Page 15 of Red Queen

“Why do you wish to bed me if you disdain me?” The words come of their own accord but now they’re out, in the air, alive between us.

He wastes no time stroking my throat with his thumb, still holding me as he brings his mouth once more to my ear.

“Disdain, Eleanna?” he asks. “You mistake my challenging of your methods for a lack of desire. Quite the contrary.”

This time he shifts, bringing his hips to mine and his erection is something that cannot be denied and the flames in me flare higher.

“So your cock is filled with blood. So what?”

His gaze is unwavering and intense. “I see a fire in you, a relentless strength that matches my own. It’s not about liking, Eleanna. No, it’s about you paying homage to me. You’re a formidable woman, a queen in every sense. Make no mistake, this is about conquest, me over you. It will hold you to me and we both know it. Even now you want me. I bet if I put my hand between your thighs, you’d be wet and wanting. But it’s a good conquest, a meeting of equals in passion as much as we are in power.”

“And you think,” I say, trying to ignore the wet heat that throbs deep inside me, that coats my upper thighs, the way the urge to be dragged to his bed beats hard, “that such a...conquest won’t complicate our alliance? Or perhaps you believe that bedding me will somehow tame the fire you claim to admire?”

“Oh, my fallen Queen, I believe it will strengthen our bond, make our alliance unbreakable. As for taming you, that’s a delicious obstacle I look forward to conquering.”

My heart skips a beat, anticipation tugging deep.

Alexandru growls, lifting me by the throat, the suddenness of it making me gasp. Delight ripples down my spine as my pulse races and desire floods my thoughts.

This is the moment I’ve been waiting for—and dreading—since I arrived at his doorstep.

He tightens his grip, and my breath hitches as his scent, a heady mix of leather and sandalwood, invades my senses, filling my nostrils and fogging my mind.

Alexandru smiles slowly, the pure hunter he is, and I spasm, the traitorous heat between my legs refusing to be ignored, as he brings his head down.

His sharp teeth catch my bottom lip and he draws back, stretching it as his tongue samples along the inside.

He sinks those teeth in deep, drawing a drop of blood and I almost orgasm, even as he lets me go and I half crumple down.

“This way,” Alexandru commands, turning and leading me through the dimly lit corridors of the stronghold.

I follow unable to stop myself, unable to control the urgent lick of need within.

We pass once vibrant tapestries lining the walls, now muted with age. I breathe in the scent of burning wood from the numerous fireplaces scattered throughout, the only source of warmth here. The polished stone floors reflect the sparse light as I match his step.

He doesn’t turn, just reaches back and clamps on my wrist as though I might vanish. His touch is fire and with it comes the heightened senses, the scent of him that overpowers everything else, his strength flowing like lifeblood into me.

And I trace the place where he bit deep, each touch of my tongue a vibrant spark of need. I hate him.

He turns, dragging me through a thick wooden door, revealing a room bathed in soft light. A large bed draped in sumptuous fabrics lies there and the decadent luxury of it arouses me further. Alexandru steps inside and closes the door behind us.

There’s no turning back.

“Eleanna,” Alexandru says, “you thrive under my control, a truth you’ve yet to fully embrace. Prove it. Show me you can take orders, follow my commands when the moment demands it.”

I swallow hard, forcing myself to submit to this new reality.

“And if I don’t, Alexandru?”

“Then there is no deal.”

Without another word, I take one step, the primal force that draws me unleashing. He stands in the middle of the room, and I’m torn with lust and resentment, need and hate.

Alexandru’s mouth turns up in a slow, feral smile. “Strip, Eleanna.”

I narrow my eyes, ignoring the urge to submit along with the urge to dominate.

“Fucking strip.”

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