Chapter 44

Chapter

Forty-Four

CRUX

M y nostrils flare in anger as I perch on the beam near the ceiling. I came to track Alyx down after finding the thrones empty, but I didn’t expect to walk in on this.

The window in the ceiling allowed me to gain access, and I was going to surprise her, maybe even let her attack me before she would give me a reward for all my hard work. Instead, I’m staring at her and Joha locked together, their moans filling the air. His hand sneaks under her dress as she pins him to the window.

I hate it.

I hate him.

She’s mine. She has always belonged to me, and she will always belong to me. He doesn’t get to take her away. He might be a king, but so am I. Forgetting why I’m here, I drop to my feet loudly. They break apart, both breathing heavily, their eyes wide.

“Crux?” Alyx asks, her cheeks heated with desire.

I lunge across the room, my anger taking over, and grab the king before he can say a word. I slam my fist into his stomach, and he bends over, gasping for air as I lift him by the neck and throw him across the room. I crouch above him as he lies on the floor, pressing my dagger to his neck.

“You think I won’t kill you?” I growl, pressing it in until I see a drop of blood. “I spared you once, but I won’t again.”

“Enough.” I hear the order as a blade presses against my own neck.

Alyx.

“You would kill me to save him?” I snap.

“No, but I’d maim you,” she replies. “Let him go. He is not your enemy, Crux.”

“Anyone who tries to take you from me is my enemy,” I snarl, turning my head slowly and meeting her conflicted gaze.

“I am not yours to own. Don’t forget that.” She presses the blade deeper. “On your feet.” I rise slowly, her dagger unwavering—I taught her well.

“You forget that I taught you everything you know.” I bring my arm down, snapping it across hers so the dagger goes tumbling to the ground.

She turns, her leg coming up as she spins, hitting my chest, and I fly into the wall. “Not everything.” She smirks, raising an eyebrow. “If you want to fight, Crux, then you’ll be fighting me, not him.”

The door bursts open just then, but neither of us spare it a look as Joha clambers to his feet. “My king,” comes a worried shout.

“Get Joha out of here,” she calls to the guard dog Orion. “I’ve got him.”

“Alyx,” Joha protests.

“Go,” she demands, no doubt reading the intention in my eyes. If he stays, he’s dead.

There’s some shuffling, but neither of us looks away until we hear the door close, and then we move, hitting each other midair.

Her fist connects with my face as we land on the floor, both of us in a crouch. Lifting my hand, I prod at my split lip as she smiles, and then I move again. I sweep my leg out, but she jumps over it, her fists coming up once more. I block them, and my elbow hits her side, sending her stumbling back a step. She rights herself quickly, sliding a dagger free from her dress and chasing me with it. Every swipe is intended to wound, but I twist and turn to avoid each blow, and finally, I see my chance. Grabbing her wrist, I spin and pull her arm behind her, watching the dagger fall, and then I shove her away.

Her headdress tilts as she climbs to her feet. Blowing a few strands of loose hair from her face, she rips the headdress off, letting it hit the floor with a soft thump. She raises her fists again and gestures for me to come at her.

She flies at me, her anger taking hold, and I catch her midair, turning with her momentum. I fling her so she sails across the room, hitting a wooden table on the other side.

She rolls across the table from the force but lands on her feet on the other side, grabbing a decorative vase before throwing it at me. I lift my arm at the last second, blocking it, then I leap over the table, but she’s already sliding under it and out the other side, her dress flowing behind her. I stomp down on the train, jerking her back.

“Crux,” she snaps.

Smirking, I slide my foot backward, and I hear the telltale sound of her dress ripping.

She turns, her eyes narrowed. “You fucking prick, you ripped my dress.”

“Sorry, Princess,” I mock, but I have no time to carry on because she flips across the table, grabs the ruined fabric, and wraps it around my neck. My hands come up automatically to stop it from snapping my neck as she climbs up the bookcase behind me, yanking me until my feet kick inches above the floor.

My lungs scream as I struggle, my fingers fighting to get between my neck and the material before I give up. I lower my hands so I can grip a dagger, then I lift it and slide the blade across my neck, cutting myself in the process. I hit the floor with a gasp for air as I lift my watering eyes to see her wrapping the material around her fists, stretching it between them.

Surging to my feet, I slash out with the dagger, but she dances back as I try to hit her, only to wrap the stretched material around my hand and yank it to the side, sending the dagger spiralling away.

“You really want to do this?” I murmur, lowering my head.

“You started it, so I’m just finishing it,” she snaps. “You jealous bastard.”

“Oh yeah, Princess, I’m jealous as hell.” This time when I hit her, I tackle her to the floor. Her fists come up, hitting my sides, but I ignore them, and instead I press my lips to hers. She pummels my sides, wrapping her legs around mine as she tries to flip us, but I pin her down and kiss her until I taste blood.

She continues to fight, her legs wrapping around my head before she rolls us, pressing me to the ground. “Seriously. You try to kill the king and then you fight me just to kiss me?” she says, pressing her arm across my throat. “You stupid, overgrown?—”

Her words end in a yelp as I buck and twist, catching her as she falls and pinning her once more. I capture her fist when it heads towards my face, and then I slam it back into the ground, doing the same with her other. She writhes beneath me, her eyes flaming with anger and her lips tight.

“Finished?” I smirk.

“I’m going to beat you,” she snaps, still fighting beneath me.

“I love fighting you. It gets me all hot.” I press my hips to her so she can feel the proof. She freezes, fury dancing in her gaze along with desire. “I’m betting you like it too, right, Alyx? If I ripped up your pretty fucking dress, I’d find you wet underneath. Despite all these jewels and the act you put on, you want to be thrown around and pinned.”

“No, I fucking don’t. Get off me,” she snaps, trying to shove me away.

“No? Let me prove you’re a liar.” Holding one of her hands in mine, I slide the other down and pull her dress up before I press it to her pussy, feeling how hot and wet she is. Her nostrils flare as she continues to fight. Stroking across her heat, I lift my fingers into the air to show her they are glistening. “Such a liar, Alyx.”

“I hate you,” she retorts, looking away.

“No, you don’t,” I murmur as I press my hand against her pussy again. “Shall I prove that wrong too?”

“Get off me,” she snaps, turning her head to face me, but her eyes are filled with heat.

“We both know you don’t want that.” I pet her pussy until she groans, making me laugh.

“So stubborn,” I comment, but she kicks me free, jumps to her feet, and storms to the door.

I can’t let her leave.

I chase after her, smacking her into the wood as I lift her dress and thrust my fingers into her tight channel.

Her cry is muffled by the wood, but I hear it. I can’t contain my smile as her pretty cunt clenches around my fingers. “Now stop being a brat, Alyx, and play with me.” I lick the shell of her ear then bite down until she cries out, gushing around my fingers. “We both know you want to. We both know you love us fighting and love us making up even more. I’m tired of only tasting what’s mine. I want all of it, and I’m going to have it right here in the palace with your jewels on. Are you going to try to keep running, or are you going to meet me head-on like you always do?” There’s a moment of hesitation after my words, and I worry I pushed her too far. Suddenly, her elbow swings back, knocking me away, and she turns.

“You want to fuck me, Crux?” She tilts her head to the side, her eyes running down my body possessively. “Then come and get me.”

I lunge towards her, gripping her hips and hoisting her up the door as she gasps, her eyes widening. “Hold the edge,” I order.

She reaches up, gripping the edge of the doorframe as I drop to my knees.

“You think I’d just bend you over and fuck you like one of the whores, Princess? No, I’ve been dreaming about the day I’d get to be inside this sweet, wet cunt, so I’m not rushing it, not even if a thousand armies surround us. They would have to pry my dead body from yours. I’m going to take my time worshipping you, fucking you, and reminding you that you have always belonged to me.”

“Crux, we don’t have time—” She moans as I press my mouth to her cunt, silencing her for once. Despite her protests, she throws her legs over my shoulders and moves her hips, begging me for more.

Our fight turns into a different kind, and I can’t resist sliding my tongue down her wet folds, tasting every inch of her. There might have been others before, but right now, she is mine, and I’m going to show her how good that can be. Slipping my tongue inside her channel, I taste her sweetness with a groan, my hands flexing on her hips to pull her closer.

My cock jerks with desire, leaking within my trousers, but I ignore my own hunger and focus on hers as I slide my tongue up and flick her little bundle of nerves. She cries out, her legs clenching around my head. Chuckling, I pin her with one hand, the other sliding down so I can thrust my fingers into her, filling her channel like I will with my cock. I stroke her as I attack her clit, and she gasps, riding my face and hand. Her legs shake around me, and I know she’s close, so turned on by our foreplay.

“Crux,” she begs, “please don’t stop.”

“Not even if a thousand men were attacking me,” I reply, nipping her clit. She jerks with a cry, so I do it again as I add another finger and stretch her.

Her channel clenches, so tight and hot, and then she comes.

Her thighs constrict, choking me as she screams my name for everyone to hear. I could die a happy man right now, and even as my lungs beg for air and dots dance in my vision, I lash her clit. I’m on the verge of passing out when her thighs loosen, but I tug her closer again, needing more.

“Crux.” She falls from my hands and kneels before me.

Her face is flushed as she reaches out and rubs her thumb across my lips. With her eyes on mine, she pulls back and sucks her pleasure from her finger. “My turn,” she declares, and before I can react, she pushes me back to the floor and crawls up my body.

She tugs my shirt open, exposing my chest, and then her mouth moves across my abs, tasting my muscles as she slinks up my body, leaving me grunting and struggling beneath her.

“No wonder men give everything for one night with a woman like you. I haven’t even had you and I’m ruined, Alyx. If you ask me for a kingdom right now, I’d give it to you. If you ask for a thousand warships, an army, I’d give them to you. I would give you anything to keep going.”

“All I want is you,” she promises, kissing up my chest before licking her cream off my chin. “Fuck me, Crux. Fuck me like you’ve always wanted to. Show me.”

Not needing to be told twice, I hook my leg around hers and roll. She smacks into the floor as I slide a dagger free, then I cut up her dress, exposing her tight body to my gaze. I lay my dagger over her heart—a promise. It’s my first dagger, the one I used to make my initial kill, and now it’s hers.

My weapon is hers, just like I am.

“Scream for me,” I tell her as I undo my trousers and free my aching cock, letting her look me over before I slide up her body. I lift her leg and wrap it around my waist as I press to her entrance. “Let them hear the assassin defiling their queen-to-be.”

Her mouth opens to deliver a witty retort, but it dies on a silent scream as I slam into her tight, wet cunt. I force my length deep inside her, making her take every inch. “That’s it, Princess.” I fight her tightness. She’s wet, but I’m big. “You were made for me, so take every inch of me. Don’t you dare pull away. You’re stronger than that.”

Her back arches into the air as I bottom out and pull back. I thrust forward, sliding into her body. My eyes drop to where we are joined, and the sight of me finally claiming my girl makes me wild. My muscles bunch like I’m in battle, my emotions lashing at me. I hammer into her, slamming her into the floor with each thrust, and she cries for me, begging for more. Leaning down, I yank the remains of her dress away and seal my lips around one of her nipples.

She clenches around me so hard, I groan, fighting to keep up my brutal rhythm. I need to fuck her harder. I need her to remember this every time she looks at me.

I know I never pushed her hard enough before because she begs silently for more, lifting her hips to take me deeper as she tugs my hair. I wasted years of us being together because I was too worried about losing her. I won’t ever again. I’m hers and she’s mine, at least at this moment, and that is all that matters. Even if she never loves just me and wants others, I love her enough to hold onto her. I’ll stay, even with a dagger in my gut, knowing I’ll never be her only one.

“Mine, you’re mine now, Alyx,” I say against her nipple before leaning back on my knees to watch her while I fuck her.

“Only if you make me come.” She smirks, tilting her hips to take me deeper. When I slide my fingers through her messy cunt and rub her clit, her eyes roll back in her head.

“What were you saying?” I ask.

They open and my girl, never one to be outdone, clenches around me, making me groan and my hips stutter. Her smirk tells me she did it on purpose, and I want to laugh. She can never give up the fight, even flat on her back while taking my cock. She’s in control and she knows it.

“Fine.” I bite down on her nipple, leaving a bloody ring of teeth marks behind. “I’m yours, and when I make you come again, you’re mine. I’ll go out there with your cream on my cock while you dance and play merry queen, all while knowing my cum is sliding from your pussy.”

“Fuck. That’s so hot.”

“My dirty fucking queen.” I drive into her harder until we practically slide across the floor. Leaning down, I grab her hands and pin them above her head, lacing my fingers with hers as I pummel into her cunt. Our breaths mix as we both groan, both of us chasing our release but also not wanting it to end.

Pleasure spirals down my spine like red-hot fire, drawing my balls up, and with each thrust into her wet cunt, I’m lost. Pressing my lips to hers, I whisper, “Come for me, Alyx. Let me feel your pleasure. Let me die a happy man.”

As if my words are the catalyst, she groans and closes her eyes as her pussy tightens around my cock, fluttering as she comes. I watch her orgasm play across her face, memorising the sight, but when she wraps her legs around me, keeping me buried inside her and whispers, “Then fill me with your cum, let me feel it,” I can’t hold back.

I explode with a bellow, thrusting deeply as I fill her with my release. I let her feel every drop as our lips meet in a messy, loving kiss.

Pleasure rolls through me like a never-ending wave until it finally releases me, and I slump into her, panting heavily.

She laughs, her cunt still fluttering around my cock. “We should have done that years ago.”

“Definitely,” I agree, laying a kiss over her racing heart as I get to my knees and slip from her body. I nearly fall, my legs weak, but my eyes are locked on my cum dripping from her channel. I press my fingers inside her, pushing it back in, and she moans, clenching around me once more.

I hear the footsteps too late, but I turn as Alyx gets to her knees, no doubt hearing them too. The door opens, revealing Orion.

“What the hell is going on?”

We glance at each other, covered in blood and cum, the room destroyed around us.

“Oops?” my girl replies with a shy grin.