Kir caught her wrists, trapping them in his strong grip and stopping her from hitting him. He bowed and gave a solemn smile. “It is as I had expected. I have no desire to claim a female whose heart belongs to another.”
With that he released her. He whirled and shifted into a golden wolf in such a blur she barely saw him transform. The other men and women in the cave shifted, too, and in moments the pack loped across the expansive cavern and through a dark tunnel at the far end.
A haunting howl echoed through the cavern. And then there was nothing but an aching silence punctuated by the light slap of water from the small waterfall, and the beating of Alexi’s heart in her ears.
All the sparkling purple and black crystals made her feel even more like she was in a fantasyland. The woodsy scent in the room had dimmed with the departure of the wolves, leaving the smell of fresh water and Darronn’s primal male scent.
She felt his presence behind her, his warmth and strength, even though he wasn’t touching her. Crazy emotions spun through her heart, soul, and body. Relief at admitting what she’d been denying all along. Giddiness at truly being in love for the first time in her life. Frustration that it had to be here and now, in this world and not her own, when she had family she’d left behind, and a sister she needed to search for.
She didn’t know how and when and where it had happened, at this moment the only thing that mattered was the man behind her.
Taking a deep breath, Alexi slowly turned to see Darronn with his arms folded across his broad chest and a smug look on his handsome face.
Alexi glared at him. “Bastard,” she said.
And then she jumped him.
Darronn smiled as he caught her to his chest. “Wench.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist, and she kissed him with everything she had.
Yeah, she loved the big oaf. Loved the way he commanded her, and the way he made her look at herself instead of trying to run the world. She loved the way he was so good to his people, making sure their needs were met, and the way he was fair and just and compassionate in everything she’d witnessed since arriving in Spades.
She loved how he had made compromises with her. Allowing her to be her strong, confident self, outside of the bedroom, and not trying to break her when he recognized her need to be who she was. And inside their bedroom, she loved how he dominated her, fulfilling every one of her fantasies.
Darronn growled with satisfaction as his mate thrust her tongue into his mouth, and as he returned her demanding kiss. When she had wrapped her legs around his waist, she exposed her folds and his erection pressed against her center. He wanted to back her up against the cavern wall and drive into her with all that he possessed.
In his many years, never had he dreamed that having his mate declare her love for him would make him feel such emotion. As though he was the most powerful of men, and certainly the most blessed in every way that a man could be.
Alexi pulled away and looked up at Darronn, her eyes dark with passion, her mouth moist and reddened from his stubble. “Do that thing you did to me before,” she said, her voice husky with need. “Where you made me crazy for you.”
“Are you not crazy for me without the tigri pheromones?” he teased.
“Yeah, I am.” She anchored her legs tighter around his waist. “But that tigri stuff was wild. I want you to take me when I’m like that.”
The lust raging through Darronn was so fierce he wasn’t sure he could wait to claim her the way he wanted to.
“You must be punished, wench,” he said as he forcibly removed her, and set her on her feet. She started to reach for him, but he held up one hand indicating she should stop. Alexi’s eyes sparked with pleasure as they always did when he dominated her in the bedroom.
“Stand in the position of respect,” he ordered.”
Her voice had an excited and breathless quality to it when she spoke. “Yes, Master.” She complied by clasping her hands behind her back and widening her stance. In their bedroom she had enjoyed submitting to him in all ways, although he never insisted she lower her eyes—he enjoyed gazing into their aqua depths too much to have her look away from him.
Not that she would lower her gaze even if he had asked.
But now that she had declared her love, would she wear his signs of ownership—at least when they were alone?
Darronn held out his palm and a black leather collar with gold spades appeared upon it. “My collar, firecat. Will you wear it?”
Alexi’s eyes widened, and for once she looked uncertain, but for only a moment. “Yes, Master.”
The pleasure at her acceptance was so intense that Darronn’s already raging erection thrust out toward her. A hint of a smile curved the corner of Alexi’s mouth, telling him that she had noticed.
Taking care to barely brush his body against hers, to tease her passions even more, he slowly moved behind her. “Raise your hair.”
She did as he bade, her body trembling with excitement, and the smell of her desire nearly sending Darronn over the edge. He eased the collar around her neck and fastened it. When he finished, he leaned just close enough that his cock touched the small of her back, and he brushed his lips across her nape and kissed the soft skin above her collar.
“You are the fire in my veins,” he murmured. “The flames in my soul.”
Alexi shivered and let her hair fall as Darronn stepped away. The collar felt comfortable around her neck, and somehow made her hornier yet. Although a part of her couldn’t believe she had just allowed him to put his collar on her. What if it was permanent, and never came off? Strangely enough, the idea didn’t upset her. At this moment she wanted to be his in every way.
Yet he had never told her how he felt about her, other than stating she was his destined mate. Would he return her love? And if he did, what next?
She let the thoughts slide away as her man moved around to face her again. Every slight touch of his hands and fingers set her senses on fire. Good Lord, he was a handsome man, so powerful and virile.
And he was all hers.
Darronn held out his hand again, and this time a pair of golden spades appeared on his palm, each spade on the end of a small loop. Earrings?
“Your nipples are not yet pierced,” Darronn said, and Alexi flinched at the thought of anyone sticking a needle through that part of her body. And what did he mean, yet? “For now will you wear these nipple rings?” he asked.
Well, if this was just play, it did turn her on thinking about it. When she’d seen the servants in the chateau wearing them, it had always made her wet. “Yes, Master,” she whispered, and wondered if she’d lost her mind.
But at the extreme satisfaction in Darronn’s gaze, it was all she could do not to squeeze her thighs together. When he lowered his head and laved one nipple, she thought she was going to come unglued. A moan escaped her when Darronn forced the snug ring over her nipple. The slight pressure was delicious, as was the coolness of the gold spade dangling against her breast. Everything about what he was doing felt so good, she was certain she was going to come.
By the time he had fastened both nipple rings on her, Alexi was so hot for him she wasn’t sure she could take much more.
“Come.” He took her hand and led her to one of the sparkling amethyst and black walls. The collar felt snug and exciting around her neck, and the spades swinging against her breasts made her want to scream with the need for release. “Lean forward and brace your hands against the wall,” he ordered, “and widen your thighs.”
Alexi obeyed, planting her feet wide apart and leaning over to place her palms flat against the faceted wall, the spades dangling from her nipples. She loved how it felt, bent over and exposed to Darronn the way she was. It amazed her how completely she trusted him…like no man ever before.
She gasped as he slid the familiar black spade vibrator inside her and he murmured, “Remember, you may not reach climax without permission.”
The anticipation
of wondering what he was going to do to her this time was driving her wild, but she managed to reply, “Yes, Master.”
Alexi moaned as the spade began pulsing in her core in a manner that was different from how she’d experienced it before. It felt so fabulous she had no idea how she was going to keep from coming before he said she could. Darronn must have used magic to keep it inside her because he was now massaging and caressing her butt cheeks with his hands as the vibrator continued to throb in her core.
“Such a fine ass.” He moved his hips behind hers and she fought to keep from thrusting back against him, knowing that he would deny her if she did. She had to let him control her. “Would you like me to take you?” he asked, the rough timbre of his voice sending more thrills through her.
“Yes, Master.” Alexi moaned. “Take me now, please.”
“Ah, but you have earned many punishments.” Darronn backed away then slid a strap over her back that he had obviously retrieved with his magic.
The caress of leather against her skin made her shiver with anticipation and her heart beat faster, knowing what would come next. “I’ve been such a bad girl, Master.”
“Indeed.”
The first lash fell across her buttocks and the vibration of the spade inside her increased. Even the spades at her nipples and the charm at her navel swung faster and almost seemed to hum. Her skin stung then tingled, and then he lashed her again, causing more flames to lick through her body. The bite of each lash quickly turned into frissons of pleasure until she felt she would literally burst into a bonfire of ecstasy.
“May I come, Master?” she whispered when she was almost too close to the edge to pull back.
“No.” His sharp command brought her back, just barely. He stopped the lashes and withdrew the spade.
For a moment he just left her there, waiting for him. Not touching her, not speaking. Then she caught the whiff of that incredible musk, that scent he’d called tigri pheromones.
Her entire body began to tremble with such force she knew she’d fly apart if she didn’t have him now. To hell with waiting, she was just going to turn around.
He murmured, “Free yourself. Be wild, firecat.”
Alexi pushed away from the wall, spun around, and flung herself at Darronn. She held on with one arm around his neck while she wrapped her legs around his waist. With her free hand she grasped him and moved it to her entrance.
Darronn stopped her, holding her by her waist and keeping her from slamming herself down on him. She fought him, needing him inside her more than anything in the world. His musk lightened, slightly, but enough that she stilled when she saw the way that he was looking at her.
Lust, passion, and she was certain she saw love in his eyes, too.
His mouth came down hard on hers at the same time the tigri musk became stronger and he brought her down hard, thrusting inside her.
Alexi screamed into his mouth at the feel of him inside her. God, it seemed like she’d been waiting forever to have him, and now that he was in her, she couldn’t get enough.
They ravaged each other’s mouths as they fucked. Alexi braced her hands on his shoulders, driving herself up and down on his cock, harder and faster. The spades bounced from her nipples and even the collar added to the extreme pleasure shooting through her body.
Darronn ripped his mouth from hers and captured her gaze. “Now!”
Alexi’s climax blasted through her and she shrieked. Her cry echoed through the cavern, bouncing from crystal to crystal until the entire chamber sang. The harmony blended with the vibrancy of her orgasm and the purple and black crystals sparkled in tune with it all. Light, color, and sound blended into a symphony that set her world aflame.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
STRAWBERRY TARTS RAINED FROM BLUE-GREEN skies and scattered across the table where Alexi sat alone in the middle of a forest. In front of her on the red tablecloth were a chipped plate and a cracked teacup resting on half a saucer. Another place setting was arranged to her right, but no one sat in the straight-backed chair.
Before Alexi could reach for one of the tarts, the sorceress appeared wearing nothing but an enormous stovepipe hat with a wide brim. Even Kalina’s collar and the spades that normally dangled from her nipples were missing. In her hands was a teapot with most of the spout broken off.
“All is not as it seems, Milady,” Kalina said as she poured tea into Alexi’s cup. Fluid spilled over the teacup’s brim, onto the half saucer, then bled into the red tablecloth.
When the sorceress vanished, Alexi reached for one of the tarts in the middle of the table, but before she could grasp the tart it rose up in the air and settled on the plate to her right, where someone was now sitting.
She raised her gaze to meet Alice’s eyes.
Alexi gasped as she stared at her sister. Alice wore an almost sheer white dress with red hearts sprinkled over it. In her white-blond hair was the blue satin ribbon she’d been wearing the day of her disappearance.
Before she could jump up and throw herself at her twin, Alice held up her hand. In it was a black leather whip. “In Wonderland you must be careful,” Alice said.
Chills rolled through Alexi as Alice laid the whip across the table and repeated the sorceress's warning, “All is not as it seems.”
Alexi woke with a start. She blinked, her vision coming back into focus as the memory of where she was and what had happened returned to her.
That same awful ache settled in her gut because Alice wasn’t really there with her. It had just been a freaking bizarre dream.
Yet it had seemed so real. And it was as if the connection she’d been feeling was stronger than ever.
She had rarely remembered her dreams in the past, but the dream of her escape, and then this new dream of Alice were so clear and vivid in her mind.
Why?
Darronn stirred and her attention turned toward how good it felt to be in his embrace. His arm was draped around her waist, her back to his chest, his erection against her ass, and he had one leg hooked over her hip. Even in sleep he bound her to him, and she loved how it felt. They were lying on a fabulously soft black velvet cushion-bed that he had summoned with his magic and had arranged by the small waterfall in the cavern.
His wonderful male musk surrounded her, making her feel both content and edgy all at once. He was an addiction to her system—yet she knew that it wasn’t something that he’d forced on her. Long ago, he certainly could have made her want him with the tigri pheromone. Good Lord, what an incredible experience. She couldn’t help but respect the fact that in all the time she’d been here, he’d never used it to force her to want him.
Not that he’d had to force her, ever—even when he’d staked her to the ground all those weeks ago, she’d been unbelievably attracted to him. Darronn was every fantasy she’d ever had rolled into one amazingly muscled, powerful, gorgeous, and well-hung package.
His breath was warm on her nape, his breathing deep and even. She brought one hand to the collar still snug around her neck and ran a fingertip over the leather strap and the gold spades decorating it. At the same time she was very aware of the gold spades at her nipples that felt just as comfortable and familiar to her now as the tiger charm did at her navel.
Was something wrong with her? Was it wrong that she liked the collar and how the nipple rings felt? Knowing that they were signs of ownership should be demeaning, shouldn’t it?
That’s what she’d thought when she’d watched Kalina walking around the chateau, and many of the other servants and villagers who wore collars and nipple piercings. Sure, they looked sexy, but she hadn’t allowed herself to think of them beyond what convention dictated her thoughts should be.
Why does it feel so right to be wearing Darronn’s signs of ownership now? Why do I enjoy the thought of belonging to him and only him?
Alexi was also amazed at how wonderful it felt to be able to truly count on someone to take care of her, someone who was her equal in every way. Choosing to submit to
him felt delicious and special.
If only he would tell her that he loved her.
She knew how much he desired her, and she knew how much it pleased him that she had admitted her love.
But did he feel it in his heart and soul, too? He was so damn arrogant he probably expected it. But if he didn’t love her, could she accept that?
No. Absolutely not. The answer was as clear as the feelings in Alexi’s heart for her lover. If Darronn merely considered her a prize, or his due, she couldn’t and wouldn’t live with or accept it. She deserved to have her love returned one hundred percent, and she would settle for nothing less.
For a while Alexi watched the cavern’s purple and black crystals glittering around her, and they reminded her a bit of the day the mirror had appeared in her bedroom. It seemed so long ago now, another lifetime. Yet it had truly been a relatively short amount of time she’d lived with and had grown to love Darronn.
His words came back to her, from that first day in the meadow, “For your own good, you must learn the desires and fears of your heart—and you must learn to trust and respect the one person with the skill and power to make you whole.”
Loving Darronn had allowed that and more. She did trust and respect him, but she would be whole only when he returned her love, and when she found Alice.
When Alexi’s thoughts turned to her sister, thoughts of the dream came back to her and that familiar ache returned deep in the pit of her stomach and in her heart. Alice deserved someone special, too. Especially after the assholes who had hurt her so badly.
Damn it. What happened to Alice? Where is she now?
Alexi squeezed her eyes shut and bit the inside of her cheek. For crissake, she wasn’t the crying type, and she wasn’t about to start now. For the past year she’d let her anger drive her as she searched for Alice, and not once had she stopped long enough to let the pain take over and control her.
Right now Alexi felt like she was anything but in control. And in reality, she never had been. She’d tried and tried, and nothing she’d done had worked.
Claimed by Pleasure: King of Spades (Wonderland Book 2) Page 15