A Throne of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales #2)(99)

“Ah. Gotcha. So it comes down to shoring up strength within the kingdom.”

“Yes, princess. Now you have it.”

Cool metal touched down on my upper thigh, right beside my folds. It scraped across in little brush strokes, shearing me like a sheep.

“Why are you embarrassed?” he asked in a subdued voice, and the mood in the room changed dramatically. Tingles crawled up my body, and I involuntarily parted my knees just a bit more.

“I’ve let things grow a little wild since my ex. And before that, it was just a trim job. I didn’t realize…”

“I’m no ladies’ man, but only a fool would complain. I’m only doing this because you asked for it.”

He was absolutely a ladies’ man, but he didn’t need to charm or cajole for it. He just had to show up. His stellar body, his large frame, his power and strength, his severe attractiveness—all he had to do was walk into a room, and every woman there would take notice. He could probably insult a woman, and she’d willingly come to his bed. I was guilty of it, surely. I had definitely tried to push back, but I couldn’t deny I was all too happy to get this delicious alpha between my thighs. Damn my animal for rubbing off on me.

The metal continued to glide, not touching anything distinctly pleasureful but sending shivers racing across my flesh all the same. His diligence, focus, and clear attention to detail were obvious as he went back over certain areas, heightening my anticipation for his touch, the sensations of the moment. My body quickly keyed up, all my attention on the feel of that blade and his fingers as they pulled the skin taut or braced against my inner thigh. In a strange way, this was more sensual and erotic than anything I’d yet experienced.

“I don’t think you give yourself enough credit,” I murmured huskily.

A breath fell against my aching, sensitive flesh, his huffed laughter. He paused, clearly noticing my body’s response.

His breath pushed air at my pussy in a steady stream now, caressing. Tickling. I whimpered and arched back, the non-touch so tantalizing I could barely stand it. He kept at it, driving me crazy. I clenched the muscles in my pussy rhythmically, contracting my hips, responding to that non-touch. Anticipation and desperation to be touched wound me up to impossible heights. I whimpered again as I tensed. My nipples tightened to hard buds.

The breath stopped, and then a hot tongue flicked my clit.

“Oh fuck berries—” I clenched as an orgasm hit me, jarring my body into shaking on the seat. I groaned, the release only tiny, shallow, my entire person now hyper-focused on his proximity and the quest to be fully sated.

“And now I fully understand the virtues of light teasing.” He chuckled darkly. “This will be an excellent tool in my arsenal. I’ll make you beg and plead to come.”

“I’m not proud. I’ll beg to come any day.”

“Self-serving little wench,” he said with a laugh. “But you are lying. We haven’t played dominance games yet. Our animals are desperate for each other because we’ve held back from claiming each other. If we decided to do so, our beasts would do battle. To claim and mate a female, a male must overcome her by sheer force. I doubt it makes sense to you now—you’re not the type of woman to think fondly of someone overpowering you—but I’ve only ever heard it’s the most erotic experience for both people. The male feels powerful, which we like, and the female feels that she has chosen a strong, sure mate to protect her and her brood. Win-win. Or so I’ve heard.”

“But what about will? I thought you said that a man’s domain was physical dominance, and a female’s was will.”

He pulled back and laughed.

“That wasn’t a joke. I’m serious,” I said, a little miffed. “I stopped you the other day. I even hit you with my power…somehow. You’re more powerful than me physically, but I can shrug off your commands. You can’t shrug off mine so easily.”

The metal touched down again, on the other side now, working steadily.

“Yes, you’re exactly right, princess. And trust you to think of that when I’m talking about dominance. You’re an alpha—you won’t easily relinquish power.”

“Right, but…about my question.”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve only heard about this from men, and none of them have ever brought up their woman’s will. Either they claimed women who didn’t have a strong enough will to fight back, which wouldn’t be something they’d want to admit, or women pretend they don’t have that weapon so their men can win and feel mighty. My mother used to say that sometimes it felt like a woman’s entire job as wife was to protect her mate’s ego. This is probably direct proof.”

He chuckled as he worked down the other side.

“You’d like me to protect your ego when you claim me, then?”

The metal pulled away, and his other hand grabbed my thigh, squeezing firmly but not enough to hurt.

“Sorry,” I whispered, grimacing. “That was me, not my animal, but I… That thought just got away from me. Sorry!”

“For now, so we don’t ruin the moment, we’ll just pretend that’s a possibility, shall we?” he rasped.

“Yes.”

“The honest answer is…probably. I’m not worried about my ego—these last sixteen years have completely shredded it. But if you use your will, I don’t think I will get close enough to fuck you. What happened earlier today, when you shoved me back with it…” He splashed water around my groin and lifted my butt a little higher. He started on the underside, and now his touch was right about where I wanted it. On the outside, but I needed it in.