Rook (Political Royalty Book 2) (15 page)

He kissed her, and the need to savor every inch of her replaced the urgency he’d felt. Now that they were finally alone together, in the privacy of a room with a locked door and a bed, he was going to lie to himself and pretend they had all the time in the world. Time they both knew was only an illusion.

“Turn around, beautiful,” he said when he finally managed to break the kiss.

She searched his face, a small crease in her brow, but she did what he asked, turning to face the wall. He stepped in close so she could feel him along her back, feel how hard he was for her, and gripped her upper arms. Moving slowly, relishing the feel of her flesh pebbling under his touch, he ran his hands down her arms, twining his fingers with hers when he reached her hands. Her head fell back against his chest, baring her neck, and she gazed up at him, all the heat he felt reflected back in her eyes.

It was too honest, too raw and he couldn’t face his feelings or what she did to him. Keeping her hands clasped in his, he buried his face in the soft skin of her throat, breathing in the subtle floral scent of her perfume while he laid a trail of kisses over her skin. She let out a low sigh he felt against his lips.

“I’ve been waiting all night to get my hands on you. Hell, I’ve been waiting for weeks,” he said, raising their joined hands and pressing her palms against the wall. “I’m not going to stop until I’ve tasted every inch of you.”

She gasped and his cock throbbed in response. He was so hard it hurt, but he’d be damned if it made him rush what he had planned. Sliding his palms over her bare arms, he gripped her shoulder with one hand while the other moved to gently capture her throat. He felt her suck in her breath as he forced her head back and nipped at her earlobe. Her lips were parted and bruised from his kisses. He wanted to mark her with his mouth so everyone would know she was his, but he didn’t have the right. The world couldn’t know what she meant to him, but behind the closed door, she could know. He could show her.

Kissing his way down her throat, he stopped when he reached the point where her neck joined her shoulder. Gently pushing the strap of her dress to the side, he bit her and sucked at her tender flesh. Hard enough to make her gasp. Hard enough to leave a mark, but not enough to cause her real pain. He felt her pulse hammering under his thumb and smiled against her skin. With her clothes on, no one would see the mark. It probably wouldn’t last past tomorrow, but they’d both know it was there.

“Keep your hands on the wall, beautiful.”

He took a step back so he could look at her, stretched out for him, the long line of her bare back a creamy curve in the dim light. His hands itched all night to touch her bare skin. He’d had to watch all those old men drink her in with their eyes and there hadn’t been a damn thing he could do about it. They weren’t a threat; he knew that. But it hadn’t stopped him from wanting to claim her in front of all of them.

Finally he did what he’d ached to do for hours. He ran the flat of his hand from her shoulder to her waist, gliding his palm over her skin with slow, steady strokes.

She curled like a cat under his touch, arching her back and pressing into the caress. She was so fucking beautiful, so responsive, she made it hard for him to breathe. He touched her again with both hands, running his palms down her bare back and then sliding them under the dress to circle her waist just under her ribcage. She wore some kind of backless corset, and the satin slipped under his fingers. It became his new priority to get her out of that dress so he could see what she had on underneath.

He felt her breathing, shallow and quick, in the rise and fall of her ribs under his hands. Running his hands over the boning, he kept going until her breasts filled his palms and he could feel the tight peaks of her nipples under the lace. He slid his thumbs over the hard points, and she’d groaned, arching her back, grinding her ass against his aching cock. Sliding his hands to her waist, he gripped her tight and held her still against him, savoring for just a moment the feel of her body fitted to his.

Spinning her in his arms, he turned her to face him. Her arms went around his neck like that’s exactly where they belonged. It felt so right, so perfect, it tore at his heart. He had to move or the honesty in her gaze would destroy him. Tipping her chin up with his finger, he met her gaze for a fraction of a second longer, and then he kissed her again, closing his eyes and losing himself in the feel and taste of her.

Gently disentangling her arms from around his neck, he brought his hands to her shoulders and slid the straps of the dress off her shoulders. The fabric pooled at her feet, leaving her standing in front of him wearing a black lace backless corset, a tiny pair of panties, and the heels that he’d imagined digging into his ass while he moved inside her.

He opened his mouth to tell her how beautiful she was—how much he wanted her—but his throat closed and he couldn’t get the words out. She overwhelmed him. Totally and completely. This was it. This is what it felt like to love someone. To love her.

Taking her hand in his in a gesture made more intimate because he couldn’t deny his feelings a moment longer, he helped her step free of her dress and led her to the bed. She didn’t wait for him to urge her back onto the bed. His Haven didn’t wait and she didn’t play games. Not with him. She gave him everything and took what she wanted in exchange. Sitting on the soft white duvet, she reached for his belt.

She made quick work of the leather and catch on his slacks as he stood mesmerized, watching as she turned her whole focus to freeing him. Reaching inside his boxer briefs, she wrapped her fist around him and stroked. He lost his breath, destroyed by the feeling of her hand hot and demanding on his aching flesh. He should stop her. He needed to stop; he was so close and he was going to be inside her when he came, filling her and marking her in the most intimate way possible as he spilled himself. But he was caught, lost to her and her touch.

As he watched, she pulled his cock free and bent her head, taking him in her hot, greedy mouth and any illusion of control he had evaporated. She gazed up at him, her kohl-rimmed hazel eyes so trusting, so honest, while her red-stained lips wrapped around his aching length. The image burned itself into his brain and he knew no matter whatever else happened, he’d have this one perfect moment.

Holding the base in her hand, she slid down, taking him deep, not stopping until her nose bumped against his stomach. His hands gripped her hair, holding her still while he thrust. Her fingers dug into his hips, urging him on, and he let himself go, taking a few more seconds of pleasure before he somehow found the strength to pull away.

“Fuck, Haven,” he groaned as her tongue worked over his length. “Yes, beautiful. Just like that.”

He couldn’t take anymore, and he didn’t know how to pull away. When he tried to step back, she held onto his hips, anchoring him in place while she destroyed him with her mouth, driving him closer and closer to the edge of the cliff.

“Let me have you,” he begged, in a last-ditch attempt to pull free, but she simply tightened her grip and set up a rhythm with her mouth and hands that he couldn’t fight. He was powerless against her and any walls he’d built to keep himself safe—to keep them safe—crashed down around them against the onslaught of her mouth.

She quickened her pace, never giving him a chance to catch his breath or regain control, and then he was falling, tipping past the point of no return as she swallowed him. Taking all of him. Loving all of him.

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I
T DIDN’T MATTER how long she lived or whatever came after this moment: Haven knew without a doubt, she’d never be able to get enough of Walker. Of feeling him lose control for her, trusting her with his body while she worshiped him with her hands and mouth. There wasn’t enough time in the world for all the ways she wanted to love him.

She barely had time to feel the aftershock move through his powerful body before he pulled away and scooped her into his arms and kissed her. The brush of his lips against hers felt reverent and for a moment, they simply breathed together. Then he pushed her back onto the bed and everything shifted. He gazed down at her like she was a feast laid out before him and he was the Big Bad Wolf. Something primitive deep inside her trembled and woke in the face of his honest appreciation.

“Scoot up, beautiful. It’s my turn,” he said, licking his lips in a way that made her stomach flutter.

She hurried to comply, long past trying to hide from him. Long past holding anything back. She knew there would be consequences. But for this one moment, in the safety of this room, she’d give him everything and deal with the fallout and damage to her heart later.

She watched from her position, propped in the pile of pillows at the headboard, as he stripped off his clothes, tossing his jacket onto the chair and tugging his silk tie free with a snap. He unbuttoned his dress shirt and her heart kicked up a notch with every inch of skin he revealed. He had the body of someone who worked hard for a living, not someone who sat behind a desk. A light dusting of hair covered his chest and ran down in a line over his rock-hard abs to the waistband of his boxer briefs. Seeing the outline of his cock already lengthening again tightened something low in her stomach, and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth to keep from reaching for him.

He toed off his shoes and stepped out of his pants, standing before her gloriously naked. Strong, powerful, and undeniably male. He called to every inch of her and her body responded on a cellular level. She was his and for this one moment of time he was hers. He could have all of her and she’d take all of him, holding on for as long as she could.

“God, the way you look at me,” he said, sounding breathless. “Like you can really see me.”

“Because I can.”

She reached for him, and he didn’t hesitate. He climbed onto the bed and into her arms, holding her as she held him. For a moment, time froze as they lost themselves in the realization that they’d found each other. And a second later, reality started to creep in and she wrapped her legs around him, tipping her hips to press against him. Using her body to drive the truth away for a while longer.

Pulling back, he knelt between her spread legs and gazed down at her. He grinned a wicked grin, driving every thought from her head but him, and she sucked in her breath in delicious anticipation.

“I like this,” he said, dragging a fingertip between her breasts and over the light boning of the merry widow she’d worn under her dress.

The lace demi cups barely covered her breasts and she arched her back, exposing the edge of her aching nipples. His answering groan sent liquid heat to her core, his hunger feeding hers. Resting a hand on either side of her body, he bent his head and slid his tongue under the edge of the lace. She gripped his forearm, feeling the bunch of his muscles under her hands as he drove her wild with his mouth. He worked her free of the cup and drew her nipple into his mouth, suckling her until her back bowed and she gasped for breath.

By the time he repeated the process with her other breast, her fingertips were digging into his arms in a way that would leave marks. Nipping gently at her nipple, tight and aching from his mouth, he stretched up to brush a quick kiss over her lips before lowering himself until he nestled between her legs. His breath felt warm against the damp lace of her panties. Palming her ass, he kissed her through the lace, scraping her sensitive skin gently with his teeth before dragging the panties down her legs and baring her to his hungry gaze. To his mouth.

His dark head bent to her and this time when he licked her, there was no barrier between them. She gripped his hair, desperate for a way to anchor herself while he set out to steal the last bit of her control. He played her like an instrument, tasting and teasing, driving her higher and higher until she was sure she’d break when she fell. She reached for his hands under her, catching his fingers and holding on for dear life. He looked up at her, his lips wet from her body, his dark eyes burning.

“Let go, beautiful. I’ve got you.”

He bit the inside of her thigh, hard enough to make her gasp, and when he licked into her again, she fractured, the orgasm catching her, sending her flying.

Her body still pulsed with the last of her climax as he slid inside her, filling her, dragging out every bit of her pleasure and starting the fire all over again. Cradling her head to his chest, he thrust—long, powerful strokes that made it impossible for her to catch her breath.

“I love you. Fuck. God. Haven, I love you.” His body moved with the rhythm of his words, binding them together, opening her to him.

She wrapped her legs around him, drawing him deeper, taking all of him.

“Love you. I love you too.”

She gasped as the pleasure wound tighter, and she felt the edge of another climax start. Tears fell from her eyes, making hot tracks over her cheeks as the emotions she couldn’t hold back surged through her. Walker cupped her head in his hands as he licked at the salt on her cheeks, pressing kisses to the corner of her eyes, trying to stem the flood of emotions she couldn’t control. He thrust harder and she felt him start to shudder even as the climax got her again, spiraling her outward, unmoored but for him.

“Why didn’t you wait for me?” she asked, her lips pressed against the warm wall of his chest, giving voice to something she hadn’t even let herself think.
He was the one, and he couldn’t be hers.

“I didn’t know you were coming,” he said, his voice caught as he held her like he was drowning and she was the only thing that could save him.

She clung to him, needing to believe they’d find a way to save each other.