Page 135 of Ruthless Scoundrel
She thrashes a little, just a play at resistance, and licks my palm over her bitemarks. I slide my hand away at the gentle gesture.
“Well, then, hasten us there, sosooncan benowsooner.”
I pull her into my arms and hurry up the winding stairs. It’s a hike up to the fifth level, and my legs are burning by the time I’m walking the precarious wooden bridge out to the limb where our little nest lies. Never would I have thought I could become a bird.
“Wait, look,” Reina says when we’re halfway across the bridge.
She points out west and I turn us to see what’s caught her attention. The moons are kissing, following the sun down below the horizon and pulling the sea into their passionate tryst. It’s a wonderous sight.
She wraps her arm around my neck tighter and leans up toward my lips. She brushes them against mine softly, asking and gentle. I return the gesture, just as softly—mostly because I don’t want to get distracted, lose my footing on the bridge, and send us to an early death.
I pull away from her and smile. Her eyes are glowing blue with the fire of her magic. Her body is hot, craving mine. I take steady steps into our little room for the night and she gasps with wonder.
Magus crystals decorate the walls and ceiling in a crisscrossing string pattern. There’s a soft-looking mattress stuffed with chicken feathers resting on the warm wood floor, and lemony incense that keep the bugs out burning next to the windows.
“I’ve thought it a thousand times today, but still I’m in awe. It’s incredible,” she whispers.
“Not yet, it isn’t,” I say, walking her toward the bed.
I kneel down and hold her against my thigh as I use my other hand to remove her bridal shoes. She watches me keenly as I strip her down further, removing the burned stockings from her legs.
“You asked me once to take your honor,” I say, laying her down on the plush mattress. “Did you love me then?”
She chews on her bottom lip. “I don’t know. I think maybe I did, but I just wouldn’t admit it.”
“Really?” I pull on the strings at the side of her bodice that keep the strapless gown in place.
She reaches up, tugging on the buttons of my shirt. “Yes. You’d stolen me, taken my agency and my choice. You’d done to me what everyone else had done my whole life, and I didn’t want to relent. I didn’t want to admit that you’d also been gentle, and kind, and shown me all the things that no one else ever had. I didn’t want to know that you saw me as more than a tool, even as you used me, but you didn’t want to. You wanted to keep me away, and safe.”
Her hands coast down my chest, sending a thrill through my skin to my cock. “I never wanted to hurt you at all. When I saw you sunbathing, I felt the pull in my chest, theneedto have you, possess you. I thought you were the key, the solution to my problems. But truly, you were the key to my soul.”
“Let me unlock you now, scoundrel,” she says, her fingers drifting down to my pants.
I smirk, tugging on her dress. “As you wish, princess.”
We strip one another of our clothes in delicate gestures, reverence in every movement. My fingers drag along her new scars, caressing each one with slow, loving care. She is so beautiful. So deadly.
I drop low and kiss her stomach up to her chest. The swell of her breasts entices me but I avoid them. I know how much she wants me there, the attention she so craves. But this is a slow game. We have time, and I’m going to take it.
I open my mouth and kiss through the valley of her chest with my teeth and tongue until I reach the bones of her clavicle. Reina moans and writhes like I knew she would, wrapping her legsaround my hips. I push my trousers down with one hand and lean into her as our lips meet.
“Jasper,” she whispers against my mouth.
I consume her, feasting on the desire and need in her every breath. I slide my hand from my pants up to her inner thigh where I find her ready. I slide my fingers through her center and drag the sweet wetness up to her clit.
She arches her back and keens into my mouth. I push against her, pinning her to the mattress and thrusting harder with my fingers. I know she likes it fast. I hope she wants it rough, too.
I love the way my fingers glide along her plush skin and make her glow. The heat of her orgasm is building, and blazing blue lights up the space where orange magus crystals shimmer. Her eyes lock on mine and I know she’s getting close. The knowledge spurs me on and before I know it, I’m thrusting against her thigh.
“Ohksano’amai,” she whines and I’m undone.
I’m remade.
I’m torn apart and restructured to the sound of her voice. I’ve become a new being with the words of my wholeness on her lips. She is me, I am her, and we are one.
“Come, my love,” I murmur.
Reina’s skin heats, and I endure as she lets herself fall into the pleasure of my touch. She screams and I cover her mouth with a kiss, muffling the sound so it’s just mine. All mine.
