Page 71 of Shadows of the Crown

But…the prince has never used those things against me, though he has every reason to. He’s in the perfect position to fight me at every step, but he doesn’t. He’s always chosen to protect me—so I choose him now. My control is breaking, and the only person I had left in my life that wouldn’t judge me is now dead.

Because of exactly what I’m about to do again.

The prince doesn’t ask for any explanation, nodding as his hands seek the hem of my shirt, lifting it from my body. His lips find mine in a fervent kiss, not separating for one moment as we continue to undress each other. I stumble over my boot for the second time today, laughing when Caspian follows me, barely stopping us from falling to the rug.

“Fuck, I love that laugh,” he murmurs, walking me backward.

My hands greedily flatten against his abdomen before sliding around his waist. He groans into my mouth when I grip the lines of muscles running along his spine, snapping whatever semblance of control I’d thought to maintain. As my ass meets the cold back of a wooden chair, I reach behind me to shove it aside before blindly swiping my hand across the prince’s desk.

Stacks of paper, gilded pens, and Angel knows what else clank to the floor. He smiles, running his tongue down my jaw as his hands lift the backs of my thighs to place me on the desk.

“You’re going to make Gavriel run in here thinking you’ve murdered me,” he chuckles, my back bowing when he bites into the side of my neck. His fingers cup my breast, pinching hard, and my hand shoots out to catch myself from falling back at the onslaught of sensations. My forehead creases when I grab something sharp, looking over to see my pants somehow landed up here.

“Are you worried, prince? I’ll invite him in myself, if it would make you feel better…though he couldn’t do a fucking thing to stop me if I did wish to kill you.”

He rises fully, kissing my needy skin until he reaches my ear. “I don’t know,” he grinds out, thrusting his cock through my center, leaving me writhing under his full attention. “How many times—” Thrust. “I have to fucking tell you—” Another, then one more. My fingers grip his shoulders tightly, as if they are the only things holding me together. “I am not scared of you, Ariella.” In one movement, he tugs my head back by my hair, pushing the tip of his length just inside my entrance.

My legs shake when he pauses, grabbing my free hand to drag it down his chest until we reach a rough line of skin—his scar. He places his forehead on mine, and I have half a mind to shove my pelvis forward for any kind of relief as he remains still.

“Do you know why I refused Elowen when she attempted to heal this?” I feel utterly pathetic when a whine escapes me as he pushes in just a fraction more. I shake my head, if only to distract my trembling limbs from the overwhelming throbbing at my core. “Because as much as you refuse to admit it, this is a reminder that youareaffected by whatever the fuck this is between us, just as I am. That you try so hard to convince yourself to hate me, and yet cannot find it in your deliciously murderous heart to truly hurt me…and I will wear this scar proudly for the rest of my life.”

I pant against his lips, scrunching my eyes closed. Too much.

My hands pull us into a comfortable familiarity, my tongue searching for his until they caress each other in a demanding dance. He grips my wrists, ripping his own skin as my nails scrape over him when he pulls them off—I barely notice his chuckle from the way he undulates his hips, giving me not nearly enough of him. I can no longer draw him into me as he plants my hands on the table, encouraging them to hold me up as his cup my back and force me to arch forward.

“Caspian, please,” I cry when he continues to deny me.

He pauses, peering up from where he was just about to suck my breast into his mouth. “I get the feeling you’ve never begged for anything in your life…” A mischievous glint enters those silver eyes. “I quite like the sound of it—I should tease you more often.” My retort gets lost to his mouth—Angel, the things this man can do with his tongue. I shudder when he swirls my nipple gently before dragging his teeth over the bud.

My head falls back, only to snap up as he slides lower. A heartbeat later, he halts when a dagger meets his throat. “No. You’re going to fuck me—right now.”

He lifts to bring us at the same level, smirking before roughly thrusting forward until he’s fully seated inside me. My mouth drops on an airless moan as my hand slackens, lowering the blade from his heated skin. Before I can drop it back to the desk, the prince grabs my wrist and brings the cool metal back to his throat. He leans forward, our bodies still connected, until his nose restsagainst mine. The only sound in the tense space is the heaviness of our breaths.

Instinct demands I pull away and not let him hold me in such a vulnerable position.

I ignore it.

Instead, I watch him. I do not blink as I absorb the silver irises staring deeply through me. This is too much.

My breaths quicken, heat sliding up my neck. As I’m a moment away from breaking the trance, his eyes darken and he presses further into the blade. One drop of crimson slides down his neck, spreading over the lines of his chest.

“Should I fail to fulfill your needs, I want you to use it.” His hardened tone caresses my senses, causing the hair along my arms to rise. He drops his head slightly, his lips brushing a light kiss over the tingling skin of my own. “Because I wouldn’t dare live in a world in which I cannot satisfy your every desire.”

A dense shadow pushes against the inner walls of my chest, and I part my lips to compensate for the tightness. He doesn’t give me a chance to process the meaning behind his words before his mouth devours me, their urgency speaking of a desperate need to claim. He pounds into me furiously, his groans burrowing into my bones.

I am thoroughly lost in his taste, his smell. Can barely form a thought beyond the pleasure of each part of my body he worships.

This man that I hate, that I planned to kill to get revenge for his father’s actions. This man that I sunk my blade into before I left him bleeding in front of the castle he is to one day rule. I have told him time and time again just how little he means to me, regardless of what I actually feel.

Because I don’t fucking know.

I roll my hips in time with his, my arms securing around his shoulders. I shove my face into the crease of his neck, sobbing through every merciless thrust as he gives me exactly what I need. He presses his thumb into my spine and pushes as he slides his nail down to my tailbone, gripping my ass to shove himself harder into me.

“Oh fuck, Caspian, I can’t—” I clench around every inch of him as heat builds quickly at the base of my abdomen.

The hand holding my head to him tugs until my neck is exposed for whatever he wishes. “I got you, angel…let go,” he breathes over my skin before sucking just below my ear.

Release finds me the moment his cock swells, and the glide of his mouth feels desperate as it searches for mine. He bites down on my lip, drawing another wave of pleasure from me. His thrusts slow as we fall into a companionable silence, both of us trying to regulate our breathing. My eyes flit open to find his, the silver irises seeming to dim as he calms.

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