Ididn’t mean for us to end up like this: Raelle pressed between me and a ladder, and me taking all my rage out on her in a brutal kiss. We were supposed to have a civilized conversation, work out our differences, and come to a compromise. I’d spent all evening compiling my thoughts and sorting through the intense emotions to find even a seed of reason. I was prepared for the battle ahead, but I felt my composure slip the second I laid eyes on the nightgown clinging to her curves. Every carefully crafted argument became jumbled in my head. My words were louder than intended, and I demolished the space we needed to talk things through. Frustration mixed with lust fueled my every move, and it was a volatile combination. And now, I can’t stop.
My fingers release her hair and glide down the smooth skin along her neck. I angle her head back further and my tongue slides against hers. She tastes like sweet mint, and I can’t get enough. I want to crawl inside her body, to consume her space, to feel her everywhere. Her hips press forward, and the satin of her nightgown has her sliding across my cock.
My palm moves to the front of her throat, holding her in place. She sucks in a breath, breaking our kiss. I watch my thumb stroke the front of her neck, marveling at her soft skin and say, “You come in here acting as if you can stand the thought of my hands on someone else, Raelle.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes to be with you,” she says, her chest heaving as she tries to catch her breath.
I’ve memorized her body—the freckle under her right breast, the scar under her chin. I can find her pulse without thought, and I know the spot to kiss that makes the sweetest whimpers leave her lips. How could she ever accept it if I learned the secrets of someone else’s body, to place my hands and mouth on them? The thought sickens me.
I tear my gaze from my hand and meet her eyes. “You will doanything?” I ask, cocking an eyebrow.
“Yes.”
The hum of indifference that comes from me is a mask to hide my disappointment. That’s not what I want from her. I’m not after her reckless, blind love. We need hard lines, boundaries we will not cross, rules that keep what we share sacred.
I run two fingers over her bottom lip, enthralled by the way the plump, pink skin gives under my touch. “And what would you do during those nights that I’m with mywife?”
“It would be hard. I wouldn’t like it, but—” My fingers dip into her mouth, pressing on her tongue to hold in her lie. I don’t want to hear how she’ll deal for the sake of the kingdom, how she will not put up a fight for me when someone else stakes a claim.
“Suck.” She follows my order, hollowing her cheeks.
I lean in, pressing my body to hers while working my fingers in and out of her mouth. My lips graze her ear, and my voice drops to a deep rumble as I say, “This is what I’d ask her to ask her to do to my cock. I’d fuck my wife’s mouth with my eyesclosed, pretending it’s you. That’s what I’d need if I’m to create an heir with someone else.”
Raelle groans in disapproval, and my body responds, grinding my pelvis against her soft stomach. I ease my fingers from her mouth and drag them up the inside of her exposed leg. When I reach her apex, I find the tops of her thighs wet with her arousal. She is so responsive to my touch, so easy to please. My fingertip slides along the seam of her, teasing her until her hips rock against my hand.
“What if my wife doesn’t get turned on by pleasing me? It’s only fair that I try to meet that need for her, too. I am nothing but a gentleman after all,” I say, pressing against her clit. “Would it bother you knowing I’m touching her like this, working her close to her release so she could take me deep?” Emphasizing my point, I sink a finger into her slick, warm center.
“You’re not playing fair, Kyron. I can’t think straight when you’re touching me like this,” she says with a moan as my thumb draws circles over her sensitive clit.
“You set the rules, princess. I’m simply out to beat you at your own game. Stop deflecting and answer the question. Would it bother you to know I was touching someone else like this?”
“Yes.”
I ease a second finger inside of her. My anger slips as I marvel in the feel of her and pick up the pace. “Why? Why does the thought of me with someone else get to you?”
Her cheeks burn red, and her teeth gnash together as she says, “Because you’re mine.”
I fuck her harder, wishing it was my cock moving in and out of her. The sound of us connecting over and over again fills the room with lewd noises. I can’t get enough of it. The way her body accepts me and enjoys my invasion is my one addiction.
“I’m yours?” I question with a growl. “Then why are you willing to settle for fractions of me? Why are you allowing anuncontrollable force to dictate your future with me? Why are you giving up so fucking easily?”
Raelle’s hips move in sync with my hand, pressing down, searching for the pressure she needs to lose herself. But I deny her. I won’t give in. She will not come until I have answers, and she discovers how wrong she is.
She groans in frustration and says, “I’m scared.”
“Of what?” I ask.
“Of making things worse. Of gambling with lives. Of having you completely ripped away from me. Of severing our bond. I don’t want to be too selfish and ruin all the good I still have.”
I take a step back, withdrawing my fingers from her. I hold up the glistening digits and watch her essence slide down my skin. “I need you to be selfish when it comes to me, Raelle. Those outside of this room can have the king, the general, the friend, but they don’t get all of me. The lover, the husband, my demons—there’s not a part of me that isn’t yours. I’ve given myself to you fully. That you’re willing to ration me out and settle for pieces of me guts me.” I slide my fingers in my mouth and let her taste consume me.
All of her.
I selfishly take every single piece of her. And my heart fractured the moment she settled for less of me.
“I don’t understand,” she says, pushing away from the ladder and straightening her nightgown. “You would have shared those parts of me with Leif.”
I chuckle and shake my head. “No, I wouldn’t have. I was strategizing from the moment we kissed. You would have never slept with him. If you carried a child, it would be mine. Leif could claim them as his to the kingdom, but your heir would be ours. That plan doesn’t work so well in reverse. Another person can’t claim your child. As far as the wife thing goes, a marriage bond is not as strong as a parah bond. I was content with that notionuntil I learned I could have more. I want it all, and I’m begging you not to give away the parts of me that I trusted to only you.”
