Now I know what it’s like to feel the lash of his tongue against mine.
“Bael,” I whisper, looking up. “You shouldn’t touch me.”
“No?” His fingers hover above my skin as he searches my eyes for permission. “Oh, little huntress, what I could teach you of pleasure.”
My hands betray me, palms splaying wide across his chest.
Bael leans down, breath scoring the sensitive skin of my neck as he breathes in my scent. “But you would have to say yes, my lioness. You would have to beg me for another taste. And I know you want to.”
I suck in a breath, trying not to wilt against him as his lips brush against my ear. “I can scent the wetness between your thighs. I can feel the tremble on your skin.” His hand comes up, little finger brushing down my bare shoulder, even as the stubble of his cheek scrapes against my jaw. “I want to devour every hint of that slickness I can scent. You’ll taste so sweet, Zyla. I know it. I want to drive my tongue deep into your cunt, even as I pin you down. I want toruinyou.” His voice roughens. “I want to own you.”
I’m a deer in the forest, head up, eyes searching, body trembling, because I know, Iknow, that the hunter has his arrow focused on me.
“You willneverown me,” I whisper.
“No?” The smile he gives me is pure sin. His finger hooks in the collar of my shirt, dancing over the fabric as he draws it down, toying with my top button. Still not touching me. But I feel the scrape of his nail against my shirt as if it’s directly on my skin. “Now I begin to wonder just how experienced youare, lioness, for if you were, then you would know what I speak of. I’m not speaking of putting a collar around your throat. I’m speaking of your body and how with just one kiss I could consume your every desire, until all you knew was me, and all you craved was my cock.”
My body draws tight like a lute desperate to be plucked.
His hand curls around my throat like a gentle shackle. “Mine,” he breathes, leaning closer. His breath stirs over my lips. “Mine to fuck. My cunt to lick. These lips…” His mouth ghosts over mine, his tongue a light caress against the corner of them. “And you would learn to beg me for it, Zyla. You would learn?—”
A knock comes at the door.
We break apart and I stagger back, back the wall is at my spine. And Holy Malus, but he knows how to get to me.
I want him.
I want everything he promises.
I can still feel his hand around my throat and press my fingertips there. “Sounds like… dinner has just arrived.”
Bael stares deep into my eyes. “Retreat, little huntress. But we’re not done yet.” Then he turns his head and calls, “Come in.”
The little satyr from downstairs pushes a trolley inside laden with dishes, and even a bottle of wine. “Here we go,” she calls cheerfully. “Pharyces has selected his best.”
“Ah, Teanna.” Bael pushes away from me, shooting me one last heated look as if to warn me. “Perfect timing.”
Indeed. My shoulders sink with relief, but every inch of me feels alert. The throb between my thighs is so sensitive, I could almost come with one little stroke of his fingers.
Gather yourself! You need to question him. Not think about running your tongue along his throat.
Gods, what is he doing to me?
Bael sets the table in front of two chairs, then chats with Teanna as she leaves. As slick as I am, the second I see thefood my stomach growls, my attention focusing on the meal. Hot bread rolls, butter, some kind of stew, a platter of fruit and cheese, and oh, Blessed Malus, but there’s a steaming pudding with raisins in it.
“Eat,” he tells me, offering a piece of meat from the tip of his blade.
The sizzling scent of rabbit makes my mouth water. It’s been a long day with meagre rations.
But to accept such an offering from him?—
His eyes tell me he knows the exact dilemma that plagues me. “Eat and we’ll discuss our next steps.”
I sink into the chair beside him and delicately, I reach out and consume the small morsel. Flavor explodes across my tongue. Gods, I’m hungry.
Bael’s eyelids grow heavy with approval, and he swiftly slices another piece of meat off the bone for me.
“You don’t have to feed me,” I point out, though I don’t hesitate to take what he’s offering.
