Page 90 of The Stolen Kingdom

Valda’s hand found her jaw, gripping it firmly, and before Maris could even move the damp strands of hair from her face, Valda’s mouth was on hers.

Valda kissed her like she was claiming her soul. Her tongue slipped past Maris’s lips with ease, swallowing the groan that escaped her chest. The immense weight of Valda’s body pressed against her, pinning her to the bed as if she might escape. Maris’s hands scrambled against Valda’s back, first clawing at the fabric of her blouse before slipping beneath it. The warmth of Valda’s skin met her fingertips, and any thought of resistance dissolved into pure, aching need.

But then Valda pulled back, her eyes gleaming with mischief. Maris instinctively leaned forward, chasing her lips, desperate to touch and have her again. Valda chuckled low in her throat, leaning just far enough away to keep her from catching her lips again.

“You want to act high and mighty, hmm?” Valda taunted, her voice like molten honey. “It’s torture, isn’t it?” She grinned, baring her teeth. “Wanting to touch the person you love more than anything… to kiss them… and they pull away?” She tilted her head, the grin morphing into a smirk as her voice dropped. “Complete torture.”

“Valda…” Maris whimpered, her hands traced gentle, pleading circles over the warm planes of Valda’s back.

“You want to taste me, too, don’t you?” Valda teased, her smirk widening.

The words made Maris’s thoughts blur and her body flush. She swallowed hard as her eyes searched Valda’s, her lips parting to reply, but nothing came out.

Valda leaned closer, her lips just brushing Maris’s ear. “You’re dying to know… Do I taste the same?” Her voice was a whisper, her breath hot against Maris’s skin. Valda leaned back enough to bite her lower lip, her sharp gaze never leaving Maris’s.

The tension between them thickened like the air before a storm.

“As much as I want to eat you out again…” Valda’s hands slid down Maris’s sides, brushing the sensitive skin just beneath her tunic. “I think I deserve to be taken care of.”

Maris’s breath hitched, her body trembling under the weight of Valda’s body.

Valda tilted her head and grinned. “After all, I’m a queen, too,Your Highness.”

“Not right now, you are not,” Maris blurted out, knowing damn well that the statement alone would fuck with Valda’s pride. “You are being persecuted… don’t you remember?”

“Maris…” Valda growled her name in a warning. “You are still playing with fire.”

“A queen without a throne.” Maris breathed a laugh she soon regretted when Valda’s eyes darkened.

“No, Seashell.” The calmness in Valda’s voice sent a shiver down Maris’s spine and another wave of arousal straight at the junction of her thighs. “I have my throne right here.”

“Oh?” Maris arched her brow, feigning ignorance, though the tension in her body betrayed her. She glanced around dramatically, her tone dripping with mockery. “Where is it?”

“Have you forgotten already?” Valda rolled the tip of her tongue over her lower lip, and Maris forgot how to breathe. Valda leaned closer until she was a mere inch away. “It’s your face.”

19

Valda had to drag herself off of Maris. The least she wanted was to pull away from the warmth of her skin. She wanted to stay there, to drink from the heat radiating off her body and sleep,godsshe needed to sleep wrapped in her embrace or else she would believe it was all a lie.

Maris was there, before her, with her eyes wide open in desperation and amusement, looking at her as if she blinked, everything would dissolve into nothing. She wanted to kiss her again. She wanted to part her lips and drink from her as if she hadn’t been able to have her for eight fucking months.

How was Valda able to survive so long without tasting her was beyond her, but now that she had, she wanted nothing more than to spread those fucking thick thighs and delve back into her… But Maris looked like she wanted to satisfy her as much she had done moments ago. Valda wanted to satisfy all her needs, even if those needs required her beautiful Sealian to be the one to giveherpleasure.

Swallowing hard, and trying to regain a sliver of control, Valda stood from the bed, her hands clutching the edge of the blouse and peeling it from her body.

She heard Maris’s breath hitched and she couldn’t help but smile, knowing her mate was enjoying the view. As she tossed the blouse, her gaze went straight back to Maris, who now leaned on her elbows, staring at her as if she was a goddess, but not just any goddess,hers.

“Missed me?” Valda asked.

Maris’s eyes shot from looking at her abdomen to her face. Maris tilted her head back, her dark blue curls splayed like waves over the pillows. “Take your throne.”

The invitation made something snap inside Valda. Her muscles coiled, her pulse thrumming in her ears. Her mate could undo her with a single look, but this... This was something different.

Without breaking eye contact, Valda moved, her knees sinking into the mattress as she climbed onto the bed. She straddled Maris’s chest first, her thighs pressing into the younger woman’s sides as she leaned forward, her firm hands bracing on the headboard.

For a moment, she hovered, teasing them both while Maris’s hands stroked the skin of her thighs. The air between them was thick, almost suffocating, as Valda searched Maris’s face for hesitation or doubt. But there was none. There was only raw, unadulterated lust and desire reflected in those blue eyes.

Valda was so wrong for even thinking that Maris hated her. No one that claimed to hate another person looks at them with the need burning in Maris’s eyes. She was almost sure that if she took a second longer hovering over Maris, the Sealian would probably pull her down.

---