Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

NYRA

Isat gingerly on the edge of Dacre’s neatly made bed, careful not to disturb the stack of books next to it. I picked up the one on top, its pages yellowed with age and marked with creases. As I flipped through, small puffs of dust floated up into the firelight streaming in from the window. My eyes scanned over the words, but my mind was elsewhere, too preoccupied by the unsettling feeling that something wasn’t right.

I heard the sound of voices in the hall, and I quickly closed the book, returning it to its place, and stood.

The door creaked open, and Dacre slipped inside, carefully shutting it behind him. He stood with his back to me, hunched over slightly, hands clenched at his sides. The room seemed to tremble with the tension that rolled through him.

“Are you okay?” I asked and took the smallest step toward him.

His back went rigid, and I felt a shiver run down my spine as I inched closer.

“I’m fine.” He slowly turned toward me, but he didn’t look fine. His dark gaze looked haunted.

“Are you sure?”

“Can we not talk about it?” He shook his head and let out a humorless laugh. “I don’t even want to think about my father anymore tonight.”

“Okay,” I said hesitantly as he closed the gap between us.

“What are you doing in here?” His gaze flicked from his bed and back to me.

My stomach dipped, and suddenly, I was questioning coming in here at all.

“I was waiting for you. You looked upset about whatever Kai was saying.”

Dacre’s long strides brought him across the room in seconds. Before I could catch my breath, his hand was tangled in my hair, pulling me closer. He pressed his lips against mine with a fierce urgency, and I responded eagerly, kissing him back with just as much need.

Dacre’s grip tightened in my hair, and desire coursed through me. His lips were warm and demanding, consuming me in a firestorm of emotions. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer, feeling his heartbeat thundering against my chest.

Just as suddenly, Dacre broke the kiss, staring into my eyes with a desperate intensity. “I need you,” he whispered hoarsely. His voice was raw, filled with a longing that left me breathless.

Gods, I needed him too.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Dacre’s gaze never left mine as he kicked off his boots. His hands shook slightly, but he didn’t seem to notice.

I slid my own boots off my feet before tugging my trousers down my hips.

“Gods, you’re beautiful.” Dacre closed the gap between us, tucking his fingers into my pants and pulling them the rest of the way down my legs.

There were no delicate or teasing touches. It was all urgency, and I was thankful for it.

I felt desperate and crazed, and I wanted him to feel the same loss of control when it came to me.

Dacre’s hands were everywhere—tracing my back, sliding down my sides, exploring every inch of my skin. My heart pounded against my chest as I felt his fingers delve into my pussy.

“Already so wet.” He growled and nipped at the sensitive skin of my neck.

“Yes.” I nodded and pulled at his shirt until he lifted it over his head and let it fall to the floor.

I wanted all of him, completely bare.

There were a million secrets between us, but I didn’t want them here tonight.

I just wanted him and me.

Not a rebel and a princess.

He pulled me closer, his lips finding their way to my neck, sending shocks straight to my core. I moaned softly, my head falling back in pleasure.

Tonight, I wasn’t a princess or anything else that I pretended to be.

I was his.

No matter what happens.

I was his.

Dacre’s hands shook as they undid his trousers with haste. I followed suit, eagerly shedding the remainder of my clothes until I stood completely bare before him.

The room filled with our hushed breaths and the steady rhythm of his heart. He lowered me gently onto the bed, his eyes never leaving mine. There was a raw hunger in his gaze, a longing that matched my own.

I reached up, running my fingers through his disheveled hair, feeling the warmth of his skin. I wanted this. I needed this. I wanted to be completely lost in the moment, in him, and forget about everything else.

He lowered his head, his lips brushing against mine, and I felt the world around me melt away. His tongue flicked against mine as his hands roamed my every curve.

I moaned softly, my breath catching in my throat as he traced the sensitive skin on my throat and chest. As our kiss deepened, I felt his erection press against my thigh, and I pressed them together to stave off the ache.

“I want you,” I whispered, my voice low and husky.

He kissed his way down my body, his hands trailing over my skin. My heart was pounding in my chest as I felt his lips graze the sensitive skin of my stomach, moving lower and lower until they reached the juncture of my thighs.

He glanced up at me, his eyes dark and intense. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” I breathed, my breath coming in short, sharp gasps.

He pressed a kiss to my pussy, a chaste touch of his lips that had me squirming beneath him before he stood back to his full height and gripped his cock in his hand.

He rubbed the head through me, spreading the moisture, and I lifted my hips, silently begging him for more.

“Please,” I begged him, the desperation in my voice matching the ache between my legs.

Dacre met my gaze, his eyes filled with a hunger that matched my own. He positioned himself at my entrance, and I gasped as he slowly pushed inside me.

The sensation of him filling me was overwhelming, and I lifted my hips upward, trying to adjust. His hands were on my waist, holding me steady as he pushed deeper inside me inch by inch.

“Are you okay?”

I nodded even though I wasn’t sure I was telling the truth. He was so big, and it hurt, but all I knew was that I didn’t want him to stop.

I never wanted him to stop.

Our eyes locked as he began to move, his thrusts slow and deep. The bed creaked beneath us with each movement, filling the room with a low, steady moan.

I ran my fingers through his hair, pulling him closer, our lips brushing against each other’s with every motion.

“Gods, you’re so tight,” Dacre groaned, his voice hoarse against my mouth.

I moaned, the pleasure of being filled by him overwhelming me. Dacre’s eyes were locked on mine, his breathing uneven as he continued to thrust into me.

“More,” I gasped, feeling the desire building within me.

Dacre’s expression changed, his eyes darkening as he complied with my request. He increased his pace, his thrusts more fierce, more demanding. My head fell back, lost in the sensation of his cock sliding in and out of me, the pain mixing with pleasure as it coursed through my body.

My hands clawed at the sheets, my hips meeting his every movement. I could hear him grunting, his breath ragged as he fought to maintain control.

He slid his arm around my back and lifted me. I wrapped my legs around his waist, my hands holding on to his shoulders, as he moved to the head of the bed and sat with me straddling him.

“Ride me.” He groaned, and I pulled my knees beneath me.

I lowered myself onto him as far as I could and whimpered. This position felt far deeper than before. Far more intimate.

I began to ride him as he’d instructed, my hips moving in a steady rhythm that matched his thrusts. The bed was now a mixture of moans, gasps, and the slap of his skin against mine.

I leaned forward, resting my hands on Dacre’s chest, my breasts brushing against him with each movement. His hands gripped my hips, helping me rise and fall against him as he thrust up into me.

“Harder,” I urged, my voice low and breathy. Dacre responded, his thrusts growing more pronounced, his hips snapping up to meet each downward stroke.

My head fell back, my hair cascading around me as I arched, and Dacre’s fingers moved against my clit until my entire body trembled against him.

“Tell me you’re mine.” His voice was more demanding than I had ever heard before, and I gave him exactly what he wanted.

“I’m yours.”

He held the back of my neck, cradling me against him as our bodies slammed together. It was overwhelming and all-consuming, and I found myself never wanting to leave this moment.

It was just him and me, and nothing else mattered.

“I’ll make you fucking forget anyone who ever came before me.”

I snapped my eyes open to meet his and told him the truth. “There’s only ever been you.”

His breath hitched, and every part of his body stiffened. “This pussy belongs to me. You belong to me.”

I nodded frantically as I cried out.

“I’m so close, Dacre,” I cried and dug my fingers into his hair as I rode him.

Our chests were slick with sweat as they heaved against one another. His thumb rubbed rapid circles against my clit, and I couldn’t hold back any longer.

Pleasure coaxed me from every direction, and I clamped down around his cock as I cried out.

“That’s it, princess.” His words slammed into me, and I fought to catch my breath as I opened my eyes and searched his.

What did he just say?

He wrapped an arm around my back, helping my body lift and fall against his as I rode out my orgasm.

“Come for me, Verena.”

I instantly recoiled from him, but his grip was unrelenting. He held me against him, his black eyes boring into mine, and I couldn’t stop the pleasure still coursing through my body even as it mixed with fear.

As his body pressed into mine, I felt my muscles contract and release in rhythm with his movements, even as I shoved at his shoulders. He finally released his grip on me and I collapsed onto his bed, watching as he stroked himself to completion, his chest rising and falling with each heavy breath as he spilled his release onto his stomach.

We stared at one another, neither one of us daring to move, but his next words were like a shock to my system.

“For such a filthy fucking traitor, you opened your legs for a rebel so easily.”

“Dacre.” I grabbed the blanket from his bed and held it against my chest, trying to cover as much of my body as I could. Fear, cold and ruthless, shot through my veins as I watched him.

“You should leave.” He stood from his bed, reaching down for my clothes that were on the floor, and tossed them in my direction. “My father knows who you are.”

He headed toward his bathroom without looking at me, but he paused with his hand on the doorframe as I shoved my shirt over my head as quickly as I could. My hands were shaking as I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening. I had just given my virginity to him, all the while he was fucking me for revenge.

“He wants you brought to him.”

I rolled off the bed and scrambled to pull on my wrinkled trousers. I jammed my feet into my boots, almost tripping over the laces.

My heart hammered against my rib cage and a wave of panic washed over me as Dacre slowly turned to look at me. Our eyes locked for a fleeting moment before he turned away again, but it felt like an eternity as my chest constricted with fear, with longing.

“Run, Verena.” His voice was cold. “Before he sends me on the hunt.”

On the hunt.

I wanted to beg him to stop, to choose me in a way that no one ever had before.

In a way that I would have chosen him.

But his loyalty didn’t lay with the girl he just fucked. It lay with the rebellion that would rather see me dead.

His bathroom door closed with a sharp click, and there was only one thing for me to do.

So, I ran.