I stare at her, relieved at her words, but shocked at the audacity of the plan.
“Don’t be surprised, Your Highness. I’ve been running this establishment since you were a child. Our network and systems are sophisticated. Stay the night. Upstairs. Rest easy,” she says, throwing me a key, before disappearing into the haze of smoke.
My nerves uncoil, but my hunger for blood still pumps strong through my veins.
I sweep my Starbound into my arms, auburn hair cascading across my forearms.
“Let’s finish what we started,” I growl into her ear, carrying her out of the alcove and deeper into the pleasure parlor.
Because if I don’t put my hands on her right now, I’ll put them through someone’s throat.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
ELYSSARA
Kael doesn’t setme down. His arms are steel, his grip unrelenting as he takes the stairs two at a time, black silk brushing against my bare thighs. The key Amarisse tossed him bites into the hand braced at my hip, and every step is a vow—that he’ll use it to lock us away from the world and finish what we started.
I can feel the storm he’s holding back in the coiled flex of his arms, the rough edge of his breath against my hair. Violence simmers under his skin, but he’s channeling it into me instead, every stride a promise of possession.
The pleasure parlor blurs around us—perfume, velvet, the murmur of courtesans selling fantasy—but I’m not part of that world anymore.I’m in his.
He kicks open a door, the hinges groaning, and the air inside is cooler, quieter, scented faintly of rose and smoke. The four-poster bed in the center of the room is draped in blankets and covers made of silk, bracketed by low burning lanterns that cast the room in a soft golden glow.
A glimmer catches my eye as the lantern reflects in the ornately detailed mirror that stretches from floor to ceiling onthe far side of the room, making it feel like the Stars themselves hang in the air.
Kael’s piercing blue eyes drop to mine, stilling my every move and arresting all thought.
“They bought your act,” he breathes, as his gaze rakes over my parted lips, down my neck, lower.
“We both know there is no act when it comes to us,” I murmur, tilting my chin up to claim his mouth. I sweep my tongue in, colliding with his in a dance of heat and want.
“Will you let me have more of you?” he asks through ragged breaths, pulling away and blazing a trail of light kisses and gentle nips of his teeth along my neck and shoulder.
But surely he knows that no matter how fiercely I try to use my words like a blade, to hold my hurt between us like a shield, to use him for my own escape, it only brings us closer. It only makes me realize that fighting this is futile. It only ignites the undeniable thread that forever connects us. That despite everything, he’s already got all of me, whether I will it or not.
“I’m yours,” I whisper, and Stars save me, but I mean it.
I feel him let out an exhale—as if the words are a balm to his tension.
Kael’s sure and steady gait takes me to the bed, lying me down with care as the silks caress my bare skin.
He leans over me, his beautiful face hovering inches from mine. “I already knew that, El. But I’m relieved you’ve finally admitted it,” he taunts, wicked grin on his face.
I huff a laugh, but it’s quickly cut off by his hands gripping the lace around my hips and yanking the undergarments down my legs, and onto the floor.
His hands move expertly to the silk robe, sliding it from my shoulders and removing the tie at my waist. He deftly unlaces my corset, and my breasts spring free from the fabric, hanging heavy on my chest under the intensity of his gaze.
He hums his pleasure at my bare body—a low rumble vibrating through the room, and his hooded eyes make no move to hide his attention. “So fucking perfect, my love.”
Heat coils low at his words, hungry for his encouragement.
He removes his own robes, onyx silk cascading down his body in a slow reveal and pooling on the floor at his feet. His cock is already hard, pulsing, glistening at the tip, and a sharp breath escapes me at the sight of him.
But it’s his eyes—the ones that promise ruin, worship, ecstasy.
“Spread for me, darling, and I’ll worship like you’re the last altar left in this godsforsaken realm,” he growls, and the words sound like a devastating prayer.
I slide my legs apart, and he drops to his knees in worship. He hooks my legs over his broad shoulders with his calloused hands, as he tastes and licks my skin from my knee to my thigh, until he reaches my center.
