“I want you inside me.”
He smiled, flicking my clit with his finger. I clenched, and his smile widened. Then that same finger slid inside me. Gods, he made me want to beg.
“You want me here?”
“You know I do.”
“Then you’ll have me here. And you’ll know no other man can make you feel the way I do.”
He slowly kissed his way back up my body, until our lips met. I trembled as he positioned himself at my entrance, slowly thrusting inside me.
He got about halfway in, and I was suddenly too full. Maybe this was a bad idea.
“Uh, Lorian.”
He just raised his head. Those green eyes were so dark, they were almost black, his pupils blown. “Take me, Prisca.”
His hand slipped down to stroke me, and I opened for him, writhing at the dual sensation.
“That’s it, wildcat,” he murmured. And then he removed his hand, slowly thrusting once more. His pelvic bone hit my clit with each thrust, and I wrapped my legs around him, already on the edge.
Oh gods, the feel of him. It was better than I’d imagined in even my most secret fantasies—and yet, not enough. I needed more.
“Harder,” I demanded.
“Made for me,” he purred. But he complied, thrusting so deep I saw stars. There was pain, simply because he was so big and it had been so long…but the pleasure…
I had no words for the pleasure. For the way my body was already tightening around him. For the way my every nerve seemed to cry out for more. For the way my breath caught in my throat, and every muscle in my body clenched, on the verge of something incredible.
“Come for me, wildcat.” Lorian leaned down to nip at my bottom lip. “And let me feel it.”
I had no choice. My body was already tensing, my breath catching. He cursed as I clamped down around him. My climax roared through me, so strong, the edges of my vision darkened until all I could see was Lorian and the possessive lust in his eyes as he watched me fall apart for him.
When I was limp, he continued to move, his eyes still filled with that feral lust. “We’re not done.”
He might not be, but I certainly was.
He gave me a slow smile. Obviously, he knew exactly what I was thinking, because he pulled out of me and flipped me onto my knees, thrusting into me once more. He felt even larger in this position, and I clenched around him.
“So fucking beautiful,” he growled in my ear.
He wrapped one of his hands around my throat. Not squeezing, just a dark threat. His other hand had slipped down until he thrust in time with that hand as it caressed my clit.
And just like that, I was on the edge again.
“Come for me,” he ordered.
And I did. I let out a moan so filthy, he laughed. But it was a strained laugh. And then he was slamming into me, ensuring my climax went on and on, until he held me close and shuddered, emptying himself inside me.
I was strangely content, lying here in my enemy’s castle, as Prisca watched me with those eyes that were hers once more. I’d found myself missing their strange color, but the calculation in them, at least, was always the same—whether disguised or not.
Her gaze turned intent. “Why did you leave me that day? At the river?”
She’d never asked me that before.
I wasn’t a man who was used to feeling emotions like guilt or regret. And yet, when I thought of what could have happened to her, all alone by that river…
I quashed the urge to give her a glib answer. I was quiet for so long, she looked away. Finally, I sighed.
“I have been doing the kinds of tasks that would break many men for a very long time. When you live such a life, you eventually have to make a choice. Allow your deeds to stack up on your shoulders with every movement, crippling you with their weight, or turn that part of you—the part that cares about right and wrong and good and bad—off. When I first saw you, I didn’t see a person. I saw a problem I had no answer to. And then you looked at me, and I knew you’d survive.”
“How could you know that?”
“You forget—I’m older and wiser than you.” She rolled her eyes at that, and I couldn’t help but smile. “It wasn’t just fear and desperation in your eyes that day.”
She snorted. “Is that right? Tell me what else you believe you saw.”
I caught her wrist. It was so small in my hand. So fragile. And yet, this woman had already gotten closer to the king than any rebel before her.
“I saw a burning rage. A wrath and retribution within you, just waiting to be freed. You killed two men.”
She flinched and attempted to free her hand, but I held on. “You fought for your survival. You made it through that forest until you found me again. When I saw you—and your poor attempt to sneak up on us—I wanted you so badly, I was enraged. So I buried it down deep, vowing to never even think of acting on it. And then I realized what power you had, and even as I loathed myself for it, I was relieved.”
Her brow creased. “Why?”
The words were difficult to say, but she deserved to hear them. “Because I would get to keep you for a little while. And I vowed that even if you hated me for it, I would make sure you were able to survive.”
She was quiet for a long time. Then she leaned down and pressed a kiss to the hand I had wrapped around her wrist.
“Can I ask you something?” Her voice was drowsy.
“Yes.”
“How much power do hybrids have?”
“Hybrids are more powerful than humans. Which is one of the reasons why they are a threat to the king. They recover faster from injuries and sickness. If you’d been human, you would have died from that poison.” Ice spread through my veins at the thought. Even with her hybrid blood, she’d come incredibly close to death.
And it had taken all my self-control not to slaughter the woman responsible. My instincts urged me to remove the threat she still presented.
“What about the fae? How much more powerful are they than humans and hybrids?”
“The fae are their own creatures. But there are so many different types of fae that it would be difficult to compare them accurately. Some of them are so long-lived, they’re almost ancient compared to humans. They see humans as little more than pests that should have been eradicated long before they became a threat. I’ve met fae who enjoy humans—not just sexually and not to eat, as Sabium likes to suggest. But as friends.”
She thought about that. “Do you consider the fae your friends?”
“Some of them,” I said honestly. “Some of them, I stay away from as much as possible. But you asked about their power. Most humans have one gift. One ability. Hybrids have the same, but that one ability can rival the fae.”
“And the fae?”
“They have one main ability, similar to the hybrids. But they also have various small magics. Simple things that would seem incredible to humans.”
She was quiet for a while. “You’re so knowledgeable. Clearly, you’ve been traveling for a long time. What’s it like?”
She meant what was it like being a mercenary. “I enjoy the freedom. But it can be…lonely.”