“Then take me.”
The stone, the water, the pain—it could not hold him.
He swept her off the floor.
She gasped, laughing into his neck, one leg hooked around his waist. Water dripped onto the bedroom floor, splashingagainst the wall. He pressed her hard to the door, their mouths tangled in heat and need. She bit his shoulder—claiming him,daringhim—and he nearly lost control.
“Careful, love,” he rasped against her neck, every word a warning. “You’re about to unleash something I won’t cage again.”
“I want it,” she whispered, teeth grazing his jaw. “All.”
His restraint shattered.
He carried her to the edge of the bed, laying her back with a reverence at odds with the fever in his hands. Her hair clung wild, like silk and stormlight, her body arched to meet his.
He unfastened his belt, his eyes locked on hers, daring her to look away.
But she crawled backward—smiling.
A challenge.
His blood surged.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
His voice dipped low, dangerous with want.
She giggled—an actual giggle—as she scooted higher on the bed.
He caught her ankle. Yanked.
She shrieked with laughter as he dragged her down, soaked skirts riding high. His mouth found the hollow of her throat, then lower, his teeth grazing as his hands splayed her open.
“Viktor—”
Her cry was half-plea, half-command.
“Say it,” he demanded, lips marking a trail over her chest. “Say you’re mine.”
“I’m—”
Her voice fractured on the word.
“Yours.”
She arched against him, desperate, undone.
Then she shoved him, sudden and fierce—and he let her, offered himself, every muscle alive beneath her touch. He’d never wanted surrender like this. Never wanted to fall to his knees for anyone.
“Lie back,” she ordered, already tugging at his laces. “Let me love you.”
Dask, look at her.
Hair wild, cheeks flushed, fingers fumbling with urgency. A queen undone.
She’s going to ruin me. I'll never claw my way back if she takes me like this.
“I heard from the girls at court,” she said, straddling him now, breath hitching quick and bright. “Riding a man is the best way to break him.”
