Page 122 of Crownless King

“I earned it,” he said firmly. “Just like you earned yours.” His eyes glinted with heat and mischief. “I showed you mine, now show me yours.” His gaze fixed on the sheet over my breasts.

I shook my head, tipping my chin at his pants. “Your clothes are still on. Take them off, now. Or you will have to dance for me, too.”

He held my gaze as his hands drifted up to the laces at his waistband.

“You want a dance, little minx?” He swayed his hips side to side. His tall, muscular body moved gracefully as he hummed a light tune.

I had no idea that Voron could dance. I’d never seen him joining in at King Tiane’s parties. I wondered what else he’d hidden from me? What other talents were waiting for me to discover?

His eyes trapped mine, however, making me lose my train of thought. He yanked at the laces, opening his pants. Not taking his eyes off mine, he let his pants fall to the floor. With his hands on his hips, he took a wide stance, putting himself on display for me.

“Happy?” He tilted his head, his eyebrow hiked up in question.

I raked my gaze over his body, drinking in every familiar feature, from his powerful thighs, to his trim hips, to his broad shoulders and that amused smile of his as he watched me ogling him.

Next, my eyes homed in on his erection that was pointing straight up, like an exclamation sign, demanding attention. I licked my lips, my inner muscles clenching with the memories of him inside me. Oh, how empty I had felt without him.

I licked my lips and curled a finger at him. “Come here, my king.”

Bracing a knee into the mattress, he crawled to me on all fours, prowling like a predator, his eyes never leaving mine.

I drew my knees up to my chest, getting ready. He pounced on me, and I rolled aside, slipping away.

“Sparrow.” His groan was a mix of frustration and bitter desperation.

“Let’s try this,” I murmured, quickly snapping a handcuff around his wrist.

He paused, staring at it in shock. I made the vines of his bedpost move closer before snapping the second cuff of the first pair around them. He reached for me with his other hand, but I fastened it to the opposite bed post with the second pair of handcuffs.

He threw his head back against the headboard with an exasperated groan. “Please explain how I’m supposed to touch you now?”

“That’s the point, Voron.” I leaned in, kissing the tip of his nose. “I’llbe the one touchingyou.”

His eyes flashed with need from under his silver strands in the front.

“Then what are you waiting for?” He rolled his shoulders back and spread his legs wide, exposing his body to me in invitation.

I bit my lip, shifting a little closer on my knees. Sitting over him, I splayed my hand over the mating mark on his left pec.

“When did you get this?”

“The day before the Silk Festival. The day before you came back.”

I traced the letter S, the first letter of the name he gave me—my only name. And now, it was etched into his skin forever.

“It took you that long to fall in love with me.”

He shook his head. “It took me that long torecognizewhat I was feeling for you. To stop fighting it. To accept it for what it was. To understand I was destined to be alone for the rest of my life, merely a half of a person, separated from my other half by the River of Mists.”

Tragically, he realized he loved me when he thought I was gone for good. At least, I’d always known we were still in the same world.

“Oh, Voron.” I leaned closer to him.

He jerked up suddenly and caught with his teeth the end of the sheet wrapped around me. Falling back against the headboard, he yanked the sheet from me.

“Voron!”

I grabbed for the sheet but, frankly, I didn’t feel like covering up. The warm tingles rushed up and down my skin from his attention. The sensation was way too pleasant to stop it.

---