He frowns at me like I’ve asked him something in another language. “All I’ve known is war.”
“Is that... what you want?” Some of the warm feelings in my stomach start to cool, and I let go of his hand.
His eyebrows draw together and he immediately reaches to take my hand back, weaving our fingers together between our chests. Does he notice how my breathing gets heavier, how my breasts are practically spilling out of this lace nightgown as we face each other on the bed?
“I want you.” His eyes flick to the window. “The world, it seems, has changed. Perhaps my brothers and I are no longer needed. Perhaps it is time for softer things. For consorts and...” He makes a face like he’s tasted something sour. “Peace.”
I laugh despite myself. “Don’t look so disgusted by the idea of peace. It’s nice when things are quiet.”
He shrugs, still looking disappointed. “I was made for war. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself during peace.”
“Well, when’s the last time you were in battle?”
“It’s been well over two hundred years,” he says with this wistful note in his voice.
“What have you been doing since then?”
“My brothers and I have been having a long dispute.”
“For two hundred years?” I’m pretty sure my jaw hits the mattress.
He shrugs like it’s no big deal.
“If you destroyed a bunch of land when you fought for months, what happens when you fight for two hundred years?”
“It wasn’t a fair fight because my brothers locked me in the dungeon for most of it. I’ve only recently been freed.”
My brain basically short-circuits. “Are you fucking with me?” How did he tell me all about his brothers but somehow leave out this tiny detail?
He looks at me and laughs, his fingers still playing with mine. “Don’t look so shocked, little consort. We are brutes and don’t pretend to be anything else. But my eldest brother was tamed by his consort, who convinced him to let me out.”
I raise an eyebrow, equal parts disturbed and fascinated. “Is that my job? To tame you?” I reach out and trace his eyebrow with my finger, liquid heat pooling in my belly again. How have we been on this bed for hours without him making a real move? Does he not want to? I pull my hand back.
He gives me that sideways look, and that wicked, wild grin slides across his face. “You couldn’t tame me if you tried.” He tugs me against him by my waist, his dark eyes burning into mine. “I’ve tried to give you time, but I hunger for you. May I again lick you until you shudder all over my face?”
Well, good to know I’m not the only one who’s been thinking about it.
My body clenches at his words and the hardness I suddenly feel pressing into my stomach. Does he only want to go down on me again, or is there more on the table? It feels like we’ve had days of foreplay, and I’m already wound so tight I might snap.
I bite my lip to keep from begging him to fuck me. God yes, fuck me!
“You are so beautiful,” he breathes, running his fingers through my hair.
I frown.He’s just telling you what you want to hear so he can fuck you.Damn these old voices. I want him to fuck me! But when those ancient wounds get poked...
“What is this?” I breathe as he presses his hips against me. Hard. “What are we doing?”
We’ve talked so platonically for hours that I was starting to wonder if I’d imagined what happened at the lake.
“Isn’t it obvious?” he asks, leaning down to finally,finallykiss me. He’s so huge he blocks out all the morning light.
“What do you mean? What’s obvious? That you want to fuck me?” The words come out more confrontational than I meant them to. I don’t know if it’s because I’m suddenly freaked by the intimacy or because I feel like he’s been luring me into a false sense of security with all this talking. It’s probably my old insecurities rearing their ugly heads. I want him so badly I’m thrumming with need, but I’m also terrified of being used again.
Remus scowls at me. “No. Not fucking you.”
A little thrill runs down my spine just from him saying the words. “What, then?” I gasp.
He’s practically on top of me now, wings flaring to block out most of the light so we’re in shadow. If I didn’t trust him so much, I’d be intimidated.
