Claimed by the Warlord

by Maddie Taylor

  “Yes, and I’m very much a man.” He winked at her. “Lucky for you.”

  Now it was her turn for an exaggerated groan.

  Darios bent to her and kissed the top of her head. “Why are you complaining? You didn’t appear to mind your punishment all that much; you were drenched when I entered you.”

  To deny she’d been utterly aroused would be a bold-faced lie. Therefore, she didn’t disagree and instead laid her cheek on his chest, which was much cooler than her face at the moment. “New subject, please.”

  “Not yet.” He held up his hand. “You won’t ever get more than a few swats as punishment from me. I vow this to you, Aurelia. What you suffered at the hands of the Ophigs and slavers is reprehensible and, on Voltarre, considered criminal assault.”

  “But a spanking is not?”

  “No.” His face darkened. “Are you telling me you see no difference?

  “I’m just trying to understand your ways.” Lifting her hand, she aligned her palm with his. It dwarfed hers as she knew it would. “The power in your hand could break me, and your fire could destroy me, but I trust you not to do either.”

  “I don’t want to shed doubt on this trust, but how can you be sure, so soon?”

  “Because I feel the same connection you do, and it grows stronger with each passing moment, and because I want to believe you are the man you say you are.”

  “I will not disappoint you, Aurelia.”

  Staring up into his stunning eyes, she knew without question, that he wouldn’t.

  “Can we not talk about my time with the slavers? I’m trying hard to forget it.”

  His hand wrapped around hers, and he squeezed in reassurance. “I only brought it up because I wanted you to know that brute is a misnomer and you’ll always be safe with me.”

  “In your strong arms, how could I feel any other way?”

  “Good. Now we can have a new topic.”

  She dropped her head to his chest once more and resumed tracing the swirls and lines on his wet skin, this time trailing over the banded design encircling his bulging biceps.

  “I have a question I’ve been meaning to ask,” she said at length. “The first settlers had Aeldorian abilities when they arrived here. Like changing from ice to fire, do you think you lost the ability to read emotions in others because you reveal them so readily?”

  “Perhaps. We aren’t the type to hide how we feel, so there isn’t often a need to decipher what’s going on in someone else’s head.”

  “Except for truth and lies.”

  “Yes, but even that ability isn’t widely used among us. When so many can distinguish truth from lies, we see no point in doing the latter.”

  “Is that why you were so offended, earlier, when I didn’t believe you?”

  “Yes,” he replied, an edge creeping into his tone. “As a whole, we are honest people and don’t appreciate when we are accused of being otherwise.”

  “I spoke from anger.” She angled her head back and moved her hand to his face, laying it along his strong jawline when she added, “I’m sorry. Aeldorians, like most species, don’t deal only in black and white, like with truth or lies. It’s a rare person who doesn’t have secrets and lies in their past. People hide the truth for whatever reason, and most often those reasons stem from the most volatile emotions, which can be extreme, unpredictable, confusing, and very often hurtful. I wouldn’t say we’re dishonest, but we aren’t as forthcoming as you seem to be. Because of our ability, we see more than we want to, which makes us more suspicious by nature. That’s why we insulate ourselves from others.”

  “With all that stacked against you, it’s amazing you ever find love or marry.”

  “Fortunately, we can’t read everyone and prefer those who can’t as life partners. Those matches are becoming less common, however, and over time we’ve had to turn to physical barriers and science to make procreation bearable. Otherwise, we would have died out long ago.”

  “Physical barriers?”

  “Yes, like clothing and, um...protection to minimize tactile contact.”

  “Translation, your people cover themselves from head to toe when intimate to avoid touching—including the good parts, which is sad.” His arms tightened. “We are skin to skin, from shoulder to knee, we have caressed, tasted, and kissed one another nearly everywhere. Thinking of you never having this and going without such pleasure for a lifetime makes me very glad you found me, princess.”

  “Me too,” she murmured. “Do you understand why I had no interest in suitors?”

  “Yes, but answer this—how is science involved?”

  “Many couples use reproduction labs when they want to have children.”

  “I wasn’t aware your people were having fertility problems.”

  “It’s not that,” she answered softly because this part was sadder than the last. “Children can be reproduced in these labs, from conception until they are mature enough to live without machines and the like.”

  “Fire of the Gods,” he exclaimed, shock in his voice. “I hadn’t heard about this.”

  “It isn’t widely accepted yet. Only a small percentage have tried it, but it’s expected to be a growing trend.”

  “It sounds like a very cold way for a child to come into being.”

  Not liking this topic either, she distracted herself by following the dark edge of a pattern that began at the side of his neck and ran over his shoulder and down his chest, ending in a swirl around his nipple. She traced it from beginning to end slowly as she continued telling him about the ways of her world.

  “My father agrees with you. He isn’t certain it’s a good thing. We are introverted enough as a species. He prefers the old-fashioned way, for men and women to interact and seek out a compatible partner. Isn’t that how you do it here?”

  “Yes, but we believe the one meant for us is predestined. We live our lives knowing that eventually we will find each other. And we don’t have to worry about scrying being an issue. Almost always, if one or the other has truth-saying capabilities, it is blocked by love, and the passion they share. A stronger bond is formed through trust, rather than knowing.”

  “My parents were lucky to have had a strong bond like that.”

  “As are we, it seems. We already have a strong connection.” He shifted restlessly beneath her, splashing a little water over the side of the tub before he settled. “We will have to have faith in one another.”

  “After two days...”

  “I believe you said you trust in me is growing by the moment.” He tightened the arm at her waist and while bending his neck, took another kiss. Without raising his head, he murmured against her lips, “You can also put faith in the fact that if you don’t stop what you’re doing, the soreness between your thighs will be worse. Your fingers tracing my markings are driving me wild.”

  At the same time he made this assertion, her wandering thumb, still lightly tracing and stroking, grazed his nipple.

  “Sorry,” she whispered back as he groaned into her mouth.

  The fact she aroused him stirred her own desires. But she’d been that way for a while and couldn’t blame the wetness on the bath or their previous activities. Although, she seemed to be in that state constantly around him. Her senses were heightened in his presence, and she found pleasure merely in watching him, breathing in his masculine scent, and listening to the rich timbre of his deep voice. More intensified than all the others, however, was touch, and with free access to so much warm, smooth skin, she took advantage. Consequently, the wetness between her thighs couldn’t be blamed on the bath.

  Despite the tenderness, she wanted him, again.

  Boldly, she moved on top of him, pressing both breasts and her own hard nipples to his chest while her legs straddled his hips, her sex aligning with the length of him so it pressed along the seam.

  “You’re playing with fire, Aurelia. Do you understand that?”

  “Yes, my lord.” She sat up, water cascading off her bod
y as she moved her hips, letting the hard ridge slide deliciously between her nether lips. “It appears I lack control around you, too.”

  He caught her around the waist, and, with a splash, raised her above him. His shaft was so rigid the head rose out of the water, he didn’t need to guide himself to her opening. It homed in, stretching her as he eased her down his length.

  “Now, when you move, we’ll be accomplishing something.”

  She reached for him.

  He shook his head. “No. I want your hands on the rim of the tub, or, even better, clasped behind your back.”

  Aurelia stopped, not understanding.

  “I want to watch you, unobstructed.”

  A tremor of excitement rocked through her. She didn’t need to be told twice, and quickly intertwined her fingers at the small of her back. The arch of her spine in this position lifted her breasts and, beneath his gaze, the tips tightened into aching taut peaks.

  “Glistening wet, you’re more beautiful than ever.”

  He trailed one long finger down the midline of her body, from her throat, between her breasts, and over her navel. When it dipped beneath the water, it continued on its path until it located the little nubbin at the front of her sex. There he stopped and circled it ever so slowly sending spirals of desire shooting through her body. They concentrated mostly on key muscles nearby, like the ones that sheathed his hard length and clamped around him in reaction.

  “Now, princess, I want you to ride me. Nice and slow.”

  A novice in a new position, Aurelia’s movements were tentative at first. But with Darios’ eyes upon her, snapping with gleaming sparks of barely contained passion, she felt beautiful and grew more confident. Watching him watch her, she arched her back more and undulated her hips, feeling his generously proportioned shaft shifting inside her with each sensual motion. And through it all, he flicked, circled, and rubbed the nerve center of her arousal.

  When he added his thumb and rolled the pearly bud gently, she gasped, but didn’t stop. Nor did she hesitate when he extended his other hand and teased her nipple with his thumb. Unsure how much longer she could keep riding without coming apart, she was grateful when his hand didn’t linger at her breast but slid around to her back.

  His fingers splayed wide between her shoulders and urged her forward. “Come here, so I may taste you.”

  Expecting his mouth to launch her over the edge, she eagerly leaned into him, bringing a hard peak to his lips. When he sucked it into his mouth, feeling the now-familiar tension building low in her belly, she cried out, overwhelmed by so many sensations at once.

  As she predicted, her body was rocked by her climax. She couldn’t keep her hands from him any longer and they curled into his shoulders as waves of pleasure coursed through her.

  He stopped, but only to switch to the other breast, and, through it, his busy thumb didn’t falter.

  “Darios,” she breathed, raggedly.

  “Sensitive?”

  “Yes,” she replied when he drew on her nipple harder.

  “How about this pretty bud?” He flicked it with the edge of his thumb and created a small vortex in the water between her thighs.

  “Even more so,” she cried.

  “That’s a shame because you got off far too fast. You’ll just have to do it again.”

  “Impossible.”

  “Mm,” he hummed around her nipple, the vibrations causing another spasm low in her belly. “That sounds like a challenge.”

  “I didn’t mean it to be,” she protested weakly.

  “Too late,” he warned. “Something you’ll have to learn about me. I always rise to a challenge.” Matching his actions to his words, he thrust up inside her and she groaned both at the pun and the stirring he roused within her.

  Dragging her head down, he took her lips. “I don’t suffer from any loss of ability in reading you while were intimate, Aurelia. Your body and kisses don’t lie. You want me enough to come again.”

  “I’ll want you forever, Darios.”

  “A perfect answer,” he growled, turning his head into her neck, his open mouth latching on with searing intensity. “I can’t seem to get enough of you, either. After having you moments ago, I’m hard and hungry for you, which makes the fourth time and the day is only half over.”

  Lifting her head, she smiled playfully despite the fact he was driving like a piston in and out of her sheath. “I think this makes five times, but who’s counting.”

  “Beautiful, insatiable, and good at math. Lucky me,” he growled as his hands slid down to her hips and curled into her pliant flesh. “Give me your mouth and hang on because I’m going to make time number six unforgettable.”

  Her bliss-filled moans were smothered by his mouth and lost amid the sounds of wet skin slapping wet skin and water splashing.

  Unforgettable to him must be defined as “torturing Aurelia, bringing her to the brink then tormenting her by slow degree by stopping and when her body has cooled just enough so she won’t fly into the stratosphere from mind-blowing pleasure, start building toward another climax.”

  And he had more surprises up his proverbial sleeve. His fingers, which were never idle on her behind, slid into and separated the cleft between her cheeks. She groaned as one broad tip circled her small, tight, rear hole. When he adjusted the angle and pressed inward, the groan changed to a breathy moan, and ultimately a little whimper as he slid in to the first knuckle.

  “Darios,” she exclaimed, both exhilarated and shocked by the naughtiness of this new type of play.

  “Shh,” he murmured into her mouth. “This is all part of unforgettable.”

  He withdrew then advanced again, moving deeper into her forbidden passage with each glide until he’d fully embedded his long finger. Then he stilled, letting her experience the feeling of incredible fullness. Though unbelievably taboo, having Darios possess her everywhere possible was incredible.

  He had one more surprise in store for her, however. With more warmth than he usually exuded, deep inside she felt his power, not with a sudden surge but in a slow edging upward by degree. It didn’t burn in the least but imbued her with a sensual, amazing heat from the inside out.

  With her warlord’s hot body wrapped around hers and filling her intimately, Aurelia couldn’t imagine ever being cold with him by her side.

  It was an indescribably erotic experience, especially with his mouth and tongue claiming hers, his thumb continually circling and rubbing the sensitized bud at the front of her sex, and his shaft pumping into her needy channel. And while she wanted it to go on forever, she couldn’t take any more.

  “Please, Darios,” she begged, and, at long last, he allowed her release.

  As her body seized with pleasure, she wasn’t so far gone she didn’t know when he thrust home once more, or feel the hot splashes of his seed bathing her insides, or grip him tighter when his body shuddered beneath hers. And she couldn’t miss how his raspy groan became a full-throated shout as he experienced a spectacular release of his own.

  Chapter Eleven

  SHE WORE THE RED DRESS that evening. While standing in front of the full-length mirror fixing her hair, she couldn’t deny the stunning gown fit her perfectly. She’d have to be careful when she sat or bent or walked. Glancing at the daring neckline, she added—or breathe.

  Darios came up behind her and cupped her bare shoulders with his big hands. His gaze swept up the length of her body before meeting hers in the mirror.

  “The bold color of the gown suits you.” He bent and pressed a kiss into the bend of her neck.

  A flash of color with his movement drew her eye. He was wearing a tunic, short sleeved, open at the throat, and trousers. Surprised, she blurted out, “You’re wearing clothes.”

  He chuckled. “At home, I often do, especially in the winter.”

  She stopped short of snorting because she’d gone outside briefly today and started perspiring within minutes.

  “I have something to go with your gown
.” He swept her hair aside and kissed the side of her neck. “Don’t move.”

  Thinking it a clip for her hair, she started planning what she would do with it.

  A brilliant red stone dangling on a delicate silver chain in front of her face chased those plans from her mind.

  She caught it on her palm to study it closer. “Darios, it’s beautiful.”

  “Yes, and made to adorn the neck of an equally stunning woman. It’s yours.”

  “Oh, no... I can’t accept it. The stone is exquisite, as is the craftmanship. It must be quite valuable.”

  “I meant, it should have been yours. It’s part of the Aeldorian crown jewels.”

  It took a moment to sink in. “You stole it?”

  “I didn’t,” he replied with a small smile as he took the pendant from her hand. “One of my ancestors did.”

  He opened the clasp and while she twisted her hair and held it out of the way, he fastened it around her neck.

  His hands slid over her shoulders and down her arms as they both admired the piece. Scarlet like her gown, it also matched his tunic. Intentional or not, they were color coordinated.

  She took in the glittering facets, but she suspected his appreciation had more to do with where it rested—between the upper curves of her breasts.

  “After all this time, it’s more yours than mine now. Shouldn’t it be in a museum, under guard?”

  “It’s protected well enough here.”

  Her gaze cut to the crown in the display case on the table by the window. More of a tiara than a full crown, it wasn’t intended for a king. Set in gleaming silver-toned metal, the stones, both clear and pearlescent, were perfectly matched in size and too numerous to count. She couldn’t be sure if the light shining down on it though the beveled glass, or the fading sunlight through the window, or the stones themselves were responsible for the brilliant flashes of every color, but they were visible no matter where she stood in the room.

  A simple yet stunning piece, she’d noticed it the first day. Who wouldn’t?

  She’d had a million questions. Foremost, where had it come from? Voltarre had never had a queen, instead they were a sovereign republic dating all the way back to Atagan. She hadn’t thought it her place to inquire, until now.