Her chest heaved as she spread her arms out, breasts straining against her small black top, her eyes locked on him and her colourful hair spilling over the furs. She looked wanton like that and he couldn’t get enough of it, of how she gazed at him as if she was starving for his touch, for something only he could give to her.
He growled and pushed her knees apart, kept his eyes on hers as he skimmed his hands up to her hips and took hold of her panties. She shuddered as he ripped them away, a gasp fleeing her lips as her eyes brightened with need.
His gaze fell and he groaned at the sight of her exposed feminine flesh, her curls glistening with her arousal, beckoning him.
Tegan dropped to his elbows, used his horns to wedge her thighs apart just as she had dreamed, and stroked the length of her with his tongue, tasting her sweetness as he dragged it from core to aroused nub. He groaned and shuddered, entire body quaking from the intoxicating taste of her and the way her hands flew to his head, her hips arching up into his caress as she moaned.
He growled and licked her again, swirled his tongue and teased her as he curled his hands over her thighs and held her in place, refusing to let her move her hips. She gasped and shook, twisted his hair into her fist and clutched it tightly as he devoured her, relentlessly stroking her with his tongue. Hunger mounted inside him, a burning need that threatened to overwhelm him as he pushed her higher, closer to the edge. She desperately tried to rock her hips, her grip on his hair tightening as she panted, her breaths coming faster as he mercilessly teased her.
When she shattered on a loud cry that echoed in his ears, the hunger rising inside him reached a crescendo, tipping him over an edge of his own.
He pulled back and growled at the sight of her slick flesh, the need to thrust to the hilt inside her and claim her pushing all rational thought from his mind.
He needed to be inside her.
Tegan dropped from the bed, untied the laces of his leathers and stripped them off, aware of her eyes on him, how they devoured the hard length he revealed to her. It ached and kicked, as solid as stone as need spiralled through him.
Suki groaned and sat up, moved onto her knees and reached for him, her bright colourful eyes sparkling with gold fire as she stared at his cock. He hissed as her hot little hand closed tightly around it. She drew her hand down, revealing the crown, and sent him out of his mind as her thumb glided over it, teasing the blunt tip.
He shuddered and bucked, his breath stuttering as her need mingled with his, rousing his primal instincts back to the fore. His female needed him.
He needed his female.
He curled his hand around her throat and pushed her back onto his bed, pressed his hips between her thighs and covered her with his body. He groaned as he rocked against her, cock sliding along her hot flesh, the feel of her scalding him sheer agony, cranking him tight inside. He pressed his thumb to her jaw and forced her head back and dropped his lips to her throat, devoured it with rough kisses as he thrust through her folds, as he drank her sweet cries and savoured the feel of her beneath him and how she arched, straining for more just as he was.
He wanted to seat himself inside her, needed to take her until she was mindless with passion and lost, and then he was going to bite her.
Claim her.
His fangs itched at the thought, his lower canines extending as the primal instinct to mate with her seized him, darkening the corners of his mind to drown out all reason, until all he could focus on was the urgent need to make Suki his.
He licked her throat and ground against her, shuddering as deep pleasure rolled through him at just the thought of sinking his fangs into her.
Shock rolled through him on the heels of it, turning the fire to ice in his veins, and he reared back and stared down at her, at the faint marks on her pale skin.
His eyes widened as he realised how close he had been to biting her.
As he saw how he was holding her pinned beneath him, one hand on her shoulder and the other clutching her nape, pressing into her flesh just as they had the other night.
Horror flashed through him, sent him reeling, but it wasn’t enough to stop him from wanting to bite her, to ease the pressing demand beating inside him that commanded him to claim her.
Instinct ruled him.
Swiftly destroyed his control, no matter how fiercely he fought to retain it.
Even when he knew he would lose her if he imposed a bond upon her.
He stared down into her eyes as they slowly opened, battling the urge to claim her against her will, cold to the bone and deeply aware that he wasn’t strong enough to stop himself, that it was only a matter of time before the primal urge seized command of him again and he wouldn’t be able to stop it next time.
Concern flickered in her bright eyes.
Fae valued their freedom, protected their true name to stop others from using it against them, forcing them to do something against their will with the power it held over them.
He couldn’t take Suki’s freedom from her.
So he uttered a prayer to his gods that she would listen to the plea that was about to issue from his lips and see that he needed her to do it, even when he knew it would hurt her, that it would scare her. She had promised she would obey if he spoke these words, and he was depending upon her to keep that vow, because if she didn’t, the alternative didn’t bear thinking about.
“Cotton Candy.”
CHAPTER 23
“Cotton Candy.”
Those two innocent words, growled with so much pain and despair by Tegan as he loomed over her, his eyes bright violet and horns flaring, filled her with fear and dread.
Suki tried to get up, but he snarled and pinned her by her throat, shoving her roughly against the bed as his eyes raked over her, glowing brighter still as he fixed them on her throat and bared his fangs.
His muscles shifted beneath his skin and she swallowed hard, could only stare as his shoulders broadened, body growing even larger as whatever darkness gripped him tightened its hold on him.
His eyes roamed to his hands where they held her and his face crumpled, pain flaring in his gaze as he raised it to meet hers. “Please.”
She froze, terrified of what he was asking her now, more afraid of it than she was of him as he towered above her, on the verge of transforming into his more demonic state.
She shook her head, her heart hammering and breath rattling in her lungs as she realised what he was asking.
“Knock me out,” he gritted and then changed again, darkness swamping his features as he dragged in a deep breath and looked down at the apex of her thighs.
Hunger lit his sculpted face, burned in his eyes and warned her that he was serious, that things were going to go south if she didn’t do as he had asked.
But knocking him out?
What if she took too much energy from him?
Chills swept over her skin and her brow furrowed. Could she risk that?
“Now,” he snarled. “Before I do something… make you hate me.”
His horns twisted around on themselves.
“I can’t. What if I kill you? What if I hurt you? I don’t want to hurt you.” Her face crumpled in time with his and his eyes pleaded her even as he mercilessly tightened his grip on her throat.
“If you… do not…” His chest heaved, his breaths turning laboured as he leaned over her, pressing more weight into her shoulder. “Pain I would feel if I…”
Enormous fangs flashed as he muttered.
“Want to bite you.”
Her hand flew to her throat, clashing with his.
Agony shone in his eyes and she knew it was because of her reaction, her instinctive attempt to protect her throat from his fangs.
He rasped, “If I bite you… you will hate me… in turn it would destroy me.”
She didn’t want to hurt him, but it seemed pain was inevitable. If she didn’t stop him, he would hurt her and that would drive him deep into despair, would end up wounding him too. If she did st
op him, she would hurt him but spare him that deeper pain, and herself too.
So she would stop him.
And she would stop herself before she went too far and killed him.
His eyes darkened and his nostrils flared as he barked, “No.”
She only had a split-second to register that he had sensed her intent to stop him from biting her by taking him down. She reacted swiftly, bringing her hands up to shove against his chest as he lunged at her throat, his fangs snapping together just short of it as she locked her elbows. He roared and snarled, grappled with her, his claws pressing into her skin as he tried to overpower her.
Clearly intent on not being denied.
Suki released his chest, allowing him to close the distance between them as he fell onto her, and captured his horns before he could strike. He bucked and twisted his head, tried to free himself but it was no use.
She held him firm, pressed her lips to his and said a silent apology as she kissed him.
His energy flowed into her like a dark and powerful torrent, lighting her up inside even as it chilled her, and fear clutched her as he thrashed against her, growling and fighting her, his desperation lacing the taste of his kiss.
He was far stronger than she had anticipated.
She choked when he managed to close his hand around her throat, tightened her grip on his horns and refused to give up, because even though he wanted to bite her, it wasn’t what he needed.
He needed her to keep her promise.
She repeated that in her head as she deepened the kiss and heat flared inside her, unfurling through her veins as his energy poured into her once more and he finally began to weaken, his hand going lax around her throat as his struggles slowed.
Suki forced herself to keep going, ignoring the voice inside her heart that was screaming at her to stop, that was shrieking that she was hurting him.
Killing him.
Not yet.
He was stronger than she had thought. He was powerful. If she didn’t push him right to the edge, there was a chance he wouldn’t be down for the count. She couldn’t risk him waking quickly.
Because there was a second part to her plan.
A method of ensuring that she had a chance to escape if he lost control again.
The ashy taste of his fury and the dark need that gripped him gave way to honey and whisky, a sweet smoky taste that warmed her and gave her the strength to keep going, because she was pulling him back from the abyss.
He groaned and slumped against her, his weight crushing her as his strength gave out. She endured it, dancing her lips over his, draining his energy more slowly now as she eased back on the throttle. The need to keep kissing him gradually abated, releasing her from the grip of her own instincts, and she was quick to break away from him and stop before her chance slipped through her fingers.
Tegan rested heavily on top of her, his skin clammy and cold beneath her fingers, his dead weight making it impossible to breathe.
She rolled him over with trembling hands, the fear rushing through her refusing to go anywhere as she looked at his ashen face, at the dark hollows in his cheeks and beneath his eyes.
She kneeled beside him and brushed the damp wild strands of his black hair from his forehead as his horns shrank back to normal, and gently kissed him, funnelling some of her energy back into him.
Satisfied that he had enough strength to survive the onslaught of her kiss, she sat back on her heels beside him and waited. His skin gained colour, but the dark marks beneath his eyes remained. She wanted to give him back more energy, but she couldn’t risk him waking. Not yet.
She hopped from the bed, her legs unsteady as strength coursed through her, dizziness assaulting her as her body struggled to absorb it all.
Heck, he was far stronger than she had anticipated.
She felt a little drunk as she staggered around his room, hazy and warm from head to toe as she rifled through his wardrobes and found several blankets stacked in the bottom. She took four of them and unfurled each one, ripped it into pieces and braided them together, transforming each of them into thick make-shift ropes.
Her legs felt steadier beneath her as she crossed the room to Tegan where he lay on the bed, out for the count.
She started at the top of him, tying his left arm with the rope and securing it to the thick post at the corner of the bed, and then moving around him to do the same to his right. His legs got the same treatment. When she was done, she appraised her work, checking each rope was tied tightly and secure, and then crawled onto the bed beside him.
Suki settled her ear against his chest and reassured herself with the steady, powerful beat of his heart as fear tried to seize hold of her again. She closed her eyes and listened to it, breathed in time with him and savoured the warmth of him as it returned.
It wasn’t quite the way she had expected to sleep with a man for the first time in her life, but he needed her there. She felt that deep in her heart. She twisted onto her other side so she could see his face and traced patterns on his chest, grazing her fingers through the short hairs, feeling his heart drumming.
What instinct had gripped him to make him so savage?
It had terrified him.
She had seen it in his eyes.
They hadn’t hidden anything from her, had revealed his desperation and fear, and his pain, together with the dark need that had consumed him.
A need to bite her.
She lifted her hand and cupped his cheek, curled closer to him as her heart whispered that even if she asked what had provoked that need in him, he wouldn’t tell her. He was keeping secrets from her after all. She didn’t care. She had her own secrets. What mattered is that he had done the right thing. He had kept his promise not to hurt her and she had kept hers.
The steady beat of his heart soothed her as it gained strength.
She relaxed against him, buzzing from the energy she had taken from him but aware that after the high came the fall, and when it hit, she would get sleepy. When that happened, she intended to remain right where she was, tucked close to him where he needed her.
Because when he woke, he was going to feel like a dick, and she didn’t want that.
So she would stay with him, would be there when he rose from his sleep, showing him that everything was fine.
As the minutes trickled past, a sensation built inside her, a notion that she seized and studied, fascinated by the newness of it.
Sleeping with him made her feel strangely vulnerable, but safe.
Stripped bare of her armour.
But protected.
Or maybe that was just how Tegan made her feel.
He surprised her at every turn, was never quite what she expected him to be. Yesterday, he had been a warrior, a savage warlord bent on making her enemies pay, and gods, he had been beautiful.
There was a darker side of him she was only just becoming aware of, one that had emerged again just minutes ago.
She didn’t understand what had come over him, but she appreciated that he had fought to protect her from that side of himself.
She appreciated that he understood her and knew her well enough to see what would have happened if he had crossed that line. All succubi had a no-biting rule. Marking her throat was a type of claim, a sign to others meant to warn them away.
She didn’t belong to him.
She stroked his broad chest and kept whispering that to herself even when she didn’t really feel it.
She felt quite the opposite.
She was beginning to belong to him, body and soul.
And heart.
CHAPTER 24
Tegan’s arms ached, his muscles stiff from cold and the position he held them in. He moaned and lowered them from above his head.
Or at least he tried to lower them.
His eyes shot open, panic sending adrenaline surging through his veins as he twisted his arms, attempting to break the bonds that cut into his wrists, holding them outstretched beside him.
/> “What the hell?” he looked up at his left wrist, fear trickling in to mingle with the panic as he saw his wrist was tied to the thick post at the corner of his bed and grew aware that it wasn’t only his arms that were bound.
His ankles were too.
Someone had tied him to the bed, laid out and vulnerable.
His pulse shot into overdrive and anger surged, his horns flaring in response as his fangs descended and his claws lengthened.
Someone had him as their captive.
That someone moaned and he stilled, the fire in his blood becoming born of desire rather than rage as he grew aware of the female sleeping facing him with her head on his chest, her bare knees tucked up beside his armpit and her hand resting softly over his heart.
His eyes inched down to her, the panic and fear ebbing away as he saw his beautiful mate resting curled close to him, her face soft with sleep as she used him as her pillow.
As the darker emotions settled, he grew aware of something else too.
What he had done to place him in this predicament.
He squeezed his eyes shut and let his head fall back onto the feather pillows as he cursed himself in the demon tongue.
Fear returned, swift to claim him as doubts flooded his mind, every reprimand and angry word he hurled at himself giving it a stronger hold over him.
He had hurt Suki again.
She moaned, sighed and shifted against him, and he opened his eyes and looked down at her, watching her wake, putting it to memory because he feared it would be the first and last time he saw it happening.
Her nose wrinkled, she frowned, and then her eyes fluttered open, their stunning green-to-blue depths hitting him hard as he struggled for words, for the ones that would make things right between them again.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” she murmured, her soft voice lacking the anger he deserved.
Instead of pushing away from him and giving him hell as he expected, she snuggled closer and drew patterns on his chest, and it tore down his defences, destroyed his strength and left him shaken.
Because his beautiful mate had already forgiven him.
“How are you feeling?” She yawned, covering her mouth with the hand that had been tracing tantalising circles and swirls on his pectorals, and he mourned the loss of her touch, ached for her to place her hand on him again because her caress was reassuring.
Seduced by a Demon King Page 26
