And then his hands went to the waistband of my jeans and I jerked up as if that could serve to get him to move faster. It only served in him torturing me, in him teasing as was his nature. His fingers undid the button, slid the zipper down. I adjusted my body, frantically helping him to pull them past my hips and over my legs until I kicked them off completely. Then he was settled over me again, palming my hips, trailing circles against my skin with his thumbs. His body went lower, he kissed his way down my stomach, tongue dipping into my belly button briefly before traveling lower. I sucked in a breath, feeling my face heat with desperate arousal when his tongue, warm and wet and welcoming, slid slowly down my folds.
I cried out, writhing against him but he held me in place, pushing my hips tightly against the mattress to keep me still. It was torture. It was wonderful. “Don’t move,” he commanded in soft tones. “Try and keep very still.”
I was panting with want. “You’re not the boss of me,” I gasped.
I didn’t have to look at him to know he was smiling. “I will be soon enough,” he said just before his mouth closed over my clit. I screamed, my hips flying up to meet the movements of his tongue but he held me in place, pushing my body down.
I groaned, flinging a hand over my forehead, not quite knowing what to do, not quite knowing how to move. His tongue left me only to be replaced by his fingers. He slid a finger up my folds to tease my clit. I arched into him, pressing myself tighter against him, desperate for release. But just as soon as I felt pleasure there, he was moving, separating my folds to stick his fingers inside. I felt myself stretching, felt the pleasure of his him moving against my inner walls.
I was wet, panting and desperate. I jerked my hips up. I needed him. He had no idea how much I needed him. Or maybe he did. Maybe that’s why he was torturing me, teasing the orgasm out of me slowly.
It was coming. I could feel it rising as his fingers moved against me, as he began hauling me up. My body went tight, waiting for that drop… I dug my hands into the blankets, arched up and waited for the orgasm to wash over me, to drop me into bliss. But just like that the feeling was gone as River stopped touching me.
Letting out a cry, my eyes flew open to find him staring at me, a smirk on his lips. “Not yet,” he rasped. Groaning, I watched as he reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his shoulders, tossing it aside. “Not yet,” he repeated as he dipped down and resumed his torture once more.
I screamed his name, digging my hands into his curls. His mouth tortured and teased, fingers stretching me. I moved my hips against his hand, crying out as I felt the sharp rasp of his teeth against my most sensitive area. I felt it coming again, felt the waves of pleasure start to descend on me. My thighs clenched tightly around his head to keep him in place, but just before I could fall into bliss, he stopped. Again.
“Damn it,” I cursed, going limp again.
River chuckled. “Not yet,” he whispered like a dark promise. “But soon.” And then he was standing up, leaving me to my own feverish desires as he stood from the bed and undid his own pants, pulling them over his legs, tugging off his boots and everything.
I watched through half-lidded eyes, admiring every bit of him. His hair was curled and plastered against his temples with sweat. The panes of his chest were so delicious, my tongue darted out to lick my bottom lip. Ridges and bumps of muscle decorated his skin. Lean hips, strong thighs. I looked down at the one normal leg and then to the other, to where the silver of metal began just below his knee. It was an intricate design, made to look like any other leg. And I didn’t, for once, doubt his strength.
“Come here,” River crooked his finger at me. His face was bright red, the only indication that he was as aroused as I was. Well, that and his erection that stood high to his stomach. I slid off the bed and went to him, feeling my knees wobble. My body still hummed. I was still desperate to be touched, to feel him.
He granted my wish, taking my arms to guide me gently over to the wall. If there was one thing I knew about River, it was that he relished in movement. He could not keep still in one place too long. And I was ever grateful when he palmed my center again just as he took my mouth in his.
The wall behind me was cold in contrast to my feverish body. I clung to him, wrapping my arms around his neck. There was nothing awkward about this. Nothing awkward about this position. Pure instinct drove us.
His palms parted my thighs and I widened so he fit between me. I felt his erection against my stomach, smooth and hard and wet. And I wanted him inside me. My fingers found him and stroked up his length. He jerked against me, tearing his lips from mine to drop his head on my shoulder. He groaned into the crook of my neck.
“Now?” I asked.
“Yes,” he rasped and I let him go to enjoy the feel of his tip press against my clit. He felt smooth and my head swirled with desire. His hands went to my ass, palms firm against me. I prepared for what I knew was coming, spreading my legs as he lifted me high against the wall and then wrapping them around his waist. I waited for him to slam into me, to feel him fast and hard.
But he took his time, sliding his dick slowly into me.
And then he began moving. His body pressed tightly against mine, my back hard against the wall. I slid up with each powerful, slow thrust. My nails raked down his shoulders and onto his back.
Every thrust lifted me higher, higher. I felt it coming and I wondered if he would torture me again. If he would pull out just as I was finding my peak of pleasure. But this time, when the orgasm came, he kept moving. And after so long of being tortured, when I finally found my release, it was like nothing I’d ever felt. It was powerful. It was ecstacy. I threw my head back, banging it against the wall, my thighs and legs tightening against him as best as I could.
He held me up with one hand, the other palming the wall by my head as he continued his own slow thrusts. I came down from my high, riding him until he, too, found his pleasure in me.
When our cries died down and our breaths mingled, our hearts beating together in an erratic rhythm of the aftermath, I brushed aside a lock of his hair and chuckled. “So that’s what the baker’s daughter went on about.”
***
“Go to the lab,” River ordered. “There’s something in there you need to see.”
It was why he had gone to my room in the first place. He didn’t tell me what was there. I tried not to feel worry, but anxiousness spread through me like a poison. I was sure Akir would be there. I only hoped he would have good news for me. I didn’t want to dwell on the bad. Could the cure not have worked? Would we, in the end, have to put my mother down like an animal? The thought nearly had me tripping over my own feet as I ran to the lab.
I arrived and paused a brief second outside the door, trying to regather my wits, my calm. After taking a deep breath, I opened the door and stepped through, expecting to see Akir with his scientists and a hybrid in a cage.
What I got instead froze me in my tracks. A sob wrenched out of my throat and the tears sprang to my eyes immediately.
She was sitting in a rolly chair, a blanket thrown over her shoulders. She held it tightly to her body but was stretching her long bare legs out in front of her, wiggling her toes. As if she’d never seen them before or as if she’d missed them dearly. Her long brown hair was unbound and unbrushed, so unlike her. But still, it filled me with happiness.
“Mom,” I rushed to her and dropped to my knees before the chair. And just like that, we were in each other’s embrace. The tears we cried were for each other, for what had happened, for what we’d lost but overall, because she was back. “I thought I’d lost you,” I sobbed.
“Keanna,” she pressed a kiss to my forehead and palmed my cheeks, looking into my eyes. “My brave little girl.”
“I’m so sorry, mom.” She swiped away a tear from my cheek as soon as it fell. “Because of me you were captured…”
“Ssh,” she silenced me. “It’s over now. I’m here and that’s all that matters. I have you
to thank for that, as well as Akir Murtaugh.”
As if the mention of his name had summoned him, Akir appeared in the doorway. I wasn’t sure how I knew he was there. Perhaps it was the sudden chill over my arms, as if my body was quite attune to him. I turned slowly, not missing my mother’s sly smile before I faced my fiancée.
I felt my heart thunder nervously. “Akir,” I whispered.
He looked as dangerous as ever. He wasn’t wearing his favored leather jacket. Instead, he wore a simple white T-shirt, under which I could see the gauze wrapped around his chest. Sudden guilt filled me. He’d been hurt and I’d locked myself in my room out of fear.
Slowly, I stood and walked over to him quite tentatively. I stopped when we were close enough to touch. “You did it,” I wiped another stubborn tear from my cheek, tilted my chin up. “You brought her back.”
He dipped his chin in a nod then looked over my shoulder at my mom. “Food, clothes and a bath are being prepared, your Highness.”
My mother sighed with relief. “Thank you, King Murtaugh.”
He gifted her with a rare smile. “Please, Majesty, call me ‘Akir’.”
My mother laughed and I stared at him incredulously. He could be charming. Who knew?
“I could just call you ‘son’.” I turned sharply to see her sly smile. What was going on? Since when had my mother been sarcastic and sly? And since when had Akir exuded charm and charisma? He was the grumpiest person I knew. “You are to be married to my daughter, after all.”
“That remains to be seen,” Akir replied coolly. I felt the blood drain from my face. What? I turned to glare up at him but he still hadn’t given me a glance. “If you’d follow me, Majesty, my brother Braxtyn is waiting to escort you to your chambers. Our servants are at your disposal, of course.” He went over to her and offered her his arm. She smiled and took it, tucking it into the crook of his elbow.
She gave me a scolding look as they passed. “And you thought the Ruined City was full of savages.” Her eyes bore into mine as if to say ‘shame on you’.
Shame on me indeed.
They left the room, Akir passing her off to a waiting Braxtyn, who also didn’t spare me a glance as he led my mother away. I felt my heart lurch but there would be plenty of time to talk to her later. Plenty of time to ask her all I wanted to know.
For now, I had to deal with Akir. I had to talk to him. I’d ignored him too long already.
He was leaning against the door frame of the room, arms crossed against his wide chest almost as if he were waiting for me to say something. Anything.
What I wanted to say wasn’t what came out of my mouth. “What was that bullshit all about?”
He raised his scarred eyebrow in questioning. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean, brave little lass.”
His mocking words curled around me, only serving to infuriate me. “You’re such a bastard.” I tightened my hands into fists. “I mean about you pretending to be charming.”
“Pretending? Lass, I don’t have to pretend. I am charming.”
“Ugh,” I stormed forward and gave him a shove against his chest. He grunted but didn’t budge. I remembered too late his injuries but I wouldn’t baby him. “I hope that hurt,” I snapped.
“More than you know, lass.”
I suddenly froze. What the hell was I doing? Arguing with him had become such a norm for me that I didn’t know when to stop. Suddenly, we weren’t talking about the pain of his injury anymore. We weren’t talking about his injury at all.
Shame heated my cheeks. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered. It hurt. My guilt still hadn’t eased.
Akir read the change of moods and reached his palm out to my cheek, trailing circles against it with his thumb. “It’s alright, lass.”
“It’s not, though. Your father is gone and my mother is here. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I ran away from the responsibilities here. From helping you.”
Something in his eyes softened. “The Ruined City is not your responsibility.”
That remains to be seen.
I didn’t understand. Did he not want me anymore? The thought that he didn’t want to marry me was staggering and it hurt more than I ever thought it would. I crossed my arms over my chest, as if that could act as a barrier between me and this man, whatever he was.
“I thought it was. At least, now that your father is gone and you are king.”
He shrugged. “Now that my father is officially gone, there is nothing that forces us to wed. Your parents would be disappointed, of course. But there is no longer the threat of hybrids looming and our clans are no longer enemies. Marriage is unnecessary.”
My face heated. Isn’t this what I wanted? It was why this had all started in the first place. I hadn’t wanted marriage and he was giving me a way out. So why did my heart break at the idea of never being beside him? Of never waking up in that room he’d redecorated for me?
“Are you saying these things because of River, Kael and Lex?” I asked softly and I hated how defeated my voice sounded. How quiet I’d gotten. I cleared my throat and tilted my head up in defiance. “Is it because I’ve been with them?”
Akir chuckled. “Of course not, lass. I’d thought you’d notice by now that the Ruined City is full of polyamorous people. Were you to be my queen, I’d have let you love and fuck whoever you want because you’d still be mine. The fact is, that you never wanted to be queen of the Ruined City. I went along with it because they were my father’s wishes. Now, he is not here and I can do what I please. You should rejoice. You will no longer be tied to a bastard like me.”
Something in me snapped. I slapped him. He didn’t see it coming, didn’t stop me this time. And he didn’t stop me when my fists found his chest and began pounding. I didn’t care that he was hurt. I didn’t care that I may have been making it worse. All I cared about was my rage. How dare he? How dare he? I know I’d said it before, I’d told him I wasn’t sure. I’d told him there was no way he could love me. I’d done everything I could to push him away and it had finally happened. Only, I wasn’t happy with it.
Because I wanted to stay.
I wanted to be his queen.
“I love you!” I stopped suddenly, letting my hands fall to my sides. I looked up at him, at his wide eyes. I’d caught him off guard with my confession. “I think I loved you the moment I knew you hadn’t taken my mom. I loved you the moment I saw that you’d decorated your room for me. I didn’t realize it before, but I know now. I know now that I love you. And if you will accept me and all my flaws, if you don’t mind that my heart also loves River and Kael and Lex, if you’ll accept that I love all of you, then I’ll gladly be your queen.”
Akir smiled slowly. He bent down and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “You know I was only joking?” He whispered against the top of my head before backing away.
I blinked at him. “What?”
He shrugged. “I was joking about not marrying you anymore.”
My face flooded the color of my hair. “You bastard!” I punched him in the chest again only to feel his arms wrap around my arms a moment later.
“How could you ever think I’d want to be rid of you?” He laughed and kissed the top of my head. “You’re stuck with me, Queen Keanna. Forever.”
***
“You look...happy.”
I froze my humming and turned slowly. Braxtyn was in a shadowy corner of a hallway, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed against his chest. He looked like a leper, waiting there. I kept that comment to myself though.
For once, he wasn’t looking at me with disdain or even hatred. The prince was looking at me with curiosity, head tilted slightly to the side. He looked relaxed, as relaxed as he could be under the circumstances. There still seemed to be a heavy weight on his shoulders that I didn’t think would lift anytime soon. Then again, I didn’t expect it to. We all needed time to heal. Whether that be with each other or individually, I couldn’t be certain. But after all that had happened between Braxtyn
and I, he would always find a friend in me.
“I am,” I replied.
He nodded once and unfurled his big frame from the wall, stepping out into the dim light. “I suppose that’s to be expected. You got your mother back, after all.”
Guilt hit me in the chest once again. “Braxtyn, I’m sorry about your father. And I’m sorry about Cole.”
He held his hand up and I bit my bottom lip. “Don’t,” he ground out. It wasn’t exactly angry sounding, but it wasn’t happy either. There was a haunted look in his blue eyes. I wondered how long he’d have it. If it’d ever go away. “I don’t want to talk about that right now. Or ever. It is my burden to bear.”
“Fair enough.”
We stared at each other in silence for a long while. Finally Braxtyn broke it, “You’ll be going back to your clan now, I assume? Wedding preparations and all that?”
I nodded firmly. “To respect both cultures and traditions there will be two ceremonies. One at home and one here in the Ruined City.”
“Has my brother told you about Ruined City marriage traditions?”
I shook my head. We hadn’t exactly gotten to that part yet. I was sure I wouldn’t even be involved in planning, anyway. Not with my mother back and her brain on overload. She was going to be ecstatic.
Braxtyn smiled and something about the gestured curled my stomach unpleasantly. “Before the marriage ceremony, the bride is required to eat the raw bloody heart of a wild boar. If she can eat the whole thing without vomiting, she is worthy of her betrothed. If not, the engagement is called off.”
Freeing the Beasts (The Hybrid Trilogy Book 3) Page 10
