Chapter 21 - The Burn
“We shouldn’t do this.” My whisper was hoarse with need even as I walked her backward into her darkened room.
“I know,” she said even as she reached for me.
My mouth met hers in the dark, my eager tongue slipping between her welcoming lips, seeking hers, melding with her heat. “You taste so sweet,” I almost growled. My fingers tangled in her thick mass of fragrant hair as I devoured her again, claiming her.
Her fingers clutched at my chest. She moaned in my mouth.
My groan rumbled in my chest at her soft sound of surrender. “I want this so badly,” I murmured against her lips. “I want you.” I broke off to gaze into her sparkling eyes. I swallowed hard, my face contorting in remorse. “I know I shouldn’t. But—” I caressed her flushed cheek, my thumb stroking her already swollen bottom lip.
She nipped my thumb between her lips. Her chest heaved, her breathing labored. Her scent filled my senses. She overflowed with desire. She couldn’t hold it back anymore either. Whether it was caused by the veil of magic or her own want, as soon as the door shut behind us, I knew there was only going to be one outcome tonight.
I was going to have her.
And once I unlocked her heart, the Queen would finally be able to take it.
With one last-ditch attempt to restrain myself, I cleared my throat. “Allie, if you give yourself to me… It’s too dangerous. We can’t let the Queen have your heart.”
Allie shook her head. “I won’t let her. My heart is yours. Only yours.”
There was that reckless, stubborn courage again. How could I possibly fight it?
My chest ached in helplessness. I couldn’t help trailing my finger down her soft cheek, that elegant neck. I traced the bare skin on the curve of her neck, the thin, jeweled strap of her gown. Before I could stop myself, I slipped my thumb beneath the beaded string to slide it off her shoulder.
With another groan, I bent my head to taste her there, running my tongue over her smooth skin as I dragged open-mouthed kisses across her shoulder, her neck, her chest.
She moaned again and instead of pushing away, she grabbed my head as if encouraging me to keep going.
My deft fingers slipped behind her to undo the laces on her dress, and with a sharp tug, the heavy fabric fell away. When my hot mouth clamped over her bare breast, the feverish moan she gasped nearly broke my control.
I lifted my head, glassy eyes meeting hers. “I-I can’t stop, Allie. I need you.”
“I know,” she whispered.
“We shouldn’t.”
She shook her head, meeting my gaze evenly. “I don’t care.”
Her response stoked my fire further. I growled and when I backed her up again, the back of her knees hit the bed. Bracing my hands on her hips, I half-threw her onto the bed. I pulled off my shirt before instantly following. I hovered over her nearly naked body. One hand braced beside her head, my other hand slid down to shift her slip up her thigh.
“Allie…” I whispered, looking into her face.
Her sparkling eyes gazed up at me, as if marveling at the sight of me…
“My love…” I bent down to cover her mouth with mine, at the same time I plunged my fingers into her. She moaned in my mouth. I groaned at how she tightened as I stroked inside her.
A desperate whimper slipped her lips, her fingernails raked against my back. She was already ready. And I couldn’t wait any longer.
My belt clinking, I tugged my trousers down. I nudged her thigh to make room for me and I nestled myself between her legs. I broke off to search her eyes once more. “Allie…” I implored one last time. “Tell me you want this.”
She swallowed hard, her eyes glazed, consumed with passion. Her husky response was my undoing. “I want you.”
And when I speared into her, my groan mingled with hers.
She gasped at how I filled her.
I stilled myself, panting against her cheek.
She was heaven wrapped tightly around me.
This, I grunted with conviction, with finality.
This was where I belonged. Deep inside her. Under her skin. In her heart. The only way I could go on. There was no more living without her by my side. She was my sheath. My life.
With her arms clasped around my neck, I panted against her soft, fragrant hair as I started to move. My fingers dug deep into her thighs to brace her still across my hips as she took my forceful thrusts.
I swallowed her moans in my mouth.
But there was no pain.
Only pleasure. Endless, boundless pleasure.
I met her lustrous honey-brown gaze in absolute reverence.
Once again, I was awestruck by her simple beauty. Indignation tore at my chest in absolute understanding that I likely didn’t deserve this pleasure at all. I was the last man on Wünder who could possibly be worthy of her. But I neededto be worthy of her. I needed to fulfill her every need, satisfy her every desire.
My low groan was raw, hoarse with hunger. “Allie…can you feel me?”
She stroked my hair with such tenderness, my chest ached. “I can feel you, Rabb.”
I cast a spell and a glittery yellow fog covered us.
“What’s…what is that?” Allie asked, breathless as she stared over my shoulder.
I couldn’t help the surge of relief in my chest. With her heart open to me, she could finally see my spells. A corner of my mouth turned up, almost mischievously. “My gift.”
Her eyes widening, Allie’s mouth fell open as her pleasure intensified. This time, she didn’t need to merely mimic her moans. “Rabb, oh my god—,” she rasped. “It’s so—it’s feels so—”
Taking her mouth in mine again, I moved my hips smoothly over and over, over and over, until she was screaming my name with her release. The sight of her undone before me, by me, was all I needed to find my pleasure.
And afterward, breathless, spent, I collapsed by her side.
It was done.
Allie’s fate was sealed.
So was mine.
I couldn’t have been asleep for more than a minute.
I’d really tried not to fall asleep.
But ensconced in Allie’s warmth, that soothing, calming scent wrapped around me… I was defenseless.
When I woke with a startle, the space beside me in bed was already cold.
Alarmed, I shot off the bed to throw my clothes back on.
No. Dear god, please no.
Out the window, the sky was only starting to turn light. The merrymaking and music from the Queen’s ball downstairs had already hushed. The castle was quiet.
It was too much to hope that Allie had simply gotten up for a drink of water or to use the washroom.
Before, while she slept, I’d held her tight in my arms. I’d sworn to myself I was never going to let her go ever again.
The escape plan I had been hatching all night had fully developed in my mind.
I was going to take Allie. We would escape the Queen’s castle and run away.
We needed someplace to go, someplace I could possibly hide her.
The first option was for us to seek refuge on the River of Tears. Without magic, Allie might find some measure of safety from the Queen’s wrath.
The second, less desirable option was that I would return her heart and then persuade the Hatter to use the tree hollow to send Allie home.
No matter what the Hatter asked for in exchange, whatever it took, I was going to protect Allie.
My chest ached as I set to cursing and blaming myself. This was all my fault. I should have cast some sort of spell to stay awake. Or a spell to keep Allie in the room. A spell to keep her bound to my side. Something.
Bolting out the door, I peered down the railing to the ballroom. Empty. Even in the dim light, not even a trace of the previous evening’s gathering had been left.
Using stealth and magic, I slipped downstairs, past all the Queen’s guards, and hurried toward the throne room. But when I pushed open the double doors, the massive chamber was empty as well.
Allie…
There was no other explanation.
The Queen had taken Allie.
But then stopping short, I clutched at my chest.
Allie’s heart.
I still had it.
It beat steadily beneath my palm, then harder.
I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment to concentrate.
Rabb…
A faint white glow glimmered from my chest.
Heaving in relief, in understanding, I strode down the hallways with fresh urgency.
Allie was calling her heart.
She was calling for me.
I wasn’t under any illusions that this wasn’t a trap, but if Allie was in danger, I had to save her.
Stepping carefully down the stone steps into the crypts underneath the castle, the dank and musty air chilled my skin.
I felt it already.
Extraordinary power was seeping from the room at the far end of the hall. Rushing straight on, I plowed through the doors.
When my eyes adjusted to the darkness of the crypt, it wasn’t a crypt at all.
The grand and imposing courtroom had towering ceilings and candle-lit chandeliers which cast a warm glow over the space. Empty wooden benches lining the chambers complemented the sparse, austere decor. At the front, a raised platform held a throne-like, richly upholstered chair before a table whereupon a gavel rested. It was where the Queen would usually sit for official court proceedings.
Dressed in vivid, resplendent red once again, however, the Queen had elected to stand beside the podium where a large cage contained Allie. Allie was dressed in her own clothes once again.
I couldn’t help the relief flooding my chest. Seeing Allie alive, seeing that decidedly annoyed crease of indignation across her forehead as she gripped the black, metal bars.
Not startled at all about my arrival, the Queen’s smile widened as she met my gaze. One of her eyebrows rose in reprimand, her drawl tinged with amusement. “You’re late. I expected you to find us much earlier.”