Page 37 of Throne of Dreams
She gasped and bucked beneath him, whimpering when she couldn’t free him of his shirt. A simple call to his magic and it was gone. Her robe was gone. Every article of clothing keeping them from each other was gone. His hands stroked her thighs, and he lifted her leg and stretched her wide, planting a kiss just behind her knee. When she hooked her other leg around his waist, he ground himself against her.
The moan that slipped between her lips was all it took. He ravished her. His mouth met the underside of her breast, her neck, her shoulder. Anywhere and everywhere. He gripped her hips. Her ass. And then finally, he let his hand slip between her thighs, cupping her there. It was fascinating, really. How she wiggled and shifted against the palm of his hand, begging for more with a mere thrust of her hips.
“Are you wet for me yet?” The tips of his fingers played along the outer folds of her core, and she jerked her hips, urging him closer.
“I asked you a question, Your Highness.”
She looked up at him, all flushed and lovely. Her fingers curled into the bedsheets, and she moved again, grinding against his hand. “Yes.”
He bent over her and pressed a kiss just below her ear. “I want to hear you say it.”
Her hips lifted, begging for his touch. Her teeth sank into her bottom lip and then, “I’m wet for you, my lord. Only you.”
The noise that exploded from somewhere deep inside him was low and guttural. Primal. He delved two fingers in between the folds of her slick cunt. She was so damn wet. His thumb grazed her clit, pressed down, and she cried out for him.
“Tiernan.” His name fell from her lips on a broken sob, and he pressed another kiss to her mouth.
“Not yet,astora.”
She whimpered and clawed at him, and he relished in the sensation of her nails raking down his back as he curved his fingers just slightly, beckoning her screams. He sucked her other breast into his mouth while he worked her with his hand, twirling his tongue around the sweet little peak of her nipple. She moaned in pleasure, wrapping her arms around his neck and dragging him to her.
“I’m going to fill you full and deep first. And you will only be allowed to come once I’m inside you.”
He carefully withdrew his fingers and rose above her. Those sea-swept eyes drank him in, lingering on every inch of him, until they drifted below his waist. Then her lashes fluttered back and her mouth fell open in shock. He glanced at where she stared and grinned.
“Oh, right.” He kissed the top of her head. Her cheek. “I may have forgotten to mention that.”
“You’re…you’re pierced.” Her cheeks colored to a pretty shade of pink. “There.”
“I am.”
She reached for him, and the sight of her slender hands barely able to wrap around the full length of him was enough to bring him to his knees. The tips of her fingers trailed along the ladder of piercings adorning his shaft. She touched. Squeezed. Gripped. Pumped. Her curiosity was driving him mad. He expanded in her grip, his cock bulging with need. All he wanted was to slide between her slick folds and lose himself completely. He needed her. All of her. And he needed her now.
“No more.” He took her wrist, slowly forcing her to release him. “My turn.”
She eased onto her back, spreading her legs readily. She was so wet she damn near glistened for him. He stole one more kiss, branding her with his lips, not caring if the scruff of his facial hair was too rough for her skin. She rubbed her cheek against it, welcoming him. Tiernan nestled the head of his cock at her entrance, held his breath, then plunged himself deep inside of her. She tensed only slightly as he pushed himself further, feeling her stretch to accommodate his size. But shit, she was like nothing he’d ever felt before. She clenched around him, squeezing so tightly he thought he’d spill right then and there.
“Fuck, Maeve.” Already beads of sweat broke out along the back of his neck. “You’re so fucking tight, it’s like you’re—”
Tiernan froze above her. All it took was one look at her face, at the way her brow pinched in pain, and he knew. Heknew.
“Shit.” He instantly cupped her cheek, rubbing his thumb back and forth, just beneath her eye. “Maeve.Maeve.”
He’d hurt her. Fucking gods, he’d hurt her.
Terrified to move, or even breathe, he searched her face. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Her lashes lowered and she didn’t meet his gaze. “You already made your assumptions about me.”
* * *
“Astora.”
Tiernan whispered the affectionate name over and over, like a prayer to the goddess. Each time he spoke it, he carved out a sliver of pain in her heart, carefully replacing it with tenderness. With affection. It was something she never knew she needed, something she never knew she craved. And it was coming fromhim.She thought he hated her. Every callous word, every crude remark, was suddenly wiped away by the press of his lips to her temple, her cheek, her mouth. He loathed her. She was certain of it.
Yet here he was, showing her exactly what it felt like to be adored. To be treasured. To be seen as more than a weapon or a title bestowed upon her. Gods, she’d never known such gentleness; the way he touched her,lookedat her, it was enough to shatter her soul. Her blood hummed, calling to him, whispering to him. The brush of his lips left her undone. She wanted whatever he was willing to give her. No matter how brief or how fleeting. So long as it came from him, she would want it. She would wanthim.
Tiernan shifted, like he was going to pull out from inside her, and Maeve thought she would die if he stopped now. She hadn’t been prepared for him to enter her so fully, she hadn’t been prepared for his size, for his length, for any of it. The books had lied. Oh, how they had lied. Or maybe mortal men were simply subpar. Either way, he was halfway inside of her now and even if there had been a pinch of pain, and even if the golden studs lining his cock were slightly intimidating, she didn’t want him to stop. She never wanted him to stop.
