A Kiss of Fire (A Kiss of Magic #2)(59)

She never dressed him down in public. Especially not when his brother was present. She had learned to manage Vich quite adroitly, much to Vich’s irritation. He was concerned for her in that respect. His brother was not one to take insult or slights lying down. He was losing in his battle of wits with Ariana, and it was beginning to wear on him. His temper was growing short. His veneer of civility was beginning to wear off. If Sin hadn’t had her under constant guard, he might have worried for her safety. She posed a threat to Vich in more ways than just the one-upmanship in a game of wits. If she became Sin’s wife, that would mean his succession to the throne had been completely removed from his hands. Such a thing might make his brother desperate. Therefore, Sin was trying to keep a cautious eye on him.

He let Ariana go to be with his mother, but it was taking a toll on him, this constant frustration. He had insinuated his mother between himself and Ariana for a reason, had kept out of the privacy of her rooms to keep himself in check, but it was getting harder and harder to let her go at night. She showed no signs of weakening…but he did. His resolve to have her come to him was deteriorating more and more every day…every time he pulled her into a dark corner and made love to her with kisses and touches, furtive and hot though they were.

Sin needed relief. He kept telling himself that it was coming…soon. But it was getting harder to believe that when she turned him away at every encounter. Still, there was no mistaking the passion with which she responded to those kisses and touches. She was as hot for him as he was for her…only she seemed to have complete control over herself.

He did not.

That was why that night, instead of pulling her into a random dark corner, he followed her into her room. He knew it was a bad idea the moment he stepped over the threshold, but he couldn’t help himself. He shut the door behind himself, heard the tumble of the lock, and then looked across the room at her with a gaze he knew to be full of his hunger for her. He knew it because she began to breathe harder. He could see her nervousness as her hands rubbed restlessly up and down her thighs and hips. Did she know just how provocative that was? Did she even realize she was doing it?

He crossed over to her, but kept three feet of distance between them.

“It is becoming harder and harder to wait for you,” he confessed on a rasp. “My instincts are to take you, blind you to any and all thoughts save the passion I know you feel for me, but in that same moment I would lose you for good. Tell me, Ariana. Tell me what I must do to win you over.”

“Return me to my home,” she said instantly.

“That I cannot do. Letting you go would devastate me. It would be worse than taking you against your will. There must be another way.”

“There is no other way,” she said. “Perhaps if you took me back home and wooed me in that way…”

“You would never accept my suit in public. Your people hate me and mine too much for it to be a wise choice. Can’t you see it is better that they think you had no choice in the matter? You can be with me and write off all responsibility for the decision.”

“I cannot act like that. It would be just as bad. To give in to you in a way they perceive as being against my will would make them hate you all the more.”

“There must be a way!”

“There isn’t!”

“I must have you,” he hissed, closing the distance between them and grabbing hold of her by her arms. “Don’t you feel anything for me at all?”

She looked away and for a sudden blinding instant he realized she was about to lie to him.

“I don’t.”

“Am I so horrible that you must lie to yourself and to me about what you crave?” He drew her up onto the tips of her toes, burying his face in her neck and the delicate smell of her. He drew his mouth up the line of her neck and felt her tremble in his hands. He nipped at the lobe of her ear. “I know you want me. As a woman wants a man, you want me. After this no other will do for you. You may not admit that now, but it will be the truth. I have felt you hot and wet for me, Ariana.”

She gasped then groaned, her body sagging into his hold. He dragged his mouth to hers and kissed her violently. Her hands clutched at the fabric of his shirt and her body clung to his. Every part of her was admitting her need, save her mind and her voice.

“Please,” she begged him. But he could not tell if she was begging him to stop or begging him to continue. He couldn’t tell anymore.

“I can please you, Ariana. Unlike anyone has ever pleased you before. Give in to your craving for me. It will do you no harm.”

“It will do me all of the harm in the world,” she panted in argument as his hand lifted to cup her breast through the fabric of her shirt. The silk of the blouse alleviated the friction between his thumb and her nipple, but still it puckered for him.

“Don’t you want to feel my mouth on you? Don’t you want more than anything to feel me inside of you?” He ground out the words, his tense control in every syllable. She had to come to him. She simply had to.

She wasn’t going to answer, he realized. Her way of avoiding the truth.

“Answer me,” he commanded her, one of his hands sliding around to the small of her back and using the hold to jerk her body tighter to his. He was so hard for her, and the feel of her warm supple body against him was almost more than he could stand. The only way it would be worse would be if she left him.