Reining Him In (Chinese Zodiac Romance Series Book 5)

by Rachael Slate

  His mum had.

  Why should he conclude anything different about Daji?

  “No.”

  She blinked, ice wall hardening.

  “You haven’t earned my cock, yet, sweetheart.” Better to stay in control. Because the second Daji seized command over his body, she just might steal his heart too.

  And that organ wasn’t up for grabs.

  After tugging off his pants, he nudged her onto her back, and spread her thighs, spanning them with his hands. The silk robe she wore rode upward, resting mid-thigh.

  “What are you doing?” The uncertainty, and curiosity, in her voice drove him on.

  He undid the tie of her robe, the lilac silk falling aside to reveal her nude flesh. No nightgown tonight, naughty Queen.

  Her breasts were perfect, full mounds, their rosy tips pebbling as they awaited his mouth.

  But his mouth had a different destination in mind. He spread her thighs, revealing her glistening pink pussy. His hips jerked forward, eager to thrust, but not tonight.

  Daji’s tale pricked the back of his brain. “After your husband, did you take any lovers?”

  Her cheeks flushed and her sparkling eyes dilated. “Not really.”

  “How many is ‘not really?’ ”

  “A few, but they were blastedly inadequate.” She rested her cheek against the mattress, her lashes dropping. “After them, I preferred shén energy.”

  “Damn, Daji.” He whistled low. “That is a shame, but I’m going to show you what they should have.”

  Her lips curved. “You’re not permitted to touch me yet.”

  “You sure about that?” He couldn’t fondle her, but he shifted forward, heating his breath to fan across her skin.

  She hissed in pleasure.

  “It’d be a real shame to come this close and never discover how I can make you feel.” He pressed his lips to her inner thigh—technically not an intimate location—and flicked his tongue across silken, sensitive skin.

  She squirmed in his grasp, honey shimmering across her delicate flesh as she grew even slicker.

  “Say the word. Tell me the ceremony is complete, and you’ll have me at your mercy. I promise,” he feathered his lips across her inner thigh again, “you’ve never had anyone like me.”

  A whimper rang in the back of her throat. “Okay, yes.”

  “Yes, what?” He plucked his lips off her skin.

  “Yes,” she grated, “the ceremony’s done. You’re free to touch me.”

  Satisfaction tugged at the corner of his mouth, making him grin. “Well, in that case…” He brushed the tip of his finger across her clit, making her hips buck to meet his hand.

  “You’d better not disappoint me, Price.” Her threat came out airy, carrying little steel. “I won’t hesitate to toss you in the dungeon.”

  He flashed her a grin. “Challenge accepted.”

  ***

  Price didn’t pause as his mouth claimed her sex. His hot, wet lips suctioned around her nub and his velvety tongue flicked in long strokes. His movements so precise, so skilled.

  If her past lovers had done this, she might have taken more. Thirst clenched her lower belly, the warmth rushing through her veins. Spreading a delicious ease and a tense demand through her body at the same time.

  It was too much; it wasn’t enough.

  Price feasted on her, grunting in low masculine growls like a man devouring his last meal. She raked her claws through his long hair, urging him closer, but he seized both her wrists and pinned them to her sides.

  He’d bound her, making her submissive to his erotic torture, yet she wasn’t trapped. If she opened her mouth to ask him to stop, he would.

  His silken tongue caressing her was far too pleasurable for her to ever wish him to halt. Her wrists might be bound, but her hips undulated, desperate for even more than what he offered.

  “Price,” she pleaded, her release gathering inside her.

  He wrenched his mouth off her sex, his lips glistening with her essence and a wicked grin curving his mouth. “Had enough?”

  “Never.” She yearned to command him to do all manner of dirty things to her body, to quench this fire flaming through her.

  The words stuck in her throat.

  “You are so fucking beautiful, Daji.” Releasing her wrists, he traced his thumb across her bud, causing a shiver to ripple through her. Instead of leading his mouth back between her thighs, his hand gripped his thick length, pumping along his shaft.

  Her throat went dry. Yes. As badly as she craved release, hunger rose above her carnal desires.

  “Hungry for this?” He offered his erection to her. “Tell me you want my jīng, Daji.”

  “Yes, please.” The throaty words were all she could muster. Her mouth watered at the pearly beads glistening on his tip. His dark, spicy scent filled her nostrils, male, leathery and rich. She licked her lips, craving him in her mouth.

  “Hey, stop doing that.” Price fixed on her mouth, so she swiped her tongue across her bottom lip again. He groaned, his hips jerking forward, and thick spurts of his essence spilled onto her thigh.

  She seized his energy, transforming it into the blue mist she absorbed.

  He tapped the tip against her thigh, his strong hands milking every last drop from his body.

  Her lashes fluttered, the virile power of him soaking into her veins. A searing heat spiraled through her, straight into her core, clenching her in relentless spasms. Daji clutched the sheets and writhed against the waves of pleasure claiming her. He hadn’t even touched her, his raw energy was so formidable.

  She’d never experienced anything like him. It must be his Chosen nature, the spirit animal within him gifting him a potency no human male possessed.

  If not for her curse, he would be enough to save her.

  The elation of her release crumbled as she caught Price’s stare. An emotion deeper than lust or passion simmered in his pale blue depths.

  No. They shouldn’t. They couldn’t. To take this further would be to set them on an irreversible course.

  Oh, what a dangerous game she played. She’d agreed to mate him because of his wild and untamed reputation. No risk of breaking his heart when she would one day be torn from this world.

  She hadn’t ever intended to claim his heart. Nor for him to steal hers.

  This path they were on was precisely where it would lead.

  They were both growing too attached to each other. While she might have the notoriety of ripping hearts from chests, Daji refused to tear Price’s from him.

  She would end this before the tenderness in his expression blossomed into something irreversible.

  “Thank you.” She closed her legs and knotted her robe, shuffling off the bed.

  “Uh.” Price cleared his throat. “You’re welcome.” Rustling indicated he dressed. She kept her back to him, busying herself with combing her fingers through the ends of her hair.

  He slunk off without uttering another word, the door sliding shut behind him. Good. She slumped onto the edge of the bed, too torn apart to rest.

  Her chamber door slammed open, and in stormed Price.

  “Okay, what the fuck just happened?” He raked a hand through his disheveled locks, those intense eyes piercing her.

  She stiffened. Dammit. “What do you wish me to say? Arkoun—thank you—for your jīng.” Shrugging, she shifted toward the balcony.

  He stepped in front of her, blocking her view. “Since when are we on takeout terms? I’m not your delivery boy.” At her arched brow, he scowled, waving his hand. “You know, I bring you food and you tip me.”

  “I’m sorry if you had the impression we were anything else.”

  “Bloody hell, Daji. What’s going on with you?” He gripped her chin in his hand, fixing his gaze to hers. She swallowed hard against the desire to lean in to him, to surrender to the heat of his large body.

  “Aren’t we partners?” Releasing her, he shook his head. “This might be a temporary gig, but
I take it seriously. Being your Consort. Your race on the brink of extinction. When I bring a fox spirit home, she’s mine. For every second until she transforms.” He raised a hand against her parted lips. “Yeah, the process was screwed up, but everything else wasn’t.”

  She closed her mouth, forcing a neutral mask on her face.

  “You don’t dismiss me, Daji. Don’t ever do that.” His thick brows drew together as he studied her. “Got it?”

  Her throat too tight to answer, she tilted her head.

  “Right.” Puffing, he strode from her room.

  Damn, what did I agree to?

  Price didn’t sleep the entire bloody night. He couldn’t dismiss the fact something was off with Daji. She’d revealed more of the puzzle about her past, but the pieces weren’t fitting together. The Queen was hiding something.

  He sensed it, though he didn’t have the proof yet. But he would. Daji wouldn’t hide her secrets from him for long.

  Dawn broke the darkness, bright rays shining into his room. After rolling out of bed, he stomped into the shower. The hot spray didn’t wash away the fog clouding his brain, though. He dressed and trudged down the hall, heading straight for the throne room.

  Daji perched on her throne, inclining her head toward one subject kneeling in front of her.

  He braced against the wooden doorframe. Daji’s skin glowed and her cheeks flushed with a vibrancy that hadn’t bloomed before.

  I did that.

  He smirked. She might deny a lot of things, but not the effect his jīng had on her.

  She stiffened, her attention flicking in his direction before focusing once again on the fox spirit petitioning her. So much for stealth mode.

  Shrugging, he strolled into the chamber and plopped his ass on the wooden chair beside her ornate throne, propping his boots on the statue of a qilin—a Chinese unicorn. “Morning, ladies.”

  Daji huffed. “That is not a footstool.”

  “Exactly.” He plucked a bunch of grapes from the silver platter resting on the gilded table behind them. “And this chair is as hard as a rock. We should get some new furniture.”

  Her lips spread in a thin, forced smile as she leaned in to chastise him. “This throne room has existed as it is for millennia. Kindly remove your feet from the antiques.”

  Chuckling, he lowered his legs and sat straight, mimicking Daji’s stiff spine. “Just sayin’, could use a few personal touches.”

  “No.”

  He tore one grape and tossed it into the air, then caught it in his mouth.

  “That’s not real,” Daji droned while he chewed on the rubbery orb.

  He spat the fake grape into his palm. A second later, a handmaiden rushed to his side and held out her hands, palms up. “Uh, you sure?” He grimaced and dropped the masticated wax into her hands. She bowed and rushed from the chamber. Okay, having servants—like real, cowering, and prostrating subjects—was weird.

  Daji didn’t seem fazed. She posed as rigid as ever on her marble throne, as much a fixture of this palace as every other piece of antiquity.

  Three thousand years was a shitload of time to spend ruling on one’s own. He’d feel sorry for her, if she didn’t act like her reign was a gift from the Jade Emperor.

  At least he had Ryden. His brother kept him grounded. But Daji? Her adoring subjects were just that. Subordinates. No one to share her innermost self with.

  Living a lie others fabricated.

  Man, he empathized.

  “What’s on the agenda for today?” He shifted his ass around on the wooden chair, but nope, still hard as hell.

  She arched a brow toward him. “I will be attending my duties today. You are free to do,” she waved her hand in a circle around him, “whatever it is that you do.”

  “Hey, I take offense at that.” Sure, he didn’t have a full-time job, unless kick-ass assassin counted. “I’m working too. Protecting your fine ass, my Queen.” He sent her a wicked grin. “It’s my job to stick to you like glue until all threats have been eliminated. Why don’t you list them for me?”

  A scoff puffed from her lips. “I am sovereign of an endangered race in a perilous world, Price. My list of enemies is never-ending.”

  “Right.” He angled his head. “So we start with the biggest, baddest ones.”

  “You are serious?” From the tensing of her features, she was close to rolling her eyes.

  “Hell yeah, I’m serious. This,” he tapped his Lotus League tat on his inner left wrist, “this is more than a tattoo. It’s a one-way ticket to Dìyù if I don’t complete my missions.” He lowered his hands. “I kind of enjoy being alive.”

  “Fine.” She tilted her chin a fraction. “Let’s begin with whoever murdered your mother. Because that man is also responsible for stealing the souls of my people. It has to be more than a coincidence.”

  Her pouty lips stirred his cock. Fuck, why hadn’t he allowed her to wrap that pretty mouth around him last night? He shook his head at himself. I’m such a dickhead.

  Daji rose, the attendants falling into lines on either side of her while she strolled through the aisle. Guess sharing time was finished.

  He shot to his feet and rushed after her, stepping into a rhythm at her side. The green silk dress she wore today hugged each of those exquisite curves. The ones he’d feasted on last night. “Where are we headed?”

  “To check my messages.”

  “Fascinating.”

  This time, she did roll her eyes at him. Away from her nosy Council, Daji was a heck of a lot bubblier.

  He inched closer to her and purred, “Why don’t we hit a detour, resume our unfinished business from last night?”

  Color rose in her cheeks, but she didn’t break her stride. “I’m busy, Price.”

  “You’ve ruled for three thousand years. I’m sure you can grab a five-minute coffee break.” He sent her a mischievous wink. “Although, coffee’s not on the menu.”

  Whipping around, she faced him, one hand pressed against his chest. “This isn’t the time or place.”

  He seized her wrist and whirled her to switch spots, backing her against the wall. “Wrong.” After clasping her wrist, he raised it above her head. “I don’t play by rules, or schedules.”

  Her copper eyes dilated, her breath hitching.

  A fuzz of satisfaction bubbled in his chest. “Admit it, you can’t resist me.”

  She notched her chin. “I can, and I wi—”

  “Because I’m like candy to fox spirits.” He cut off her pretty protests. “None of you can resist me.”

  Her brow arched. “That’s a rather high inflation of your ego.”

  He bent forward, inhaling against her sweetly fragranced hair. “Darling, I’m just stating facts. If I’d intended to inflate my ego, I’d credit my really huge di—”

  “Argh!” She ducked free of his grasp and marched from his view.

  He smirked after her. She might have concluded she’d won the match, but as she stormed off, only one image would be haunting her mind.

  ***

  Price was incorrigible. A true rogue who belonged in another century. Twisting her words, offering images to her mind she was unable to erase.

  Of his very well-endowed anatomy… Damn him.

  Daji marched to the aviary and beckoned the attendant with a wave of her hand.

  “One message arrived for you this morning, my Queen.” The brown-haired female stepped before her and extended her hands, palms up, bearing a small sheet of parchment. Like herself, the Matchmaker belonged to a different era.

  Homing birds were a useful tool. Electronic mail risked interception, but such was unlikely for their highly trained fowl.

  Daji plucked the scroll and murmured her thanks, strolling from the aviary with a measure of calm she didn’t experience. Her answers might exist within this piece of paper.

  Tensing, she unwound the scroll.

  I will be there shortly

  M

  Daji blinked. That was it? An ema
il would have transferred such an obscure message. She pinched the bridge of her nose. No closer to the truth, or to the owner of the book.

  Or the murderer who’d ravaged Price’s family.

  His tactics earlier had to be a coping mechanism. Rather than contemplate his mother’s killer, he’d flirted with her.

  Sometimes, scars were easier to bear that way.

  It would seem she did have time on her hands. After millennia of rule, her realm ran as smoothly as a well-oiled clock. The palace servants fluttered to and from their duties like dancers crossing a stage. No one out of place.

  Except me.

  What good was a Queen who’d let her people fall into ruin? Despite her every effort, her people were dying. She was dying. Was Price the answer? She marched down the corridor, searching for him.

  Giggling chimed from the gardens. Following the echoing laughter, she stepped into the sunlight, a thousand floral scents blasting her with their sun-kissed warmth.

  And his. Unmistakably masculine against this sea of delicate fragrances.

  He reclined on a chaise longue, half a dozen fox spirits fawning over him.

  Irresistible indeed. A spark of jealousy fired through her veins. He was doing his job. Had he gotten close to her because the Matchmaker ordered him to? Price had his choice of females flocking him everywhere he went.

  What a fool she’d been. Though they were her subjects and she could command them not to engage with him, what would be the point, other than proving her unseemly jealousy?

  If she stepped into the gardens, they would scatter. Although their adored Queen, she was viewed as a vessel of their goddess, Nüwa. To some, she was the fearsome Queen who’d ordered the torture of so many innocents.

  She was not their friend.

  She was alone.

  Her shoulders slumped and she sighed, pressing her forehead against the cool stone column. Price wasn’t her solution. He was an aid, sent to help her unravel this mystery. To even dream, for one moment, anything more would ever exist between them…

  Well, that was exactly what her enemies would wish for her.

  Weakness.