Chapter 2 #2
Straightening up, he stroked his hands over her body. What a lithe creature she was. Curves in all the right places. But muscular—clearly a predator, like him.
Her skin was such a beautiful shade of pale sea green, it almost seemed to glow in the moonlight. Resting her cheek on the table, she kept her head tucked close to her shoulder, as if trying to hide in the dark veil of her blue-black hair.
Like he’d allow that. Unclasping his belt, he pulled it from around his waist. She went tense, probably expecting him to hit her with it. He chuckled.
Feeding the end of his belt through the buckle, he slipped the loop over her neck and pulled her hair out from underneath it.
Before she could yank her head out of the trap, he cinched it tight, holding the rest of the leather strap in his hand like a makeshift leash. “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have a pet fae…”
“You cock-sucking son of a bitch!” Her hands went to her throat, grabbing at the leather strap.
Good. He wanted her mad. He wanted her to fight.
He wanted her to work it all out. Yanking on the belt, he pulled her neck back, forcing her to arch her spine and restricting her air supply.
She gagged, her words breaking off in a gasp as she struggled for breath.
One of her hands had to press down on the stone altar to support her weight and keep it off her throat, the other threading fingers under the strap to try to make space for air.
In the same moment, he drove two fingers back into her waiting heat, growling in pleasure at how eager she was for him. “By the moons, Nadi…”
He plundered her depths at a hard, relentless tempo, keeping the pressure on her throat with the leash until he felt her body tighten around him.
She was on the verge of release. Grinning wickedly, he let up the pressure.
She collapsed onto her elbow, gasping for air.
He stilled his hand inside of her, but didn’t remove it.
He watched as she lowered her head, her face veiled by her dark hair. Coughing, she swore at him in fae between breaths. He didn’t need a translator to know that whatever she was saying, breathless and furious, was likely colorful, detailed, and violent.
Chuckling, he leaned down and kissed her shoulder. “I am not going to fuck you tonight unless you ask.”
“What?” Oh, she was going to be apoplectic with him when all was said and done. And he couldn’t wait.
“You heard me.” He pulled back on the makeshift leash again, watching her body go taut beneath him as a shudder of pleasure wracked her body. Loving it. Hating it. Wanting to surrender. Wanting to fight. Wanting to be taken. Wanting power. Wanting to give it up.
Everything he could ask for.
He began to pump his fingers inside her, waiting and watching for the moment that she began to crest and—
Releasing the pressure on the leash, he let her collapse back to the altar.
She wailed in fury.
And he could only laugh. “Two.”
“Six.”
Nadi was going to lose her mind. She was going to lose her moons-damned mind. Everything was starting to blur together in a sea of rage, desire, and agony.
“Seven.”
“I am going to kill you,” she ground out between her teeth.
She had run out of all the swears she knew in both languages and had devolved into threats.
“I am going to cut off your balls and make you eat them before I do—” Her words broke off into a gasp as Raziel pulled back on the leash.
He was doing it a little harder each time, and this time she saw spots in her vision.
Maybe she’d pass out. That’d be a relief.
But he knew her better than she would have guessed. Because no matter how close she got—to oblivion or bliss—he never quite brought her either.
Air rushed back into her lungs. His fingers inside of her stilled.
“Eight.”
She let out a sob and whacked her forehead on the altar. She’d given up punching the stone surface.
He chuckled. “Careful. Don’t leave a bruise. Or would they even appear in your other form, anyway?”
“Fuck. You.”
“That is what I’m waiting for you to say. Do you think I’m not also in misery?” He leaned over her, resting his arm on the altar near her as he nuzzled in close to her ear. “I have never wanted anyone so very badly as I want you, my little fae…”
She shuddered at his words. “Don’t lie to me.”
“Why would I?” His hand left her for a moment, only to be replaced by the pressure of his hips.
She could feel the outline of him, every inch of him, desperate in his own obvious need.
His voice was a thick, dark growl. “Something in me cries out for you, Nadi—your blood, your body—but it’s evolved past that.
I want you. I want you here, with me. Beside me.
Don’t you understand? I’m not offering you what I am because I don’t have other options.
Don’t you get how much of a risk you are? ”
He couldn’t possibly mean what he was saying. He couldn’t possibly.
“But that is a topic for another night.” He chuckled, his tongue running along her cheek briefly before he continued.
“Tonight, I want to fuck you in the moonlight. I want to desecrate this holy altar. Because no matter what—whether I succeed or fail—this moment will linger on. Just think, Nadi. You and I, right now, will have just a little bit of revenge on the rest of my family. The next time a Nostrom comes here to perform some sacred ritual, the ghost of our act will haunt them.”
Nadi shuddered. What a mental image.
“Just say the words, little fae, and you can have as much of me as your sweet little body can handle. And we’ll fuck like the animals we are, right here, with the painted faces of my ancestors looking on.”
She wanted and needed him dead.
She wanted and needed him.
She hated him.
But it was more than that.
Wasn’t it?
And that was what he was trying to prove to her.
A disappointed sigh left him. He was going to start up again. She couldn’t—just couldn’t—
It was only one word that left her. One, choked, desperate word—she couldn’t even quite understand what she was trying to say with it. She could only hope that he knew.
“Raziel—”
Nadi whispered his name.
It was a broken, agonized word.
And it was the most amazing sound he had ever heard.
Gently, Raziel lifted her from the altar, and scooped her up in his arms. She looked startled. Good. That was what he wanted.
He wanted her to fuck him.
He could ravage her like a beast. But this was about what she wanted. About her surrender. About her admissions. He’d have his way with her plenty of nights to come. He sat her atop the altar before joining her, shifting her until she straddled his lap, facing him.
She sat there, watching him with uncertain eyes that were as dark as the night sky and yet flickering with every shade of color.
Slipping a hand into her hair at the base of her neck, he kissed her. Kissed the real her. Nadi. His little fae assassin. Who had infiltrated his home and crept into his bed.
Who could have killed him. A dozen times over.
And perhaps had done something far worse and far more cruel to him in the end.
A low purr began in his chest, and he felt her shudder. “You do love that sound.”
Her gaze was suddenly hazy. “It’s—it’s cheating…”
He furrowed his brow. He forced it to stop. The dazed expression fled almost as quickly as it came. He’d never seen anyone react to the sound like that before. Fascinating…
Something to experiment with another time. He had other plans for her tonight.
He returned to devouring her lips with his. She tasted like the Wild—like the tang of plants and growth. But he found he… didn’t hate it. Far from it. He found himself chasing more of it.
Grasping one of her breasts in his hand, he toyed with the dark nipple there, already pert and hard from her arousal. It was too tempting not to pinch it between his fingers, hearing her cry against his lips in protest.
He broke the kiss to watch her features, drinking in her expression as he repeated the action on the other side. She was flushed, her lips swollen and parted. Her hands were pressed against his chest, not quite grasping, not quite pushing him away.
He lay back on the altar, like he was some kind of sacrifice. How many times had he watched someone be sliced open on the stone, bled out like a lamb in the name of Lilivra? Now, his beautiful fae would ride him to oblivion on the same surface. It was perfect.
He reached between them and undid his fly, lowering his pants to finally, finally free himself from his trousers with a grunt of relief.
Nadi needed no instructions as to what to do. She sat up on her knees, one hand grasping his length, the other pressed against his chest.
What a perfect view. Reaching behind her, he wrapped a hand around the makeshift leash that still dangled from her neck with the other.
Her eyes slipped shut as he pulled on the leather, arching her back and tightening the loop just enough to apply pressure, but not enough to restrict her air. She’d need all that she could get.
“No. Look at me.”
Those dark orbs met his.
He smirked. “Good little fae.” He rested his head back against the stone surface. “Begin.”
Nadi couldn’t help but whimper as she bore down on him.
Raziel had asked her when the last time she’d had sex in her real form had been… Not since before he’d killed her family. So it was tight.
But at least she was ready.
As ready as she could be.
She tried to drop her head, tried to hide, tried to focus on the sensation of him at her core as the pressure built. But he pulled back on the leash every time she did, forcing her to arch her back.
“Keep your eyes on me, Nadi,” he snarled. “I’m the one you’re fucking. I’m the one you wanted. I’m the one you’re here with.”
Like she’d ever forget any of this, for better or worse. He was the one who had her body screaming not just in need, but in need for him and only him.