Chapter Fifteen
Cadence
I’d barely had enough time to recover from my father’s surprise visit before I heard footsteps sprinting down the hall. The dagger slipped from my grasp, clattering to the floor, as I moved to stand by the window, trying to appear unaffected.
The instant Ryker crossed the threshold, I released the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. Until that moment, I’d had no way of knowing who or what was racing towards me.
“Temptress,” he rumbled when his eyes landed on me.
He stalked toward me, closing the distance in a few steps.
“Is it over?”
Ryker ignored my question as he gripped me by the nape, tipping my head back. His lips descended on mine, his tongue invading my mouth, conquering me like the enemy he’d been fighting all along. My arms wrapped around his neck instinctively, and a small whimper escaped between my lips.
Someone cleared their throat behind us, alerting me to the fact that we weren’t alone.
I tried to push against Ryker’s firm chest, but he ignored my efforts to break free as he devoured me.
When he finally let me up for some much-needed air, my cheeks were warm, and my breath was coming in ragged, uneven pants.
“Cadence?”
Hearing my brother’s voice almost brought me to my knees. He was alive. He had fought against the Wraith Borne, but he’d survived.
“Leave us,” Ryker said.
Callum began to object, but Riordan steered him out of the room. “You really don’t want to stay for what’s coming next.”
Once they were gone, I turned my attention back to Ryker. “What the hell happened out there?”
He didn’t respond. Instead, his hands glided down my thighs until he reached the back of my knees. He lifted me effortlessly, forcing my legs to wrap around his waist as he marched toward the bed.
I had anticipated being gently lowered onto the mattress, but I should have known better.
Ryker didn’t have a gentle bone in his body.
He threw me down so hard I sprang into the air before settling. Not wasting his advantage, Ryker crawled over me, his lips finding the delicate curvature of my neck as he nipped and sucked his way to my pulse point.
“Ryker, slow down. Tell me what happened out there.”
But Ryker didn’t slow his advance.
He raised his head, obsidian eyes staring back at me, as he ripped the front of my dress wide open. My father’s warning echoed in my thoughts, and I tried to suck in a breath to clear the lust clouding my mind.
Then Ryker lowered his mouth to my breasts, licking and nibbling the tender flesh before sinking his fangs into my swollen mounds.
All thoughts of Ryker’s origins evaporated, leaving me wanting. A heady rush of arousal pulsed through me, and I cried out, unable to stop the sound.
“As I stood among the wreckage of the battle, there was a moment when I feared I’d been played, that the whole attack was just a ruse to reach you,” he admitted.
My body tensed, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“I need you, Cadence,” he said. “I need to feel you beneath me, around me, within me. I need to know that you are here, that you’re mine.”
His voice was rough, harsh, yet somehow fragile, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d almost believe he sounded vulnerable.
He didn’t allow me to dwell on my thoughts, however.
The familiar tearing sound once again filled the room, and I knew without glancing down that I was completely exposed to him. Cool air kissed my bare thighs, and I shivered, the feeling not at all unpleasant.
“Now be a good wife and spread your legs for me. I want to see my pussy.” The words scraped up Ryker’s throat, coating his voice with gravel.
My body moved without my permission as my knees parted, exposing me to his hungry gaze. The feel of Ryker’s hot tongue dipping between my folds sent waves of ecstasy crashing over me. His lips wrapped around my clit, and before I knew what was happening, I was seeing stars.
An unrelenting scream tore his name from my throat, which only heightened the pleasure I was drowning in. Uneven breaths fluttered through my chest, and my body quivered as the last echoes of my orgasm subsided into a soothing hum.
A low chuckle pierced the tranquil silence, and shock replaced my euphoria.
Had I really just come from a few swipes of his tongue?
I threw my arm over my face, desperate to hide my mortification.
“Don’t turn all shy now, Temptress,” Ryker purred as he pulled my arm away. “I’m nowhere near done with you.”
He leaned back on his heels, his hands working the buckle at his waist. As he pushed his trousers down his toned, muscular thighs, his hard, thick cock sprang free.
Reaching behind him, Ryker gripped the fabric of his tunic, the material bunching in his hand as he dragged it over his head before discarding it on the floor.
Without taking his eyes off mine, he wrapped his hand around his length, leisurely pumping his shaft and causing moisture to bead at the tip. “Get on your hands and knees.”
Once again, my body moved of its own accord, and I found myself on my hands and knees in front of him, a sacrificial lamb ready for the slaughter.
His rough, calloused palm ran over my ass before he squeezed it, hard enough to bruise. The sharp, stinging slap that rang out in the silence startled me, and I yelped as the abused flesh heated. Then he snaked his hand through my loose strands, gathering them together as he fisted my hair.
My head snapped back, and obsidian eyes bore into me. “I’m going to wreak havoc on your pussy, and you’re going to welcome me home where I belong, aren’t you, Temptress?”
I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. The intensity of his gaze rendered me speechless.
Another sharp slap vibrated through my body, followed by a stinging sensation that erupted at the site. “Answer me when I speak to you, Cadence.”
I pressed my lips together, refusing to give him what he wanted, but unable to deny the evidence of my arousal.
Slap.
Slap. Slap. Slap.
A pained cry fought its way free, but it quickly turned into a moan as Ryker pushed inside me. He held my hair in his tight grip, not allowing me to move. His hips slapped against my burning ass, the pain mingling with my pleasure in a way that had my toes curling.
“You can fight me all you want, Cadence,” Ryker panted. “But you and I both know that this pussy was made for me.”
“I won’t keep repeating myself, Ryker. I’m not your possession. And if you want any kind of future with me, you’d better learn that I am not someone you can intimidate into giving you what you desire. Or was my dagger in your shoulder too subtle for you?”
What the hell was I saying?
I didn’t wish for a future with him, yet I’d been unable to stop the words spilling from my mouth.
Ryker’s hips bucked, and animalistic snarls filled the room. “That was merely foreplay, Temptress. You’re greedy for my cock, and you know it.”
“It’s impressive, I’ll admit. But you’re not the only man with such promise.”
A sound that was half beast and half man was my only warning before Ryker’s fangs sank deep into my shoulder. Shadows swept through the chamber, swirling and dancing around me, grazing my nipples and lightly brushing against my clit.
Tremors shook my frame with unwavering intensity as Ryker forced my orgasm from my body. Tears sprang to my eyes as the pleasure became too much, and my arms collapsed beneath me.
Behind me, Ryker continued to thrust inside me, all remnants of restraint disappearing as he let his beast roam free.
“You’re welcome to try and entice other men to your bed, Cadence,” he said. “But know this: any man reckless enough to accept the invitation will be sealing his own fate.”
I wanted to argue, but my words were incoherent mumbles.
Ryker thrust into me one last time, and he groaned as his come filled me, painting my walls with his claim. He collapsed on top of me. His muscular physique pressed into me, as the heat radiating from him burned me everywhere our skin touched.
The sound of his pounding heart and his harsh breathing assaulted me. For reasons beyond my understanding, I felt comforted, wrapped in his embrace, his large body protecting mine.
The same arms that held me captive. The same hands that ended the life of my mother, and maybe his mother, too.
No, that wasn’t fair. Ryker had played no part in the events of his conception. He couldn’t be held responsible for what his father had done.
After a long silence, Ryker finally spoke. “We need to stop doing this to one another, Cadence.”
“Doing what?”
“Hurting each other for the sake of it.”
I rolled to my side, dislodging him, as I examined his face. But I couldn’t discern any hint of what he was feeling. His handsome features remained devoid of emotion.
“That’s easy for you to say, Ryker. You’re not the one living inside a gilded cage.” I raised my arm in the air, shaking my wrist to emphasize the cuffs still firmly in place.
“I gave you freedom once before, Cadence, and you betrayed my trust. What do you expect me to do?”
“For you to treat me like a partner, not a damn pet.”
I sucked my lower lip between my teeth. It seemed my mouth had a will of its own and no amount of scolding would bring it back under my control.
My plans never accounted for Ryker remaining in my life. I intended to flee, taking my brother and my unborn child to a place far beyond his reach.
So, why was I making empty promises that I had no intention of keeping?
“And that wasn’t freedom. You’ve merely swapped one chain for another.” The memory of the collar pressed against my throat made my skin prickle.
“You still need time to accept your life here, Cadence. Once you’ve settled in, once you have accepted our bond, then you’ll have all the freedom you desire. For now, I must take measures to protect you from your own stubbornness.”
My hands clenched into fists at my sides. The condescension in his voice made my blood boil.
“Protect me? You mean control me.”
“Call it what you will. The result remains the same.”
“And if I refuse to play along with this charade of happy families?”
His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Then you’ll discover just how limiting your current accommodations can become.”
My pulse hammered against my ribs. “You won’t be able to keep me here forever.”
“Forever is a long time, Cadence. Why don’t we start with today?”
I didn’t bother to respond. The brief madness that had convinced me I could reason with him dissipated.
I knew all I needed to know about Ryker Ashborne, Crown Prince of the Unseelie Fae.
He was a murderer.
My captor.
My enemy.
And if I let him, he would be my undoing.