Chapter 20

My thoughts wander backover the whirlwind of the past few days, from seeing Annora again at that masquerade ball, to leaving Bakva with her.

Her memory has haunted me ever since she left Dharhavva. Every fiber of my being had yearned to chase after her and bring her back and keep her by my side where she belongs.

But I was forced to bide my time, to wait until Jerrod drew his last breath. He sealed his Fate the instant he dared to attack Hector and the Bloodstone people. In swift retaliation, Hector marched on Sharhavva, our capital city and decisively defeated my father.

Now, with the mantle of chieftain resting heavy on my shoulders, I have achieved peace with the Bloodstone people—a feat my headstrong father could never manage in his lifetime.

Of course, Jerrod never knew I had been working with Hector the entire time, secretly feeding him valuable information that helped him overthrow my ruthless father. It was a quiet show of defiance, a burning flame deep within me that refused to be quenched by Jerrod's cruelty and iron fist.

Every whispered conversation with Hector, every clandestine meeting, fanned the embers of rebellion in my heart. I knew that one day Jerrod's reign of terror would come to an end, and I would be the one to light the pyre of his downfall. It was a dangerous game I played, but the thought of saving my people from him kept me playing it.

Annora shifts onto her back, the thin blanket slithering down to bare her breasts. I lean over to kiss each rosy tip, eliciting a sweet gasp from her.

She grips my shoulders, keeping me close as I slide lower, my lips trailing a path down her stomach to the dip of her hips. I pause, taking a moment to appreciate the sight of her splayed out before me in all her naked glory.

Her hands find their way into my hair, tugging gently in anticipation. But I am in no rush. I want to savor every inch of her.

So, I pepper her body with kisses, allowing only brief contact, just enough to induce sharp intakes of breath from her. Then, I allow my lips to graze the inside of her thigh. Her body tenses, and I can tell she's on edge, waiting for me to take the next step, but there's a part of me that enjoys this slow torture too much to give in so easily.

Lightly, I feather my fingers along her thigh, delighting in the goosebumps that rise under my touch. When I ghost my lips over her center, her hands clench in my hair, pulling me closer, but I resist. I want to explore every secret part of her first.

So, I continue my torturous pace, savoring each response, each shudder of pleasure that ripples through her. I rise higher to trail my tongue across her nipple and delight when it hardens. I press a kiss to her other breast, then trace my lips up the column of her neck until I reach her mouth.

Her hand slips between us, fingers seeking my cock and boldly stroking it. The contact makes me hiss into her mouth. For a moment, I am tempted to give in to her, but I don't.

It's not time for that yet.

So, instead, I capture her hands and place them above her head. "Leave them there."

"Jasce," she protests, but I ignore her as I bring my lips back to hers, crushing our mouths together, branding her, making her wholly and completely mine.

Then, I shift, bringing her around until she's straddling me. She groans when instead of taking her, I bring her forward until her body is hovering above my mouth.

Perfect.

I lick her then, tasting her. She gasps and holds herself above me, her body quivering as I feast on her. The taste of her fills my senses, sweet and intoxicating.

My hands grasp her hips, holding her in place as I explore her further with my tongue. She grinds down against my mouth, chasing her release, but I pull back just enough to deny her.

"No," she gasps, her fingers digging into my shoulders.

"Yes," I correct her. "I'll have you when I decide it's time."

She lets out a frustrated moan and wriggles against me in an attempt to gain the friction she craves. I shift away from her a little and continuing the slow torture I started at my pace, not hers.

My hands move up to cup her breasts again, thumbs brushing over her nipples as I pull her down and capture her lips with mine, giving her a taste of herself on my tongue.

"You will wait," I say against her mouth.

I let her sink back down onto my mouth again. Then, I draw my tongue over her, tasting her again. The strangled sound she makes goes straight to my cock, throbbing with a desire that is almost painful in its intensity. Still, I make no move to relieve it. Instead, I focus on tracing patterns over sensitive flesh with lips and tongue.

At last, when she seems on the verge of coming apart under my touch, when she's panting and whimpering and pleading, I let her sink onto me. She freezes at first, just holding herself above me, as if she can't believe that I'm finally letting her find her release.

And then, as if liberated from a spell, she starts to move. Her hips rock slowly against my mouth, a rhythm that has my breath hitching and my body responding in kind. I see the moment she loses herself to the pleasure, her head thrown back and eyes closed tightly, her mouth open in a silent cry.

She is exquisite like this—unguarded, sensual, lost in the throes of what I've drawn out of her.

My hands tighten on her hips, guiding her in this dance of passion and release. Her breaths grow shallow, her body convulsing in anticipation. With one final gasp, she arches back as the climax takes her and leaves her shuddering and panting above me.

The sight of her spent and vulnerable atop me is more satisfying than any physical pleasure I could seek.

As her tremors subside, I shift us again, until her body lies beneath mine.

"You're exquisite," I say as I trace my fingers down her side and then along the inside of her thigh, taking the time to appreciate every inch of her. A soft sigh escapes her lips as I continue my exploration until I reach the apex of her thighs.

With a groan of anticipation, I lower myself onto her. She's tight, so incredibly tight, and it takes every ounce of my self-control not to lose myself right then and there.

All I can see is her—the way she bites her lower lip in pleasure, the way her fingernails dig into my back, urging me to move faster.

Her thighs wrap around my hips, pulling me deeper into her warmth. It's ecstasy and agony rolled into one.

I want more, need more. And so does she.

I alter the rhythm, increasing my pace little by little. Her fingers dig further into my back, leaving marks that will surely bloom into bruises by dawn. I bare the pain gladly.

"Surrender to me, Annora," I say against her ear.

Her response is a desperate moan as her body clenches around me in response.

I take one of her nipples between my fingers, pinching it lightly as I quicken my thrusts. She cries out again as she rides the edge of pleasure and pain. With another swift movement, I slip my other hand under her, cupping her bottom to drive deeper.

Her nails scrape down my back as I allow myself to let go, to take her harder, faster. Her breaths grow ragged as she matches my pace, her soft cries echoing in the room. It's raw and unabashed, as if everything that came before was mere foreplay to this. The taste of her on my lips, the feel of her under my hands—it's too much, and yet it's never enough.

"More..." she says, the word more of a breathy sigh than a coherent plea.

I comply, my thrusts growing more forceful, my fingers digging deeper into her flesh even as hers does the same to mine.

I move one hand to her hair, tangling my hand in the curls as I lower my mouth to take one of her nipples between my teeth, biting gently. She moans and brings her back off the bed to meet my mouth.

My fingers tighten in her hair, tugging her head back as I take her harder—each thrust more forceful than the last. Her whimpers only fuel my hunger as I bring her closer and closer to the precipice.

Now that we're on the cusp, I find it hard to hold back, the thin veneer of control I've clung to threatening to shatter into a million pieces. But I know that if I fall, she falls with me.

Delirium takes over me as I lose myself, taking her faster and faster until I reach my release. My vision blurs, the room spinning around me as pleasure courses through my veins.

I drive into her one final time before collapsing onto her.

It was never like this with anyone else. Never so consuming. Never so pleasurable.

Annora doesn't know it yet, but I have no intention of ever allowing her to return to Bakva.

She's mine, to keep, to cherish, to love.