Chapter 24
Six words, and the last of his control snapped. Manu slid his hands to her firm arse and yanked her against his hard cock. His fingers curled into her flesh when she made a soft sound of approval. Everywhere he turned, every thought, every sound, made him think of her.
The attraction was much more than just the need to ease his body. He was obsessed with Inej. Infatuated. Completely consumed.
Their lips met in a heated, sizzling kiss, each lost to the passion raging within them.
Her fingers slid into his hair as she lifted a leg to wrap around his waist. He rocked against her, impatient to join their bodies once more.
He needed days—no, weeks—of doing nothing other than wringing cries of pleasure from her.
Voices drifted up the stairs, penetrating the haze of lust. Manu ended the kiss to listen, but all he heard was their ragged breathing. He looked into her eyes, noting the flecks of gold in the luminous brown.
“Stay with me tonight. Here,” he said again. “I want you in my bed.”
She touched his face, her palm scraping against his whiskers, making him wish he had taken the time to shave. Her gaze lowered to his mouth, and her finger slowly traced along his top lip, then his bottom.
Finally, she looked him in the eyes. “Aye.”
There had been a moment when he’d thought she might decline. He would’ve let her go. He had never forced a woman. He’d never had to, and he wasn’t about to start now—no matter how much he hungered for another taste of her.
He released her and took her hand, leading her down the stairs to his chambers.
The moment she was inside, he shut and barred the door before facing her.
She stood in the middle of the room, watching him.
There was so much about her that he didn’t know, so much he yearned to know.
He should be circumspect, but his body overruled rational thought when it came to her.
Manu removed his boots, then his shirt, and her gaze lowered to his chest. He bit back a smile and unfastened his pants before shoving them down, stepping free, and closing the distance between them.
Her pulse beat rapidly in her throat, her chest rising and falling quickly. There was no shyness, no coyness. Inej was a woman who knew what she liked and wanted and went after it. That was part of what drew him to her. She was an outsider, and a human at that, but he was utterly beguiled.
He brushed the backs of his knuckles against her cheek before sliding his fingers around to the nape of her neck and moving closer. He got lost in her eyes, finding the gold from before as well as some deep brown striations shooting from her pupil, and a band of bronze encircling her iris.
“I’ve never seen such beautiful eyes,” he told her. “From the first time you looked at me, I was mesmerized.”
A small smile pulled at the corners of her lips. “My eyes?”
“First, it was your eyes. Then your face, your hair, and then your glorious body.”
Her grin melted as desire flared in her gaze. Together, they quickly divested her of clothes before Manu brought her against him once more. Her sigh as they kissed made his heart skip a beat. Did she know how that affected him? Was she doing it on purpose? He hoped she was as enthralled as he was.
His thoughts scattered when she began to kiss down his chest. He stood with his hands at his sides as her fingers slid sensuously down his body and her mouth followed.
She left a trail of heat in her wake as she moved to his stomach and then lower.
He held his breath when she dropped to her knees and pressed a kiss against one hip and then the other, all while her hands leisurely caressed down his thighs and up again.
The feel of her breath against his cock made it jump. He watched her kiss closer and closer to his arousal, driving him crazy each time he thought she would finally touch him, only for her to change directions. His cock strained toward her as he clenched and unclenched his hands.
Finally, she wrapped her long, slim fingers around him.
Manu moaned, his eyes rolling back in his head as she used just the right amount of pressure while moving her hand up and down his length.
He sucked in a breath when she circled the tip of his cock with her thumb, sending ripples of pleasure running through his body.
He felt her breath against him once more.
Manu looked down and met her gaze as she parted her lips and took him into her mouth.
The rasp of her tongue, the heat of her mouth, her hands.
It was all too much. He tangled his fingers into her hair as her head bobbed, each stroke sending him closer and closer to orgasm.
It felt so good he never wanted her to stop. He tightened his hold on her head and reluctantly pulled his cock out of her mouth. Her lips were wet, her eyes half-closed. He pulled her to her feet, but before he could do more, she backed to the bed and sprawled on the mattress, her legs parted.
He was over her in a heartbeat, one hand braced by her head, his other gliding up her thigh. When he skimmed a finger along the folds of her sex, he groaned. “Fuck. You’re so wet.”
“You do this to me,” she murmured.
Inej arched her back as he pushed a thick finger inside her. It felt good, but it wasn’t enough. She wanted him rocking inside her once more.
As if reading her thoughts, he withdrew his finger, and the head of his cock rubbed against her folds. She bent her knees up to her chest, spreading her legs wider. He pushed inside her, stretching her the deeper he went. She grasped his sides to pull him down atop her so she could feel his weight.
He loomed over her, big and powerful, his neck straining as he pulled out some and thrust hard. She gasped as he went deep enough to touch her womb. Then, he was moving inside her, the friction just what she needed.
She lifted her head to watch their bodies coming together again and again. The sight of him sliding inside her, combined with the wild look in his eyes, stole her breath. His stamina was unlike anything she had experienced before. Long and hard. Fast and shallow. He knew just what she needed.
The climax began before she was ready. She put her hands on his chest to tell him to stop, to make it last longer, but he only thrust deeper, harder.
“Come for me,” he demanded.
She was already in the throes of the orgasm, but his words sent a fresh wave of pleasure swimming through her, sending her higher. She felt his body pumping inside her, prolonging the climax as she floated from one surge to another.
Inej’s face as she came was a sight to behold—the pleasure radiating from her as her cheeks flushed and her eyes fluttered closed.
Then there was her body shuddering around him.
Manu reached for the orgasm and let the tight walls of her sex milk him until he could barely hold himself up.
The mind-altering pleasure was even more intense than it had been the night before.
He came back into his body and found his head buried in her neck as her hands moved over his back. He was still semi-hard deep inside her. Every now and again, a small tremor ran through her body, causing her to tighten around his cock and sending ribbons of pleasure through him.
Manu rose up onto his forearms to look at her. Her brown waves were spread out around her like a dark crown. He didn’t know what he liked more, her hair draped around him like a curtain or spread as it was now.
“You are exquisite,” he said.
Her smile was soft as she gazed up at him. “So are you.”
He wanted to remain just as they were, but he’d promised her they’d eat. Manu pulled out of her and got to his feet. “Our meal should be here shortly.”
“Assumed we’d be here, did you?”
He chuckled. “I hoped. Since we aren’t downstairs, they know to bring the food up here.”
“Oh.” Some of the light went out of her eyes as she sat up and turned her back to him.
Manu inwardly winced at his thoughtlessness. “Mountain Elves have always been unrestrained when it comes to sex and partners. No one will say anything about you being here, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“They may not say it, but they’ll think it.”
“Perhaps we should’ve remained at Jalall’s.”
She glanced at him over her shoulder and shrugged. “Chanda already thinks I’m after you. I don’t think it matters.”
“Would you like to return to Jalall’s?” He held his breath, waiting for her answer.
Inej pushed to her feet and faced him. “I’ve never apologized for heeding what my body needs, and I won’t start now. What I would like is a soak in that,” she said, pointing behind him.
Manu looked to the rectangular tub cut out of the mountain, large enough for three.
The inside had been ground down until it was smooth.
Two steps led into the tub. He went to the faucets and knelt to turn them until water flowed through the spigot.
He straightened and found Inej looking around his room.
She glanced over and saw him observing her.
“Is the room not what you were expecting?” he asked.
She shook her head, the ends of her hair swaying with the movement. “Nay.”
He looked about the room, taking in the shelves of books he’d built from a fallen kocracia evergreen, showing the dark umber color, to the burnt amber and gray rug, to the chairs covered in a bluish-gray, and then finally to the bed, where pelts of white and gray fur had been sewn together and pulled back to reveal the comforter that was a muted, ashy dark blue.
“The colors suit you,” she said as she faced him.
He quirked a brow. “Oh?”
She walked to him. “This room feels calm, peaceful. Like you.”
“I’m far from calm.”
“You hide it very well.” She stopped before him.
He reached for a lock of her hair and let it run through his fingers. “It keeps my people relaxed.”
“What about you? What keeps you composed?”
“I don’t think any leader can be.”
She moved down the steps and into the tub, standing as the water rose, winding her hair atop her head. After a moment, she lowered herself and reclined with her legs out. Then, she looked at him and raised a brow. “Are you coming?”
Manu stepped into the tub and sat facing her, their legs tangling as he stretched out. Tendrils of her hair had come loose and stuck to her skin as the heat from the bath dampened it. Her gaze was questioning, which prompted him to ask, “What is it?”
“I’m trying to figure out why an elf like you doesn’t have a wife.”
He grunted and glided his hands over her calves. “It isn’t required.”
“I’ve seen the way the females look at you. You’re not only handsome, but also in a position of power. You could have your pick of women.”
“Maybe I’ve not found the right one.”
Her brows shot up. “Don’t tell me you’re waiting on love.”
“You say that as if you don’t believe in it.”
“You do?” she asked in surprise.
He tugged on her leg, bringing her closer. “Why don’t you?”