Page 61 of Kingdom of Crowns and Daggers

Stepping closer, I tip her chin up so her gaze stays on mine. “You could never be.”

For a moment, we just stare until I can’t take it anymore. I’ve missed her. It’s been a day, but I’ve missed her so fucking much, and after finally kissing the woman I’ve been in love with for years, I can’t seem to stop thinking about it, so I take a chance. She might kill me, but it would be worth it.

Her anger morphs to desire as I slam her back into the wall, placing one hand near her head and the other on her side, and then I crush my lips to hers. My tongue tangles with hers in a battle of wills, both of us fighting for the upper hand.

Alyx is and always has been my weakness, and I let that show as I devour her. Her sweet taste drives me crazy, and my cock is so hard beneath my trousers it hurts, jerking with the need to be buried in my girl until she forgets why she’s mad at me.

I feel her muscles bunch and almost grin against her lips, knowing what she is planning.

Groaning, I block the hand that comes up to stab me, sending the dagger spiralling away. Her frustration is evident, and she changes her plan of attack from stabbing me to making me surrender. Her lips harden, feasting on mine, and her hands grip my body.

If only she knew I had already surrendered everything to her all those years ago.

My mind, body, and soul are all hers.

She could force me to my knees and have me wait there for years just for another taste of her and I would, but here she is, kissing me back, and the fire I’ve tried to tame overtakes me. I cannot hold back. I need her to know how much I want her. I need to know she wants me too.

It’s selfish and greedy, but it doesn’t stop me from hiking her dress up and slipping my hand into her underwear. I swallow her gasp, feeling her body shudder against mine. We are crossing a line, but I don’t care. I want her too much to stop. I need her too much. She might always win the war against me, but I will win this battle.

“Crux,” she whispers, trying to pull away. She turns her head, my lips sliding across her cheek to her neck. She moans in my ear, and I feel the hot flesh of her clit throb in my palm. She’s so hot and wet for me as I keep my hand pressed against her centre, letting her decide. Her legs part, and it’s all the permission I need.

That last shred of control leaves me as I push them wider, lifting her skirts as I kiss her once more. She’s so soft, so hot, that I can’t help parting her pussy lips and stroking my fingers across her to trace every inch. I know I should move slowly and be soft, but I can’t with her—not when she bites down on my lower lip, urging me on.

Alyx doesn’t need my protection, not right now.

Sucking on her lower lip in retaliation, I press my thumb to her throbbing bundle of nerves, feeling her jerk as she moans. Satisfaction and pride fill me as I watch her, playing her body and wanting every drop of her pleasure.

I need it more than I need my next breath.

Rubbing her clit in slow circles, I work out what she likes, and when she cries out, I know she’s lost. Leaving her pretty clit, I slide my fingers lower, circling her tight, little hole as her eyes open, clashing with mine, burning bright with desire.

“Crux.” She pants my name, and it goes straight to my pounding heart and leaking cock.

Locking my eyes on hers, I slip two fingers inside her, forcing them deep. She lifts up, trying to escape me, but I press my other hand against her hip, pulling her close and slamming her down onto them.

There will be no escape from me. She needs to know that.

Whimpering, she grips my shoulders as I curl my fingers inside her, stroking those nerves that have her eyes sliding shut again, whimpers falling from her lips. When I add a third, stretching her channel around my scarred digits, she cries out so loudly, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone heard, and that thought only makes me wilder.

I grind my hand into her clit as I pull my fingers free and thrust them back in, showing her exactly how I plan to fuck her, and I will. Alyx will be mine.

The sound of footsteps reaches us, and she panics, trying to push me away, but I push her back, pinning her as I fuck her with my fingers. The footsteps stop in front of the building, and there’s a mumble of voices and then rattling doors.

“Crux,” she warns, breathing heavily, her chest heaving. Leaning down, I lick across her breasts before rolling my eyes up to hers.

“Don’t tell me to stop. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. I need to feel you come so I can survive the rest of the day while I am not at your side,” I admit, my voice rough, and she clenches around my fingers, making me groan. “Fuck, you feel so good, so hot, so wet . . . It’s all I’ll think about today. Someone could sneak up on us right now and sink a blade into my heart and I still wouldn’t stop. They would have to pry my dead body from yours.”

Her breath hiccups, and she pulls me closer, her lips meeting mine again as I grind my palm into her clit. Her channel flutters around me, letting me know she’s close, but I want to drag this out for eternity. I want to be locked in her body forever.

We hear the guards breaking in the doors of the bathhouse we’re behind, but we don’t care. The splitting of wood and confusion in their voices reach us. Still, I don’t stop, and she doesn’t ask me to. She rolls her hips, grinding her cunt into my palm, all while letting out little mewls that drive me crazy.

“Shh or they’ll find us,” I warn as she whimpers, her channel clenching on my fingers. “Alyx, if they come back here, I’m going to kill them for interrupting something I have dreamed about for years.”

My threat does nothing but spur her on, so I grab a blade and force the flat edge between her teeth.

“Bite down and stay silent.” I demand. “Because I have no plans to stop until I feel you come around my fingers.”

She nods, biting into the blade as she muffles her moans. We hear splashing and yells, but neither of us stop. My fingers are buried deep inside her, stroking that tight, wet heat until her eyes roll back in her head and a muffled scream emerges from her throat as she finds her pleasure.

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