Chapter 23 - Kneel
Derrick’s quick footsteps echoed through the palace halls. His heartbeat pulsed under my lips as I kissed his throat. My hips wriggled against his chest as he held me.
I needed him now.
“Derrick,” I whimpered against his skin. My body burned with so much desire it hurt.
He shoved his shoulder into a door and the latch clicked open. He set me down on the closest table. My heart pounded against my ribs. My inner thighs were slick.
But I was still burning.
He tore his mask off, then his gloves. I let out a little gasp as he grabbed my jaw and forced me to look up at him.
“Take that damn mask off.” His lips were stained scarlet from my smeared lip paint. “I want to see all of you.”
My hands flew to the ribbon on the back of my head, but they were too heavy to untie the mask.
“Damn it!” I cried. “I cannot get it—!”
He deftly untied my mask with his free hand and threw it across the room.
With a smirk, he grabbed my right wrist. He bit the fabric on the tip of my middle finger and slowly pulled the glove off with his teeth. I closed my eyes as the fabric slid off my arm, then my hand—the sensation was overwhelming.
He kissed me gently on the inside of my wrist. My arm trembled as he placed kisses all the way up my arm before biting me on the inside of my bicep. Stamps from his red-stained lips lined my arm like tiny rose petals.
Every kiss was like another shock straight to my hips. I was going to tear my skin off if I did not get some satisfaction soon.
“Derrick,” I panted. “I need—”
He grabbed the back of my neck and brought my lips to his, kissing me like he shared my fire.
“So impatient,” he scolded, his breath hot against my lips. “I waited for this for seven years, but I can wait a little longer so I can play with you. Would you like that?”
“Yes.” My heartbeat pulsed between my legs. “But—”
He kissed me again and silenced me. He pulled away and left me gasping.
“I want to take my time, darling.” He wrapped his hand around my left wrist. “Little Rabbit dies tonight. ”
I squirmed as he worked the glove off my left arm. I bit my tongue and whimpered as his hot breath made the skin on the inside of my arm tingle.
He released the glove from his teeth and his hungry eyes flicked down to my bodice that strained under my heaving breaths.
He eyed the thin laces criss-crossing on the front of the bodice and leaned down. His teeth scraped the skin in the center of my chest as he bit down on the laces, loosening them as he slowly pulled away.
Cool air kissed my breasts as the bodice fell away from my sticky skin. His lips found mine, his tongue gently sweeping into my mouth as his hands massaged my breasts. I arched my back and raised my chest. The organza of my skirts crinkled as I locked my legs around his hips, feeling his hard bulge press against my pulsing center.
Fuck, I was going to die if I did not get him inside me.
“I cannot take it!” I pushed my hips against his. “I need you now!”
Derrick slid his hands under my thighs and picked me up. “As you wish.”
He turned me around and walked a few steps, his hands gripping my ass for leverage. I caught the sight of his harp in the corner of the room as he gently laid me on a chaise.
He kissed me, his chest pressing into mine. My hands gripped his silken curls and explored his back as his hand ran up my leg. His fingertips stroked me between my legs as he gently discovered what the most intimate part of my body felt like.
Not enough. I moved my hips in time with his hand, bucking up against his belly and the hard bulge below it. The small friction was the only relief, like tiny gasps of air.
Oh, it felt so damn good. I pulled away from his lips, tipping my head back against the cushion, and let out a soft cry.
“Shh, Serafina,” Derrick whispered. “You need to be quiet so no one can find us.”
His fingers slowed down. Pain replaced the soft satisfaction from his touch, filling up my chest like I was drowning.
Derrick leaned in, his lips tracing my cheekbone. “Do you want me to make you come?”
“Yes,” I said through my heavy breath.
He gave me a quick, ravenous kiss and then moved down to my neck, then between my breasts, then my belly.
Derrick pushed himself up from the couch, standing over me for a couple of pounding heartbeats.
My vision blurred, the candlelight getting darker as my heart thudded. I was dying. I could not get satisfaction. I was going to drown on my desire.
Satisfaction or death. Satisfaction or death.
“The heir to Lycaster bows to no one.” Derrick dropped to his knees at the edge of the couch. “But I will kneel for you, Serafina Helia.”
He hooked his arms around my legs and jerked me toward him.
I yelped as I slid on the chaise, but I quickly covered my mouth. Derrick looked at me with a crooked smile and raised eyebrow.
“Good girl.” He parted the draping fabric of my starry skirt. “Now try to stay quiet for me.”
His head dipped between my legs and he kissed me there just like he had kissed my lips.
A wave of satisfaction rolled over my whole body and I gasped.
I closed my eyes and moaned into my palm, containing my screams of delight to the inside of my throat. One of Derrick’s fingers joined his mouth and tongue, gently exploring inside of me. I wiggled my hips with the rolling pleasure, but Derrick’s other arm held me down so I could not squirm away from him.
He bit the inside of my thigh and shot me a look before he put his mouth on me again. The pressure built inside me, about to reach its peak. Passion raged through my whole body, pushing me closer and closer to that sweet release I needed.
Satisfaction or death.
I tipped my head back on the chaise, my entire upper body arching up as Derrick feasted on me.
“Derrick!” Stars flared behind my eyes. My legs trembled. I had to have him. I had to finish. “ Derrick! ”
With a flick of his tongue, he sent me over the edge, crashing into release like a wave against a mighty cliffside. My legs shook in his grip and I gritted my teeth, biting back my screams.
Then everything went still.
I blinked and the filigreed medallion on the ceiling came into focus. My entire body shook, no, shivered, like I had just walked inside after a torrential downpour.
Why was I so cold?
My stomach turned and my throat constricted. I clamped my teeth down as I held sickness back.
Derrick panted against my thigh and then he rose to his feet. He looked down on me hungrily, a satisfied smile across his devious lips.
What was he doing? Why was I on my back?
I glanced down and my eyes widened. My breasts were bare and my nipples were peaked. All I wore was my starry skirt.
Oh no…the Cupid’s Blood. The Cupid’s Blood.
I watched in horror as Derrick unlaced his shirt.
“I will go slow,” he said. “I will be very gentle.”
Tears pricked the backs of my eyes. I was not ready, I did not want to, but I had still been with him.
Suddenly noise erupted outside. People were running.
“Lord Hyton!” a voice shouted.
Derrick turned toward the door with a raised eyebrow. “What the hell—?”
The door crashed open and a group of palace guards rushed in.
“Get out!” Derrick yelled as he shielded as much of my body as he could.
I sat up on the couch, covering my breasts with my arms.
One of the guards stepped forward. His face was white and his eyes were wide. “My Lord, you have to come with us.”
“The hell I am!”
“My Lord…Y-Your Excellency,” the guard stammered. “Your father was killed.”