I want it all if it means he’ll never give me up. Not for the sake of the whole fucking world.
“Tell me, Niko,” I breathe, pressing my body into the hard plane of his chest. His nostrils flare, and I swear, he stops breathing altogether as his voracious gaze searches mine. “Tell me all the things you’d do for me.”
“Ah.” He laughs darkly. “My selfishness speaks to you, does it, Darling?”
Without taking my eyes from his, I nod slowly.
“Then allow me to prove just how selfish I am.”
With that, Niko fists his bare fingers into my hair and tugs my mouth to his.
Chapter thirty-two
Willa’s touch has driven me mad since the moment I wrapped my hand around her wrist. The silky slide of her skin, the luxuriant warmth of her body molded against mine; the way she comes alive at the mere brush of my hand, the hungry sweep of my mouth. It resounds through me every moment, an inescapable compulsion formore.More of what I cannot have, of what I don’t deserve.
Willa in all her vicious, wild glory is relief in its purest form. And now as I take her in my arms, it is not only her touch that drives my compulsion, but her fuckingsounds.
The small exhale of breath at my sharp pull of her hair. The needy whimper as I run my tongue along the sumptuous pillow of her lower lip. The goddamnmoanthat starts low in her throat, and echoes through the cavernous room as I fill my other hand with the curve of her breast.
I was right to fear the temptation of respite, right to deny myself even a moment of rapture. For now, there will be nothing else. There will only be the exultation of her, forever chasingafter the high of the pleasure she offers. It’s driven straight through me, embedded into my bones. The pain and exhaustion that nearly brought me to my knees only moments before, incinerated by the fire blazing through my veins. Flames stoked higher and higher with every taste of her lips, every brush of her luscious body.
I grip her hair tighter in my fist, taking that mouth that’s always poised for destruction and making it mine.Myhot little tongue,mylush lips.Mine.
The word pulses through me, as Willa eagerly meets my tongue stroke for stroke, her hands gripping my shoulders with a desperation that feeds the flame burning low within me. I grip her ass in my free hand, hauling her up against my chest, threading her legs around my waist. Her body is petite and tight, and I hum in approval at the way her soft curves mold to the palms of my hand.
Her muscled thighs grip me, and I nearly growl into her mouth as I feel the pulsing heat of her desire through the layers of our clothes. Together, we slam into the nearest column, rattling the sconces so hard, their flames flicker. Willa laughs into my mouth, a rare, wicked sound that I devour, tasting it as I would a fine wine, growing dizzy on its essence.
Pinning her beneath me, I sweep my mouth over the smooth curve of her throat until I feel the delicate thrum of her pulse beneath her skin. She makes a keening noise as I bite down, grinding her core against my thigh, as my teeth sink into her. Fevered desire barrels through me as the taste of her skin floods my mouth: desire to taste the savage will imbuing her bones, to consume her fiery spirit piece by piece until it is no longer hers, butours.
“Is this selfish enough for you, Darling?” I murmur against her collarbone, soothing the sting of my bite with a soft flick of my tongue.
“No,” she snarls back, her fingers gripping at the thick leather encasing my chest like she intends to claw her way through it.
“Good,” I laugh darkly, before angling her chin upward and sweeping my tongue along hers. “Because I haven’t even begun to take what I want from you.”
Willa shivers as my death swirls around us, wrapping us in a private cocoon in the middle of the throne room. Tangled strands of hair have come undone from her braid, the caramel and gold tendrils wild around her head. Her cheeks are a delicious shade of rose, the flush trailing over her throat and the delicate angle of her collarbones.
Possessive desire courses through me, as I find my own madness reflected in the dark curve of Willa’s smile; in the reckless spark of her eyes, and the breathless way she says, “Take anything you want,Your Majesty.”
The name pricks beneath my skin just as she means it to, a half-mocking challenge that is so perfectly Willa. Wild and unpredictable as a strike of lightning, and just as fucking dangerous. With a devilish smirk, I slice a ribbon through the front of her clothing in one swift movement. She gasps against me, her eyes glittering in delight as I slowly peel away her shirt and pants, dropping the ruined leather to the floor in a discarded heap without taking my gaze from her.
“That’s a dangerous thing to say to the Lord of Death,” I tell her huskily, taking a small step back to admire her bare form. “Death is the original coveter. It sees what it wants, and it devours it without remorse.”
The words are brutally edged, both a warning and a promise. But Willa only lets out a small hum of pleasure, squeezing her thighs together. My death spears around us, winding through the air in a sensuous rhythm, as I take in the pure fucking decadence of Willa’s body. Years of training have honed her form into a lethal weapon, graceful but powerful. Her smallbreasts heave with each of her breaths, as I take my time rolling my gaze over her, memorizing her piece by beautiful piece.
And rather than shying away from my gaze, Willa lifts her chin in defiance. Daring me to find fault in her; to run, just as I dared her only a few minutes before. With a devious look, she slips out from beneath me, and saunters over to my throne, her hair tumbling down her back in a silky curtain to frame her perfect ass.
She arranges herself on my throne, her tongue darting out to lick her lips as she stares at me with hooded eyes. “If you want it to be yours, then take it.” Her words are wanton, but they’re edged in a rare vulnerability. She’s asking how truly I want her, like it’s even a fucking question.
Thereisno question, no fallacy, to the way I want Willa. I want her enough to leave me breathless; enough to forsake every vow, everyworld,without care for the cost. I want her beneath me, beside me, for as long as I live.
Answer enough, my cock strains against my leather pants at the sight of her—stunning and bare, her supple curves a tantalizing contrast to the rigid lines of the iron throne. The glass windows expand behind her, the swirling night sky and the twinkling lights of Letum framing her olive skin in a wash of colors, haloing her hair.
A queen in her own right. Of the kingdom that should have never been mine, because it belongs toher.
The image brands itself into my heart, scorching every other thought from my head as I prowl toward her. It’s enough to drive every bit of remaining sanity from me, every bit of remorse for taking what I cannot possibly keep. I want to crack open her chest and fit myself inside her fucking ribs. I want to mark that pristine skin; to leave evidence of my hands, my power, ofme.
So that no matter what happens—whether she leaves or stays long enough to hate me—there will be an imprint ofthis moment. An eternal reminder of the power she holds, the strength imbued into her bones with blood and pain; strength that can never be taken from her, never cut down or minimalized, if only she embraces it.
