to get closer and gain the upper hand.

We fall from the bed with our momentum, and I grunt as my back hits the wooden floor. When I hit a post, I jerk away and slap his face in warning. His head jerks to the side, his brown hair still gripped in my fist, and when he slowly turns back to face me, my heart stutters at the gleam in his black eyes—pure hunger.

I gasp when he lifts me to my feet with just one arm, throwing me back against the post as he forces himself between my thighs and kisses me. The power of our bodies rocks the table behind me until I hear something smash as it hits the floor, but I don’t care.

I reach up and tear away some of the gauze attached to the wooden ceiling, wrapping it around his throat and yanking him back. My feet hit the floor as I step away, touching my raw, bruised lips as we both pant.

We stare at each other, shock and desire reflected back at me in his eyes.

The very things I am feeling.

“Run, little assassin,” he growls.

I turn to race to the closest weapon, but he hits my back, knocking me to the floor and flipping me. More decorative items fall around us as we hit them, and his mouth finds mine once more.

I dig my teeth into his plump lower lip, making him growl like an animal as he jerks above me. “Alyx,” he warns.

“Crux,” I retort, licking the sting as I stare into his black eyes.

Snarling, he cuffs my throat and kisses me again. What was hard and feral turns drugging and loving as we kiss leisurely, like we are making up for lost time, until we break away.

Our foreheads press together as we pant.

As I come to, blinking away my desire as much as I can, panic winds through me, and he must see it in my eyes.

We crossed a line we never should have crossed.

I’m going to lose him, lose everything?—

“Shh, don’t. Don’t think right now. For one moment, let’s just be. Tomorrow doesn’t exist; neither does yesterday. It’s just now, just us and how much we want each other. No other worries.”

I nod my head slowly, relaxing at his words, and he kisses my forehead. “Just us,” I whisper.

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