“Leave it.” His voice was gravelly.
I continued sucking him, using my tongue to crisscross along his shaft. He pushed me back onto the bed and slid on top of me. His chest raked against my taut nipples, making me arch up into him. His fangs had extended, the sharp tips setting off a primal need inside me. I reached down and took his shaft in my hand and fed it into my core. He pumped, seating himself to the hilt as I licked his mouth, teasing him. He captured my wrists and held them above my head as he started a steady rhythm. I wrapped my legs around him and kissed him in earnest, letting him delve his tongue into me as I answered with my own. He nipped me with his fangs, causing the heat to build even faster.
He relaxed his grip on my wrists and slid his hands down my sides before kissing my breasts, licking one hard tip before going to the other. He sped his rhythm, thrusting deep into me. He must have sensed me tightening and withdrew.
“No,” I cried and tried to pull him back into me.
“Turn over,” he grated out and tugged me onto my stomach.
Gods.
He pulled my hips up to him and sank into me from behind. I thought I would come just from the feeling of his thick shaft rubbing me in all the right places. His chest was to my back as he pumped into me. When he reached around and began rubbing my most sensitive spot, I gasped. He kept his pace before taking a handful of my hair and turning my head to the side. His mouth sent thrills down my body.
“Bite me,” I said.
He pulled my hair harder and fixed his lips to my tender neck.
“You can do better than that,” he whispered in my ear.
“Bite me, my king,” I breathed.
He struck, plunging me into a euphoria I hadn’t even known existed. His mouth was attached to my neck, his fangs deep inside me. He pulled me up so I sat on his shaft as he continued his pistoning strokes. I was so close. When he took another pull from my neck, I felt the edge of my bliss fast approaching. He caressed my nub faster with one hand and rolled my nipple between his thumb and forefinger with the other.
The sensations washed over me, and I couldn’t stop myself. He kept pumping into me as waves of pleasure shuddered through my body. They kept cresting until he tensed inside me and gave two powerful thrusts. His bite intensified and he groaned through his release. I cried out as the pain and pleasure mixed.
When we both drifted down the other side of the wave, he slowed his pace and removed his fangs. I made a small noise of disappointment.
He laughed against my neck. “I’ll have you again before daybreak, my queen. And next time”—he circled his fingers around my almost painfully sensitive core—“I’m going to taste you here.”
Chapter Thirty
Helen
The next day was another flurry of activity. Faren called early and claimed Paris. I was left to lounge in our bed, still sated from the evening’s—and morning’s—pleasures. I rolled over and buried my face in the pillow, smiling at the things we’d done. The bites on my neck ached slightly, almost healed. I looked forward to getting a few more once Paris returned.
I didn’t know I could feel so light. Floating on Paris’s waters, regarding the blue of his skies above me.
But the dark cloud of Menelaus still threatened on the horizon. I rolled back to my side. The glint of light on the white queen’s sword caught my eye. Paris had set the game piece on the high bureau, giving the stony warrior a view of all the wanton delights we’d had through the night.
With Desmerada, the opening salvo had been struck and won, but the game was not over. Not until Menelaus was no more.
I sighed. It seemed there was always a battle to wage. But I was ready for it. And I spoiled for the fight with the demon king who had thought to own me. I scratched my back where the brand was and looked forward to the day when it no longer lived under my skin. The day when I got justice for my brothers and mother.
A knock at the door had me pulling the covers up to my neck. “Yes?” I called over the expanse.
“It’s me, my lady.” Shildreth’s voice barely carried to the bed.
“Come in.”
Shildreth made her way to me and sat down. The corners of her mouth were drawn down in worry. “We’ve had reports from what few loyal spies remain that Menelaus is amassing his troops for war. They also confirmed something we had long suspected. Menelaus and Desmerada had worked out a truce of sorts, sending their soldiers into battle only when a thinning of the herd was needed. All moves were orchestrated so that each ruler could keep their people in check by having a constant outside threat.”