Chapter 24 #4
“You asked for me to bring her to three peaks,” he said, his tone edged with cold fury. “You will have them. But the manner of it will be decided by me. Keep your commands to yourselves.”
A sharp intake of breath came from Aelia and Cassara.
“How dare you speak to her like that!” Aelia snapped, rising halfway from her seat.
He didn’t move away from me. He didn’t bow his head, nor did he soften his stance.
“I spoke as I intended. You wished for a display. You will have one. But you will not command me.”
The air in the curtained space changed, the shift in power subtle yet undeniable. Aelia’s eyes flashed, unused to being defied. Severa, however, only leaned back against the cushions, watching him with open intrigue.
“Hmm. Such brutality. I love it. Reminds me of my husband,” she said as she fanned herself with her hand. “Very well, ladies—let us hold our tongues. I am certain we will not be disappointed.”
Thanor’s hands closed around my waist, firm and unyielding, as he pulled me closer along the sofa until there was no space left between us. My arms fell above my head, my body twisting beneath him, every nerve strung tight. His rough handling of me ignited something reckless inside me.
He lowered his head toward my chest, his mouth finding me through the silk. Rough bites alternated with slow touches as he teased me without mercy, until my nipples were aching, my breasts heavy with sensation.
When he bit down through the black fabric, I arched off the sofa. The shock of it shot straight from my nipple to my core, a strong pulse that left me clenching, aching.
“Vayren,” I breathed.
His head snapped up when I breathed his name, something feral flashing in his eyes before he captured my mouth with his.
His tongue swept inside as though he meant to own the way his name left my lips.
I groaned at the taste of him, heat surging through me as I rose to meet him, my hands sliding around his neck and pulling him closer, drinking him in as if he were the only air left in the room.
The pain in my head and wrist forgotten.
He lowered himself over me, pressing his weight into mine, and slid one leg between my thighs, the slit of my dress riding high along my hip. His thigh settled against me, and when he shifted, the friction finally gave me the pressure I’d been aching for.
The rough glide of his armor against the silk covering me made me gasp, the sensation intoxicating. He moved deliberately, dragging his thigh against me again and again, each stroke building the sparks low in my body into something hotter.
Wetness gathered between my thighs, spreading with every movement. He kept the rhythm steady, rubbing exactly where I needed him most. Each grind forced my body upward, my back arching helplessly.
Through it all, his eyes were on me—dark and intent—watching the rise and fall of my breasts beneath the silk, studying the way my body responded to him.
His movements grew stronger, the pull between us intensifying with every point of contact.
The friction became relentless, building and building until I could no longer contain it.
The tension that’d been coiling inside me finally snapped.
A broken groan tore from my throat as my release surged through me, my body tightening beneath him while the wave rippled outward, leaving me breathless.
Through the haze, I heard the women clapping, an excited voice calling out, “One.”
The voice barely registered. Vayren lowered himself over me again, his mouth close to my ear. “You will come undone for me twice more tonight. But you will not fall apart on my cock. That sight will be mine alone. ”
There was no doubt in his voice—only promise. I gave a small nod, a flicker of relief threading through me at the understanding between us. At least tonight, he wouldn’t take that from me. He would protect me from that much.
With one arm braced above me, he held himself steady while his other hand drifted lower, tracing slow circles around my navel, each touch leaving shudders in its wake. He moved down inch by inch, unhurried, and I lifted my hips, silently guiding his hand to where I wanted him.
His fingers slid to the slit of my dress, catching on the delicate golden chain. With a harsh pull, it snapped, the jewels scattering as they struck the marble. I heard murmurs from Aelia and the others, but they felt distant, blurred at the edges of my awareness. They no longer mattered.
All that existed was the feeling of Vayren’s touch on my skin.
His hand slipped further inside the slit, moving higher until he found me bare. A low groan left him at the contact. His fingers parted me without hesitation, finding me already soaked.
He leaned closer, breath hot against my neck, and slowly pressed one finger inside me. I moaned at the stretch, but it only sharpened the ache. It wasn’t enough. I was drenched, trembling.
“More,” I pleaded.
He obeyed, adding a second finger, stretching me further.
The sensation was fuller now. My breath hitched as he began to move, slow thrusts that made my hips rise to meet him.
A moan escaped me with every motion, the pressure building steadily inside me again, coiling tighter with each measured stroke.
His movements remained slow but firm, each thrust pushing deeper than my own hand ever could. I clutched his wrist where it disappeared beneath my dress, my breath unsteady as I stared up at him. His gaze burned into mine.
Aelia’s shrill laughter pierced the fog in my mind, and I faltered for a split second. The shift was enough. Vayren withdrew his fingers, the sudden loss making me gasp, my attention snapping back to him.
“Eyes on me,” he ordered.
I nodded, surrendering, unable to look anywhere else.
He brushed over my clit once, then again, firm strokes that made my hips jerk in response. My muscles tightened, the pressure building fast—but just as I neared the edge, he withdrew.
A frustrated groan tore from my throat.
Without warning, he plunged two of his fingers inside me, the sudden fullness forcing a cry from my lips as my back arched off the sofa.
Stars burst behind my eyes as the sensation crashed through me.
My release surged upward, ripping through my body as I groaned against him, clutching at his shoulders.
He didn’t slow. His movements only intensified, faster, deeper, prolonging the wave as it rolled through me again and again, leaving me breathless, trembling, and utterly undone beneath him.
His fingers continued their steady rhythm as the aftershocks rippled through me. I clenched around him, oversensitive and trembling, each thrust keeping me suspended between release and restraint while the echoes of my peak faded.
“Two,” they called, their voices bright with excitement.
“By the goddess,” Cassara murmured. “Such control. I would not mind a taste of him afterward, don’t you agree ladies?”
A surge of anger flared—hot, possessive, entirely my own. Jealousy coiled through me as I stared up at Vayren. Whatever this tonic had done to my body, this was real.
Mine .
My eyes narrowed and his features darkened. The haze began to thin. Two releases had dulled the tonic’s edge—clarity returning in fragments.
“We are not finished,” he murmured. “You will give me one more.”
His fingers drove into me again in stark reminder before withdrawing, and I gasped at the sudden emptiness. He brought them to his mouth without breaking eye contact, sucking them slowly, a low sound vibrating in his throat as that obsessive gleam returned.
The sight stole the remaining air from my lungs.
“Remember. This moment belongs to you and me. Eyes on me.”
He lowered himself over me, tearing the silk higher along my thigh to make room. I let my legs fall open without shame. He was right—Aelia and the others couldn’t touch me. Not while he stood between us.
Nothing beyond us mattered.
My thoughts fractured the instant his mouth found me. The feeling was unlike anything I’d known, dragging a cry from my throat as my legs clenched around his head. The intimacy of him there—his hands anchoring me, holding me exactly where he wanted me—sent sparks surging through me again.
One hand pressed firmly against my lower stomach, keeping me in place, while the other held me open.
His movements were practiced, drawing sound after sound from me.
When two of his fingers slid back inside me, the stretch felt real now, the haze gone.
I felt every inch of it, every slow curl that brought tears to my eyes and made my piercing throb.
He curled his fingers and found a place inside me that unraveled me completely.
His tongue moved in tandem with the thrusts of his fingers, and my hands tangled in his hair, gripping without restraint as the pressure built faster this time, harder, overwhelming.
He groaned at the pull, and the intensity of him only deepened, driving me higher and higher until I broke again.
The release tore through me, raw and unstoppable, my body jerking beneath him before the tension drained away, leaving me utterly spent against the cushions.
He didn’t stop.
His mouth closed around my clit again, a slow pull that sent a jolt through me, and then again, before his tongue circled it once more, unrelenting.
The sensation hit too soon, too intense, dragging another helpless reaction from me as my body bucked beneath him, already oversensitive, already undone. It was too much.
“Vayren.. Stop… Please.” I pulled his hair, whispering between broken breaths.
Finally, he relented.
He gazed up at me with a look that seared through me, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. My eyes fell shut. I turned my head to the side, unwilling to face the audience we’d been displayed for as he straightened and stepped in front of me.
“What a display,” Severa purred. “Well done, champion. It seems your talents extend far beyond the Maw. What a fortunate lady.”