Page 94 of Throne of the Wolf Queen

He arched as I ran my hands upwards, over the smooth planes of his chest, the skin pebbling beneath my touch. I leaned in, my mouth a breath from his.

‘Our daughter,’ I said. ‘But not yet…’

His chuckle rumbled through me, sparking, igniting me. ‘We’ll have our time together, Sorrow. If I have to tear it from Evella’s hands, I won’t rest till we get our time.’

His hands, hands that rooted me, secured me, ones ready to catch me were I to stumble, trailed under the material. Spreading his fingers wide, he traced a path along my thighs, higher and higher. My head tipped back, a soft moan escaping my lips. The gap between us closed as my hands grasped his hair. A flame, spilled and flooding, ran through me as Matthias groaned, low and deep.

The dress rose higher, inch by torturous inch, as though he feared tearing it, till it joined his shirt. The evidence of his own growing desire pressed against my bare stomach. He sat back, his eyes raking over me, darkening as he reached out. One knuckle traced my curves as he dragged his gaze to meet mine.

‘Sometimes.’ Gravel laced his voice. ‘I wonder how someone like me was fortunate enough to bewitch a beauty like you.’

I crooked my eyebrow. ‘Have you looked in a mirror, Elmswood?’

He lay me down, his fingers moving lower. I shivered as he kissed the skin below my neck. ‘I’m well aware of how devastatingly attractive I am, but even then, how did I win the woman all eyes go to when she walks in the room?’

The retort died on my lips as his fingers circled the soft hair between my legs. My trembling hand hooked around his neck and I pulled him in. Our lips met, a mix of soft, fragile explorations. The frantic need, the burn to claim each other, was sated. This night, we wanted to learn the shape of each other. Memorise each whimper. My back arched, fingers gripped his shoulders as he stroked my entrance. Sweeping movements that stole my breath. Tomorrow, who knew what new nightmare the world would unfurl before us? Tonight was for us. The wife and her husband. Two souls entwinning.

His mouth explored my flesh and I burned under every imprint of his lips. My teeth scraped his shoulder, tongue tasted. One finger slid inside as I twisted, his mouth teasing my nipple as the ache within swelled. Matthias trailed my body, each kiss a new plea against my skin. A promise we’d have our time.

Reaching between us, I ran my finger down the sensitive line of his cock, smiling as he groaned, twitching against me. My name left his lips in a breathless whisper and I wrapped my hand around him, curling and working him. My mouth dried at the memory of how he filled me. Gods, I writhed back against the mattress as he worked in another finger, hooking against my sensitive spot.

Matthias let go, his hands smoothing the hair from my face as I bucked against him. His chuckle shuddered through me as he kissed my furrowed brows.

‘So impatient, love?’

I squirmed, desperate for his fingers to bring me to the edge I teetered on.

‘I’m in no mood for a game, Elmswood.’

That damn grin lit up his face as he shuffled, his cock pressing against my entrance, and a low growl rumbled through him. He kissed my bottom lip, a prayer lay in his eyes as he rose up on his elbows, a dark brow quirked.

‘Can I?’

His cock brushed my entrance, harder, pleading. I arched against him, my legs curling over his waist and tugging him in.

‘Are you going to ask every time?’

I smiled as his eyes closed, his jaw taut with restraint. He nodded as he swallowed.

‘Every time, love. I’ll ask permission every time.’

Nodding, I gripped his hair lightly, pulled him closer, smiling as his lips moved reverently over mine. As I gripped his shaft and tugged him towards me, he broke the kiss, moaning low.

The warmth within crept through me, swelling and growing. I arched my hips as he entered me, filling me inch by delicious inch. I gripped my hair as our lips parted, our gasps filling the cosy room we’d been gifted. He waited a few moments, my anger flaring before he drew back. Teeth scraped my neck as my thighs clung tighter, pulling him in deeper as he moved inside me with the softest strokes.

Matthias worked me slowly. Sheets tangled as I raised my hips, the glorious friction of each gentle thrust spilling searing embers through me. Each time his pace quickened, each time the explosion built and my cries split the night, the damned man slowed, leaving us both gasping. My nails sliced into his shoulders, begging and demanding. My lips tasted the sweat pooling against his skin as our breaths became frantic, wild. Through the flickering of the candle, I made out the veins bulging in his neck, the tightness of his jaw as he held us both back. He hissed as my teeth stabbed into the hot flesh of his shoulder. Smiling, I kissed the bruised skin. His fingers dug into the flesh of my backside as I tilted my hips higher, crying out as he slammed into me.

The sound undid him. Cursing, his thrusts deepened. The cultivated control he’d used to torture me gone as his desire consumed it. Our bodies slammed together, a single feral beast with one target. Sharp teeth tore; kisses, wild and unbound, claimed victory and finally the wave built. Curving from the ragged sheets, the heat spiralled, as Matthias dominated every fibre of my being. The wave swept, tore and devoured as Matthias cried out, his own ending finally flooding me and we shattered against each other, shuddering and shivering till, gasping, we collapsed against the soaked sheets. The thundering of my pulse rang through my ears. His head lay against my chest, hot, rapid breaths warming my cooling skin as I twisted the silken strands of his damp hair around my still-trembling fingers.

We lay there till the dying candle flickered. The faint light fading into a tranquil gloom. Silently, Matthias scooted us up the bed, tucking in creased corners, cocooned us in the warm peace of the blankets. As though the years together had never been stolen, we lay side by side, facing each other, fingers entwined. The candle stuttered and died, our eyes fluttered close, breaths deepened and we slept just as we had when our innocent hearts only knew each other.

If I’d known then it would be the last time I’d ever see the flecks of amber in his green eyes, I don’t think I’d have slept at all.

CHAPTER 35

SORROW

Raul is lost to me. A voiceless shell, an empty void who haunts his rooms in a filthy shirt, staring out of misted windows, heedless of how I bear his failure and keep usurpers from his throne. He won’t even fight for his children. But I will. There will be no rest till all my children are safely nestled in my arms once more. There is nothing, nothing, I will not do for them.