The Heir's Bargain (Of Fire and Lies)

Chapter 26

In the twentyyears I had spent studying the maps of Pontia, I had never once thought that knowing the location of every storefront and hidden entrance would serve any purpose.

Until today.

I pried the door open of a nearby storage room and slammed it shut. Inside the small space, the moon’s rays leaked in from a skylight, providing just enough light to make out Dani”s features.

Dani leaned against the shelves, causing the glass bottles stored on it to clink together. ”What are we doing in here, Fynn?” she asked.

I leaned back against the door. ”That depends.”

”On?” The single syllable on her lips was a whisper, yet it sent my insides turning.

I dug my hands into my pockets and held onto whatever restraint I had left.

”On you,” I said.

”On me?”

I nodded.

I could have run to her then. By the gods, I wanted to press her against the shelves and claim those lips as mine. But I held my ground. This was not about my needs or what I wanted.

”If it is me you want,” I said, ”then why are you over there?”

At those words, something snapped within her. Her previous anxiety melted away as she drank me in with a burning gaze. When she stepped forward, the beam of moonlight flashed across her eyes, catching the golden flecks in her irises and a mischievous glint lit within them.

”Tell me one thing first, Fynn,” she said, challenging my control more and more with each step as her hips swayed languidly back and forth.

”For you? Anything.” I was awestruck, a puddle on the streets, as she trailed a finger over the edge of one of the shelves.

I had known Dani was a huntress since we were children, but I had never seen her gift appear in this way. I hadseen countless times how she used her surroundings to her advantage, how she found the trail that led her straight to her prey.

But I had never been the prey.

And to experience firsthand how she stalked her prey, how she moved with careful yet predatory steps—by the gods, it was spellbinding.

Dani tilted her head. ”What is it that you want?”

My gaze trailed down her body, from her collarbone to the bottom of her corset, where it outlined her wide hips. She was laying the trap, and I was falling for the bait like a fox in a rabbit hole.

”Because unlike you, Fynn,” Dani continued, ”I am no mind reader. If you want something, you have to say it.” When she was a foot away, she tipped my chin up. ”Out loud.”

”I want whatever you”ll give me, Ferrios.”

She dragged her finger beneath my chin, scraping it across the unshaven scruff. ”Oh, come on now. You’ll have to do better than that, Your Highness.”

It was the way she said those two words, the sinfulness hiss, that finally broke my restraint.

I tugged her toward me, my arm wrapping around her waist, and spun her around, pushing her up against the door. My chin brushed across the side of her face. Despite the clothing that separated us, I felt the shiver that slipped down her spine. I heard the gasp that escaped her red lips.

But what truly unraveled me was the little crack in the mental shields she always held up around me and the single thought that escaped her mind.

A plea.

And hearing what she wanted, the words she couldn”t speak aloud, whispered down the invisible thread, made a smirk appear.

”See, here”s the thing about what I want,” I said, pulling her tight against me. ”A king, I have been told, never falls to his knees.”

”Oh?”

”But I am not a king.”

My knees hit the ground.

I could almost hearDani”s jaw drop as I hit the floor.

When I peered up at her with that coy, boyish smirk that drove her insane in more ways than one, she snapped her mouth shut. I brushed a hand against her ankle, sending a shiver up her body.

Her nails dug into my shoulder. ”Fynn, wait.”

”What is it?”

”I—” Dani sighed, and my brows knitted together.

I didn”t think I had misconstrued her desires—the wish she let slip beneath her shields—but something made her hesitate. I squeezed her thigh, reminding her she could be honest with me—with whatever it was.

She sucked in her bottom lip, her teeth scrapingacross it.

An insatiable hunger stirred, but I didn’t act on it. I would deal with that mouth of hers later.

”No one ever has. . .”

”Tasted you?” I finished for her.

”No.”

Embarrassment flooded her voice, but excitement filled mine.

”A shame, truly,” I said, licking my lips. ”But I cannot say that I am upset about being the first.”

A faint blush rose to her cheeks. I ran my fingers across the waistband of her trousers and quirked a brow. ”May I?”

She nodded, her chest rising quicker than before. I unbuttoned her trousers and tugged them down.

”Step,” I commanded, holding her waist.

Dani pressed her palms against my shoulders, and I pushed the clothing away as she leaned on me.

The last time I was with Dani, it was too quick. And now, learning that no one had pleasured her this way before, I wished I hadn”t let her persuade me from doing so.

This time, I would take my time.

I pressed kisses along the entire length of her leg. I had half a mind to kiss every inch of her, but this closet was not the best place to lay her out beneath me. Instead, I left a trail of goosebumps skittering up her leg as I made my way up her calf, over her knee, to her thigh. I nibbled, my teeth scraping against the apex of her thigh. Dani squirmed in my hands, forcing a smile upon my lips.

I had meant what I had said. It was indeed a shame that Dani had never been pleasured this way. But by the gods and beneath the moon, I would devour her.

I slipped my finger beneath the band of her undergarment as I continued to press light kisses on the inside of her leg.

Even though I had barely touched her, my cock was already throbbing. Tonight wasn”t about me, though.

I tugged her undergarments down and glanced up. Dani”s eyes were squeezed shut.

See, now that won”t do, I thought, tsking.

I squeezed her thigh. ”Look at me when I am on my knees tasting you, Ferrios.”

When her gaze met mine, the fire returned—the hunger, the desire, the fight. ”Is that an order?”

I arched a brow. ”Think of it as my first order as Crown Prince.”

She smirked. ”The kingdom would be so proud.”

At that moment, though, I couldn”t care less about the kingdom.

I pressed a kiss on her hip bone and slipped a finger in between her folds. Dani deserved to know what it was like to be worshiped.

My movements were slow, my kisses sweet.

At first.

I pushed my finger inside her and curled it. My thumb brushed against her clit, and her breaths came quicker. Above me, she gasped as her hand slapped against the wall.

”Gods, Dani,” I groaned and bit the sensitive spot on her inner thigh. ”You are so wet.” I pulled my finger out and spread the wetness around. Dani”s breaths came faster as she braced herself. ”If this already has you moaning, then I cannot wait to hear what other noises I pull from that mouth of yours.”

As I felt her pussy tighten around my finger as she rolled forward, I slipped my finger out. A noise I never thought I would hear from Dani”s lip sounded. A whine that was pleading, begging.

I looked up. ”You will not be coming on my hand tonight, Dani.”

Without blinking an eye as I stared up at her, my mouth fell onto her sex. My tongue swept over her clit, circling it, teasing it. Dani was as sweet as I had imagined. And now that I had tasted her, I never wanted to get up. I would live on my knees for the rest of my life if she let me.

Her legs shook as I licked and sucked. Her balance wavered, and my free hand ran up her thighs, squeezing and stabilizing her at the same time. Her fingers dug into my hair, and her head tipped back.

Something crashed, glass breaking, but I didn”t pull away. Neither of us did.

Not until Dani came on my tongue as she screamed my name.