Claimed by Pleasure: King of Spades (Wonderland Book 2)

by Jaymie Holland

  “Are you someone’s pet?” Alexi asked, as if the tiger could respond. “You haven’t eaten me yet.”

  The beast narrowed his gaze. I always play with my food before I dine, came a low and powerful voice in Alexi’s mind, and she almost wet her panties.

  “Some jerk must have slipped something into my drink.” Alexi closed her eyes, forcing away the all too real image, and tried to calm the frantic racing of her heart. “That’s the only explanation. I’ve been drugged and I’m just going to have to ride this out.” She paused and swallowed. “And then I’ll hunt down the bastard who did it and sue his sorry ass. Right after I kill him.”

  A rumble that sounded more like a chuckle rose up from the tiger hallucination that she could no longer see because she’d closed her eyes. Most unlike the way the rational and kickass Alexi handled problems, the drunk and drugged Alexi decided there was no way to fight a hallucination, so she might as well pretend none of this was happening, and the tiger didn’t exist.

  The beast’s imaginary musk was strong, its weight still pressed against her. The hallucination shifted its bulk and Alexi felt a muzzle between her breasts, the light scrape of teeth, and then heard the distinct sound of cloth ripping. One tug at the flimsy clasp of her bra and cool air rushed over her breasts. Her nipples tightened to hard peaks that made her squirm.

  Okay, this hallucination feels far too real. I’ve seriously gone over the edge.

  A rough tongue laved one nipple, sending a thrill straight through her and hardening her nipples even more.

  Alexi’s eyes popped open. The tiger lifted its giant head, and if she didn’t know better, she’d swear the beast was pleased with her body’s response.

  The tiger hallucination sort of shimmered and started to change. To shift. White fur melted away to olive skin and wood-brown hair. Paws, forelegs, and tiger body changed to a naked muscled chest. Suddenly it was the gorgeous man who had yanked her through the imaginary mirror.

  Giving in to the assurance that she’d totally lost all semblance of her sanity, Alexi stared up at the gorgeous face of the man she’d decked only moments before. The skin around his eye had already started to purple, and his furious expression told her he was none too pleased with her.

  “You have already earned the severest of punishments.” The man’s voice vibrated through her, and sounded like the one she’d heard in her head when the tiger had her pinned. He had an unusual accent, maybe European. “You have much to learn, wench.”

  “Wench?” Hallucination or no, she wasn’t taking that crap from anyone. Even if the timbre of his voice made her wet when he said the word. “My name is Alexi O’Brien—Ms. O’Brien to you, bastard. I have no intention of being punished by you or anyone else. I’m not a child, damn it.”

  With a scowl the man raised up just enough to work the torn blouse and bra the rest of the way from her torso. Fear and anger drove Alexi as she attempted to fight him, but he was too fast, too strong.

  When she was naked from the waist up, he grabbed both her wrists with his hands, forcing them together so that her twin gold bracelets met. When he released her, she tried to pull them apart, but somehow the gold had been welded together, shackling her.

  Alexi struggled against her bonds and tried to move her legs, which were still pinned beneath his weight. She gave him her fiercest glare and shouted, “Let me go, you prick.”

  The man’s smile was both dangerous and sensual as he placed his palms over both her breasts and pinched her nipples. Alexi gasped and fought not to shrink away from his touch…or arch into it.

  This is all too freaking weird.

  “I am Darronn, Ruler of the Kingdom of Spades,” he said as he continued to pinch and pull her nipples. “You will call me Master.”

  Anger burned through Alexi at his demand. “Fuck you.” She thrust her bound arms upward, planning to catch him on the chin, but this time he was ready for her.

  The man who called himself Darronn caught her wrists, his huge hand dwarfing both of hers. He forced her arms up over her head and in one smooth move scooted up so that he straddled her, keeping her hips pinned as he responded, “Yes, I will fuck you. Many, many times. Many, many ways.”

  “I’ll kill you before I’ll let you rape me.” Alexi struggled with everything she had, but it was like fighting a granite statue. A statue that moved. A statue that had an enormous erection poking against his black pants.

  A hard-on that part of her wanted to see, feel, touch, and taste.

  Shit. She’d done lost it.

  “You will beg me for my cock before I take you.” The man kept her wrists pinned to the ground above her.

  “Like hell—” she started, but then snapped her mouth shut when he held his free hand up and a black strap appeared in his grip, along with a three-foot-long golden stake.

  How the hell did he do that? Alexi’s skin chilled. And never mind the strap. What was he going to do with that stake?

  In a quick movement he reached above her and buried the gold stake in the ground. Before she could comprehend exactly what he was doing, he’d tied her bound hands to the stake with the black strap. Her hands gripped the cool metal between her palms—nearly as cold as the jolt of fear that shot through her body.

  Yet somehow, unbelievably, the chill of fear was chased away by searing lust. Her earlier thoughts came back to her. Had she finally met the man it would take to tie her up and maybe even screw her like she’d often fantasized about?

  What was she, crazy? Fantasy was one thing, but this reality was both frightening and arousing all at once.

  Darronn leaned back on his haunches and enjoyed the pleasing view of his future queen with her arms high over her head and bound to the stake. Rage burned in her aqua eyes. The fire and spirit in her gaze pleased him, and he looked forward to the challenge of taming her. No doubt she would enjoy rough sexual play as much as he did, and when the time came he would relish bringing her to their mutual pleasure.

  But first, he had to help her understand what she truly wanted, to help her free herself from the confines she had so long been accustomed to accepting. Indeed, there was no man in her pathetic realm worthy of her. No wonder she felt as if she must master the world, single-handedly.

  With him, she would find the care and support she needed as deeply as her own breath. If she didn’t poke out his eyes and sever his balls first.

  He moved his gaze to her full, sensuous lips, imagined the feel of her mouth sliding over his erection and gave a rumbling purr.

  “Let me go, damn you,” the woman called Alexi demanded.

  She had ordered him to call her Miz-o-brien in a tone that told him the name was reserved for those subservient to her. He could easily imagine her a queen of the realm from where she had come. Once she learned her place, she would serve well at his side.

  The ache in his cock grew fiercer as his gaze lingered on her breasts, now exposed to Tarok’s aging winter sun. In days it would be spring, as evidenced by the blooms scattered over his mountain, and the soft new grass beneath his mate’s back.

  Her dark red hair fluttered in the chill wind to either side of her face. Gooseflesh pebbled her fair skin and plumped her ripe nipples. “Such riches,” he murmured as he took them in hand at once. He would enjoy piercing her nipples and placing his signs of ownership upon her.

  When he pinched her taut nubs between his thumb and forefinger, Alexi gasped, and then visibly tensed her jaw as if trying to hold back a moan. Darronn’s purr of satisfaction rumbled through his chest again. Yes, she enjoyed his touch, no matter that she would deny it.

  The furious look returned to her eyes. “Get off me, you sorry son of a bitch.”

  Darronn merely studied her while he used his mind-magic to retrieve two more golden stakes and two black straps from his chateau. Her eyes widened and she attempted to struggle against her wrist bonds and to move her legs from beneath him.

  Of course, his strength was too superior, and by simply placing part of hi
s weight on one leg, he kept the other motionless with one hand while driving one stake into the ground with his other. He strapped her free ankle to it, forcing her legs apart.

  In moments he had both of her legs bound and she was splayed wide for him. Except that he couldn’t see all her delectable flesh, due to a strip of cloth covering her mound and folds. Her musk had been driving him wild with need since the first whiff he had caught through the looking glass.

  “Damn you.” Alexi wanted to scream with rage as she struggled against her bonds one last time. She gave up, for the moment. Already she was exhausted, and it wouldn’t do her a damn bit of good to fight right now. She needed to conserve her strength, and then when she had the opportunity she’d escape. After she killed the bastard.

  When had she realized that this wasn’t a hallucination or a dream? Somewhere along the line, her black-and-white brain had told her that too many things about the experience indicated that this was reality. She wasn’t prone to a high level of imagination, and there weren’t many gray areas in her past experience. It either was or it wasn’t, and all her instincts told her this was real. Even the shapeshifting thing—going from tiger to man.

  Shit. I am nuts.

  She was very aware of how exposed she was to his gaze. Her blouse and bra torn away, her skirt up over her hips, her legs splayed wide and bound to stakes, and only her panties covering her—and not very well at that.

  Just because her body responded to his touch, and the struggle had turned her on, it didn’t mean that she wanted him. And if she kept telling herself that, she might even believe it.

  Damn.

  “You no longer need this,” the man said as he knelt between her splayed thighs and reached for her skirt. As if it was made of paper, he tore the flimsy black material, pulled it away from her body, and tossed it aside.

  Alexi stared up at the beast of a man. Hunger raged in his eyes, and despite her position and being at this stranger’s mercy, her body responded to him.

  She had to gain some kind of control. Maybe make him see reason. “Why are you doing this?”

  “You belong to me.” He lowered his nose and sniffed at the silky black cloth covering her mound. “I claim only what is my own.”

  Alexi gasped at the sensuality of what he’d just done. She fought against her body’s reaction and shook her head, grass tickling her cheeks with the movement. “Like hell I belong to you, you kidnapping, raping asshole.”

  Darronn nuzzled her mound and she bit back a moan. She realized that a part of her wanted to give in to the sensations. Wanted to be tied up and taken. By him.

  This was insane. She shouldn’t want this man who had abducted her out of her home and now had her spread out like a gourmet dinner.

  With his teeth he grasped the side of her panties and tore them apart. Alexi had no choice but to watch as he ripped away the other side as well. Her clit throbbed and her breasts ached. It had been so long since she’d had a man’s cock inside her, felt the weight of him against her as he slid into her.

  She’d never had a man like this one.

  Darronn turned her on more than she wanted to admit. He was all man, from the ripple of muscles in his body, to the power in his sensuous movements, to the heat in his gaze. Yeah, she’d fantasized about being tied up, leading to a long bout of wild sex, but Alexi had never thought she could give up enough control to let that happen—until now. Which was absolutely bizarre considering her circumstances.

  Darronn grasped the loose cloth in his teeth and tugged. It slipped away, leaving her folds completely open to him.

  Resting on his haunches, he brought the woman’s cloth to his nose. He inhaled her scent from the damp material, imprinting Alexi’s smell upon his senses and causing his cock to expand near to bursting for her. He tossed the cloth onto the grass and returned his gaze to hers.

  Her glare was defiant, but her pupils dilated, her skin flushed with arousal, her folds glistening with her need for him. The urge to take her now was almost more than he could control, but he would not lose his grasp on his actions. He would not take her until her need for him was so great that she begged for him to be inside her. When she made the free choice to take him, then and only then would he sink inside her core.

  Despite what she might think, he was no rapist. He would never give a woman more—or less—than she wanted. Most especially his newfound mate.

  Alexi was naked save for the black silk encasing each of her legs from thigh to toe, and the odd red slippers with sticks at the heels covering her feet. Darronn slowly slid his hand down the silken material on one of her legs and rumbled his approval. “I wish for you to wear these, and only these, in my presence.”

  “Bastard.” A lesser man would surely burst into flame from the blaze in her eyes as she once again spat the word questioning his parentage.

  Darronn lowered himself between her thighs, bracing his weight on his arms so that he remained above her. Alexi’s throat worked and her expression shifted from fury to desire and back. “The sooner you realize you are my possession, the sooner you will learn what it is to be pleasured by the King of Spades.”

  “You’re delusional, you know that?” Alexi snapped as a rush of heat traveled over her, feeling like she was the delusional one.

  His long wood-brown hair drifted over her shoulder as he nuzzled her throat, and Alexi fought to hold back a moan from the sensual feel of his stubbled jaw chafing her neck, and the caress of his hair over her skin. “You smell as sweet as starflowers and midnight beneath the falls.”

  Now where did such a barbarian learn romantic talk like that?

  “Stop touching me,” she said in her best courtroom attorney voice, but to no surprise he ignored her.

  Alexi expected to feel the weight of his body against hers—craved it, even—but his powerful arms kept him braced above her. This was a man who took what he wanted, and didn’t hold back. So why was he holding back with her?

  She closed her eyes, blocking out the sight of his handsome face as he moved his mouth to the valley between her breasts. His lips brushed her skin in whisper-soft movements as he trailed them over the curve of one breast to lightly skirt the nipple. What was wrong with her? She had to hold back a moan. She wanted to arch her back and force her nipple into his mouth. She wanted him to suck it with the force of his desire for her.

  No, no, no!

  Darronn released a rumbling purr as he eased down Alexi’s body, teasing her, making her recognize how much she needed him. The wench wanted him so badly that she was quivering, but she held back her moans admirably well. When he reached the gold piercing at her navel, he smiled. A tiger bauble. Most suitable for his tigress, yes.

  He flicked his tongue against the gold, then drove his tongue into her navel. Alexi gasped and the scent of her magnified. His purr grew louder.

  “This is crazy.” Her voice came in ragged huffs. “You can’t just kidnap a person and tie them up. It’s not right.”

  “But I did not kidnap you. I rescued you from a bleak exile and brought you to your rightful home.” Darronn abandoned her navel for lower pursuits, softly nuzzling her belly and reaching the smooth skin of her shaved mound. His erection grew, threatening to spill his seed. A fine lot that would be, to climax in his breeches. “You are mine now, as it should be.”

  His tigress growled. “I don’t belong to anyone but myself, dickhead.”

  Darronn’s nose skimmed her swollen folds, and Alexi’s thighs trembled on either side of his head. Likely she would climax with one flick of his tongue against her engorged clit. As much as he would enjoy giving her pleasure, he intended for her to want him with no regrets whatsoever, and under his terms.

  Alexi was going to scream if she didn’t come soon. The bastard was hardly touching her and she was so on the edge. She hated him, she wanted him. She wanted to kill him, she wanted him to screw her. Shit, she couldn’t take much more of this.

  Darronn moved away and she opened her eyes to see him stan
ding between her splayed thighs. She expected him to kick off his boots, tear off his pants, and then drive into her. He merely studied her, his arms folded across his chest, the wind tossing his long hair. The bruise at his eye was darker now, and she only wished she’d blackened them both. Maybe then she would have had a chance to get back through that mirror.

  That was what she wanted, wasn’t it?

  “You have come to a world you do not understand, my firecat, and you have met a man you cannot command,” he said in his firm yet vibrant tone. “For your own good, you must learn the desires and fears of your heart—and you must learn to trust and respect the one person with the skill and power to make you whole.” He paused and then added, “Me.”

  Alexi just stared at him, unable to believe he had the nerve to tell her she needed to be taught any lessons. “You’re out of your mind, you know that?”

  “It matters not if you believe me, or even if you refuse your own desires—not yet—so long as you learn obedience. We begin your training now, as there is no time to waste. Your punishment for striking a King of Tarok, and for your rudeness,” he said, “will be to remain here the night through.”

  Alexi’s jaw dropped and she stared at the bastard in utter disbelief. He was going to leave her staked out in the middle of a mountain meadow? Naked?

  “With my protections you will remain safe here, and no harm shall come to you.” He raised his hands and a red shimmer filled the air around Alexi, like a fiery bubble, and then it was gone. “When I return for you in the morning, you will address me as Master, and with respect, or I will not free you. Do you understand?”

  “Screw you.” Alexi clenched her teeth and her ears rang with the rage ripping through her.

  Darronn gave a slow nod, his expression stern. “I see that you do understand,” he said before he turned and walked away.