Chapter Twenty-Nine
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The trail of wet footsteps into the tablinum was her first clue that Kadra was home. Sarai eyed the thin line of light under the door to his study, anxious at facing him.
She’d knelt before him, her heart in her eyes. But what if he doesn’t acknowledge it?
She wiped her sweaty palms on her tunic, pulse thundering in her ears, reminding herself that she’d faced down Aelius and Tullus today. Whatever his response was, she could take it. Striding to the study door, she pushed it open before she could talk herself out of it.
Seated behind his desk, Kadra looked up, robe half-undone as usual, damp hair falling rakishly over the hard planes of his face. But his usual composure was gone, replaced by the same unfettered wildness she’d seen at the pleasure house.
“You nearly blew yourself up,” he said without preamble.
She took a steadying breath and rounded his desk. “It was the only way to save your head. You matter, Kadra. This country needs you to hold those two mass murderers back. I don’t know what you were thinking today in serving yourself up to them, but I won’t stand for it.”
“You fought for me.” His voice was hoarse.
“I chose you.” Flushing, she glanced at the wine bottle he was gripping as though his life depended on it. “I thought we agreed that I’d drink with you in the future. ”
“Then drink.” He rose, trapping her in the space between his seat and his desk. Placing the bottle to his lips, he took a swallow.
She stilled when he brought it to her mouth, circling her lips and seeking entry. It felt carnal. Her lips parted and she took a sip, warmth slipping down her throat as it had on the night of their first meeting in this study. Need streaked through her, coiling tight.
Her eyes were level with his chest, catching its rapid rise and fall. “Are you angry with me?” she whispered.
“No.” His thumb replaced the wine bottle, tracing the curve of her lower lip. “You knelt before me.”
Air came slowly. She nodded.
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to.”
His thumb eased its pressure on her lips, sliding past her jaw to halt at her wildly beating pulse. “Why did you want to?”
He was so close that every breath tasted of him. “Gods, Kadra.”
He didn’t relent, tilting her chin to face him when she tried to turn away. “Why?”
“You know why,” she breathed, molten desire pooling in her when he stroked her throat. At his silence, she closed her eyes, defenses gone. “Because I’ve wanted you ever since you tipped that damn wineglass in my direction that first night here. I wanted you when I wanted to ruin you. And now—” She broke off, hope and fear choking her. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for—”
With a rough curse, he gripped the back of her head and pulled her mouth to his, devouring her like a man possessed. The world vanished and there was nothing but the taste of him under her tongue, the rough scrape of his teeth against her lips. The stern line of his mouth parted, bit, sucked her lower lip, teasing her with forays of his tongue.
The wine bottle fell, shattering, as he pulled her onto his desk, dragging her ankles up until they locked around his waist. Pressed against him, liquid fire streaked through her .
“You want me,” she accused.
“Always,” he bit out. Blood rushed in her ears as he gripped the back of her neck.
“Then take me,” she whispered, elation giving her the boldness to run a hand through his damp hair. A harsh sound tore from his throat when she gripped his shoulders and ground against his cock. A tremor ran through the arms holding her.
“Tell me not to do this,” he demanded hoarsely. “You’ll despise me later.”
“Never.” She gave him back his words. “Not once . ”
“Sarai, I am not a good man.” His teeth scraped her earlobe to punctuate the statement. “I have done things that will horrify you.”
Pulling back to frame his face between her hands, she met that cruel gaze without fear and smiled. “I know.”
And he came undone.
He feasted on her mouth, breathing her in, as if it would never be enough. His fingers speared her hair, one hand going to the column of her throat as he trailed kisses down the heated skin of her jaw, and sucked a mark into her neck. Something fell off his table. She didn’t care. She was on fire.
Gripping her thighs, he rocked her against him. She moaned.
“Is this what you want?” He nuzzled the question into the shell of her ear, his voice a sinful croon. “To be taken?” He squeezed a sigh from her throat.
Knotting her fingers in his hair, she fused her mouth to his, fumbling at the tie to his dressing robe in answer. A groan shuddered through him, legendary control eroded to dust as he lifted her with ease. Taking the stairs two at a time, he kicked open his door and tossed her on his bed.
“Your fucking chest.” Crawling over the covers to him, she gripped the sides of his waist, parting his robes and tasting his skin, moving quickly downward. “It’s been driving me mad since that first night.”
Kadra choked out a laugh. “I know. You couldn’t tear your eyes away fast eno— ”
He bit out a curse when her mouth slid over the glistening length of him. She pulled back and stared up at him, licking her lips.
His voice went guttural. “Again.”
Obediently, she dragged her tongue over the head, and in seconds she was flat on her back, her mouth reclaimed, his hands snatching at the tie to her bathrobe. The cold air on her newly bared skin cut through the haze of her arousal.
She stared at the scars running down her breasts and hips, the raised lines misshapen, ugly. Her throat closed. She couldn’t look at him.
“I—”
“Fuck.” Red stained Kadra’s high cheekbones as he stared down at her. “Fuck, I knew you’d be beautiful.”
Her eyes smarted and she blinked furiously to keep the tears at bay as he leaned over her to press a tender kiss to her mouth, her collarbone, her chest. He lavished attention on her breasts, his lips tracing the lines of her scars, as he slipped a hand between her legs, breath going choppy.
Her back bowed as his fingers plunged deep. She’d done this before on her own, but it was nothing, nothing , like this. He was as all-consuming as she’d hoped and feared, drawing out her pleasure until she begged him for mercy.
“Look at me,” he demanded as she neared her peak. “Eyes on me. I want to watch you.”
His fingers worked faster, deeper, and she flew apart, the orgasm rushing through her with brutal intensity, lighting up every nerve in her body. He pressed kisses against her forehead, her nose, her upturned lips, breath coming in harsh bursts.
“Like lightning,” he whispered.
And he was the storm itself. Her muscles were limp, but she wanted more. She reached between them to grip his length, stroking it from root to tip. He uttered a rough moan of pleasure, watching the motion as though it held his salvation. Her thumb brushed over the wet head, and she heard his teeth grind seconds before he captured her arms and pinned them above her head. But instead of entering her, he stilled, pupils blown so wide, she couldn’t see anything of his irises.
“Sarai,” he whispered hoarsely. “I’ve wanted you for so long.” Sweat trailed down his neck, but he waited, silently asking her one last time if she was sure.
She arched herself against him, notching his cock to her entrance. “ Please. ” She pressed against him again just as he pushed inside her.
Kadra captured her hiss of pain, whispering an apology against her lips, waiting for her to get used to the feel of him, before moving gently, tenderly, letting her find her rhythm, watching her as if he’d die if he didn’t. Electricity sizzled down her spine, centering between them, growing with every hard thrust, every snap of his hips. She gasped his name, and lust suffused his face.
“What do you need?”
“You,” she whimpered as he moved deep. “More.”
“Shit,” he shuddered, before giving up on reining himself in. “Fuck, Sarai.”
He began to take her in earnest and she cried out, her wetness seeping down her thighs. Her body moving of its own will, she ground against him, meeting him viciously with lips, tongue, and teeth as he caressed her with soft, filthy words of praise, his voice driving her closer to the brink.
“That’s it,” he growled against her mouth. “Gods, you’re so fucking beautiful.”
He drank in her pleas and cries, taking her with frenzied intensity, every inch the demanding lover she’d known he would be.
Her body tightened in impending ecstasy, and their eyes locked just as she erupted. Pure bliss slammed into her, through her, around her, only his name on her lips. He groaned. His hips shifted, thrust deep, and a harsh growl left Kadra’s throat. He clutched her to him, body shuddering against her as they fell against the mattress, utterly spent.
“I belong to you,” he whispered against her hair. “I will always belong to you.”
And she felt the truth of it without any magic.