“Don’tkiss me like that,” I growl, tugging harshly on his strands before pulling him back in and taking control the wayIwant to.
He’s momentarily stunned but it quickly gives way to his desire. Cool air slides against my bare leg as I wrap it around his hip, the slit in my skirt making it easy to do so. I pull him closer to me, until I can feel his cock nearly lined up with where I want it. He groans as he explores my mouth with his tongue, each flick from it drawing a matching sensation in my core as I grind myself over him. His fingers dig into the flesh at my backside, the opposite hand skimming the side of my breast.
A means to an end is all he is, a way to find release for my body so that I can keep my mind distracted and off of—
“Kane!” Like I’ve summoned him, Kai’s voice snaps down the hallway like a whip. Kane and I separate enough for me to drop my hands and leg though his grip tightens on my ass.
“What do you want?” Kane asks through gritted teeth. I raise my brows at the bold way he speaks to his king.
“She is off limits.” Kai’s steps eat up the distance between us in hardly three strides, his broad body towering over Kane’s by at least six inches.
My anger flares, and I push Kane off of me, moving closer to Kai and jabbing my finger into his chest. “Excuse me? What makes you think you get to decide if I am off limits? I don’tanswerto you.”
“Maybe not,” he says, leaning closer until I have to strain my neck to look up at him. Kai’s eyes slide over to Kane. “But he does.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Bahira
The king and Kanestare at each other for a few seconds, the air so charged that I’m sure they’ll start throwing punches. Or shift into animals and fight that way.
Kane huffs out a breath, casting another glance my way before straightening his tunic and glowering up at Kai. “As you say,Your Majesty.”
He brushes past us, his shoulder bumping into Kai’s arm as he passes. Kai and I wait until he rounds the corner to the stairs before we turn and look back at each other.
“What the fuck was that?”
“You tell me,” he responds, his voice a menacing growl. “You’re here to work, not fuck your way through my court.”
I don’t think when I move to strike his face with my left hand. Kai catches my wrist right before I make contact and walks us backward until my back hits the wall. His massive hand pins me there, the other slamming into the wall next to my head—the vibration of it rattling my skull—as he leans over me. “I’m getting tired of you hitting my face.”
“It’snoneof your business who I decide to sleep with.” At my words, Kai’s lips lift in a sneer, and my heart bruises my chest with how hard it beats.
There is no point of contact between us other than where he holds my wrist, and yet I’ve never felt so ignited within. Anger mixes with desire, the blend making my pulse race even faster. I want to rebel at the idea that this male—so clearly disliked and unwanted by his own kingdom—could rule over my body and desire in such a way. It makes me feel powerless, and that is one thing I cannotallow. I have spent sixteen years scraping together parts of myself to try to fill the gap that being magicless left. I refuse to loseanyof it tohim.
I hold his gaze, bitter determination flooding through me as I start to slide my right hand down my stomach. Kai’s eyes dip to watch the movement, his brows drawing up the smallest amount when I slip my hand under the waistband of my skirt.
“What are you doing?”
I wouldn’t call his question breathless, but I wouldn’t say his voice is steady either. Knowing that watching me touch myself sends the smallest fracture through his stone armor is enough to fuel me to keep going.
“You stole an orgasm from me,” I respond, my chin lifting as I dare Kai to stop me. “I’m taking it back.” My fingers travel beneath my undergarments, finding the wetness already coatingmy sex. My next inhale stutters as I push a finger inside myself and then draw it back out, before plunging two back in—deep enough to draw a gasp. My desire is sharp, sending pinpricks of lust that sink deeply into me. “Idetestyou,” I rasp, pumping my hand harder. “You—”
“Stop talking,” he commands, and damn him, all it does is coil that tension tighter. His fingers flex around my wrist, a quiet moan slipping free from me with the movement. He doesn’t touch me anywhere else, doesn’t even lean in any farther, but I don’t want him to. I want to come around my fingers with his eyes on me, and then I never want to think about him this way again.
The heel of my palm rubs against my clit, and my eyes threaten to close from the friction, but I force them to stay open. To stay on him and show him that the power he thinks he can wield over me isuseless.
My panting fills the hallway, our bodies cast in the shadows between the flame gems hanging from the walls. Kai’s breathing grows labored, his inhales and exhales long and exaggerated, but still, his deep brown and gold-speckled eyes lay siege on my gray ones.
I climb and climb, each flex of my fingers and slide against my palm bringing me closer and closer to that edge. Then Kai’s nostrils flare, his head dipping a little closer, and it’s enough to shove me right over. My orgasm unravels fast and hard as my head kicks back and my thighs squeeze together, a hum of pleasure vibrating past my lips. My arousal coats my fingers and palm, a heady sensation of weightlessness causing me to lean my weight against the wall. Kai’s eyes stay focused on mine, his gaze brutal and scrutinizing.
When my breathing evens out, I remove my hand from underneath my skirt, intent to leave now that I’ve done what I needed to, but the king’s other hand snaps out and grabs it,bringing my wet fingers into the small space between us. It could be the post-orgasm endorphins or something equally as stupid to blame, but I can’t help the way I study his handsome face. His edges are sharp and broad, meticulously carved from stone. He’s a predator in every sense of the word.
But so am I.
Neither of us moves as his gaze focuses intently on my fingers, his arms bulging though his grip on me is no tighter for it. Then, with a snarl, he releases me, stepping back and running a hand through his hair. If looks could kill, I’d be struck dead from the pure fury pouring off of him.
“Don’t ever do that again.”
Turning on his heel, he walks down the hallway, not towards the stairs but in the opposite direction. He opens a door across the hall from mine and then slams it shut, shaking the glass orbs holding the flame gems.
