Chapter 29

There was only one bed.

Mere minutes ago, Meira had scoured the small home for any other hiding assassins. She had been aware that there was only one bedroom—this place had only been intended for Remis after all—but now, as she stood shoulder to shoulder with him just inside the doorway of the room, she still found herself surprised.

The room itself was quite plain. White walls, minimal decor, a wardrobe on one side of the room stocked with clothes, another fireplace to warm the room, and the single overstuffed bed. To be fair, the bed was quite large for one man and they might even be able to lay in it side by side and never touch. He’d be terribly close to her though. Close enough she might give in and let him kiss her again.

Sighing, she looked behind her toward the dark hall. She could take the couch that was in the sitting room. Slender as it was, it was better than most other places she slept while out on a mission. Her side ached though the bleeding had long stopped and the wound was likely well on its way to healed thanks to the power in her veins.

“Looks cozy.” Remis gave her a pretty half-smile, moving toward the bed with its thick comforter and overflow of pillows. Blankets creased under him as he sat on the edge, bouncing once as though to test it before he patted the space next to him.

“I’ll take the couch.” At least from the couch she could watch the front door for any other unwelcome guests. She turned from the room, but before she could even take another step, Remis had closed the distance between them, his fingers taking hold of her wrist to stop her.

She wanted to run out of his reach. She wanted to throw herself into his arms.

By the Dragons, she wanted to be done with these warring emotions inside of her.

“Meira,” he said quietly, “stay.”

“Remis—”

“If you do not wish to be touched then I will not touch you.” His hand fell back to his side. “Stay. Sleep.”

It was tempting to finally lay her head somewhere that would allow her sore body to relax. More so, it was tempting to lay herself next to the man who so thoroughly confused her.

“Though to be quite clear,” he said, his voice dropping even lower to a strained rasp, “I do want to touch you. I want to do more than touch you. I want to devour you.” His eyes darkened. “Run from me, little witch, and I shall take your place as the wolf and hunt you down. Say the word and I’ll give chase. Then when I have you, there will be no flesh on your body that I will not know completely. That I will not taste. And you—you will beg for mercy when I’ve brought you so thoroughly to climax that your body has gone utterly limp.”

Meira sucked in a breath. Frozen to the spot, all she could do was stand under the intensity of his hungry gaze. Butterflies took flight in her stomach. Warmth pooled at her center and between her legs.

Yes, her mind screamed. Yes. She wanted to let him be the wolf. She could play the part of the rabbit long enough.

“Do you want to play, Meira?” he asked, looking down his nose at her, stepping close enough that he forced her to tip her head back to keep their gazes locked.

For once, she didn’t want to be the one in control. She could have this next hour to let him be the one hunting. Her cheeks and chest felt hot at the idea. Her underwear was so thoroughly soaked at the very imaginings of it.

“Yes,” she answered. She’d take his challenge and play his wicked games. Perhaps she’d even like it. This was the danger of letting him in. And it was equally as thrilling.

He grinned. A wide showing of teeth that sent a shiver down her spine and raised the hair on the back of her neck. When he wanted to, Remis could certainly look the part of a predator.

Slowly, his hands found her waist, smoothed down over her leathers to her hips, and found her sword belt. Remis’ gaze never broke from hers as his fingers deftly undid the buckles. The belt loosened on her waist and disappeared completely before he tossed the belt and sword behind them onto the bed.

With one crooked finger, he lifted her chin further.

“Run.”

Meira did not need to be told twice. She turned down the hall, cataloging what she remembered of the home briefly in the back of her mind. Boots thudding against the ground, she ran. The small home consisted of the bedroom, hall, sitting room, dining room, and kitchen. Both the kitchen and further down the hall, past where Remis stood in the doorway of the bedroom, there were closets, but the enclosed space wouldn’t give her room to fight, much less get away if she was found.

He hadn’t told her how much of a head start he’d give her. There were so few precious seconds for her to make a plan. The soles of her boots squealed as she turned out of the hall and into the dining room. She was hardly winded from the activity but her breath came in pants as the excitement began to consume her. With efficient speed, Meira plucked at the laces on her boots, loosened them enough that she could slip her feet out, and left them sitting in the walkway. With any luck he’d trip over them and that would give her more time.

“Do run quickly,” his voice was a terrifying song as he called after her, “I won’t wait patiently here for long.”

Without her boots, it was easier to soften her steps over the hardwood floors. Even still, the shift of her weight caused boards to creak and groan under her. She chronicled the board”s location inside her mind and kept moving, darting behind the door of the kitchen. They hadn’t lit any lanterns and the room was pitch black as soon she closed the door behind her.

Her eyes adjusted quickly, though she kept her hands out in front of her to feel her way around the wooden table at the center of the room. She crouched beside a large pot stored under the tabletop. All she could hear was the rush of blood through her veins and the loud uneven staggering of her breath.

An ounce of fear that blossomed within her made the excitement that much more vicious. Run and don”t get caught. She’d played at this since the day she’d left her small town behind but never had there been a promise of such sinful pleasure.

A steady thump of Remis’ steps began. He didn’t run to chase after her as she’d sprinted away to hide. He walked with the cool confidence of someone who knew they’d have the upper hand. The challenge made her insides turn molten.

Something tumbled. The kick of one of her boots. Then a dark chuckle.

“Are you trying to set a trap for me?” Remis hardly sounded like himself anymore. This was not the light-hearted man who poked fun at her and tried to charm his way out of this cursed arrangement. This was a hunter. He clicked his tongue against his teeth. “Naughty little thing.”

Those same floorboards creaked. Her entire body tensed. The sound of his steps growing distant. Finally, she exhaled the breath she’d been holding.

The kitchen door opened. His wide frame filled the doorway. A dim light came from the fire still lit in the sitting room and cast his shadow across the space. He inhaled deeply. Growled into the darkness. Her toes curled against the floor.

“Do you know you have a certain sort of smell? Sweet like jasmine. I can’t get enough of it,” he said.

She didn’t move. Didn’t dare take her next breath.

He took another step into the room. The door snicked shut. Together they were plunged into darkness. If she stayed still, he could mistake her as part of the table, or he could walk right past her. Now there were no creaking boards to announce his nearness. His steps had gone utterly silent.

Meira closed her eyes. Tried to feel the movement of air around her, the whisper of clothes even as he moved. There was nothing.

Large hands grabbed at her waist, narrowly missing her injury. Fingers curled roughly, grabbing at her with bruising intensity. She sent her elbow into his gut. Air punched from his lungs and tickled at the back of her neck. His grip loosened enough for her to squirm out of his hold.

She shot up and ran for the dining room, but a weight pulled at her cloak. The ties cut off her breath, but only for a second before she undid the strings and let the material fall behind her onto the floor. Brass, still mildly warm from Remis’ touch, met her palm. She turned the knob and thrust herself out into the dining room.

The door didn’t even fully close before Remis threw it open. By then, Meira had put the dining table between them. His eyes landed on her and ate her up like he was a man starving for her image. She gripped a chair as her knees threatened to go weak from the intensity.

He was grinning again. In the flickering light of the fire, he was every bit the monster that came to claim his prize. Stalking forward, he circled the table. She moved at the same pace to keep the space between them.

He stopped. She stopped. The fire’s warmth, now at her back, aligned with her spine. Perspiration dampened the curls at the back of her neck.

With both palms flattened against the wood, Remis leaned forward. “You’ll have to be faster.” Then he climbed onto the damn table. His boots were a stomping force as he ran across and leapt to the floor in front of Meira.

She’d barely been able to pull herself out of her own surprise before he’d made it over the table and she bolted for the sitting room. A near bone-shattering grip took hold of her arm but his fingers didn’t quite get around her bicep, yet the touch had done enough to have her tripping forward. Though she tried to right herself quickly, Remis grabbed her ankle and yanked her backward.

Dirt, dust, and possibly a few splinters gathered under her nails as she clawed at the wood, trying to gather some momentum. His weight was already climbing up her, dragging her underneath him. She knew she could toss him off, should she truly want to, but she was the prey here. Like a good little rabbit, she was practically limp under his arms.

The width of his hands traveled up her thighs and the swell of her ass, before he grabbed her arms and pinned them at her side. Evidence of his want was stiff against her backside, long and hard. He leaned down, his mouth lightly touching the shell of her ear. “You have no idea how much I’ve dreamed of having you underneath me.”

His tongue traced along her ear and then dipped down onto her neck. Teeth scraped against her and she had to swallow a moan. Meira struggled against his strength, torn between getting away again and letting him learn her in the desperate way they both currently wanted. His mouth clamped down around her neck, teeth digging into her flesh. Meira gasped as he kissed the bite mark he’d undoubtedly made.

Remis made it look easy as he turned her underneath him. Surprise parted her mouth as he’d actually beaten her to her next move and had taken both her wrists in his hands, pinning them over her head. She bucked underneath him, but he held firm. From here she could see his length pressing angrily against his trousers. Her fingers itched to touch and release him from the fabric.

With one hand, he lifted the hem of her shirt and pulled the material up until the strip of fabric across her chest was revealed. He growled and dropped her arms quick enough to tug her shirt up and over her head. The leather had hardly even touched the ground before he had her arms pinned again and used his free hand to rip the material down to her waist to reveal her bare breasts.

Hot breath fanned across her peaked nipples before he sucked her into his mouth. Pleasure shot straight through her, her back arching up into him. If she was supposed to still be struggling and trying to get away, she was doing a terrible job. She was ready to lay herself down and let him take whatever he wanted from her.

Remis kissed his way up her chest, neck, jaw, and then finally stole a kiss from her lips. He nipped at her bottom lip, slid his tongue against hers, and mistakenly let go of her wrists.

She was free to touch him now and the feel of his flesh under her hands was all she could think about. Their kiss turned brutal, a frenzied gnashing of teeth and tongue. Meira ripped at his waistcoat and popped a button clean off before she was able to get the fabric off of him. He held his weight over her, let her work his shirt out of the waistband of his pants before that too was peeled away. She’d hardly gotten a look at him before he’d pressed himself upon her, skin to skin, and stole her breath as he wound a braid in one hand, pulled her head to the side, and sucked gently at her throat. Greedily, her hands roamed over his flesh. Her fingers explored the muscles of his arms, then his back, and down to his ass. By the dragons, she was burning up with need and all for him. Meira followed his waistband, made quick work of the laces, and palmed his erection.

He growled against her neck. “Slow down, I haven’t even gotten to taste you yet.”

Meira was done fighting back, done running from him, though the game had been perhaps the most fun she’d had in a very very long time. Now he had his prize. And a promise to keep. She’d hold him to it.

Breathing in her feminine sweetness, he licked a line between her breasts and down around her belly button. Her stomach hollowed as he hovered over her and began teasing at the laces of her pants. The ribbons at the ends of her braids had come undone too, the curls slowly untangling themselves and loosening around her face. She was still before him with her eyes lowered in a lust-filled haze, cheeks heated, and chest heaving.

Locking his gaze on hers, Remis lowered enough to undo the last knot holding her pants tight at her hips. She swore she felt herself melt more before him. Then he hooked his fingers into her waistband, grabbed a hold of the fabric of her undergarments below, and slid them from her legs. The scent of her arousal thickened the air. Liquid beaded at the tip of his cock between them.

Remis ran two fingers over her, parting her, finding that sensitive bundle that had her gasping and lifting her hips into his touch. His fingers shone with her desire as he lifted them, brought them to his lips, and sucked the juices off. She made a small noise as his eyes rolled back and he groaned.

That was enough to undo all his restraint. Remis brought himself down over her and began worshiping her with his tongue. One parting swipe and she was already undone by him. Licking and sucking, he showed her exactly how much he wanted her. Her legs clenched around his head, her fingers digging into his hair, hips twitching as she rode his tongue. A throaty cry left her.

Together they became a blur of movement and the rush of grabbing hands as Remis brought himself over her and sank his cock into her wetness. Meira gasped and he breathed the sound in, seemingly feeding off her pleasure. He took her kisses. Met her rising hips with his own thrusts until she was clenching tightly around him, pulsing with the throes of her euphoria. Only when he’d made her cry out one more time and her head was tipped back, arms loose at her sides, did he allow himself to finally spill.

Her body had gone boneless. Her senses were drunk with pleasure.

And she wondered if she’d ever been happier before.