Chapter Sixteen
ChApter
Sixteen
Footfalls sound, followed by the scrape of a chair, and then the tread of heavy boots across stone. A door opens. Closes.
I don’t dare move.
I wait until the footfalls fade completely before I press my hand to the panel again, my pulse now louder than ever in my ears.
As the secret door slides open, the glow of candlelight fills my vision. I squint against it for a moment, adjusting to the change in illumination.
His back is to me, but then he straightens. He glances over his shoulder before turning completely in my direction and stepping closer. Dante’s gaze slowly strokes over the length of my body before he takes my hand and tugs me into the room.
My breath catches, and I feel the urge to say something, just to give myself enough time to adjust to the intensity of his eyes. “Pretty late for the king to pay a visit.”
He runs a thumb over the back of my hand. “He’s in a dark place and wants to ensure this tour goes his way.”
“Why would he think it wouldn’t? It’s what you want, isn’t it?”
“I’m not doing this for him.” He tips my chin up with a finger. “And if you don’t know what I want by now, Highness, you haven’t been paying attention.”
His eyes darken as he traces my jaw with his thumb. The connection of our skin sparks an eruption of energy so intense, I can feel his pulse in my blood.
“I have to tell you something.” The words come out so fast, I have to catch my breath. “A message was delivered to me when I was in Delasurvia. Meant for you.”
“For me?” His brows lower. “What kind of message?”
“It said, ‘For the future prince,’ and there was an item included.”
He waits a moment, but when I don’t continue, he prompts me. “What was it?”
“It was a black, leather cord, like a band or collar. And there was a pendant shaped like the head of a fork.”
He blinks, taking that in. “Like a tuning fork?”
“Yes. Do you know what that is?” I’m hoping he does so I don’t have to explain the horrible thing.
“I’ve heard of it, yes.” He doesn’t elaborate, and the look he’s giving me tells me he’s heard of it because of my father.
He must have known that my father used the collar to keep the sirens he imprisoned from using their powers.
To keep Dante’s mother from glamouring my father’s guards when she was locked in Delasurvia’s dungeons. “Do you think it was from the tsar?”
“It was one of the thoughts I had, yes.” I swallow. “The other was… your brother.”
He drops his gaze, most likely absorbing that possibility. After a moment, he nods. “Not even a prince yet and I’ve already got enemies.”
“It’s an empty threat, Dante. They can’t touch you.” I say it more to convince myself.
The corner of his mouth ticks upward. “Not with you watching my back.”
I can’t help but smile. “I’ll gladly be your sworn protector.”
“It could call for some extremely close contact.” He trails his hands around my waist. “You think you can handle it?”
“I’ll give it a try.” I fist his shirt, pulling him closer until his lips crash upon mine.
I soak in his kiss, making it my mission to memorize the feel of his mouth, the taste of his tongue.
There’s no telling when we’ll get the chance to be alone again, so I intend to commit every bit of him to memory.
He nips at my bottom lip before trailing his teeth down my throat, causing heat to blossom between my legs.
I gasp as his mouth finds my collarbone, his fingers tugging my hair at the nape of my neck.
It’s just painful enough to heighten my senses.
I arch into him until our bodies are flush, and when I feel his hard length press into me, the heat between us elevates to an inferno.
“Gods, I want you.” My voice is a hoarse whisper.
“Is that so, Highness?” he asks between kisses peppered at the top of my breasts. His hands snake around and cup my ass. “Where?”
“On top of me, inside me. Everywhere.”
“And I want you. I need your sweet pussy pulsing around my cock. And I want your eyes on mine while I make you cum.”
His words make me melt against him. His mouth returns to my neck as his finger drag my robe from my shoulders. Before it drops to the floor, he snatches it with his hand and slips the silk belt from its loops.
“What are you—?”
“Shh.” The corner of his mouth rises as he holds my upper arms and steers me backward. “Just making sure I’ve got you where I want you for as long as necessary.”
When we reach his bed, he takes me by my waist and effortlessly lifts me onto his mattress. The movement causes my thin nightdress to raise above my navel, exposing my underwear to him.
And the dagger sheathed to my thigh.
He smirks, his gaze slowly coming up my body until our eyes meet. “Expecting trouble, Highness?”
“One can never be too careful.” I reach for the strap. “Should I—?”
He wraps his hand around my arm to stop me. “No. Let me. I’m in control now.”
I’m too turned on to respond. His hungry gaze roams over me for a moment before he gathers my wrists together and wraps the silk belt around them.
I bite my lip, my excitement for what he has planned intensifying. He nudges my legs apart with his knee and hovers over me while he fastens the belt to one of the cast-iron bars of his headboard.
“Lord Stregasi,” I tease. “You’re so naughty.”
He raises a brow. “You show up in my room wearing this,” he starts, indicating the gauzy material barely concealing my breasts, “something so thin, it makes my cock twitch, and you think I’m the naughty one?”
The smile that begins on my mouth gets stolen away by his lips, his kiss deep and passionate.
I try to hold on to the kiss, but his lips trail down my jaw, my throat, and when he reaches my breasts, he deftly grabs the material of my nightgown and rips it in half as if it were nothing.
My nipples harden as they are exposed to the air, and Dante doesn’t hesitate to descend on one, and then the other, nipping and sucking each into his hot mouth as I emit tiny gasps and writhe beneath him.
I’m soaking wet watching him trail his tongue down the curves of my breasts, down my quivering stomach, until he reaches the waist of my underwear.
He lifts his head, his eyes locked on mine as he scoots back, and his fingers trail down to the strap of my dagger’s sheath.
He gently unbuckles it and pulls it away from my body, then he lets his feather-light touch traverse up my thigh before tugging at the material of my underwear.
He takes his time, slowly pulling the material down my legs, his gaze taking in every inch of me.
I squirm, desperate to reach out and pull him back on top of me but unable to move because my hands are restrained.
“Something wrong, little pirate?”
I smirk at the nickname—something he derived from his taunts about Delasurvians having pirate backgrounds. It used to annoy me, but now it gives me a thrill when he says it.
He slides off the bed, and once he’s on his feet, he yanks his shirt off with one swift move. Candlelight flickers on the sculpted muscle of his chest and arms.
“Just… impatient,” I say, my chest heaving from the thrill of anticipation.
“I can see that.” He steps out of his shoes and undoes the button of his pants, then pulls them down along with his underpants. His hard cock, now free, indeed twitches. He shakes his head and clucks his tongue. “You’re soaking my sheets, Princess. I think I might need to punish you.”
I can only hum in response, my body quaking, desperate for his touch.
But instead of stepping toward me, he turns around and traipses to a small table by his chaise.
I’m so confused about what he’s doing, but the mystery is exhilarating.
When he turns around to face me again, he’s holding a flower he plucked from the vase.
He twirls the stem between his fingers as he saunters back to the bed. I realize then that it’s a peony.
“Tell me again what you want,” he demands, climbing onto the mattress one leg at a time until he’s kneeling beside me.
“I want you.”
He uses the soft petals of the peony to caress my cheek. “Be more specific. What do you want me to do to you?”
“Dante, please.”
He trails the flower down to my chest, outlining my breasts with feather-light strokes. My pulse races, my senses in a frenzy.
“Tell me,” he says, his voice low and sultry.
“I want you to touch me. I want you to fuck me.” I pant, my blood rushing in my ears. With him, there’s no need to hold back, no need to worry about accidentally becoming with child. Preventing pregnancies is one of the many powers sirens possess.
He smirks, running the peony down my abdomen. “Hmm, I’ll make a deal with you.”
Is he fucking serious?
“You stay perfectly still,” he continues, “while I play with your gorgeous body. And if you remain quiet, I’ll give that wet pussy exactly what it’s craving.”
He challenges me with his gaze. I want to protest, to make him stop this game so I can have him, but I also want to play along, to enjoy this time with him.
Because after tonight, we’re going to have to pretend we don’t have feelings for each other.
We’re going to have to keep our distance and we won’t be able to touch each other.
We’ll be watched closely and might not be able to find a stolen moment to be together for a long while.
“Can you do that, Highness?” He slides the flower down between my legs, lightly twirling it.
“Yes,” I whisper.
He lets out a low chuckle. “That’s my good girl.”
It takes every ounce of control not to squirm, not to moan as he traces the contours of my body, teasing and stroking, caressing my skin, bringing the flower to skim my inner thighs and dance over my throbbing pussy.
He glides the petals up over my pebbled nipples, and I almost arch into the feel of it.
I open my mouth but don’t release the gasp of pleasure.
I beg him with my eyes, but he only smirks.