During his torture sessions, Ryker had shifted from withholding orgasms to wringing them from me against my will. My memory was hazy, but vague images filled my mind. His teeth at my throat, the sharp sting of a slap, how he laughed when I cursed him, and how he made me beg after.
He said he was going to break me, but I promised he never would. I had no idea who was winning, only that every time I woke, I found myself wrapped in his arms, safe and secure.
Sometimes, that feeling was more terrifying than anything he could have inflicted.
“Good morning, wife.”
Was it morning? More importantly, which morning? He’d been fucking me for hours, maybe even days. I’d lost all sense of time, trapped in a brutal cycle of pleasure and pain until I no longer knew the difference between agony and ecstasy.
Light filtered through the drapes, but all I could focus on was the fullness of Ryker’s cock inside me, pulsing and ready to torment me some more. He propped himself up on his elbow, smirking down at me with his usual blend of arrogance and lethality. His hand drifted up my body, his fingers tracing the constellation of bruises blooming along my skin.
When his palm collared my throat, he leaned down, pressing his mouth to the soft spot behind my ear. “Are you going to feed me more of your lies, Temptress?”
All I could do was blink, unable to muster the energy to form words. My lips felt swollen from his violent kisses, and my voice was hoarse from screaming his name.
“Answer me.”
The only sound that escaped me was an animalistic whine. It was enough for him, though. He chuckled, burying his face in my neck and biting down.
A merciless pounding at the door saved me from any further torture. At least for the time being.
“Fuck off! I told you I’m not to be disturbed.”
“My most sincere apologies, Your Highness,” Riordan drawled, not sounding the least bit apologetic. “However, our father has summoned us to the throne room. We have guests.”
Ryker pulled out of me, leaving me relieved and aching all at once.
“What guests?”
“Foreigners, that’s all I know.”
“Seelie?”
“That would be my guess.”
“Fuck.”
Ryker’s jaw tightened, and I thought he was going to crack a tooth. Then he threw off the blankets as he jumped from the bed. He used the silken bedsheet to clean the sweat and come from his stomach, unconcerned with his nudity. His body was a portrait of scratches and bite marks, but they did little to detract from his beauty.
He was magnificent. And monstrous.
He marched toward the breakfast cart and retrieved a glass of water. Placing the tumbler on the nightstand, he slipped his arms beneath me, lifting me to his chest as though I weighed nothing. He settled himself against the headboard before arranging my body in his lap.
“Drink, Cadence,” he said as he pressed the cup to my lips.
I drank greedily, letting the cool liquid coat my burning throat. Ryker stroked my matted hair, untangling the mess he’d made each time he had wrapped it around his fist.
The pounding started up again, and Ryker cursed.
“Ryker, did you hear me?” Riordan said, with no small measure of agitation in his tone.
“Of course I fucking heard you. The entire palace heard you.”
“Are you coming?”
“When I’m good and fucking ready!”
Riordan huffed. “Why must you make everything so difficult?”
