Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
ALINA
The dark, enigmatic scent of leather and smoke wrapped around me, invading my senses, my hands clenched the linen fabric, crumpling it under my fingers.
The mercilessly tight corset compressed my chest as I leaned forward, powerless against the pull I felt with every inch of my now burning skin.
He came. He was here, all this time, and he came for me.
“Tynan,” I whispered, hypnotized by the look on his face. “Tynan.” I breathed, dying to touch the silk of his dark hair. “Ty.”
His lips crushed mine with the desperate force of a person who had waited for thousands of years; unhinged, nearly out of control.
The vase fell to its side, spilling the flowers and water, while my hand found the nape of his neck, pressing him tighter against me.
His lips, hungry and demanding, devoured my mouth, not holding anything back.
Somewhere, really quietly, in the back of my mind, was a faint warning that we had to be cautious, that someone could walk in on us.
But I simply did not have enough in me to care, and my body shifted closer to the male in front of me, desperate for more.
Our lips kept colliding with a crazed need, then his hands finally moved to my body, and I found myself on top of the table.
A crystal glass rolled off, and fell to the floor, while Tynan caressed my cheeks, making me bathe in elating, blinding euphoria.
“Tynan,” I whispered again, knowing that it drove him insane.
“What took you so long?” he asked, biting the soft spot below my throat.
“Sorry for making you wait. I . . .”
I moved my hands from his cheekbones to his neck and pulled the chain he wore under his clothes, revealing the ring.
The familiar design of the dragon head greeted me with its eyes of scarlet beads.
I met Tynan’s ravenous gaze, fully aware that he was holding back, giving me a chance to slow things, if I wanted.
His chest moved up and down with an insatiable force, his lips grazed my mouth barely touching my skin.
“I waited for so long,” he whispered and heat pooled in my abdomen, igniting me from within.
“Then stop.” I bit my lip.
He flinched, stilling above me, while the umber flames in his eyes devoured my face. Slowly, a cocky smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
“You’re playing a dangerous game.”
“Do your worst,” I said, and my breath halted when he moved me closer to the edge, sending the silverware flying off the table to the plush carpet.
His hands explored every curve of my body, pressing, stroking, touching me just the way I needed, while his tongue intertwined with mine, instigating the scorching firestorm licking my insides, making me lose the last strains of sanity.
In the flames, I had died, and by the flames, I was reborn anew.
Everything I knew, everything I deemed important, just ceased to exist. It was only me and Tynan just the way we ought to be, touching, teasing, tasting each other with urgency and passion.
His calloused hand slid up the arch of my foot to my shin and circled to my calf, moving up to behind my knee.
That simple touch, and I was already on fire, gripping his shoulders and biting his lower lip.
“Slow down,” he whispered.
“No.” I panted.
“You’re going to be the death of me.”
Tynan picked me up again, and a moment later I felt the soft carpet underneath. My eyes closed momentarily, and I could not hold back a light gasp when the delicious sensation of his weight pressed into me.
The tension rose every moment, then it became impossible to ignore.
I wanted to feel his body inside of me so bad that it made me reach for him, wrapping my arms around his neck and moving them down to his chest and back.
Slowly, I parted my legs, watching his dark eyes with dilated pupils, his furrowed eyebrows, his perfect lips, as he moved his head down to my chest and tugged the seam of my dress off my shoulder.
“Tynan, please.” I sighed.
“What do you want?”
“I . . .” Every last thought escaped when his mouth reached the edge of my dress where my tight corset confined my breasts.
Against my will, my back arched in the offering.
“You have to tell me, princess,” he whispered.
“I want you to kiss me.” I managed to say.
“Here?” He pressed his lips against my cheek.
“No.”
“Here?” Tynan moved his scorching hot mouth to the tender spot below my ear.
I could not answer, my hands tangled in his hair as I guided his head lower.
“Tell me.” He pulled the top of my dress lower, exposing my breasts. The coolness of air on my skin and the movements of his burning hot tongue made me wild, unapologetically greedy for more.
“Tynan, I can’t wait any longer,” I managed to whisper.
He did not answer, but his hand pulled the edge of my underwear down. He paused for a moment, taking the tiny piece of fabric off me. In the flickering light from the fireplace I could see his concentrated face with a light blush on his cheeks, his half-closed, almost black eyes.
“I want to bury my face under your skirts.” he whispered, as his fingers found the delicate spot between my thighs.
“That is not . . .appropriate.” I gasped, when he pushed his finger further.
“You think?”
My muscles tightened around him and it nearly tipped me over the edge by itself.
I clenched his shoulders, realizing that I was surrendering all of my control, while he was completely dressed, watching me. He was delaying, too concerned about hurting me, but I did not care. I wanted all of him, now.
With one confident motion, I pushed him back and straddled him.
He said nothing, allowing me to do what I wanted as I unbuttoned his flying suit, exposing his torso. For a moment, I got distracted by his muscular chest. My hands moved, drawing lines up and down his body, while I watched the remains of his control slip away.
“Alina,” he whispered, but I placed a finger to his lips, before returning to his pants.
Slowly, I undid his pants, releasing him. A low, inarticulate sound was all that I could hear when my fingers wrapped around his length.
“You’re going to be the death of me.” He gritted through his teeth.
I only smiled, preparing to do just that, when he flipped me onto my back and settled between my thighs.
With one incredibly deep thrust, he filled me up to the very end. I cried out, balancing on the very edge.
“Did it . . . hurt? Did I hurt you?” he asked in an unsteady, breaking voice.
“Please,” I begged.
My hips lifted up, I was completely unable to form a coherent sentence.
“Alina?”
Instead of saying anything else, I wrapped my legs around his hips, pulling him toward me.
He moved slowly, trying to pace himself, trying to be patient and gentle, but the remains of his self-control shattered when I moved forward and bit his shoulder. In a matter of moments, his body was slamming into me with short, explosive thrusts.
“Tynan.”
My eyes closed, I could only feel his hand moving down from my navel to my hip bone.
The next moment, he lifted me up slightly and when his searing hot flesh found the apex of my pleasure center, my world exploded in waves of ecstasy, making me shiver with pleasure.
Then I felt it, the unbreakable connection that had always been there, and it intensified tenfold.
My eyes opened wide, and I looked at my mate.
His dark brown eyes stared back at me with deep, raw, vulnerability.
That was when I knew that he could feel it too.
My body was weak and heavy with still lingering pleasure when Tynan’s hands squeezed my hips and he pulled me onto his lap, wrapping my legs around his strong, hard waist. The change of the angle felt so unbelievable, that I could hardly pace the vigorous movements of my hips.
Deep down, I knew that this is how we would be together, so close, almost molding into each other, where there was no way to tell where my body ended and his began. Tynan’s hands were in my hair, on my back, my shoulders, sliding up and down, as if he could not get enough.
I pulled him closer, feeling my muscles tighten before the inevitable fall.
I arched my back, and felt myself back on the carpet.
With a groan, his body left mine as he found his release.
I turned to my side watching him, hand under my cheek.
There was nothing in this world, or any other, that was better than this feeling.
“Alina, don’t fall asleep. We need to get you back in your room,” he whispered, and my eyes flew back open.
I nodded, too lazy to move, not having a care in the world, when I felt his hands adjusting my dress and pulling me up to my feet.
“Let’s go,” he said, taking my hand and leading me to the exit.
I glanced back, taking in the broken dishes, the silverware strewn about, the vase and the peonies scattered across the carpet.
When we got back to my room, Tynan led me to the bed and carefully took off my dress and the corset.
“Was that your plan all along, to seduce me?” I asked, enjoying his careful touches.
“No, I was going to abduct you.”
“Really? I would love that.”
For the first time in days, weeks, months my chest felt as light as a feather.
Everything that loomed over me vanished into thin air.
The simplest, easiest, way out I could ever envision had been right in front of me all along.
All I had to do was trust my own instincts and believe in what I felt about him.
“What was your plan?” he asked, after successfully releasing me of all of my clothes.
I could see how distracted he became, seeing me completely naked right in front of him. His eyes roamed over the modest lines of my breasts and waist, caressing me as the lightest of touches.
“I was going to escape tonight,” I said.
“Alone?” He lifted his head and it was me this time who could not keep my hands away from him.