Chapter 14 #3
I shoved my seat back with such force that it toppled over, clattering against the floor. The sound was swallowed by the music. My pulse roared in my ears like an angry sea as I stormed toward the doors.
The air shifted—an awareness crawling up my spine. I glanced over my shoulder and found his eyes on me.
Dalkhan sat frozen, his stare dragging over me. Taking in every inch, from my kohl-rimmed eyes to the slits that revealed flashes of my legs. His attention was hot and heavy and possessive.
His lips twisted into a wicked grin, teeth gleaming in the firelight.
Disappointment crashed into me like a tidal wave. He was enjoying this. My pain. My jealousy. My desperate need for him. It was all just another form of punishment.
I wandered aimlessly through the halls, the torment growing stronger with each step. Torches flared along the walls, their flames casting my shadow in monstrous shapes that seemed to mock my every move.
My mind was spinning. Consumed by the way he’d touched them. The way he’d kissed her.
The image burned behind my eyes. It shouldn’t have mattered. He shouldn’t matter. And yet, the hollow pain in my chest spread like venom through my veins, blackening everything it touched.
All I had to do was turn right and I would make it back to the sanctuary of my own chamber, but before reason could prevail, I pivoted sharply to the left.
I needed to see him.
My footsteps echoed down the corridor toward his chambers, each one feeling like a mistake, yet I couldn’t stop. The thought of retreating was worse than the agony of moving forward.
The door was there, solid and waiting. No tricks. No illusions.
I walked right in.
Zaheera’s voice tore through my head.
“What are you doing?!”
I grunted in frustration, her words slicing through my already frayed nerves.
“Why do you care?” I asked, voice like steel. “I will do as I’m required. Anything outside of that is not your concern.”
“Do not play with fire, girl.”
She left abruptly, the connection snapping.
The air thickened, shadows curling at the edges of the walls, reaching toward me with ghostly fingers. His power hummed like a gathering storm.
Dalkhan materialised, his massive frame draped in lazy decadence, and he wasn’t alone. The women from the hall clung to him like parasites, adoring every inch of his flesh with eager fingers.
His head was thrown back, eyes closed. Revelling in their touch. His voice came out a deep, reverent sigh.
“Elira.”
My name slipped from his lips like an unbidden prayer, rough and raw.
He didn’t know I was there.
Something in me snapped. My vision tunnelled as I seized a brass cup, hurling it against the floor with every ounce of rage I possessed. The sharp clang shattered the air, reverberating off the walls.
Every head turned toward me.
Shit.
The women froze, their amusement fading like dying embers, but Dalkhan did not waver. A dark fire burned in the depths of his eyes. With a sharp unforgiving motion, he shoved them away.
Fury rolled off him in waves, saturating the air. The temperature rose, and the shadows writhed along the walls, responding to his rage.
He took a single step toward me.
“Leave.”
The word dropped from his lips like a death sentence.
My heart slammed erratically, the full reality of my impulsive actions crashing down on me.
The women smirked. Iznia even dared to scoff, her lips stretching in cruel amusement.
That changed in an instant.
Dalkhan turned toward them, fury simmering just beneath his skin.
“I. Said. Leave.”
Each word was enunciated with perfect, terrifying clarity. The amusement drained from each of their faces, replaced by something close to terror. They scrambled toward the door, stumbling over each other in their haste to escape. The heavy wood slammed shut behind them.
Dalkhan closed the distance between us in a single, commanding stride. His hand shot out, wrapping around my waist in an iron grip and yanking me against the solid wall of his body. “You are playing a dangerous game, Elira.”
Then his mouth crashed into mine. The kiss was fierce. Desperate, as if he’d been fighting this moment and finally lost. His other hand tangled in my hair, angling my head back as he claimed me with pure starvation.
A sharp, ragged sound caught in my throat as I clawed at his arms. His shoulders. Pushing and pulling, unsure if I wanted to escape or drag him closer.
A growl rumbled deep in his chest, sending a tremor straight into me. His teeth caught on my bottom lip, biting hard before soothing the sting with his tongue. Then he wrenched himself back, his face a mask of conflicted fury.
“You walked away from me,” he murmured, stepping back just far enough that I could no longer feel his heat. “Called me a mistake. And now…” His jaw clenched. “You stand before me and what? You expect my mercy?”
“I…” My tongue was thick and useless. I stared at the floor, at the wall, anywhere but at him.
He caught my chin, forcing my face up. “Look at me when I’m speaking to you.”
The fire in his expression burned away my every last defence, leaving me bare and trembling.
“I will give you one chance to walk away.” His thumb brushed my bottom lip, pressing against the tender flesh where his teeth had marked me. “Tell me what you want, Elira. Choose your words carefully, because whatever you say next will seal both our fates.”
My entire body was shaking. Not just from fear or the power curling around us like an unseen force, but from him. From the way he looked at me like he wanted to both worship and destroy me in equal measure. From the knowledge that whatever I said next would obliterate the last barriers between us.
“I want you.”
Satisfaction sparked across his features. With a sharp motion, he ripped the fabric of my dress apart, his power surging through his fingertips. The material disintegrated into ash and smoke before it even hit the floor.
I was bare before him.
Dalkhan hissed through his teeth.
“You will never run from me again,” he said, tracing the hollow of my collarbone. His fingers lingering. “Every inch of you belongs to me now.” He leaned in, dragging his lips over my cheek. “Every breath you take. Every sound you make. Every thought that crosses your mind.”
His hand moved lower, skimming down my sternum.
“Mine to touch.” His palm flattened against my ribcage—against the rapid flutter of my heart. “Mine to claim.” His thumb brushed across sensitive skin, drawing a sharp intake of breath from my lips. “Mine to ruin.”
I shuddered at his words—at the possessive heat of his touch, my eyelids growing heavy with each dark promise whispered against my skin.
“On your knees,” he commanded, his voice dropping to a low growl. He stepped back just enough to give me room, his hands moving to the leather ties at his waist. “I want to see you surrender to me completely.”
I sank to my knees without pause, the cold stone biting into my skin. My hands rested on my thighs, fingers digging into my own flesh as I fought to remain still.
“Look at me,” he ordered, his fingers still working the ties with maddening patience. “I want to see those beautiful eyes when you realise what you’ve chosen.”
I looked up at him through my lashes as he freed himself. His thick cock heavy and proud. The veins along his impressive length stood out in stark relief against the ember-like glow of his skin.
I swallowed hard, unable to look away from the sight of him.
Dalkhan’s fingers wrapped around himself, stroking slowly. His dark eyes never leaving mine. A drop of moisture gathered at the tip, and I licked my lips, my mouth suddenly dry.
“Beg for it,” he demanded. “Beg for what’s yours.”
“Please,” I whispered.
His hand stilled. “Louder.”
“Please,” I repeated, shifting toward him. My thighs clenched together in aching anticipation. “I need you.”
He dragged his teeth over his bottom lip, savouring my desperation. His grip tightened, his hand moving faster.
I reached for him, trailing my fingers along his length. Barely a touch. Just enough for the muscles in his abdomen to tighten at my teasing.
A sharp breath hissed from between his teeth.
I gripped him, stroking him slowly. Dragging my thumb over the heated tip, smearing the beaded moisture.
His head tipped back, throat moving as he swallowed.
I leaned closer, my breath brushing over him. “My king.”
A violent snarl tore from his throat. His skin surged with flames, a wildfire blazing in the air around us. His magic alive with the sheer force of his need.
He tangled his fingers into my hair, yanking my head back.
“Open your mouth.” he growled.
The second my lips parted, he thrust forward, forcing himself past them. His grip tightened at my roots.
“Fuck,” he groaned, his hips snapping forward.
I hollowed my cheeks, taking him deeper.
His thighs flexed beneath my hands, his body straining as I swirled my tongue, my lips tightening around him.
“That’s it,” he rasped. “Take me.”
I did. I swallowed him down, revelling in the shuddering moan that broke from his mouth.
Then he ripped me off of him.
I gasped, my lips swollen and breath uneven. He lifted me up and threw me onto his mattress. I sank into the plush sheets, enveloped in his scent.
I lay sprawled beneath him, the bed dipping under his weight as he braced himself above me, his body a cage of sweat-slicked muscle. My thighs pressed together, aching for relief. My lips parted on a breathless whisper, but he caught it before it could form, pressing his full lips to mine.
“You will not leave this room,” he murmured, tracing one burning fingertip down my neck, “until I am done worshipping every…” his finger dipped lower, “single…” lower still, “inch of your perfect body.”
His fire slithered over my skin, teasing, taunting. Phantom chains wound around my wrists. Not tight enough to hold me. Not yet.
Strands of his midnight hair brushed my cheek as his hand dragged down my ribs, searing a path lower until I trembled beneath his touch.