Chapter 4

4

Abel

Ilet myself enjoy the shock on Eli’s face for several long moments before I turn my attention entirely on Harlow. She’s surprised me several times already. From the information we were able to gather on her, she seems to be a fragile thing in need of protection. Or at least that’s how Eli treats her. He has a guard on her at all times when she’s outside their compound, and she’s never once fought in the amphitheater during Lammas—something unheard of in a ruler or partner of a ruler. All the others have, including Eli.

He keeps her in a glass house, and it was my impression that she liked it. That she needed it.

She’s blown that assumption out of the water. I didn’t expect her to be so practical. I sure as fuck didn’t expect her to push back. I thought she’d faint like the princess in a tower the entire city believes her to be.

She’s pretty enough to be a princess. Strong features, a solid body that isn’t delicate in any way, lips made to wrap around a cock.

All in good time.

She’s wearing a cute little sundress thing, which might make me laugh under other circumstances. It’s completely impractical. She knew she wouldn’t be fighting tonight.

To test her, I reach out and take her shoulder, sliding my thumb beneath the strap of her dress and her skin. She shivers, but she doesn’t flinch away from me. Good. No matter what Eli believes of me, I’m not in the business of forcing sexual partners. Not even tonight.

“I’m taking off your dress now.”

“No need to draw it out.” Before I can react, she reaches up and tugs the straps off her shoulders, knocking my hand out of the way. She works the thin fabric down her full breasts and wide hips and lets it drop to the floor. It leaves her standing before me in only a pair of blue cotton panties.

For a moment, I simply stare. It feels a little like we’re playing a game of chicken, just the two of us. If she thinks she can brazen her way through this, she’s got another think coming. I take a step back and drink in the sight of her. I’m aware of Eli going stock-still in the chair to the side of us, but my attention is solely on Harlow.

Fuck, she’s sexy. Nice tits, soft stomach, a hint of muscle definition in her legs and arms, pert little ass.

She huffs out a breath. “Stop looking, and let’s get this over with.”

“You got somewhere to be?”

She glares. “I prefer to rip off bandages all at once, rather than taking my time.”

That surprises a rough laugh out of me. “You wound me.”

“I’m sure you’ll survive.”

“Mmm.” I close the distance between us, stopping just short of pressing against her, and take her chin. “You going to close your eyes and bear it? Do your duty and get this nasty business over with like a good little martyr?”

She arches a perfectly shaped brow, but I can see the way she shakes a little. “I agreed to consummate the handfasting. I didn’t agree to enjoy it.”

Eli curses, but we both ignore him.

I lean in, shifting until my lips nearly brush her ear. “Oh, you’re going to enjoy it.”

“Unlikely.”

Fuck, but I think I like her. She’s got some steel in that spine, and it’s appealing in a way I didn’t expect. I thought I might have to get creative to bring her around, but this is just another battle. I’ve been fighting my entire fucking life. Harlow doesn’t stand a chance of resisting.

I turn my face and press a slow kiss to her neck. My mouth hurts like a motherfucker, but it’s irrelevant. I’ve experienced worse, and I will again. “You’re furious, aren’t you, sweetheart? You were going to do the right thing, and then he went and tried to make you break your word. Fucker didn’t learn his lesson, either. He’d tell you to knee me in the balls and run right now if he wasn’t too busy choking on his own tongue out of pure fury.”

“Stop it.”

I drag my mouth up her neck. Fuck, her skin is soft. “Take it out on me. I can handle it.” I take her hips in a light grip. “Just like I bet you can handle anything I give you.”

“You are such a bastard,” she whispers.

“Not according to my mother.” She’s been gone fifteen years, taken by cancer. That loss barely stings anymore. Some days I wonder if it wasn’t a blessing that she didn’t live long enough to see us lose everything. Other days, I suspect Eli’s father never would have made the move he did if she were still among the living. She tempered Bauer Paine in a way I never could, and when she died, he lost what little humanity he had remaining.

Dark thoughts. Not the time or place for those.

I lift my head and look down at her. “You want to lie back and think of England? Go for it.” I motion to the bed.

For the first time, Harlow looks a little uncertain. But she finally sets her jaw and nods. “Sure.” She skims off her panties, and fuck if my mouth doesn’t water at the sight of her ass as she walks to the bed and crawls onto it.

I glance at Eli. He looks like a man staring death in the face. Good. “How many times do you think I can make her come before I finish?”

He flinches. “You’re such an asshole.”

Guilty, but that’s never stopped me from taking what I want. It’s not my fault he makes it so fucking easy. The Eli I remember used to have his shit together. He wasn’t walking around with an open spot in his armor big enough to drive a truck through. Harlow is a pressure point that he can’t seem to help reacting to, and I’m going to take great joy in smashing that button over and over again.

I just didn’t expect to enjoy the method of vengeance so much.

I stalk to the nightstand and pull out a string of condoms and toss them onto the bed next to where Harlow has positioned herself. She stares. “We only need to do it once.”

“Let’s keep our options open.” I snag her ankle and tow her around so that she’s lying perpendicular on the mattress. The better to maximize Eli’s view. “Spread your legs.”

“For fuck’s sake, Abel, just get over here, and fuck me already.”

Eli startles hard enough to rattle his cuffs against the chair. “Jesus, Harlow.”

She sits up and glares at him. “Don’t you dare judge me right now. You did this. You agreed to this. You put us in this position. I’m just following through on it. Sit there, and be silent.”

I whistle. “You’ve pissed her off something fierce, Eli.” They’re really making this easy on me, but that doesn’t mean I’ll hesitate to twist the knife every chance I get.

“You.” She points at me. “Stop talking, and let’s get this over with.”

“Yeah, no. I’m not operating on your timeline.” I lean down and grab her thighs, using the hold to yank her to the edge of the bed as I go to my knees next to it.

She blinks big, dark eyes at me. “What are you doing?”

“Don’t worry about what I’m doing. You were planning on just enduring it, right?” I give her a wicked grin. “Just lie back, and suffer.” I push her legs wide and run my hands up her thighs. Her expression is uncertain for the first time since she walked down to join me on the sand. Can’t have that. I part her pussy with my thumbs and growl. “You look like my favorite kind of dessert, sweetheart.”

“Abel—”

I dip down and drag my tongue over her, cutting off her words. Her thighs shake, and she makes a sound suspiciously like a whimper. I keep her spread as I explore her slowly, but my gaze is on her face. She’s staring at me like she’s not sure if she wants to kick me in the teeth or dig her fingers into my hair and ride my face to orgasm.

I know which I’d prefer.

I flick her clit with the tip of my tongue. “Problem?”

“What are you doing?” she hisses.

“Don’t worry about me.” I trace her clit again. “Unless this feels too good? Be a damn shame if it’s distracting you from your suffering.” I pause, my breath ghosting against her clit with every exhale.

Harlow seems at war with herself. She doesn’t want to like this, but there’s a fierceness in her that can’t help but respond to the challenge. I feel it, too. I don’t know what the fuck is going on with her and Eli, but it’s not as simple as I thought. There’s almost an animosity there on her part, and he seems determined not to see it.

She glances at Eli, and her expression goes flat and angry. It’s like a flip is switched; gone is the hesitation, the shock. She digs her hands into my hair. “Fine. Fuck, fine. If you’re going to do this, do it right.” She drags me back to her pussy and lifts her hips to meet me.

I hear Eli cursing, and I grin against her heated flesh. In all the scenarios I ran, this didn’t number as a possibility. I couldn’t have planned this better if I tried. Even if I didn’t want her, I’d still use this as leverage to widen the wedge between them. But I do want her, and that changes things.

Tonight, I’ve taken everything from Eli.

His territory. His people. His fucking woman.