I cradle the side of her face and glide my thumb over the scar on her cheek. It is quickly healing thanks to the Sara’s balm, but I wish she never had to endure the pain. I felt so helpless watching her fight for her life. But she was stunning while in battle—strong, unrelenting, clever. She was the most beautiful bearer of death.
“If I die tomorrow?—”
I rip my attention from her scar to her eyes. “Raelle,” I say in warning. I don’t like where she is taking this. “If you die tomorrow, I will fall with you. There is no you and me on the battlefield. It’s us conquering this together. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, my king.”
“Fuck,” I groan, sliding the Imperium hanging from her neck to the side and burying my face between her breasts.
My mouth opens to taste her skin, but she pulls my hair, tilting me away from her. She skims her lips over mine and says, “Ifwedie tomorrow, I don’t want any regrets between you and me. Don’t just give me your sweet and gentle tonight. Give me the dark, the bruises, the pain.” She yanks my hair again, aligning my gaze with hers. “I want all of you. Do you understand me, Kyron LeFur?”
One side of my mouth tips up, and I nip at her bottom lip. “Yes, my queen.”
Her mouth comes down on mine, hard and needy. She opens to me, seeking my tongue with hers. The sweet, wet glide sends shock waves down my body. Her hips roll over my abdomen, leaving her mark on my skin. I want it everywhere—my fingers, my mouth, my cock. My hand moves from her waist, sliding down until my fingertips dig into her round ass. Her movements quicken, grinding against me. She is chasing that mind-blowing high only I can give her, but I’ll be damned if she finds it like this. I want to bury myself deep inside her, to pound into her until we are one flesh, and she screams my name.
But first my sweet parah needs a taste of her own medicine.
My finger follows the crevice of her ass, sinking lower until I find her warm center. She whimpers in my mouth as I dance my fingertip over her entrance. Statera, she is so slick. I need it to feel it on my skin. I dip inside, pressing deep. She rocks harder, but I grab her hip with my other hand, stopping her.
“Kyron,” she says, her pleas so sweet.
I brush my lips along the shell of her ear. “Shh. Let me take what I want and give you what you need.”
She nods and presses her face into the crook of my neck.
“You’re such a good girl for me,” I say, placing a kiss on her collarbone.
She shivers from my praise, and I harden to the point of pain from her reaction. I may be considered one of the most powerful people in the five kingdoms, but so much falls outside my rule. But not with her. She submits to my will so beautifully, finding pleasure in my control. Forget titles, birthrights, and gifts. I’m at my most powerful when she surrenders her body to me.
Removing my finger from inside her, I walk us toward a large smooth rock that peeks above the water. I lay her back on it and spread her legs until they hang from either side. She’s gorgeous like this, vulnerable and open to me. Lifting onto her elbows, she watches as I glide my hand up the soft plane of her stomach. Her breasts fit perfectly in my hands, her nipples growing harder under my thumb.
“Are you sure you want it all?” I ask.
Her chest heaves and a breathlessyesfalls from her lips.
“You want the pain?” I pinch her nipple, and her head falls back, hanging between her shoulder blades.
“Yes. Please.”
The joy I get from her plea flows out of me on a chuckle. “It looks as though I’m not the only one with kinks, princess.”
The shallow water allows me enough leverage to lean over her body and pull her hard nipple into my mouth. I suck and bite while I inflict the same kind of pleasurable pain to her other breast with my hand. The sounds she makes urge me on. I want them all. Every moan, whimper, and whispered curse are mine.
My hand slides between her legs. I press my thumb to her clit and ease my middle finger inside her. At the same time, I tug her nipple with my teeth, making sure to leave a slight sting. “You’re so wet for me, Raelle. So ready for me to fuck you.”
She groans, lifting her head. I move my body away from her, giving her a clear view of my finger gliding in and out of her center. Her lips part and her eyes become hooded with desire.The lust emanating from her is contagious. Every living thing surrounding us has to feel it.
“I’m ready,” she says, desperation seeping from each word.
“I know you are, but I’m not done making it hurt so good.”
The Sacred Stone resting in the divot at the base of her neck catches my attention. She is no longer powerless, and that has me wondering. Perhaps... My shadows spiral from my free hand. They wrap around her naked body, slithering through the droplets on her skin. She trembles as they skate over her nipples and caress her inner thighs, leaving a trail of pebbled flesh in their wake.
“You feel them,” I say before following the path of a shadow across her pelvis with my tongue.
She nods and lifts her hips from the rock.
“Words, Raelle. Give me your words.”
