[Kingdom 01.0 - 03.0] Kingdom Series Collection

by Jovee Winters

“I like you. A lot.” She licked her lips.

  If he knew she wouldn’t bolt, he’d lean down and taste her, lick at the seams of her closed lips until she parted for him.

  “I like that you’re always naked around me. I like that I can look as much as I want. I like that you want to be around me. I like that you’re a killer. I like the darkness in you. I like that you’re big and bad and scary. I like that you make me feel small and safe and special.” She sighed. “I like you.”

  All the blood rushed to his head, making it hard to hear as his ears buzzed with the hot rush.

  Her eyes were wide and frightened like a hare caught in a snare. The pulse at the base of her throat jumped, and it was all he could do to pretend her words hadn’t given him a painful erection. One he’d barely been able to stop sporting a few hours ago.

  “If I survive whatever comes with Malvena--”

  “Ye will,” he growled, knowing in his soul he’d do whatever it took to make it so. Even if that meant betraying all of his kind, killing them mercilessly and ruthlessly, he’d do it. He’d move heaven and earth to keep his Red safe.

  She shushed him again. “If I do, then I think… maybe…”

  Narrowing his eyes, his brogue grew thick when he said, “Aye?”

  “Maybe…” She leaned up on tiptoe, their breaths mingling.

  Tiny pink tongue darting out the corner of her mouth, so close, all he’d have to do was stick his own out to taste it. Small hands roamed the breadth of his chest as her nails began that delicious sliding scrape against his flesh.

  He was only a man, a wolf one at that, she tempted him beyond reason. And all the promises he’d made to himself last night to be good, to keep his hands off--they melted into the ether. Ewan gripped her luscious bottom and lifted her, forcing her to open her legs and straddle him.

  He hissed when the rough texture of her jeans slid along his shaft.

  “Ewan,” her voice broke, and then she claimed his lips.

  Ewan had no idea where they traveled, they should have exited long ago, but none of that mattered. He couldn’t think around the passion burbling through his brain.

  She was wild, rough. Her teeth bruising his lips with each punishing kiss. There was no place for him to brace his back on, so he knelt, dragging her with him. Her nails gouged the back of his head.

  “Can you make it stop?” she panted, nipping and clawing around his face and neck.

  “Wha, lass?” he moaned, catching her lips between his teeth and sucking on its firm fullness, laving his tongue along its smoothness.

  She moaned hard and pulled away, almost frenzied in her effort to touch him. Nibbling on his collarbone, his flesh broke out in goose bumps.

  “The wanting, Ewan,” she murmured. “The needing.” She bit him and he groaned, balls so tight and hard to his body he was sure the pleasure would kill him. “I see you. All the time. I want you.” She bit harder, sinking in so hard his skin very nearly broke.

  Beads of sweat dotted his brow. He tugged on the shell of her ear gently, nuzzling the sweet scent of her neck, imprinting her on his heart. Ewan blew small puffs of air into her hair, her flesh, marking her with his scent. Letting anyone else know she was his and his alone.

  “I can,” he mumbled and then shuddered when his hands found her breasts. He palmed them, kneading and rolling the nipples expertly between his fingers.

  She arched, moaning in wild abandon and pride bloomed in his chest. His touch did that to her, his mouth, his tongue. She danced for him.

  “Touch me everywhere.” She hissed when he rolled her nipples again, a rosy flush crept up her neck and settled in her cheeks making her blue eyes almost seem to glow.

  “Are ye sure, lass?” If she ran away now, he’d go feral.

  “Mmm,” she mumbled, fumbling with the button of her jeans.

  With a growl, he ripped the button off and then shoved his hand down her pants, fingers seeking the center of her. Pleasure swirled through his cock, made him grind his teeth with the pleasure/pain when his fingers became slick with her heat.

  “Oh my gods.” She flung her head back, arcing her neck and back, forcing him to brace her with his one hand, lest she slip from his grasp. “Yes, Ewan.” Violet wiggled on him as he slid a finger in.

  She was tight and when he encountered her virginal barrier his heart screamed with joy. The lass was untouched. All his, always.

  “Red. Red,” he moaned and then she gripped him in a tight fist and he jerked at the exquisite torture. The friction of no lubrication was nothing compared to the pleasure jackknifing through him.

  “Too much clothes,” he snarled, extracting his hand to pull her jeans down.

  She kicked, trying to help. But only succeeded in getting herself tangled up in her pants.

  “Calm yerself, Red,” he murmured, and with a swift tug tossed the jeans aside.

  “I don’t know…” she said.

  His heart almost stopped beating. Squeezing his eyes shut, panting harder than he ever had in his life, he rested his forehead against hers and ground through his teeth, “If yer gonna force me to stop, say it now.”

  His cock and balls ached so much; the merest touch of her hand against him would make him come.

  “No,” she moaned, eyes bright and feverish looking. “Oh, goddess no. I just don’t know what to do. What do I do, Ewan?" There was a panicked edge to question.

  He laughed, and then growled deep in his throat when he jerked against her hand. “Whatever the bloody hell ye please.”

  “Okay,” she said, and then bit him at the base of his throat. Just like she had last night.

  Ewan hissed, lights danced behind his eyes as the bliss rolled wave after wave over him. Drowning him in pleasure so deep he never wanted to resurface.

  Wild, desperate, his wolf rolled just beneath the surface of his control. “I need ye. Now,” he groaned, when she licked the tender flesh she’d just bitten.

  “Yes, oh yes.”

  He needed to go slow. Though he wanted fire and passion, she was untried. Even a she wolf needed gentle when ripping through the barrier.

  Clenching his teeth as sweat dripped into his eyes, he tugged on her panties, slipping them to the side and exposing the wet jewel beneath. He hissed.

  “Gods, Red,” he said, staring down at the thatch of blond curls.

  She was breathing hard, looking dazed. “Will it hurt?” she whispered, no longer moving on him.

  The muscle in his jaw ticked. “I’m big, lass. It’ll hurt. At first, and only a little.”

  She swallowed hard, but nodded. “I trust you.”

  The words were a benediction in his ears. Grabbing her bum, he lifted her. “Spread your legs wide for me.”

  She did as he said and his stomach flopped at the sight of her. Legs spread wide, arms braced on his chest, as her wet center hovered just above the hard length of him.

  “Hang on, and breathe,” he advised.

  Her blue eyes were wide.

  Then he lowered her and the first touch of her wet heat on his cock, made him jerk. Ewan bit his tongue, forcing the wolf back. Control. He needed control, or he’d never last.

  Inch, by glorious inch, he sank her down on him. It was slow, and agonizing. Her sheath so wet it slipped over him like a glove. Then he encountered her tight barrier.

  She moved, and then grunted as he began the final push.

  “Ewan,” she whispered.

  “Ssh, lass… almost… there.” He kissed her lips, tasting her fears, her lust, and with one last surge, broke through.

  Violet hissed, going completely still.

  Ewan breathed through his nose, trying hard not to move when everything inside him screamed to buck. So tight. So warm. Perfect. His head swam.

  After a moment she started to wiggle and slowly he pumped into her. In and out.

  “Oh.” She said and then started to move, finding the perfect rhythm.

  Grunting, he pushed harder.

  “Oooh,” s
he laughed. “Ohhh, now I see why everyone does this.”

  Then there were no more words. Ewan wasn’t going to last. “Red,” he moaned, fingers gripped her waist tight. “Are ye close?”

  She danced on him, her breasts bouncing beneath the sweater. Unable to resist, he released her waist and slipped his hands underneath, latching onto the plump globes.

  Violet writhed when he pinched her nipples. “Something, it’s building… so… ahhh,” she threw her head back, exposing the beating pulse of her neck.

  The same spot he’d bitten her before. Now smooth and unmarred. Growling, he licked at it. Pumping harder and harder. Then he bit and she screamed. “Ewan!”

  Darkness spiraled through his gut, through his legs, out the tip of his cock as he unloaded his seed in hot spurts.

  “Red. My Red,” he moaned, slow to come back to himself. His head was dizzy, his legs like jelly. He pinched her firm rump.

  She laughed, twining her fingers through his hair. A lazy gleam in her eyes. A fine sheen of sweat covered her face. “Sorry, about last night,” she said.

  “Ye can make it up to me later.” He nipped the spot on her neck where he’d bitten her. Then kissed it tenderly, contented and at peace with his place in the world.

  She kissed the corner of his lips, brushing sweaty hair out of her eyes. “I thought you said wolves did it rough.” Violet punched his chest. “That wasn’t bad at all.”

  His eyes widened and he growled low in his throat. “That was for yer benefit, Red. Nay mine. Now that ye’ve been broken in, I’ll show ye just how rough this wolf likes it.”

  Her smile was shy, but gleamed brightly, until she glanced over his shoulder.

  “Ewan,” she whimpered.

  There was no pleasure in the sound of his name, but fear, bright and instant. Violet scooted off him, rearranged her panties and looking around. “Where’s my jeans?”

  Ewan frowned, still in a lust soaked stupor when he turned around, only to stare into the smiling face of a brightly clothed Kermani. They’d exited the tunnel and he’d been too caught up to notice.

  “Good evening, my friends. And may I just say, a much different reception than last time, no?” Brown, almost black eyes glinted in the waning daylight.

  Jerking to his feet, Ewan shoved Violet completely behind him, shielding her body from the Easterner’s view.

  “What the bloody hell, are ye doin’ here?” he barked, lungs vibrating with the deep animal growl of his wolf.

  Kermani’s walk was slow, deliberate and measured; his checkered colored pants distracting. “I truly hate to do this, as I consider The Shunned a true ally, but…”

  Ewan’s heart thundered as he scanned the horizon. There were no whipping seas, no violent gray skies, but there was a spiraling black gothic tower set against the backdrop of a twisted, skeletal forest. Malvena’s keep.

  “Ye sold us out,” Ewan accused, his skin tingling with the rush of his wolf’s hatred. “How did ye find us?”

  “Oh.” Kermani laughed, large golden hoop in his ear swished with his movements. “It’s quite clever actually. The dream stone you used when you left my home, Malvena put a tracker on it. We very nearly had you in the Hatter’s woods. But the bastard found you first.” He rolled his fingers along his jaw. “Hid you well, but we knew you’d have to travel this road again.”

  Ewan’s skin felt too tight, too hot. Fur rippled beneath his flesh, desperate to rip through, become the beast so he could tear Kermani limb from limb. But Red wasn’t moving, barely breathing. He thought maybe she was in shock, and he didn’t want to terrify her further.

  “Then she heard a ghostly echo of Misty Isles.” Kermani shrugged his shoulders, bunching his turquoise colored shirt. “It was a simple matter of rerouting. You were too busy rutting to notice.”

  His smile was lecherous, not at all open and pleasant as he’d been the last time. Fury was a hot consuming thing that threatened Ewan’s sanity, his reason. He held on to the image of a quaking Violet as his tether, praying it might ground him, help him hang onto the last shreds of humanity.

  But the shred was barely a sliver. His jaw felt thick, stretched, aching with the need to become. His throat burned with the pent up rumble.

  “You’ve betrayed Miriam’s trust.” Ewan’s fist clenched, nails gouging his palms, leaving behind a hot wet smear.

  “I think you mean, I betrayed yours. The Shunned paid me, Malvena paid me more. My allegiance lies with my family. This is only a matter of business.” Kermani shrugged. “No hard feelings.”

  Something cold and chilling brushed against his back, when a pulsation blasted through him. Dark and twisted, like a lethal blade, cutting into his flesh. Variegated colored smoke curled around his ankles.

  Ewan didn’t dare take his eyes off Kermani.

  “Red,” he growled in a voice more wolf than man, “are ye alright?”

  Kermani’s obsidian eyes narrowed to thin slits as he stared at a spot behind Ewan’s head.

  Breathing heavy, dripping with sweat, Ewan chanced a quick peek. But he was unprepared for the sight that greeted him.

  Blue and red smoke billowed from Red’s every pore, seeped from her nostrils, her mouth. Bled through her eyes, washing out the cobalt blue and turning them a deep indigo. She was looking dead at him, but not really. Her gaze saw beyond, into another reality. Blond tips of her hair danced like charmed snakes around her head as a wind he couldn’t feel encased her body.

  “Red?” Ewan sniffed the ash laden air; there was the scent of brimstone and fire. It clung its sticky fingers to his nostrils, forcing him to breathe through his mouth. She reeked of death.

  “What is she?” Kermani hissed, his voice cracking just slightly beneath the veneer of cool.

  She wasn’t scared. She didn’t cower. Which meant Ewan didn’t have to wear the leash. He called his light, howling as his body stretched and contorted. Howling when muscles lengthened and claws ripped through his hands and feet.

  When the white light died Kermani had a set of wicked looking daggers in each fist. “The Black will arrive any moment now,” he warned, circling to Ewan’s right.

  Ewan snapped his fangs, pulling back his muzzle far enough to let the length of his canines show. The short man weaved in and out, his pants and shirt billowing like a silk curtain as he moved. Ewan kept him in his sights, never allowing Kermani too close to Red.

  Then Kermani jumped, moving like a blur and drawing first blood as his blade carved a fine line through his ear. Ewan howled and twirled, but then Kermani was back. Over and over, taking a small slice out of him each time. A whirling dervish he could not see to defend himself against.

  “YOU WOULD DARE!” Red’s voice thundered, cracking through the air with an inhuman strain.

  Then she jumped, pouncing on Kermani like a predatory cat with the thick smoke undulating around her. The slight man fell to the ground, slashing and cutting. Red screamed.

  Desperate to get Kermani and his knives away from Red, Ewan barreled into the smoke screen. His eyes were useless, the smoke around her had increased. She was in color so thick it was like trying to look through shadow.

  There were grunts and groans. The sharp slap of skin striking skin. Closing his eyes, Ewan scented the situation. But the brimstone was everywhere, disorienting him. There were elbows and hands everywhere, knocking into his side. But he didn’t know who to bite, what to bite. Which one was Kermani?

  Growling, panicked, Ewan bumped into a slight body kneeling upon another. He took several quick breaths, beneath the brimstone and barely perceptible, he smelled flowers.

  Then there were screams, keening wails like the sound of a dying animal. What the bloody hell was happening? He needed to regain control of this situation, clamping onto the ankle beneath his paw (praying he hadn’t bitten through Red’s tender flesh), he dragged the body away from the cloying smoke.

  Heart pounding, eyes wide, Ewan prepared himself for the worst. The second they escaped the dense shroud
, he opened his eyes. And it was. It was brutal. Violent.

  But not who he’d expected.

  Kermani’s lips were flopping open and shut, his dark eyes clouded with pain as he gasped for breath from a body whose ribs were sunken and cracked. Blood soaked through his shirt, turning it a dark shade of crimson black.

  “Ewan,” Red’s voice was reedy and strained. He glanced up, she was stumbling out of the smoke. The breeze was clearing the haze, when she dropped to her knees, fingers curling into the ground.

  Ewan ran to her as he called his unbecoming. Half man, half wolf, as he latched onto her with paws and hefted her to her feet. Fire sizzled through his veins, touching her was like touching a live wire. Power so strong rolled off her in waves, made him clamp his teeth against the scream trapped in his throat.

  Dizzy with sweat, he gulped in air, trying to keep her steady on her feet. She swayed, blinking huge owl eyes back at him. They were still purple.

  “Ewan?” she whimpered. “I’m scared.”

  “I got ye, Red. Stay with me. Listen to my voice.” He patted her cheek, trying to get her to focus. But her head kept lolling side to side.

  She was mumbling and he could only catch snatches of it. “…what did I do? Wicked… Dead?”

  “Nay, lass,” he shook his head. Trying hard to tamp down the stomach churning memory of Kermani broken and bloody, so that he could answer her with a calm, reassuring voice. “He will live.” Maybe. “Yer nay wicked, Red. Now wake up.”

  There was clapping and the caw of several thousand birds and Ewan’s heart sank to his knees.

  “My big black wolf.” Malvena’s voice was bottomless, insidious. “And so we meet again. I thought you dead.” There was a ghostly quality to her voice that was both lyrical and wickedly disturbing.

  He shuddered, trying to keep Red firmly tucked within the shelter of his body. She was still mumbling.

  Malvena stepped out of the shadows. She wore a robe spun of midnight and stars, it cut along the length of her body, exposing tantalizing bits of naked flesh beneath. Her red hair crackled like the flames of a chimera. Her rose red lips were curved up in a plump, luscious smile.

  Crows sat on each shoulder, their beady black eyes drilling holes through Ewan’s skull. Malvena petted one of them.