Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
W ater drips down my body to land on the smooth ice floor. This is the only room in Draven’s quarters that doesn’t have wooden floorboards. Which I suppose makes sense since it is a bathroom. But still, it creates a stark contrast between the warm water in the bathtub and the cool ice floor.
Goosebumps spread across my arms, and my nipples harden, at the sudden coolness. I reach for a towel and quickly wrap it around myself.
Despite Draven’s earlier threats, he didn’t do anything to punish me. Once he was finished terrorizing the humans in the city, we ate a tense dinner with his clan, and then we returned to his rooms. He took a bath and then disappeared into his bedroom. So I simply took a bath too.
And as I dry myself off, I can’t help but feel a little… disappointed. I know that it makes no sense, but this little war of bantering and challenges and sly threats that Draven and I have going on gives me a sense of normalcy.
My entire life right now consists of balancing on the edge of a knife. Every time I step foot outside this room, I risk death and torture for one reason or another. I’m not actually broken, but I need to pretend as if I am in front of everyone. Otherwise, the Icehearts will begin torturing me themselves. I’m helping the humans plan their heist and I’m also trying to start a full-scale rebellion on my own. If anyone finds that out, I’m dead. One mistake, in anything I do, and I’m doomed. Sometimes, the pressure of all of that is so intense that I can barely breathe.
But when I’m with Draven, that life and death threat is somehow gone. And I feel like I can breathe again. Feel like my life isn’t a gigantic deathblow waiting to happen. So I was almost looking forward to seeing how he would exact his revenge after I stripped almost naked and strolled through an entire room full of his soldiers.
Letting out a long sigh, I shake my head at myself in the mirror and then wrap the towel around my body again. I left my nightgown in my room, and I don’t want to put my normal clothes back on now that I have just come out of the bath.
After drawing a hand through my long silver hair, I open the bathroom door and walk back out into the living room.
My heart jerks.
I come to an abrupt halt a few strides into the living room as I find Draven waiting for me.
Only wearing a pair of black underwear, he is leaning against the desk so that he is half sitting on the edge while he has one ankle crossed over the other. The pose practically drips with casual authority, especially since his half-naked state leaves his lethally powerful body on full display. And as if that wasn’t enough, he also has one hand slightly raised and is spinning a pair of handcuffs around his finger.
Heat sears through my body, and a throbbing starts between my legs.
Draven watches me with an absolutely devilish smile on his lips.
And I’m suddenly reminded that I’m just standing there, frozen on the floor. Giving my head a quick shake, I try to gather my wits. It works poorly. But I clear my throat and arch an eyebrow at him anyway.
“For someone who said he was going to punish me, you don’t look very angry,” I observe.
“I’m not.” That burning desire from before flares up in his eyes again as he holds my gaze, and that devilish smile on his lips widens. “Do you have any idea how hot you are when you’re cocky and confrontational?”
My heart skips a beat.
“Challenging me in front of my entire clan like that?” He flicks a possessive glance up and down my body. “So fucking hot. All I wanted to do was to bend you over a table and take you right then and there to show them all that you are fucking mine .”
Heat washes through me, and my clit throbs harder. “Told you you’re a territorial asshole.”
“Yes, I’m a really fucking territorial asshole. Which is why I can tell you that it’s the last time you ever pull a stunt like that.”
“You mean this?” I unwrap my towel.
Soft gray fabric flutters through the air before the towel lands on the floor behind me, leaving me completely naked. My nipples harden again, but not from the cold this time.
Draven’s eyes darken with desire.
I flash him a villainous grin.
His massive black wings explode into view as he performs a half-shift, making a small cloud of black smoke drift through the air. Before I have even finished sucking in a startled breath, Draven has flown across the room. I stumble back a step as he lands right in front of me.
Pressing the advantage, he takes a step forward, forcing me to retreat again. My heart flutters in my chest as he keeps advancing on me while I find myself backing into his bedroom.
“You troublesome little rebel,” he says as he continues backing me across the room. “Do you know the torture you put me through when you walked into the room half-naked like that?”
I’m just about to open my mouth to reply, but then the back of my thighs abruptly hit the edge of Draven’s bed and I lose my balance. Spinning my arms, I try to steady myself.
Draven places his palm against my chest and gives me a shove.
I topple backwards onto the bed.
Dark gray sheets crinkle underneath me as I scramble backwards while trying to sit up.
“Allow me to demonstrate,” Draven continues as he climbs onto the bed as well.
My back hits the headboard with a thud.
Draven cocks his head. “Unless you don’t think you can handle it, of course?”
I shoot him a grin full of challenge back. “Oh I can handle you just fine, Shadow of Death.”
A dark chuckle rumbles from his chest. He jerks his chin. “Then lie down and place your hands above your head.”
My pulse thrums and fire pools at my core as I obey his command and scoot down a little so that I can lie down on my back. The wooden headboard is cool against my skin as I move my hands up over my head and rest them against the headboard.
Metal glints in the lone faelight by the dresser as Draven spins the handcuffs around his finger again. Then he sits so that he is straddling my chest as he reaches up towards my wrists.
My heart jerks in anticipation when Draven locks one side of the handcuffs around my wrist. They’re made of steel, not iron, so they don’t block my magic or sap my strength. After threading them through the wooden bars of the headboard, he grabs my other wrist and moves it closer. Then he snaps the other manacle shut around that wrist as well. It leaves both of my hands shackled and locked to the headboard.
Draven shifts backwards until he is standing on his knees over my legs. When he meets my gaze again, there is a wicked smirk playing over his lips. “Nervous?”
I hold his gaze. “Never.”
A yelp escapes my lips as Draven suddenly grabs me by the hips and yanks me downwards on the bed. Soft sheets brush against my skin as I slide down along the bed until my arms are stretched fully above my head. Because of the handcuffs trapping me to the headboard, I can’t even bend my arms anymore.
I draw in a breath to steady my suddenly racing heart as Draven moves so that he is straddling my right thigh. While settling his weight on it, he uses his hand to push my other leg to the side, exposing my pussy to him.
With my heart pattering against my ribs, I glance up at the handcuffs and try pulling against them. They don’t give an inch.
Sliding my gaze back to Draven, I arch a cocky eyebrow. “I knew it. I knew you liked handcuffs in bed.”
His eyes glitter as he leans down over me, so close that I can feel his breath against my skin. A shiver of pleasure rolls down my spine as he brushes his lips along my jaw before slanting them over my mouth, just shy of touching.
“Of course I do. Anything that gives me control.” He slides a hand up my throat while whispering against my lips, “And now, you are going to beg. And plead. And grovel.”
“If you think it will be that easy, you?—”
A gasp rips from my lungs as he draws his fingers firmly over my already throbbing clit. Moving with expert precision, he rubs his thumb over my clit again and again. I press the back of my head down on the soft mattress as pleasure begins pulsing inside me, building like a storm.
“You were saying?” Draven taunts.
And I want to answer his challenge, but unfortunately, all that makes it out of my mouth is a moan.
He lets out a smug chuckle.
While still sliding his thumb over my clit, he moves his index and middle finger down and teases my entrance. I yank against the handcuffs and curl my fingers into fists as the tension inside me builds.
A jolt shoots up my spine as Draven pushes both fingers inside me.
I gasp, staring up into his gleaming eyes. His face is still right in front of me, and he still keeps his other hand around my throat, as he studies every expression on my face.
Pleasure ripples through my veins as Draven begins thrusting his fingers in and out.
Another moan spills from my lips, along with a whimper.
The smirk on his face widens.
My heart slams against my ribs as Draven brings me closer and closer to an orgasm. I squirm against the sheets and suck in short shallow breaths as the edge draws ever closer. Draven rubs my clit with firm motions. I’m almost there. One more and then I will?—
He abruptly stops moving his fingers.
I drag in a strangled breath and blink against the sudden disorientation as my orgasm starts to fade before it could even begin.
“If you think it will be that easy…” Draven taunts, echoing my own words, while wicked amusement shines on his stupidly handsome face.
My responding curse only makes it halfway out of my mouth before it’s cut off by a gasp when Draven begins rubbing my clit again. Pleasure once more starts building inside me as he thrusts his fingers as well.
I drag in an unsteady breath.
I squirm underneath him and yank against the handcuffs as he brings me back towards an orgasm. Pent-up release thrums inside me as he slides his thumb over just the right spot. Pleasure builds, just waiting for release. One more second and then?—
He stops moving his hands.
A snarl rips from my throat.
Draven just laughs.
And then brings me to the edge of another orgasm but stops right before release can actually crash through me.
Then he does it again.
And again.
When he does it for the seventh time in a row, I’m ready to scream my lungs out.
My whole body is practically vibrating underneath him as he stops moving his fingers right before release can find me. I gasp in ragged breaths. My chest heaves. I feel like my brain is going to melt and my body is going to explode from the pent-up tension.
“Draven,” I gasp out. “Please.”
He starts teasing my clit and begins slowly thrusting his fingers again.
A whimper spills from my lips.
“Oh Goddess,” I plead as tension once more starts building inside me.
Draven tightens his hand around my throat and leans down to speak directly against my mouth. “Your goddess can’t help you.”
He curls his fingers inside me.
I gasp and yank desperately against the handcuffs.
His eyes glint as he locks them on me. “I am your God now.”
Pent-up need pulses inside me like a thrashing storm. I’m going to die if I don’t get release soon. I’m going to combust and my brain is going to shatter and I?—
“So beg me,” he commands.
“Please.” The word is out of my mouth before I can stop it, but I don’t even care anymore. “Draven. Please, I’m begging you.”
“For what?”
“Please let me come. Oh Goddess… Oh God… Draven.” Desperate moans drip from my lips as I squirm against the sheets and throw my head from side to side as the tension inside me reaches unbearable levels. “Please.”
“What? No honorific?”
“Please, sir.”
He curls his fingers inside me again, but he’s moving them too slowly for it to make me come. Another whimper escapes me as I pull on the handcuffs and stare up into Draven’s smirking face with pleading eyes.
“Beg me to fuck you,” he orders.
I don’t even hesitate. “Please, I’m begging you to fuck me.”
A satisfied laugh rumbles from his muscular chest. It makes his warm breath caress my lips, which sends another ripple of pleasure down my spine.
He thrusts his fingers faster and rubs his thumb more firmly against my clit, sending me careening towards an orgasm. I suck in shuddering breaths as the edge draws closer. At long last, I will finally?—
He stops moving again.
This time, I do scream.
A cry of pure desperation rips from my very soul as release is once again denied me. Thrashing furiously, I yank against the handcuffs while trying to get my legs into a position where I can kick the fucking bastard who dares to torment me like this.
Draven just slides his hand higher up my throat so that it’s placed directly underneath my jaw. With a firm push, he closes my mouth and cuts off my frustrated scream.
There is a truly villainous expression on his face as he takes his other hand from my pussy and locks eyes with me. “And that is how I felt when I had to watch you saunter around half-naked and gloriously cocky in a place where I couldn’t just shove you up against a wall and fuck you into the next century. So remember this feeling, because this is what I will do to you if you ever try to pull another stunt like that again.”
And with that, he releases my throat and instead reaches for a key in his nightstand. My chest is still heaving and my body is vibrating with pent-up release when he at last unlocks the handcuffs and removes them before dropping them on the nightstand. They land on the dark wood with a metallic clattering sound.
For a moment, he just remains straddling me like that. The faint light from the lone faelight he had lit casts silver highlights in his messy black hair.
Then a wicked grin full of challenge slides home on his mouth, and he reaches up to give my cheek two brisk pats. “Good luck trying to sleep now, little rebel.”
My mouth drops open in furious disbelief.
But Draven just climbs off me and straightens on the dark wooden floor beside the bed.
Scrambling off the bed, I growl curses at him and try to storm away. But every nerve inside my body is so tightly wound that I can barely make my limbs move in the way I want them to. I throw out a hand, bracing myself on the edge of the bed as I almost topple over.
After throwing my long hair back over my shoulder, I straighten again and start towards the door.
“And where do you think you’re going?” Draven demands from a few steps away.
I cut him a glare over my shoulder. “Back to the bath. To finish what you started.”
Black wings boom through the air as Draven shoots across the room and slams the door shut right before I can reach it. That villainous grin is back on his stupid mouth as he draws himself up to his full height in front of the now closed door.
“Oh I don’t think so.” Flicking a look up and down my tense body, he slides his tongue along his bottom lip. “I told you I would make you pay, and I keep my promises. And my threats.”
Narrowing my eyes, I glare back at him where he stands, blocking the door.
His defined muscles flex and his massive wings flare out as he spreads his arms wide in a cocky gesture while he raises his eyebrows at me. “Wanna try to fight me over it?”
For one single second, I consider it. But my legs are still so unsteady and my whole fucking soul is vibrating with so much desperate tension that I don’t think I would even last more than five seconds against Draven right now.
But physical strength has never been my advantage anyway. I didn’t win the Atonement Trials because I was stronger than the others. I won because I was smarter. And because I know how to play dirty when I need to.
So instead of trying to leave, I do the opposite. I walk backwards until I reach Draven’s bed. The mattress sways slightly underneath me as I drop down on the edge of the bed. Draven flashes me a smug smirk. Which I’m about to wipe right off his face.
“Fine,” I say, challenge lacing my voice. “Then I guess you will just have to watch instead.”
He blinks in shock as I spread my legs wide and start stroking my clit right there in front of him. His gaze darts down to my hand, and it takes him another few seconds to drag it back up to my face. When he does, his eyes are dark with desire and burning like smoldering flames.
“Selena.” My name comes out like a growl.
I arch an eyebrow while continuing to tease my clit. “Yes?”
“You—”
I push one finger inside me.
Draven’s threat, or whatever he had been about to say, is cut off as he sucks in a shuddering breath instead.
Keeping my eyebrows raised, I continue to fuck myself with my hand while I fix Draven with a stare full of challenge. “Problem?”
His cock hardens even more. With every stroke of my fingers, his cock strains harder against the dark fabric of his underwear.
I nod towards it. “That looks painful.”
A muscle in his jaw flickers, and he flexes his hand. His chest heaves as he drags in another deep breath. And when his eyes once more lock on mine, there is such desperate desire in them that I forget to move my fingers for a second.
Draven uses that second well.
Shooting across the floor, he flies towards me. I throw myself to the side to evade him, but the move only makes both of us crash down on the floor. My back hits the smooth floorboards with a thud, and massive black wings flare out above us as Draven lands on his hands and knees above me.
My heart pounds hard in my chest as I stare up at him.
“You troublesome little rebel,” Draven begins, as he curls his fingers against the floor. His gaze sears into me.
But before he can finish what he had been about to say, I slide my hand between our bodies and down between my legs. Letting out a calculated moan, I begin rubbing my clit again.
Just as I expected, he quickly reaches down to grab that wrist. But I’m already moving. Before his hand can wrap around my right wrist, my left hand slides across the soft membrane of his wing.
A shudder courses through his whole body, and he slams his hand back against the floor as a moan rips from deep within his chest. I show him no mercy. While brushing my fingers across his wings again, I continue pleasuring myself with my other hand.
Draven’s eyes shutter, and he curls his fingers against the floor as another shudder rolls through his body. Pure pleasure pulses in his golden eyes.
The sight of it makes my heart squeeze. I still can’t believe that I, of all people, am able to draw such a reaction from him.
He sucks in an unsteady breath and, with what looks like great difficulty, he reaches up and wraps a hand around my left wrist. Using his superior strength, he forces my hand away from his wing and pins it against the floor next to my head instead. I keep teasing my clit with my right hand.
“Here’s the deal, Shadow of Death.” My own eyes are full of challenge as I meet his desperate gaze. “Either you fuck me, or you watch me fuck myself. Those are your two options.”
The muscles in his toned forearm shift as he flexes his hand around my wrist. His eyes are burning with so much desire that I can almost feel the heat pulsing from his whole body.
Then he lets out a whole string of curses.
Victory pulses through me.
“Take your hand off your cunt,” he orders. “Now.”
Releasing me, he quickly strips out of his underwear and tosses them aside. With a firm grip on my thighs, he spreads my legs wide and positions himself between them.
Fire licks through my veins as he grabs my wrist and pins it to the floor above my head again as he leans down over me. His cock brushes against my entrance.
“You infuriating…”
He thrusts into me.
I gasp. Arching my back, I adjust my hips to create a better angle as he sheaths himself deep inside me with that single firm thrust.
“Troublesome…” he continues as he draws halfway out again. Then he thrusts hard. “Insubordinate…”
Pleasure ripples through me at the friction his cock creates when he slides out once more.
He slams into me again. “Little rebel.”
A jolt shoots through my body. Lifting my free hand, I place it against his muscular chest as he pulls out and then thrusts deep again. But this time, he doesn’t pull out again.
With his cock buried deep inside me, he locks intense eyes on me. “God, you’re so fucking hot when you threaten me.”
Warmth spreads through my whole soul, making it feel like it’s bursting with sparkling fireworks. Holding his gaze, I slide my hand up to his jaw. He kisses my fingers.
“Don’t ever hold back against me.” His eyes burn through my very soul. “Don’t ever suppress your fire.”
My heart is suddenly so full that I can barely breathe.
Even though I have never been more a prisoner than I am in this castle, I feel freer than I have in my entire life right now. With him. Because for the first time ever, I don’t have to make myself less. I don’t have to sacrifice my own personality just to appease someone else.
With Draven, back during the Atonement Trials and here in the Ice Palace, I don’t have to be afraid to take up space. I don’t have to be small and unobtrusive. With him, I can be me. The real me. And the thought is so freeing and so dizzying at the same time that my head spins.
Pleasure pulses through my body as Draven pulls out and then thrusts back in.
My body jerks slightly with every commanding thrust as he starts up a firm pace. But his hand trapping my wrist against the ground helps keep me in place. I slide my other hand up the back of his neck and into his soft hair. His wings flare wider as I rake my fingers down his back instead.
Tension once more builds inside me as Draven fucks me hard.
And this time, he doesn’t stop.
I slide my fingers over his wing, making him moan and shudder and break his pace for a few moments.
Wicked approval and a sly promise of revenge flicker in his eyes as he picks up the pace, pounding into me with even more commanding thrusts.
Pleasure streaks up my spine like lightning with every thrust of his thick cock.
He shifts his angle slightly.
A gasp rips from my throat at the insane friction it creates.
Draven leans down and steals the gasp from my lips with a savage kiss. I bite his bottom lip and draw my fingers down his wing in retaliation. He moans into my mouth.
The tension inside me turns into a thrumming storm as he fucks me just the way I want him to. As if I’m his. As if every inch of my body belongs to him and him alone.
I squirm on the floor as I soar towards an orgasm.
Draven slams into me, hitting a spot deep inside.
Pleasure crackles through me like a lightning storm as release finally finds me.
After all the edging and denied orgasms, the long-awaited release hits me so hard that my vision goes black for a second. My clit throbs and my inner walls flutter around Draven’s thick cock as he continues fucking me through the waves of pleasure.
Gasps and incoherent moan drip from my lips.
They’re drowned out as a deep groan rips from Draven’s chest.
His cock pulses inside me as release crashes into him as well.
And when pleasure floods his handsome face, everything feels so right, so perfect, that the rest of the world just drops away. For those precious moments, it’s just me and him. Our bodies and souls joined as one.
Leaning down, he kisses me with such aching softness that my heart almost bursts.
“So fucking perfect,” he whispers against my lips. “You’re so fucking perfect.”
A small noise comes from the back of my throat.
And as I kiss him back, I can’t for the life of me understand how I’m supposed to make myself remember that one crucial fact that I must never allow myself to forget.
That Draven and I are supposed to be enemies.