Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 111898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
But he wasn’t consort material. He wasn’t. She hadn’t found him in flames, as her father had predicted. And, and, and...
Before she worked up a good panic about such a worrisome idea, he cupped her jaw, the heat of his skin searing hers. One of his thumbs found the indention in her chin, and boom. Instant calm. Immediate delight. He was shockingly gentle, as if she were as breakable as glass.
He lifted his head and stared at her, intense, his irises glowing with crimson fire—all of his irises. She stared back. They both panted. The savage hunger in his expression weakened her knees.
“Are we done?” she pouted, disappointed.
“I don’t think we’ll ever be done,” he replied, and her knees almost buckled. Then he scowled, as if only then realizing what he’d said. “You are a very, very dangerous female. But worth every wound.”
Those hot flutters migrated to her belly. “You want more of me?”
“Much more.” He brushed the tip of his nose against hers. “You are a treasure.”
She was? Well, of course she was. She was a harpy.
“And you are brilliant.”
Her eyes widened. “Tell me something else you admire about me.” Please, please, don’t sound as needy as I feel.
The corners of his mouth curved with affection. “And commanding. You drive me to the brink of madness, but I find I am enjoying the ride.”
Had the air just thickened?
“You crave more of me, don’t you, carrot,” he said, and oh, she wished she could hear his tone. Had he asked or insisted?
Either way... She was right. The kiss had changed everything. “Give it to me. You must. You owe back taxes on your boon.” Nothing mattered but this male and this moment. Her needy, greedy body demanded assuaging.
“Let no one say the King of Agonies skirts his bills.” Angling her head, he nipped her earlobe, then licked a path down her neck.
A moan escaped her. Upon reaching her thumping pulse, he growled; she felt the vibration. Loved the vibration. It unleashed the most delicious cascade of tremors. Waves of euphoria gave chase.
“Rathbone...” A plea. A groan.
Fisting the hair at her nape once again, he backed her into a wall. “I’ll go slow. Exhibit unbreakable control.”
Speaking to her or himself?
The second she reached the barrier, he returned his mouth to hers. A gentle brush of his lips. A firmer pressing. Their tongues twined together, as aggressive and wild as before, yet slower, just as he’d promised. A languid sampling to be savored—until he settled his hands on her hips, kicked her legs apart, and inserted his thigh between the gap, rubbing against her.
The pleasure! She bucked against him, then shot her gaze to his mouth. “Red.”
“Slow,” he insisted before she could demand more.
Shaking with need, she glided her palms over his abdomen. The eight-pack twitched, and she purred into his mouth. I will have this male, even if it kills me...
“Maybe a little faster?” she pleaded.
He gripped her backside and lifted her. Neeka wrapped her legs around him, locking her ankles.
“Is this fast enough for you?” He kneaded her breasts, and she rocked her hips. Moans escaped them both, the vibrations crashing together and reverberating, unleashing an endless stream of ecstasy.
“Red,” she repeated. She bit his bottom lip, a slight nip, then licked away the sting. “Don’t forget to pay interest.”
The kiss turned frenzied, as if her greediness was fuel to his fire. Rathbone devoured her mouth, grinding his erection into her feminine softness. Need to need.
She mewled, meeting his tongue thrust for thrust. As she tunneled her fingers through his silken hair, grazing the tips of her claws across his scalp, those delicious reverberating rumbles increased in potency.
He shoved his hand into her pants, letting his fingers hover directly over her aching need, then wrenched up his head. Panting, he stared down at her. “I want inside you. Say yes.”
She opened her mouth to agree—yes, yes, yes! A terrible premonition struck, killing the words. Fear bombs detonated, one after the other, and suddenly her heart raced for an entirely different reason, each eliciting a new reaction. A knotted stomach. A twisted gut, and ice glazed organs.
The day she had sex with Rathbone was the day her old life burned and a new one rose from the ashes, with no bridge between them. For better or worse. She would never be the same, the damage irreparable.
It was a fate changing action.
The knotting, twisting, and icing worsened. Would he reject her immediately afterward? Treat her as a hired servant while catering to Lore?
Neeka wasn’t ready to find out.
Worry issued a death rattle for any remaining desire. “I say no,” she rasped. She needed to think.
“No,” he echoed, his tone flat.
“The boon is satisfied.”
“But we are not.”
“I-I just remembered there’s somewhere we need to be.” Yes. The elixir. Her knockout punch. Gather the ingredients, go from there. She shimmed her legs from Rathbone, putting her feet on the floor.