Page 43 of The Fated and the Damned
“It’s a recent development.” He smiled back, the grisly scar carving his cheek and brow making him look a little vicious in the moonlight cutting through the cloudy night sky above. “As for the cunning? I like to think it runs in the family.”
I found her in my chambers, naked, sprawled out on the bed, and wearing nothing but an extravagant necklace dripping with sapphires the size of small eggs. The gold they clung to glittered from where it plunged between her breasts.
Fucking hell. She smiled at me, a seductress if I ever saw one. “Well, aren’t you a vision?” I purred, striding slowly into the room, taking my time to admire the view. “My own personal feast for me to savour. All we’re missing is the trappings to pour over that delectable body.”
Her grin widened. “I seem to recall you mentioning something about fucking me with jewels on. I did you one better.”
She pulled a pottle out from behind her, and my dick hardened immediately as I saw what she had in mind. Honey. She took a wooden spoonful and let it drip over her chest, her kohl-lined eyes never leaving mine for a second. I watched as the sticky sweetness dripped painfully slowly over her nipples. Then she took that gods damned spoon and put it in her mouth, moaning as she tasted it.
Devious, naughty little hellcat. My cock stood to full attention and I grinned as her eyes finally darted to it. She licked her lips hungrily. “You want a taste, Freckles?”
She nodded, her eyes hooded as she scooted closer. When she bent her head to take me in her mouth, I gripped her by the throat, not hard enough to hurt, but to pull her up and move her back. She looked up at me with those innocent come-fuck-me eyes, waiting, playing.
I let my power come to the surface, the black misting around me, my eyes flashing as they always did when I was ready for a fight … or a fuck. Her own magic met my own, tendrils of red caressing my body.
I pushed her back, claiming each breast in my mouth, lapping up the honey. She writhed in pleasure and I grinned against her soft skin, enjoying the feel of her peaked nipples against my tongue.
When I licked the last of the honey away, I kissed her hard, letting her taste the sweetness lingering on my lips. She sucked my lips greedily, twisting her tongue for every last morsel. Such a sweet tooth.
Without warning, I pulled back, grabbing her ankles tightly and lifting her up so I could meet her pussy with my tongue, sucking and nipping at that sweetness, then drowning myself in her sex. She tasted so fucking sweet. I groaned against her.
The vibration of my mouth made her moan even louder and I drove my tongue against her most sensitive nerves, circling harder and harder until she was shaking, about to break against me. “Fuck,” she cried, scratching at my arms.
I loved how she liked to step over that line between pleasure and pain. She’d shown me how much she liked it hard and rough—how much she enjoyed learning what else her body could do. I wanted to push her as hard as she could go, see what limits she had. And the things I wanted to do to her weren’t talked about—perhaps even known—by most gentlemen.
I wasn’t a gentleman. Not when it came to the things I owned. And she was mine, body and soul. She could destroy me and I would love her still.
Her legs wrapped around me as she thrusted into my mouth, arching her back off the bed. “Greedy little witch. Are you hungry for my cock inside you?”
Her response was a garbled plea and I laughed, shoving her back and pushing her legs against her chest, thrusting inside her without mercy. She cried out, but I didn’t allow her a moment to readjust, slamming deep, filling her up.
“Fuck,” I groaned. “You feel so fucking tight like this.” I captured her ankles again and pushed her legs back even further and she curled up, her inner walls tightening with the movement.
Sweat beaded over our skin and I palmed her breast as I rocked relentlessly, viciously, feeling my climax rising.
“Dante,” she said breathlessly, “I’m going to ... I—”
Her words broke off in a moan as I slid my hand down and circled her clit. “Let go, dirty girl. I want those beautiful legs to shake.”
She cried out, tightening around my cock as her body tremored, one hand going to her breast as she tilted her head back and rode the wave. I kept pumping, ready to join her as I drank in the sight of the woman arched before me.
I groaned as I spilled inside her, letting my head fall against her chest after I was spent. She cradled me against her, running her fingers through my hair, her nails massaging my scalp. My eyes felt heavy and, for the first time in a while, I felt my body slump with a sense of ease.
Is this what life would be like with her? What peace felt like? I’d never experienced being held in a lover’s arms—had never allowed anyone to hold me besides Kitarni, if I was being honest.
I’d never stayed long enough to feel a more tender touch, afraid of growing too close to those around me, afraid of learning to love and then losing that person. It had always been easier to be a lord or a commander than a lover or a friend.
Since meeting Kitarni, I wanted those deeper connections more than anything—wantedhermore than anything. Father might have put his kingdom above all else, but after the things I’d done, I knew what was most important.
And the woman in my arms, she was it.
Sylvie threatened to take this peace—this future—away from me. Not a chance in hell. András was right. Kitarni and I had been matched for a reason. The only way to fight the Dark Queen was to combine our strengths.
With her magic and the crown’s help, she was the key to ending this. We had her dark magic; it was getting the crown that would be the hard part.
I smiled. Good thing I always loved a challenge.
TWENTY
