The fury that struck her at the memory was not surprising in its intensity. “I talked to the professor, but he sided with Larry, who claimed that I had tried to steal it from him. Seems the old boys’ club didn’t like a woman being at the pinnacle. I received the Order of the Coif, which they still presented at that time, a ‘Graduation with Distinction’ honors, but Larry took top honors in my place.”
Darronn growled like the weretiger he was. “Bastard.”
“I had a few choice names for him, too.” Sonofabitch, dickless, fuckhead, to name a few. “When I confronted Larry about it, he just laughed and said he’d been using me all along. That I’d better learn quick not to be so damn trusting if I was going to make it as an attorney. It showed me just how ruthless people can be.”
The corner of her mouth quirked in a wry smile as her gaze met Darronn’s furious gaze. “I thanked Larry for the lesson and then taught him to guard his nuts.”
Darronn winced.
“Yeah, that bastard was walking and talking funny for at least a week.” Alexi put her hands on her hips. “You should feel lucky. I blackened both his eyes, broke his nose, and rammed his balls up his throat.”
The king winced then snorted and Alexi could tell he wasn’t sure how to react. He was likely vacillating from being pissed at the asshole who had hurt her, wanting to laugh at her revenge on him, or remembering to guard his own nuts. Probably all three.
“Larry taught me a lesson all right, and so did the class professor.” Alexi smirked. “I showed both of them, though. I aced absolutely every final exam and wrote an award-winning paper that more than replaced the one Larry stole from me. But I’ve never trusted a man since.”
Darronn reached out and took her hand in his. “I would never hurt you intentionally. Know that you can trust in me. I do what I believe is best for you as well as for my subjects.”
Alexi gave him a direct look. “I’ve heard that one before, Darronn. I trust no one but my sister, my aunt, my cousin, and myself. I don’t trust my scum of a father who ran off with some bimbo and left Alice and me. And I can’t trust my mom because she’s been gone mentally for a very long time.”
She tried to pull her hand away from Darronn, but he wouldn’t let go. “Trust me,” he said, his words intense and fierce, like a command.
Slowly she shook her head. “Trust is earned. Not given.”
~~*~~
After they toured the chateau, the stables, and the grounds, Darronn escorted Alexi to his private dining chambers. A table for two had been set and was graced with golden plates, flatware, and goblets bearing the Spades crest. It was now evening and the buttery glow of candles filled the room. Candlelight flickered across the surfaces of the gold dinnerware, the candelabra offering the light from the center of the black tablecloth. Flames sputtered in several sconces, casting dancing shadows upon the walls.
Like every other place in his chateau, the private dining room was gorgeous.
Darronn pulled out a chair for Alexi to sit in and scooted it in before taking the seat to her left. She felt a moment’s discomfort, as if she’d been invited to a dinner party where she didn’t know what was expected of her.
Within a minute, a servant walked in bearing a large crystal decanter.
“Would you like a fine mead this evening, Milord? Or perhaps you would prefer an ale.” The servant stood beside Darronn, the golden liquid swirling inside the decanter.
“This will do.” Darronn gave a nod and the servant poured the mead into Darronn’s goblet.
The servant moved to Alexi and held the decanter close to her goblet. “For you, Milady?”
“Thank you.” She watched as he poured the liquid into the goblet, then sipped the mead. The honeyed drink was only slightly sweet and tasted of a spice she couldn’t quite place. It clearly was alcoholic as she felt familiar warmth travel through her chest to her empty stomach.
Darronn set down his goblet after taking a long drink. “Is it to your liking?”
She placed her own stem on the table. “It’s very good.”
He looked pleased, despite his customary gruffness.
Three servants appeared bearing platters of roasted fowl and vegetables, along with several other delicacies. The smells of roasted meat and fresh baked bread, made Alexi even hungrier. Kira appeared for only a moment as she placed napkins in their laps, and then she quietly slipped out of the room.
Alexi was surprised at how civilized everyone seemed to be. But then she hadn’t seen anything that indicated otherwise—other than Darronn acting like a barbarian.
She was in a good mood and dug into the meal with enthusiasm. Unlike Alice, Alexi never had to watch her weight. She’d always thought her sister was beautiful just the way she was, but her twin had struggled to accept herself. Since she hadn’t had to face what Alice went through, Alexi could only be supportive and had done her best to try to make her sister realize that she was gorgeous, inside and out.
As usual, thoughts of her missing sister dampened Alexi’s mood, and she swallowed her bite of a vegetable. It occurred to her that she hadn’t asked Darronn the question that had been bothering her.
She set down her fork and focused on Darronn. “Is it possible that my sister, Alice, could be somewhere in Tarok?”
The slightest twitch tugged at the corner of Darronn’s eye, but he continued to drink mead from his goblet. When he set the goblet down, he looked at her. “No.”
Alexi was adept at telling if someone was telling a lie or the truth, but with Darronn she couldn’t tell what that twitch meant, or if she’d imagined it.
She grasped her own goblet and trailed her fingers up and down the slender shaft. “How can you be so sure?”
He shrugged, but said nothing else.
Frustration at his one-word answer and his shrug made her want to throw her goblet at him. She gripped the goblet’s stem so tightly it was a wonder the metal didn’t crumple in her hand. She picked it up and took a long drink.
She thunked the goblet onto the tablecloth and narrowed her gaze at Darronn. “If you are lying to me, I swear you will pay.”
He raised an eyebrow, as if amused. “Eat.”
She grumbled to herself but ate the roast chicken, or something that tasted like it, along with the nutty mashed potato-like stuff and more warm bread. While she ate, she became lost in her thoughts.
Why did it seem perfectly normal to be sitting here with Darronn? It was as if she’d been here for ages, having dinner with him on a daily basis. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He had such a powerful kingly presence and his muscles were so well defined that it looked as if he worked out at a gym for hours every day, or at least out in the fields. Something that would make him look like some kind of muscle competition champion.
He looked so damned yummy that it was difficult not to imagine screwing him senseless. Her nipples tightened and she grew wet between her thighs as she thought about his incredible erection this morning. She’d love to slide her mouth over the head of it, licking and sucking it until he came in a hard, heated rush.
His gaze rose and he looked amused, as if reading her mind.
She scowled and grabbed her goblet, tipped her head back, and drank the last of the mead.
“What do you do for music around here?” she asked as she set down the goblet. “Music is one of my favorite things—I love listening to all kinds.”
Darronn shrugged. “We have musicians and those who sing quite well.”
“I bet you don’t have anything like alternative rock.” She smirked when he raised an eyebrow. “You wouldn’t get it. You definitely wouldn’t get it.”
With a shrug, he took a bite of a chunk of buttered bread and didn’t answer.
By the time they finished dinner, Alexi had downed almost three goblets of mead and was feeling fiiiiiiine. That mead was some good stuff.
Kira appeared with a platter of strawberry tarts for dessert. Alexi thought about the picture of the King of Hearts
in the library and almost giggled. Was Darronn the knave who stole the Queen of Hearts’ tarts?
Alexi bit into one and found it heavenly. She closed her eyes and let the taste settle on her tongue before swallowing. When she opened her eyes, Darronn was watching her.
“They’re wonderful.” She reached for another tart and bit into it.
“You told me of the boy who abused your trust.” He said “boy” like he didn’t consider her ex-boyfriend to be a man. She had to agree. “Who else caused you pain?”
His question caused her bite of strawberry tart to stick in her throat. She grasped her goblet and swallowed a large gulp of the smooth mead. After all the alcohol she’d had, she felt loose and relaxed enough to talk with him about one of the worst times in her life. When she set the goblet back onto the black tablecloth, her gaze met his.
“When I worked for Sutter and Sutter, a law firm in San Francisco, before opening my own practice, I worked with a couple of attorneys I found attractive and interesting.” A server filled Alexi’s goblet again. She knew she shouldn’t have another, but she took a sip anyway. “I went out on a date with each of them and they were both respectful and fun to be with. Their names were William and Drew.”
Darronn’s look was intense as he listened, never taking his gaze from her.
She leaned back in her chair, still clutching her goblet. “William was quieter where Drew was more of a bad boy. I seem to be attracted to bad boys.” She mentally shook her head. Maybe that was why she kept having the hots for Darronn, because he was definitely a bad boy.
She waved her hand, like brushing the thought aside. “Somehow Drew got to me. He was charming, funny, attentive, and the sex was fantastic.” Her heart went ice-cold. “We only had sex once, because the next day Drew went to the law firm and told everyone he’d fucked Alexi O’Brien and that I was an easy lay.”
Darronn’s expression turned so dark he looked like he wanted to throttle Drew, breaking his neck with his bare hands.
“I was humiliated.” Anger and pain warred within her, becoming one. “All he had wanted was to get to me before William had a chance. It was a competition for him and his narcissistic ego.”
A low growl rumbled up in Darronn’s chest, but she continued.
“Both old Mr. Sutter, and his son, the younger Sutter, reprimanded me but not Drew.” She swallowed down bile that rose in her throat. “They said I set a poor example for the law firm and endangered the relationships between attorneys and clients. They put me on six-month probation.”
Alexi straightened in her chair. “I was a fairly new attorney with the firm and Drew was much higher on the food chain. I don’t even know if he got a slap on the wrist.” She took a huge gulp from goblet number four. “After the shitstorm, the nice guy, William, was polite, but made it clear he was no longer interested in me.”
She banged her fist on the table. “But damned if I was going to let them run me off. I kept my chin high and refused to date anyone who had anything to do with the firm. I became one of the most successful attorneys at Sutter and Sutter.”
“This is why you have no trust in men.” Darronn’s jaw tightened. “I understand.”
Alexi blinked at him. “You do?”
“You must realize I am not like these boys who would use a woman.” Darronn said each word as if hammering it into a board. “Do not place me in the same light in which you see them. I am not like those men.”
Alexi studied him, her mind fuzzy from the mead. “I almost believe you.”
“Why would you question me?” he demanded.
“Oh, I don’t know.” She pretended to consider it. “Oh, yes. You kidnap me, tie me up, refuse to give me clothes when I ask, insist that I call you Master, parade me naked in front of a whole village, and keep me prisoner.”
“That is not the same.” Darronn leaned forward. “I have not violated your trust.”
“You have given me no reason to trust you.” She tossed her napkin over the last tart on the plate before her. “I’d like to go to bed now.”
He looked as if he was going to argue. Instead, he pushed back his chair and went to hers, moving it back so that she could stand. “I will take you back to my quarters, but you will learn to trust me.”
She stared him directly in the eyes. “Give me a reason, and just maybe I will. But I doubt it. I seriously doubt it.”
CHAPTER TEN
SHE WANTED HIM, AND SHE WANTED HIM BADLY. Alexi’s body throbbed with desire as she walked with Darronn from the dining room to his chambers. Her nipples pressed against what leather there was to cover her breasts. Her clit ached, her folds wet with desire.
She didn’t care if the amount of mead she’d consumed influenced her and made her want him even more. All she knew was that she wanted him inside her.
Now.
When they reached his chambers and had stepped inside, he closed the door behind them.
He turned to face her, and for the first time she saw a trace of vulnerability in his expression. He truly did not know what to do with her.
“Compromise.” She ran a finger down his broad chest to his abs. “All I’m asking is for you to compromise with me.”
He searched her gaze and she almost expected him to burst out with another round of “I am king. You will submit.”
Instead, he lowered his head slowly, his face nearing hers. His long hair tickled her cheeks as his mouth came closer.
Screw slow. Alexi reached up and clenched her hand in his hair and brought her lips up to meet his before he could take control.
She lightly bit his lower lip and he growled, the sound rumbling through his body and straight into and through her.
The kiss became a whirlwind of sensation and feeling, their tongues thrusting and tasting. His stubble chafed her mouth, her chin, her lips, and she moaned from the erotic sensations. Alexi wanted Darronn more than any man she’d ever known. She wanted his body tight to hers, wanted him deep inside her.
For birth control, she’d had the hormone implant inserted under the skin of her upper arm a while back because she loved sex but didn’t want to have to worry about getting pregnant and interrupting her career. She still insisted on condoms to help prevent STDs, but there was never a guarantee that a condom wouldn’t break.
She drew away, her breathing hard. “In your world, do you have condoms? You know, protection to prevent diseases transmitted by sex?”
He looked puzzled and like he was having a hard time thinking. Probably because all the blood had rushed from his head to his groin.
A frown creased his face. “We have no diseases transmitted by sex.”
She let out a long breath of relief. “Good.” She grasped his shoulders and gave a little jump so that she could wrap her legs around his thighs.
He slid his palms beneath her leather outfit and cupped her ass cheeks, holding her tightly to him.
It had been far too long since she’d had a man, and she’d never had a man like this one.
He carried her to his bed and set her on the floor, her bare feet on the soft fur rug. He pulled the strappy dress over her head, leaving her naked.
“By the skies, you are beautiful.” He kissed her hard before stepping back and removing his boots and black leather pants.
When he was naked, his glorious body on full display, she started to go down on her knees, wanting him in her mouth. Before she could, he caught her by the waist and tossed her onto the fur-covered bed. He eased onto the mattress, facing her. He clenched his fist in her long auburn hair, kissing her, pressing his erection to her belly.
While his mouth took hers, Darronn moved his hand from her hair, slid it down to her ass, and pressed their bodies tightly together. His cock was so hard and so enormous it felt as if it was bruising her belly. Her nipples brushed his chest, making the ache inside her even greater.
While they continued ravaging each other, Alexi hooked one leg over his hips and tried to push him onto his back so that she could climb
on top and ride him. But he was too powerful, and forced her to roll onto her back before he positioned himself between her thighs.
He tore his mouth from hers and looked down at her with savage intensity in his eyes. “In my bed, you are mine to command.”
Her many fantasies came back to her, a secret thrill that made her even hornier. “In bed only?” she asked as her eyes met his, and she knew her gaze held a challenge.
“There are many things I wish to do that would give you pleasure beyond your dreams.” He pressed his erection against her slit. “But you need to relinquish control to me when we are in my bed.”
The fact that he was asking—in his own way—was enough to give Alexi pause, and it excited her, too. Here was a man used to total submission from his women, yet willing to keep it in the bedroom for her. Being mastered sexually had been her fantasy for a long time, and this was the only man she could ever imagine submitting to.
Oooh, like the fantasy she’d had about being a French maid being erotically punished by her employer. Or better yet, where she was a servant in a palace where the prince had to sexually punish her for misbehaving…
“I have been a bad, bad serving girl.” She ran her tongue along her lower lip and enjoyed watching the flare of desire in his eyes. “How will you punish me…Master?”
Surprise, then raging lust washed over his expression, both replaced by a mask of control. The face of a king who ruled his kingdom with a firm hand. That power was such a turn-on and it added fuel to her fantasy.
Darronn rose, adjusting her so that he could kneel between her thighs, his massive chest muscles flexing and his hair wild about his shoulders. He had the biggest hard-on she’d ever seen in her life.
“You require discipline for ignoring your duties to your king.” He raised his arm, the one with the spade tattoo, and a black leather strap appeared in his palm. “On your knees, wench.”
Claimed by Pleasure: King of Spades (Wonderland Book 2) Page 10
