Page 123 of Tarnished Queen

So without another thought, I jump into Nikolai’s arms and kiss him.

He catches me easily, molding me against his strong body. I hook my legs around his back and swirl my tongue into his mouth. He tastes like wine and peppermint, and I moan against his lips.

“Fuck. That sound,” he growls. Within seconds, he’s carrying me up the porch like this was the plan all along. Hell, maybe it was. He had to know this was one heck of a wedding gift. The kind that can only be repaid with vigorous, energetic sex.

We bang through the front door and into the entryway. What Elise said earlier about the two of us “going at it” runs through my mind, and I bite back a smile. She’ll never know how right she was.

I pull my tank top over my head and throw it on the floor of the hallway.

“Much better.” Nikolai’s gray eyes burn across my flushing skin. I knew it was a good decision not to wear a bra.

“You think so?”

His response rumbles through his chest. “Absolutely. Never wear a shirt again.”

“I’d never be able to leave the house.”

“I fail to see the issue,kotyonok.”

We reach Nikolai’s room and he presses me back against the door. The breath whooshes out of me, and then he is everywhere. His hands grip my backside, his mouth is on my skin, his chest and hips move against mine in a slow, tortuous kind of friction.

He leans forward and takes my nipple into his mouth. I’m already pert and ready for him. When his tongue flicks over my puckered skin, I drag my fingers through his hair and moan.

“You’re going to drive me crazy with that,” he says, his lips moving across my chest.

His fingers work around the backs of my thighs, spreading my legs even further apart. I feel every inch of him through my thin lounge pants. He’s huge and hard against my center, and I roll myself against him.

My movements are clumsy and feverish, but Nikolai kisses my neck and my collarbone. He dips back down to my breasts, sucking one nipple and then the other. It feels like we’re discovering something new.

“No one knows what this is like,” I pant crazily. “If they did, they’d never do anything else. Everyone would be doing this. All the time.”

He chuckles. “We aren’t even doing anything yet.”

I’m about to ask what he means, but then he opens the door. For a second, I feel like I’m falling, but Nikolai’s strong arms have a firm grip on me. He carries me to the bed and I instantly sit up and tug on the hem of his shirt.

“I’m naked. Now, it’s your turn.”

“You’re not naked,” he says, pinching my lounge pants. “If you were naked, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Our mouths would be otherwise occupied.”

“Okay, but top for top. Take your shirt off.”

Nikolai grabs the hem of his shirt with one hand and pulls it straight over his head. And my heart explodes.

He was right. We weren’t doing anything before. Because now, his skin is right there for me to touch, and that changes everything.

Before he’s even dropped the shirt on the floor, I lunge forward and unbutton his pants. In a sexed-up haze, I shove his pants and boxers down and wrap my hand around his erection.

“What the—Fuck.” He closes his eyes and tips his head back. His Adam’s apple bobs with obvious effort. “Belle, what are you doing?”

“You can’t rip your shirt off like a lifeguard from a sex fantasy and expect me to be cool about it.”

He chuckles, but the sound transitions to a groan as I add my other hand to his base. I work him in both directions, my hands meeting in the middle. I love the way he feels velvety against my palm, soft and hard at the same time. I get lost in the touching.

“If I’d known this was waiting for me, I would have paid so much more money,” he sighs. “Fifty million doesn’t begin to cover it.”

I inhale sharply. “Fifty million. Holy—I’ve never even thought about that much money, let alone had it or seen it. You shouldn’t have, Nikolai. You really, really shouldn’t have done that for me.”

Suddenly, Nikolai pulls my hands off of him and presses me back onto the bed. His hands shackle me to the comforter, and I never, ever want to get free.

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