“We don’t know that will happen, Dare. Maybe the answer to the curseisthe bond.” I reach up to cup his face. “I have my magic back. We could try.”
Hope flickers for the barest moment before it disappears. “No, I can’t risk you. And I can’t risk abandoning Everlea without a king with war on the horizon.” He releases me so suddenly that I slump back. Anguish twists his features. “Gods, I’m sorry. I should take my leave. I’ve spent days with the Aspacana, weeding out Karkad’s treachery and the rot in my own court, and all I wanted to do was come back here... to you.” He swipes angrily at his face. “Only to hear you say you love another.”
“Loved,” I reply softly. “Yes, I loved him. But you cannot fault me for that, Dare, for not knowing we were soul-fated. You had other lovers, too.”
“That was sex, nothing more.”
Jealousy and desire punch through me. “And the beast didn’t take over?” When he shakes his head, resolve fills me. “Then have me like you did her. Without emotion.”
“Suraya,” he whispers.
“Will sex seal the bond?”
“Not entirely. There’s a ritual.” His lips part, pupils dilating with lust. “Is this what you want?”
“If we can’t beat the curse, I think you need to practice your control with the manticore. You said it yourself: It’s different now. With him. And he likes me.”
“What if it doesn’t work?”
“Last time, you connected with him and he ceded control to you. Don’t push him away,” I say, blushing wildly at the thought of our previous encounter. “He’s part of you.”
Holding his gaze, I reach for the straps of my dress and unfasten them, letting the soft fabric pool to the floor until I’m standing only in my undergarments. He lets out a groan, his shadows flickering about him, as I kick off my slippers and reach down to step out of my undergarments. I’ve never been much of an exhibitionist, but the idea of standing like this,bare,in front of him only makes me hotter.
“Fuck, Starbright. I’m covered in sweat, and you’re perfect. I cannot...”
Gods, I love when he calls me that name.
“You can. I need you exactly like this.” I lift my brows and point to his clothing, the rich, earthy scent of him doing maddening things to me. “Your turn.”
He reaches for his belt and then stalls. “You don’t know what you’re asking for. I won’t be gentle. I don’t know how to be.”
“I want you as you are.” I walk toward him and put my hand over his, undoing his buckle and then the laces of his trousers. I’m unprepared for the size of his cock when it springs free at full attention. I’ve only ever seen one of these before, and while they are comparable in length, his is curved and thicker than I’m used to. A bead of fluid forms at the tip, and I bend to lick it off, moaning in my throat at the salty-sweet tang of him.
“Fuck,” Darrius groans as I envelop the silky head with my lips. I fist him at the base and take him as far back in my mouth as I can. But when I glance up and his eyes roll back in his head, I suppose I’m doing something right. “Enough,” he says, dragging me up to take my lips in a brutal kiss.
His tongue explores every inch of my mouth as he walks us back to the table, his erect cock pressed wickedly against my stomach. Stars, I’m so wet I can feel my arousal leaking down my inner thighs. He grips my chin, face harsh with tension. For a second, his eyes flash gold, and I wonder if we’re making an irreversible mistake.
But every instinct inside of me says that we’re not.
“Last chance, Starbright. Are you certain?”
I smirk up at him, reaching down and making him hiss when I stroke him. “You’ve done this before as a dreamwalker. Let’s see if the real thing can match up.” When he doesn’t move, I squeeze hard. “Now fuck me like the god you are.”
Stars, thehungerin his eyes is almost too much to take. His gaze fucking immolates.
He kisses me hard and turns me roughly, hand to my spine and pressing me down to the table. He spreads my legs and runs a palm over the plump curve of my ass. “Gods, look at you. You’re fucking gorgeous like this.”
I feel his fingers slip through my folds and hear his grunt of approval at the wetness he finds there before angling himself into place. And then he thrusts into me to the hilt. Even though I’m drenched, it’s by no means an easy fit, the burn of the stretch making me gasp and shoving me to my tiptoes. His cock feels like it’s splitting me in half, but I want this. I want tofeelevery inch of him. “Darrius...”
“Fuck, you were made for me. Let me in.”
I quiver around him. Heisn’tin?
With a whimper, I wriggle back, wincing at the sublime stretch as another inch penetrates me. The king withdraws slightly, making me gasp, and then shoves in hard, bottoming out. Pinned beneath him, I’m so fucking full that I can barely breathe. I swear I can feel his cock in my throat.
“Gods...”he groans.
“Move, please,” I beg, once my body adjusts, my walls fluttering around him.
