Chapter 21
Cat had no idea how they reached this room. She had no idea where this room even was located within the castle. All she knew was that Thane promised it was secluded and safe, and it had a bed.
Thane settled her on the bed and then turned away, but only to stride to the door so he could close it and bolt it. He cast a look at her over his shoulder. “Will you be cold? Do you want a fire?”
She shook her head. “I won’t need it.” Not the way she was burning up now.
Thane walked back to the bed and, surprising her, knelt down on both knees before her, reaching for her hands.
He kissed her palms, slowly, then her wrists, his soft kisses turning to little bites as he worked his way up her arms, shifting to the left and then the right as if he’d be accused of favoritism if he lingered too long on one.
Then he looked up at her, and she saw the most wicked promise in his green eyes. “Lie back now,” he ordered her.
“Why? I thought I owned you tonight.”
“You do,” Thane assured her. “But you’ve also got no idea what you’re doing. So let me take the lead.”
Cat stuck out her tongue, annoyed that he was right. He stuck out his own tongue, and then with both hands, slid her skirt up above her knees, exposing her stocking-covered legs.
“Black,” he said, sighing.
“It’s all or nothing,” she reminded him.
“They’ll have to go.”
He found the ribbons that secured them and within moments had them loosened. He rolled one black stocking down, while Cat handled the other, determined to be fully involved.
He smiled as he ran his hands over her newly bare legs, his fingers hot on her skin. “Very nice,” he murmured, pushing her skirts up further toward her hips.
And ducked his head right under the bunched fabric.
She did not quite scream, but she definitely made some sort of noise as she felt his tongue gliding along her inner thigh. He put his hands on her knees and nudged her legs further apart.
Cat did not ever think about being kissed on her legs. But now it was all she could think about.
“Thane, what are you doing?”
“Guess.” That was the only word he spared. And then he licked her core with one long stroke. It felt so good that Cat thought she would faint.
He pulled his wicked tongue away, and sat up again. “I told you to lie back, Cat. This may take a while.”
“How long?”
“Possibly forever. You are the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted. Lie back.”
Thane’s gaze was so heavy, pressing her back on the mattress without his laying a finger on her. There was so much lust in his regard that she thought she might melt right there.
She let herself wilt onto the bed, pulling up her skirts even more as she did so. Her head was spinning. If this was how Thane started sexual relations, how did he intend to finish?
Maybe he’d never finish. Maybe this divine feeling would last forever.
Cat moaned shamelessly as he lavished her with his tongue, drawing out a desire she’d been keeping at bay for far too long.
Yes, this was what she needed. The raw pleasures of the body pushing away all the awful thoughts and cold, harsh words that had set up house in her soul.
Thane was destroying the old feelings, and she loved every minute of it.
Cat hazily became aware that she’d dropped a hand down onto his head, and was combing her fingers through his thick hair, unconsciously mimicking his rhythms. Likewise, she just realized that she kept emitting the most needy-sounding gasps as he pleasured her, gasps that sounded like More, more, more.
Well, she did want more. She wanted this warm, aching glow all through her limbs as Thane licked and sucked, and did lovely unspeakable things to her.
Perhaps men weren’t completely useless after all.
Cat smiled at the thought, but then her back arched as an orgasm crashed over her. She cried out before belatedly turning her head into the pillow to muffle the sound.
Thane teased her into an aftershock before finally lifting his head, looking utterly disheveled and very pleased with himself.
“You like my tongue,” he said. “I thought you would.”
He crawled onto the bed and over her, surveying his work. “You look a little flushed, kitty cat. Maybe I should take you back to your room.”
“No,” she protested.
His expression shifted, and she saw that his light manner masked something deeper. “It’s not that I don’t want… Christ, Cat, you have no idea what you do to me. But I can’t let you do something you’ll regret the rest of your life.”
“You think I’ll regret not being a virgin tomorrow?” She scoffed. “I know what regret feels like, Thane. I’m alive and he’s not. I’m here, but I’m alone—”
Thane silenced her with a kiss. A deep, open-mouthed kiss that wiped away any more words she might have spoken, and instead filled her with need all over again.
“You’re not alone,” he told her, his mouth hot on hers. He used his teeth as much as his lips to tease her, and she found herself craving the tiny twinges of pain amid the pleasure.
“It’s warm,” she muttered between kisses. “Too warm.” He shifted away enough so that Cat could wrest her gown off, so hard the fabric scraped along her skin in places, leaving a pink trail. She didn’t care. In fact, she liked the burn. It felt like being alive.
Thane tossed the remnants of her gown aside, did the same to her stays and chemise, and then pulled his shirt over his head. He rolled off the bed just long enough to remove the rest of his clothing, till he stood naked in front of her, his arousal commanding her attention.
She inhaled, taking him in. She often disparaged men as being too concerned with women’s physical appearance, but she couldn’t deny that here was a man she wanted because he was physically magnificent.
“This is what you asked for,” he said, as if she might regret it.
Cat regretted nothing in this room so far, and told him so. “Get back in this bed,” she ordered then. “You say I own you, but you’re very bad at being owned.”
“Aye, I am. But I’ll do my best.” He stretched his body next to hers, and reached to pull her over so she was sitting astride him, her slick folds riding along the length of his cock.
It was shockingly intimate and arousing for Cat, yet clearly his way of telling her that she could stop here if she wanted, that he wouldn’t press her.
Well, Cat would press him. She rocked her hips to test how it felt to have him between her legs. It felt magical. She let out a low moan and leaned forward, bracing her arms with her hands on either side of his head.
He seemed to like it as well, to judge by the lust on his face. He grabbed her hips and started a slow, strong rhythm as he drew her tight against him. Cat loved the push and pull, the slide up and down the hard length of him, how she felt the heat building between them.
“This is good,” she whispered, even as her body clamored for more. “I like riding you.”
He bit his lip at her words, and his cock twitched under her.
A low laugh burst out of Cat. “Oh, I see. You like being ridden by me.” Strange how she could feel so confident when this was all new to her.
But maybe that was because Thane wasn’t insisting on being in charge. It felt more like…playing together.
“I’d like it more if you leaned down lower,” he said, that gleam in his eyes again, the gleam that promised some shocking pleasure to come.
She guessed what he planned, but when he bent his head to get his mouth on her breast, she was still unprepared. Cat bucked when she felt his tongue teasing her nipple to a hardened bud, heat surging not just in her chest, but in her core as well.
“Thane, more,” she begged.
She wanted more of this, because every kiss and touch and stroke he offered pushed out the dark thoughts and replaced them with new sensations as bright as flame. She needed to keep him near her, over her, in her. That was the only way she could make it through this night.
He growled, and suddenly she was under him, so fast she wasn’t sure how it happened. Thane grabbed her wrists and pinned them over her head with one hand, then reached lower with his other hand.
“I want to make you come again, Cat, and I want to see your face while I do it.”
“Yes,” she breathed, willing to go anywhere he took her tonight.
He dipped his hand between her legs and slid one finger inside her while covering her with his thumb.
He knew exactly how to play her, and within seconds Cat was panting with need as her body reacted to his touch inside and out.
His thumb circled the sensitive bud until she could barely stand the waves of pleasure he was creating.
She strained against his grip, wanting to touch him, grab him, destroy him like he was doing to her.
But he was immovable, and highly amused by her efforts.
“The only way you get free is to come undone for me, Cat. Let me hear you when it happens. Don’t be shy.”
He stroked her from the inside, and Cat could only moan with need. “More,” she managed.
“More? Like this?”
He withdrew his finger, then slipped two in, stretching her. Cat arched her back, loving it. “More. Please more.”
“Come for me, and you’ll get what you want,” he said.
Like a key, his promise unlocked all the tension inside her. Cat gave a wild cry and let the bliss course through her.
A moment, or a thousand moments, later, Cat opened her eyes. She found Thane watching her with the proprietary gaze of a lion. “Still more, kitty cat?” he asked. “Or have you had enough?”
“I’ll tell you when I’ve had enough,” she whispered. “And it won’t be enough until you take me.”
She knew what she wanted and what she needed, and that was Thane’s body entangled with hers so that they could drive each other to such passion that there was no room left for pain.
“Hold me,” she begged, even as she positioned herself so his cock brushed against her opening.
Thane raised his upper body and took her in his arms, folding her into an embrace. Then he guided her downward. Did she slide down onto him, or did he push into her body? Did it matter?
Cat let out a low cry as he filled her, and tightened her arms around his torso as they melted into one thing. Thane’s thrusts into her drove waves of pleasure all through her body, expelling all other thoughts and feelings besides what he was creating.
“Yes,” she moaned into his ear. “Yes, Thane. This is what I want.”
“Take it,” he growled, as far gone with need as she was.
Their congress became heavy and frantic, as Cat chased more of the feelings she’d caught before, those shattering bursts of peace she craved so much.
Thane was saying something, but it was low and harsh and only half for her. Cat was too lost in her own pursuit to pay attention—all she knew was that Thane was the only person in the world who was willing and able to take her where she needed to go.
“Now, Thane,” she whimpered. “Now. Don’t leave me behind.”
“Never.”
He gripped her hard and angled his body to push once more, and then Cat’s body gave in, and she cried out as the bliss overtook her. Every nerve, every pore, every ounce of her glowed with pure physical release, and for a perfect moment, she had no thoughts at all.