Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Love Me, Leave Me

I waited for my creature to come as I had called, just outside the entrance to the dining room dressed in my finest robes. I felt ridiculous and uncomfortable and the anticipation was driving me mad. It ate within my chest like a seething parasite. Why did I feel this way? I had seen her before, a hundred times, but this time was different because I had been inside her. I had given her pleasure and she had writhed beneath me, and I wanted that again even if she did not.

I was not prepared for her when she came into view. She had always been beautiful, but tonight she was exquisite. She wore a fitted gown, as thin as fairy wings. The colors changed as she moved, from pink to gold.

The elves in her wardrobe had done well, the best since she had arrived.

She stopped in front of me, and we stared at each other in a strange and uncomfortable silence.

“You look beautiful,” I said, and I hoped she could tell how much I meant it.

Her chest rose as she took a deep breath. “Thank you.”

I held out my hand for her. It took her a moment to accept, and when she did, I pulled her to me. Her eyes widened, and one of her hands pressed flat against my chest but she did not push me away.

I held her gaze and brushed a finger along her cheek.

“I want you,” I said, and the truth of it echoed in my bones.

“A letter,” she said, her voice quiet and her eyes lowered to my lips. “And you can have me.”

Anger twisted through me like a knife.

I wanted her to want me too. I wanted her to want me without expectation, though there was a part of me that knew I had done this when I had given her a letter this morning.

“A letter,” I said. “And you will serve me dinner. Naked.”

She pushed away from me.

“Fuck you.”

“I’d really rather not talk about fucking,” I said, scowling.

The mood between us changed rapidly, and a thick tension descended. I hated the feel of it, making me feel overdressed and on edge.

“You are despicable,” she said.

“Then be free of me sooner and accept the fucking offer.”

“I thought you didn’t want to talk about fucking,” she spat.

We glared at each other, and then she lifted her head, chin jutting out, eyes flashing confidently. “Two letters.”

“Fine,” I said and turned from her, stalking into the dining room where I took a seat at the head of the table.

“Undress,” I ordered.

“The letters,” she said.

“A,” I said. “The other after you are naked.”

“I hate you,” she said.

“The feeling is mutual, mortal.”

“Fu—”

I stood, the chair scraping against the floor as I did, silencing her. My hand came down flat on the table, the sound echoing in the dining room.

“What did I say?”

She glared, her eyes gleaming, and with her silence, I sat. She reached behind her and managed to loosen the ties of her dress. I would have liked to help, would have liked to feel her skin against my fingertips as her dress pooled to the floor, but I knew she did not want that. Still, it was a pleasure to watch her. She was glorious. I shifted uncomfortably, my arousal growing long and hard.

“Why are you angry?” she asked.

“You make me angry. You make me insane,” I said.

“You asked for this.”

“You asked for this!” I said. “Words in this world are binding, vicious creature, or have you learned nothing living in its shadow?”

Her fists clenched.

“Give me the second letter, bastard.”

“S,” I said. “Are you pleased?”

“I will never be pleased by you.”

“We both know differently, creature.”

“That was not a choice.”

“But it was a desire, was it not? No matter how much you wish it wasn’t.”

She was silent as she crossed to the table where the food had been piled among glittering candles, choosing to ladle soup from a silver tureen.

As she worked, she glanced at me.

“What happened to your nails?”

I fisted my hand so she could not see them, though it was too late.

“I cut them,” I said. Because they had hurt her, because I could not pleasure her with claws.

The choice seemed silly now in the face of her hate.

She said nothing, and once the bowl was full, she crossed to me, spit in it, and placed it on the table in front of me.

I could feel her eyes on me as I stared at it, quiet and still, before swiping it off the table and reaching for my creature’s wrist. I stood and pulled her to me, trapping her against the table. As I settled my hips against hers, she gasped. I twined my fingers into her hair and pulled her head back.

“Not a choice?” I whispered as I trailed my lips over her taut neck. “Are you certain, creature?”

Her hands tightened in my shirt.

I reached for the closest bottle of wine, uncorked it, took a drink, and kissed her with the liquid in my mouth, feeding it to her as I tasted her. It spilled from our mouths as our lips and tongues moved desperately together.

She did not push me away, so I guided her onto the edge of the table, and when her thighs parted around me, I pulled away.

“Do you want this?” I asked.

“What is this?” she asked.

I smirked and spoke, my lips hovering over hers. “My mouth. My tongue. My fingers. Me.”

She stared at me, and when she did not answer, I began to pull away, but her hands fisted in my shirt, halting me.

“No,” she said.

“No?” I asked.

“I mean yes,” she said, breathless. “Yes. I want this.”

I had never felt such relief, and I kissed her for it before pulling back again to look at her.

“Fucking beautiful,” I said, appreciating how she was spread before me, legs parted, her breasts heavy, her eyes hooded. “I will show you what it would be like if you were to stay with me forever. The pleasure I will give you. The care I will take. You will beg for it. You will love it.”

You will love me, I thought. I hoped.

I took the wine, and she gasped as I poured it over her body. Trails of deep red beaded down her skin, over her breasts and down her stomach, pooling in her navel and over the dark curls between her thighs. When I was finished, I bent and licked the bittersweet liquid from her. I started with her pillowy breasts, taking each into my mouth and sucking her nipples into harder peaks. Her back arched, her body curving toward mine, and her fingers glided through my hair, nails scraping my scalp.

I moved down her stomach, kissing and letting my tongue swirl and taste, sucking parts of her skin into my mouth until her breath caught. I had no motive save her pleasure, knowing she had chosen this without the influence of a fairy.

Tomorrow, she could not run from this.

I came to her hips and kissed each before letting my lips feather across her thighs. Her breaths were short and shallow, and she squirmed beneath me. I let my tongue touch her heat and she groaned, offering a keen whimper as I pulled away. I met her gaze as she reached for me, guiding my head between her legs.

“Touch me. Casamir, please.”

“Remember that you begged,” I said, and then I let myself have her. I licked her slowly. I licked every fold. She tasted so good, she tasted so sweet, and I buried my face in her, chasing her as she wiggled beneath me. I moved to her clit, which was swollen and full, heated against my tongue. I licked it and sucked it, and as I touched her there, I let my fingers slide inside her.

She gave a guttural cry and lifted off the table. I pressed my hand down on her stomach to keep her in place, looking up from my place between her thighs, watching as her head rolled back against the table, her hands squeezing her breasts.

Fuck me. She was glorious.

My lust was so acute, my cock hard to the point of aching. I wanted to be inside her again, I wanted to feel her come around me, but I would settle for this tonight. If she wanted more, she would have to come to me.

My creature’s heels dug into my shoulders, her knees fell open, and she moved against my mouth, grinding harder, writhing. When she came, it was decadent and delicious, and I kept my mouth against her until she went slack. Then I climbed up her body and kissed her, my tongue stroking hers until I could no longer taste her.

Her hands tangled in my hair and dug into my scalp. Her legs wrapped around my waist, sealing our bodies together, and then she tore her mouth from mine.

“I need you inside me,” she said.

“Do you need me?” I asked, breathless. “Or do you want me?”

“Does it matter?” she asked. “I have asked. I have begged.”

“Want or need, vicious thing?”

She pushed against my chest, and I straightened, staring down at her as she sat there, marked and rosy by my mouth.

“Do you not want me?” she asked.

“That is a foolish question,” I said.

I was desperate for her.

Her eyes lowered to my erection, which strained against the fabric of my trousers, and darkened. Her foot caressed me there, teasing.

“Then take me,” she said. “I am offering.”

“You will regret it,” I said. “As you regretted last night.”

Her eyes hardened, and as much as I hated to deny her, I did not trust that she wanted me. She was caught in a haze of pleasure, and in this state, she would welcome me even if she did not truly want me, and that would bring her no closer to loving me.

She pushed off the table and leaned forward on the tips of her toes, her face close to mine.

“Coward,” she said, letting the word slip between her teeth.

Then she snatched her dress from the floor and fled.