by Rosko, Mandy
The color in her cheeks seemed to increase. She brought a hand up to cover her mouth as she struggled to keep those pretty green eyes focused on him.
“Keep your eyes open. I want you to watch me,” Inferno commanded. “If you’re not watching me, then I’ll pull away.”
Fiona shook her head, but to his relief, it wasn’t because she was denying his command. “Y-you’re too embarrassing.”
“Embarrassing or no, make sure you’re watching this,” he said, and then open mouth kissed her wetness, tasting her sweetness, delighting in her moan, her shiver, the way her body clenched around his tongue.
But when she threw her head back in ecstasy, even though his cock throbbed at the sight of her, he pulled back. “I said don’t look away from me.”
Fiona’s perfect breasts heaved. Her brows drew together in a watery glare. “You’re a bastard.”
“That’s true, but this is the kind of bastard behavior you like.”
She hardly appeared impressed by this, but it didn’t matter. He could tell he had her. He had her, and it was fucking wonderful.
“All right.” Fiona spoke with her teeth clenched, and an expression on her face that suggested she was about to crack her molars.
“All right, what?” Inferno leaned down, letting his mouth rest against her pussy lips, but he did nothing else except enjoy the scent of her, and the little shivers of pleasure she couldn’t contain.
“All right, I’m looking at you.”
“Ah, but you didn’t say please.”
Her green eyes flashed. “I will hit you. I swear I will, and I don’t care if you throw me into your deepest, darkest dungeon for doing it!”
“You don’t honestly think I would throw you into the dungeon.”
She jerked back a little. “There’s an actual dungeon?”
“Of course there is. Every palace has one.” He decided to leave it to her whether or not she thought he was being sarcastic or not, because all he wanted to do was get back to her, making her moan his name as he made love to her with his mouth.
She did well to keep her eyes on him this time as he pleasured her, her fingers gripping tighter and tighter in his hair. She was going to leave him prematurely bald, but it was worth it to taste her sweetness, to flick his tongue deep inside her and lifted to her groans.
Inferno couldn’t help himself. He began thrusting against the cushions of the loveseat beneath him, desperate for the friction as his erection pulsed painfully, more and more difficult to contain as the sounds of her pleasure had long since gone to his head.
Both of his heads.
He could do this for hours, had he not already desperately wanted her.
“Inferno,” Fiona panted for breath. “Don’t stop.”
More than once he was aware of how she’d turned her attention away from him. How she arched those beautiful breasts and her pebbled nipples to the ceiling, her eyes no longer on him.
He could hardly bring himself to punish her for it now.
Though he was finished punishing himself. He pulled his mouth away from her sex, freeing his cock quickly as he climbed her body.
“N-no,” she begged.
“I’m not stopping,” he said, kissing her on the mouth, letting her taste herself, and his passion for her. His devotion and love. “I’m giving us what we both need now.”
He was a dragon and a prince and a billionaire, powerful, arrogant at times, but still a man.
Inferno plunged inside her.
Tight. Hot. Wet.
Inferno nearly imploded right then and there. It was a hard force he could barely contain, and God, if he was feeling this, he was going to make sure she did, too. If this was something he was going to be thinking about for the rest of his life, she was going to think about it. If he couldn’t have her out of his mind, then he was never going to be out of hers.
He arched his pelvis, pushing deeper inside, until they were fitting perfectly against each other and he was as deep as he could go.
Fiona moaned wildly before he had the chance to really move. “Inferno, harder.”
That was the green light he waited for.
His engines already revved, Inferno slammed his foot on the gas, pedal to the metal, as though he was in the middle of a street race to the finish. Only this was the sort of race he wouldn’t mind getting second place in as he slammed into his mate again and again.
Fiona’s arms came around his shoulders, she held on tight, turning her head from side to side, as though trying to contain the pleasure in any way she possibly could.
And then something seemed to click for her. She opened those shining emerald eyes wide and just looked at him. Whatever place of Zen she’d fallen into, with that single look, he joined her.
The pleasure still took up the majority of the focus of his brain, which was to be expected, but then the rest of his focus, which should have been powering the thrusting of his hips, was taken over so he could just…look at her.
His body moved on autopilot, and in that moment, she really was the most beautiful woman in the world.
The woman who would bear his children if she would let it happen. The woman who would be his undoing.
Who could make a prince turn away from his crown.
And he would do it for her, too.
But right then it was all about fucking into her as hard and fast as he possibly could to draw out her orgasm. When her sex clenched tightly around his cock, he knew he had her as she threw her head back and moaned.
“Look at me.” He commanded. She did, and it was the look in her eyes through the haze of her pleasure that did him in. Inferno grunted as he felt himself reaching that peak.
“Come inside me. I want you to.”
How could he deny such a beautiful, breathy request?
Fiona moaned when he spilled inside her, as though that alone was enough to give her the pleasure she ached for.
Inferno’s toes curled. He slammed his hips harder still inside her as he milked the last of his pleasure, satisfying himself because it was his mate he was doing this with.
None other had been able to do this to him, and Fiona didn’t even try. That was the craziness of it all.
He slumped onto her, as though all the strength from his body had been drained. Inferno knew he shouldn’t be putting all of his weight onto Fiona, but she hardly seemed to mind as she threaded her fingers through his hair again and again.
It felt nice. Soothing.
He felt as though he should be kissing her. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to make love to her again. He pushed himself up, looked into her eyes, and could see that she wanted the same thing when she bit her plump lower lip.
So why were they hesitating?
Fiona’s already pink cheeks darkened beneath his stare. “Wh-what’s the matter?”
Inferno could still hear the rush of her heartbeat. Her sex continued to clench and unclench around his cock as her orgasm came down off that sweet pinnacle.
“I’ll give it up. For you.”
She blinked, her breasts still rising and falling in rapid succession as she caught her breath. “What?”
“The title. This palace. All of it. I don’t need any of it.” He touched her still healing face. Someone had done this to her because of his title, because of what they were to each other.
Take the title away, and they would be free.
He saw it in her eyes the moment she came to an understanding of what he meant. He was stunned when Fiona shook her head. “You can’t do that.”
“I can and I will. I will keep my promise. You want a bakery? I’ll give it to you. You want a normal life without having to worry about all this bullshit? I’ll give that to you, too.”
“You can’t. You can’t give something like this up for me. You don’t understand!”
“What’s not to understand?”
“I’m…” She seemed to struggle for her words. “I’m just normal. I don’t care who my ancestors are or how they’re connected to the
Blackclaws. I’m normal. I’m nobody. You can’t give up being a prince for me.”
He knew what she meant, but her words still brought an ache to his heart.
“Fiona, sweetheart, you’re not nobody. To me, you’re the most important woman on the planet. You’re already a queen. If my queen wants normalcy, I’ll move mountains to give it to her.”
22
Fiona couldn’t argue with that sentiment enough.
Move mountains? For her?
Why?
She didn’t understand why Inferno, a dragon prince with everything at his feet, would be willing to throw it all away for her and her dumb little dream of running a bakery.
What was a bakery when compared to an entire kingdom?
Give that up? For her?
“No.”
He nodded, his eyes still dancing. His grin still eager. “Yes.” He kissed her. His mouth warm and powerful on hers, intoxicating her, leaving her buzzing, and then so much more when he slid down her body.
It left her gasping already, barely able to get the words out. “In-Inferno, you can’t.”
He grinned up at her, his mouth still trailing kisses down her skin.
Fiona froze beneath that stare, her breath catching. How could Fiona fight against something like that? How could she look Inferno in the eyes and tell him his gift wasn’t good enough? He seemed so eager. So ready to throw everything away, like only a man could, who didn’t know what the real world was like.
He didn’t understand worrying about paying next month’s rent. He didn’t understand the disappointment of not being able to buy that nice, shiny new thing that he wanted because the fridge was in need of groceries.
He didn’t understand sewing the holes in his clothes shut because saving that extra little bit of cash took precedence over a new pair of jeans.
He didn’t understand any of it, and he was offering to put himself through that.
Fiona wanted to tell him no, that she couldn’t let him do it. She couldn’t let him throw away all of this wealth around him just for her. She didn’t care about the Istavan name or what it meant for them. It didn’t matter if she was the one who was meant to bear him strong children. She didn’t care about destiny, or dragon legends. She barely believed the story about the humans who could carry dragon young in the first place.
She couldn’t let him do it. She wasn’t worth it.
Her first thought was that she should not let him do such a thing, and her second was how good his tongue felt between her legs.
Then she had no more thoughts after that.
Inferno seemed determined to make love to her until her body could handle no more, and Fiona was into it, so of course she let him do as he wished. How could she not be swept away when she was being made love to by a handsome prince?
Aside from whomever it was in the palace who was doing…whatever it was they were doing to her, how could she not allow herself to get lost in his touch, in his eyes, when he looked at her and touched her the way he did? When he whispered promises in her ear that actually sounded sincere?
He had the real romance novel hero thing going, that was for sure.
Fiona didn’t expect to just suddenly pass out after her last orgasm.
Well, she wasn’t sure if she actually passed out, but it did seem as though she had a gap in her memory when she suddenly jumped wide awake, sitting up in bed.
She definitely didn’t remember moving from the sitting room to the bedroom, or falling asleep.
A fire crackled, adding a sort of ambient glow to everything, some of the light reaching her.
It was because of that orange flickering that she raised the blanket to cover her bare breasts. Apparently, even in the post orgasmic haze she was in, the rules of modesty still applied.
“Inferno?”
A thrill of fear hit her when she realized he was not in bed with her.
If someone could get in and out of the room through secret passageways and whatnot, then wouldn’t it be a bad idea to leave her alone like this? Her face was still discolored from the burn facial she’d been given.
Fiona slid out of bed, clutching the blanket tightly to her body, contemplating how quickly she could get back into her clothes. Would she have the time if someone suddenly jumped out of the shadows to attack her?
She raised her voice a little without meaning to. “Inferno?”
“I’m here.”
Fiona’s heart beat at a normal pace again. She exhaled hard. She hadn’t even been aware she’d held her breath.
Fiona walked out into the sitting area of Inferno’s room.
He was in front of the fire place, his chair pulled close. He had papers in his hand. The light against his face was of course pleasing. He looked good in all light. There was probably never a time when he appeared rough. Maybe when he was doing his training with the palace guards, but even then, she doubted it.
Inferno took one look at her and stood. “Are you all right?”
She nodded. “Yeah, fine. What are you doing over here by yourself?”
He almost made a picture perfect brooding hero. Had it been full dark, the image would have been complete.
“Just going over some papers.”
Fiona wasn’t sure she liked that. “About…” She couldn’t say it. Inferno looked at her, clearly not understanding. “About giving up your kingdom?”
He blinked, then chuckled, his shoulders trembling with each breath. “No. Even I wouldn’t have those papers in hand this soon.”
She barely held back her sigh. “Good. Then there’s still time to talk you out of it.”
He looked at her, his expression amused. “You’re not going to talk me out of anything.”
Fiona’s stomach sank as Inferno sat back in his seat. She swallowed hard and stepped up to him. She glanced over his shoulder. The papers he was looking at contained handwriting. The pen on the little round side table next to his chair told her what she already knew. That it was his handwriting.
Fiona pressed her lips together. He’d said he didn’t have anything legal written up yet, but he was still moving incredibly fast. “Inferno, please, you can’t do this. It’s not…it’s not right.”
He frowned, turning his gaze up to face her. “Why? It’s my title. If I don’t want it, then I don’t want it.”
“But you’ve got all of this.” She looked around, gesturing to the space around her.
“A bedroom?”
“A castle. A palace. Aren’t you worried about leaving that behind?”
“No. Not in the least.”
“You seriously want to leave all of this behind so you can live in a small apartment with me?”
“If it came to that, yes. I would. It won’t come to that anyway.”
Fiona didn’t understand. “But, I thought you said…”
Inferno shook his head. “I’ll be giving up the crown. I won’t be burdening you with a grown broke mate.”
“Oh.”
Inferno continued to grin at her as he leaned back in his seat. “Were you honestly worried about that?”
“No.” It seemed kind of petty that she had been. Fiona didn’t want to think of herself as the sort of woman who worried and obsessed over the money she had available to her. She’d lived long enough on very little, and it wasn’t as though she’d had the chance to get used to the luxury afforded to her here.
But still…
“Even if you do take money with you, I don’t think…will you really be comfortable dating a baker?”
“I won’t be dating you. You’re mine. You’ll be my wife. Crown or no crown, you will still be my queen.”
Fiona ignored the warmth in her cheeks. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about the Q word. “Okay then, will you be comfortable being a prince who gave up his title to be married to a baker? That’s a fairly simple life. It’s probably nothing that you would have ever signed up for.”
Inferno tilted his head to the side a little. He stood again. He
didn’t hold the papers in his hands this time. He faced her full on. “Why would you not believe you are worth this?”
“I…never said that.”
“No, but it’s in everything you say. It’s in all the moves you make. All the looks you give me. You don’t think you’re worth it. Which is unbe-fucking-lievable because you are absolutely everything to me. This thing that’s going on inside my palace walls, it’s not only going to stop, but I am ready to give you absolutely everything you want. You just have to open your eyes and realize that you are worth every single thing I want to do for you and more.”
Fiona felt an honest to God tremble in her knees at those words. She barely managed to hold the sheet over her body. Her fingers quivered and it took everything she had to stay upright and straight.
Inferno’s expression became pitying. Fiona’s brain was so scrambled she couldn’t even make the decision as to whether or not she appreciated the look.
“You don’t believe it.”
“I never said that.”
He gave her another look that suggested she didn’t have to say anything. Inferno raised his hands. He cupped her face. He had the kind of strength that could bend steel with some effort, and yet his touch was such a gentle one. She could melt into a puddle at his feet right then and there and be happy to do so.
Inferno kissed her on the mouth. Another one of his unfair, heart-stopping, body-buzzing kisses that left her wanting so much more than what she was being given.
He pulled back, and when he looked into her eyes, Fiona thought she could see the dragon within them. His face was…different. Some of his red scales formed along the bridge of his nose and the corners of his jaw.
That fire he looked at her with matched his namesake, and Fiona dropped the sheets around her feet. She reached for him just as he lifted her into his arms. Their mouths came together again as Inferno took her back to his bed.
And in that precious time, Fiona let him make love to her. She let herself believe that she really was worth everything he said she was.
* * *
When Fiona woke again, her body was sore, but in the most delicious way she could imagine. There was light in the room. Morning had come. The curtains were closed, but sunlight still streamed in through the cracks and the lace.
