This feeling of belonging was the most real thing I’d ever known. Whatever happened after this, whatever tomorrow would bring—none of it mattered because I was his, and he was mine. His strength. His power. His brokenness. I wanted it all.
I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he reached between our bodies and fisted his length, rocking his hips slowly. I moaned against his mouth when his thick head brushed my clit, lighting me on fire. He rubbed me from front to back, spreading my wetness with his thickness. Taunting and teasing until I was nothing more than a breathless, panting mess. The burning man engulfed me in his flames.
“Sutton, please…”
“I’m going to ruin you.” His polished voice was raspy and hard.
I don’t care.
He eased the head of his cock inside me, then reached for my hands and held them above my head. The room grew quiet as I held my breath and welcomed him inside. Body to body. Skin to skin. Finally. He laced his fingers with mine and pushed into me... bare. No condom. There was no feeling of panic or crippling fear, because being trapped in Torryn with Sutton’s baby inside me didn’t feel like a trap at all.
My hips met the slow and easy rock of his. A strangled groan rumbled low in his throat, and I knew it had to be torture for him to go so slow. It was killing me. His sharp edges may have softened, but they weren’t dull. He lived for the challenge whether he admitted it or not.
My hands clenched his, and I challenged him with my eyes. “Fuck me like you mean it.”
Something broke inside of him at my words. Something so intense I almost heard when it ripped open and tore to the ground. He immediately sat up and gripped my hips, pulling me down the bed and lifting my butt onto his lap, then slamming into me again. Deep. So deep it hurt. It stretched me to my fullest and sent pain ripping up my spine. I clawed at his strong arms that held me in place, chasing the pain, craving the pleasure. Sutton fucked me like he hated me. Like he loved me. Like he was at war with himself and my body was the white flag.
Sweat beaded across his forehead and in the hollow of his neck. “Is this what you wanted, little sheep? For me to break you in two?”
Yes. God, yes.
If this was heaven, then his body was my salvation. He reached behind and pulled me up so that I sat all the way on his lap. He drove into me, thrusting and pounding so deep my whole body trembled. He leaned forward and sucked a nipple into his mouth then pulled at it with his teeth. My fingers gripped his hair, pushing him away then pulling him closer like a woman teetering on the edge of madness. With every drive of his hips, I became more addicted to him. He held my hips and thrust deeper.
And harder.
So deep, I couldn’t breathe.
I tipped my head back as my entire body tensed and arched back, pressing my breasts against his chest.
“Fuck yeah,” he growled against my skin. “Fall apart on my cock. Break for me.”
His mouth moved from my breast to my shoulder, and at the exact moment the most intense orgasm I’d ever had ripped through me, his teeth sunk into my skin. The sharp bite of pain and pools of pleasure brought tears to my eyes then trailing down my cheeks.
I was gone, completely sucked in. Sutton owned me. He was right when he said my fate was sealed the moment he walked into the kitchen. Maybe even before that. That tightrope we were walking on? It just snapped in two. My eyes fluttered closed, and I welcomed the fall.
Twenty-Six
Last night was the worst and best night of my life. I almost didn’t get to say goodbye to my father because I was too busy dicking with Keaton fucking Valetta. By the time I got to Dad’s room, he could hardly hold his eyes open. His breath came in slow, drawn-out gasps. I knew the pain would have torn him apart if the nurses hadn’t taken care of it.
Anyone who knew me might say my heart was made of stone. After watching my father die, I knew that couldn’t be true. My heart was made of glass and with every strangled breath he took, another piece of it broke. The shards gutted me. All I could do now was pray that one day the edges would dull, and I could breathe again.
I held one of his hands while Mom held the other with tears streaming down her face—one of the few genuine signs that there was a heart beating in her chest.
Death was a painful truth that the world was taught to fear. Even though Death feared nothing at all. It answered to no one or nothing, and no amount of prayers or pleas or promises could stop it. It didn’t discriminate or bow to kings. It was Death who had a heart of stone, not me.
The last thing my father did before he fell into his final sleep was kiss my mother on her tear-stained cheek. I kissed his forehead and told him goodbye, then I went to Katie because I was terrified of the silence.
It was never my plan to fuck her. I just needed her presence because lately that was the only thing that made me feel human. She was fire, and I’d spent my entire life in the cold. She was never supposed to wake up, but when she did, I had to touch her. Seeing her wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.
I fell apart in her arms, and she let me. Without hesitation. Without judgment. Katie wasn’t afraid of my demons. She fucking owned them.
The morning sun had just begun creeping in through her bedroom window. The smell of the ocean floated in with the breeze. Katie lie sleeping on her side with her naked back facing me.
I was torn between two worlds—a perfect view of heaven from a front row seat in my own personal hell.
I kissed her shoulder and ran a finger down her spine, listening as the softest, sexiest fucking sound left her lips. She rolled over and smiled at me. Her back arched in a stretch, and the sheet fell from her breast, making her nipple peak as soon as it touched the cool air. Out of pure, raw instinct, I leaned forward and bit her there, and she moaned. Fucking moaned. Because I bit her.
My eyes shifted from the teeth marks on her breast to the bite mark on her shoulder to the trail of purple kisses my fingers left on the rest of her skin. Fuck. She must have seen the remorse in my eyes because her hand reached out to cradle my cheek.
“It’s like my body doesn’t want me to forget who it belongs to,” she teased with a grin.
Fuck. Me.
Her words made my dick hard. As if her tits hadn’t already gotten me halfway there. She looked at me with those wide, bright blue eyes and a wave of possessiveness rolled over me. Me. Your body belongs to me.
If there was a better way to start the day, I sure the fuck hadn’t found it yet.
She skimmed her fingertips across her nipple then her collarbone where I marked her. “You branded me.”
“Fucking right I did. And I’m about to do it again.” I threw the covers back and hopped out of bed, not bothering to get dressed because… fuck clothes. “Wait here.” I stopped in the doorway for one more look at her naked body, one more hit of a drug that was the ultimate high. “And if you’re not still naked when I get back, I swear to God I’ll burn every piece of clothing you own.”
I believed him. Sutton would burn my clothes and make me roast him marshmallows in the fire. I pulled the covers up over my body because my naked skin was no match for the crisp morning air. I stared out across the open room, watching the sheer white curtains blow in the breeze and trying to wrap my mind around the fact that there was a naked king walking around my house—a naked king who owned my body. Somewhere downstairs, drawers opened and closed, and cabinets slammed shut followed by a muffled curse word every few seconds. What the heck was he doing?
I started to climb out of bed to make sure he was okay… and not trying to cook me breakfast or make me coffee. Sutton was good at a lot of things, but I had a feeling cooking wasn’t one of them. As soon as I sat up, he appeared in my doorway, golden skin glowing in the sunlight, wearing nothing but a grin that rivaled the Cheshire cat… with a black Sharpie in his hand. Flawless. He was flawless.
He threw the comforter to the side, probably to make sure I had obeyed his orders. His smile faded, and his eyes grew dark. Nobody ever looked
at me the way Sutton Thorne looked at me—like he wanted to devour me, like he would die if he couldn’t.
He started at the foot of the bed and crawled his way up, placing a soft kiss on my ankle then running his tongue up the inside of my calf.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
Sutton peered up at me but never moved his mouth from my skin. “Tasting you.” The smooth sound of his voice slid over me, setting every cell in my body on fire. He ran his hands all the way up my legs, stopping at my hips and pressing me into the bed. His mouth was right there, so close to my heat. I felt his breath brush across my skin, and my hips jerked up to fight his hold. He smirked and shook his head. “Always so ready for me.” He ran his finger along my slit. “I’ll be inside you soon.” It was hard to tell if he was talking to me or my greedy hole, but either way, I won. “But first…” He popped the lid off the Sharpie and began writing… on my ladybits.
I stared up at the ceiling and groaned. “Is this payback for the pinky swear? Because this kind of feels like payback for the pinky swear.”
He laughed, then put the cap back on the marker and softly blew on the skin right above my most sensitive parts. I arched my back, silently asking him for more. My need for him was blinding.
His thumb traced lazily over whatever artwork he drew on my skin. “Look at me.” The grit in his voice was sinful and sexy and full of all the things I never knew I wanted.
I pushed up on my elbows and looked at him. He flashed me the panty-dropping grin all the girls in the kitchen never stopped talking about, and I melted. It was such a stark contrast to the anguish they held last night. The sight of it made my heart clench. That grin was mine.
The anguish was mine too. I knew now how Sutton felt when he looked at me the way he did, like he’d kill anyone who tried to take this, to screw this up.
His eyes fell between my legs. “Now here.”
I followed his gaze.
Oh my God.
I covered my face with my hands and shook my head. Sutton climbed up my body and pulled my hands away. “Look at it.”
I didn’t need to look again. I knew exactly what it said.
PROPERTY OF SUTTON THORNE
He threw the Sharpie to the floor and cupped my face in his hands. “I seem to remember something about my name being stamped on someone’s vagina.”
The conversation in the Great Hall. My laundry list of reasons why we could never be together. He remembered it. Something about that made my stomach flip with that feeling girls got when a crush liked their photo or smiled at them from across the room. God, I was so screwed.
“You mean the bruises and bite marks weren’t enough?”
He dragged his knuckles across the side of my cheek. It was gentle and sweet, even though Sutton was anything but those things. “Nothing will ever be enough.”
His leg slid between mine, pushing them apart. His cock brushed my core, and I lifted my hips to meet him. Please. He licked his lips and stared past my eyes, all the way into my soul. “I will never be done fucking you.” And with that husky whisper, he pushed inside of me.
I moved to climb out of bed, but Sutton grabbed my wrist and pulled me back down.
“You don’t get to leave me yet.” The authority in his voice made me wet all over again.
“I’m not leaving. I’m going to clean up.”
He sat up straight and leaned against the headboard, pulling my body with him. “You mean wash me off of you.” He ran his finger along the inside of my legs where the sticky white dripped down my thighs, smearing it into my skin. “You don’t get to do that either. I like you smelling like me.”
I smiled to myself because seconds ago, I’d glanced at his T-shirt on the floor and almost grabbed it and put it on because I knew it would smell like him. I wanted to smell like him.
He reached between his legs and palmed his cock. “I like smelling like you too.” He stroked his length, bringing it back to life. “You’re all over me.”
My eyes zeroed in on the way his long fingers wrapped around himself. My lips parted, hungry to taste him, to lick him, to suck him. I was sore, so very sore. My entire body ached, but I would live the rest of my life sore if it meant I got to have him like this. “Okay. You win.”
Sutton let out a breathy laugh then draped his arm over my shoulder and pulled me to his chest. “I always win.”
There were certain things in life that I never wanted to forget. My very first sleepover where I stayed up all night laughing and eating ice cream. The feel of the sea against my skin. My dad’s smile. This.
Sutton ran his fingertips over my shoulder and across my collarbone. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
I wish you weren’t a king. I wish I’d never gone to that house with Keaton. I wish our fathers were still alive. I wish this moment would never end.
“Sometimes I stare at the ceiling and listen to the sea,” I said instead.
“What does it say?” I couldn’t see his face, but I heard the smile in his tone.
“Can’t tell you. It’s a secret.”
He toyed with the cross on my necklace. “Secrets never did anyone any good.” His words were hushed, distant, broken.
All I wanted to do was heal him—heal us.
His hand fell, letting his fingertips trace lazy circles around my nipples. It was mindless for him, but it lit me on fire. “One night, as soon as I know it’s safe, I’m going to take you to that beach and fuck you on the sand,” he said.
When it’s safe.
Sutton left yesterday before I could tell him everything I knew. Keaton’s betrayal still burned in my chest.
I thought of all the things that must have been running through Sutton’s mind, all the weight he suddenly carried on his shoulders. Losing my dad was hard enough. Sutton would hardly have time to grieve before he was forced to fight for his crown. My heart sank. “They have an army.”
He paused his finger for a breath then started tracing again. “I know.” His tone was confident and leveled.
I jerked forward and turned to face him. Aside from a swift tick of his jaw, he looked completely content. “How can you be so calm knowing there are people who want your throne?”
“Every morning… somewhere… a gazelle wakes up and thinks, If I don’t outrun the lion, I’ll die. And every morning a lion wakes up and thinks, If I don’t outrun the gazelle, I’ll starve.” His eyes fell to my heaving chest then lifted back up to meet my gaze. He ran his tongue across his bottom lip then continued. “You should never fuck with a starving lion.”
“Things have changed, though. Now that the king—” I cut myself off.
“Is dead,” he finished. I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I know how this works. They think they’ll swoop in and take the throne while it’s empty. But that’s their first mistake—thinking when they should be running. They think they have time.” He paused and an icy cold covered his expression. “They don’t.” His face softened. “Don’t worry about me, little sheep. In case you haven’t noticed, I have a hard time letting go of what’s mine.”
I noticed. Belonging to Sutton Thorne felt a lot like falling. I knew at some point I would hit the bottom, but I was too caught up in the weightless feeling to care.
“Why do you call me that? Little sheep.”
A flicker of a smile quirked his lips. “As much as I could kick myself in the balls for saying this… Get dressed. There’s something I want to show you.”
We walked into the Children’s Center for the Blind and were immediately greeted by a gorgeous redhead with hypnotizing green eyes. A pink heat flushed her fair skin as her gaze locked in on Sutton. If a stranger passed him on the street, there was no way they would mistake him for a king.
He wore the same white T-shirt and jeans from the night before. The T-shirt clung to his firm chest and strong arms while the jeans hung low on his lean hips but hugged his muscular thighs. He pulled a gray beanie over his messy hair and my God did I want to lick eve
ry single inch of his perfect body. By the looks of it, the redhead did too.
She cleared her throat then smiled. “Sutton. This is a surprise.” Her tone made it hard to know if she meant him being here in general or him being here with me.
Sutton wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me against his side. I smiled at the silent victory. He’s mine.
“I wanted Katie to meet the kids.” He didn’t ask for permission or give any explanation as to why. He simply commanded in that confident way that only he could pull off.
The woman’s eyes shifted from him to me then back to him. “Of course.” Then she started down a long hallway to her left.
Everything was so… colorful. White walls with bright, oversized shapes painted on them. Blue circles overlapping red triangles on top of yellow squares. The carpet was a cheerful blend of yellow, orange, and green swirls. The front area, where we stood now, was entirely open with a glass window all the way across the front. I suddenly wished these children could see it. I wanted it to make them as happy as it made me.
“She’s pretty.” I hated how small my voice sounded. Why was my heart pounding?
“No.” He said the word without hesitation, without emotion. Just… no.
“No?”
Sutton’s grip around my waist tightened as he leaned down and brought his mouth to my neck just below my ear. “No. I’m not fucking her. I haven’t fucked her. I don’t want to fuck her.” His words were so rough and raw that they slid inside me and made me drunk. He pressed his body against my hip. Oh. God. He was hard. “The only pussy I want is yours, and if you need me to, I’ll shove you on that counter, lift this pretty little dress and tongue-fuck you until you scream so that the whole world knows you’re mine.”
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