“I will become your shadow, always present. That is what I’ll do.”
“You…you are…”
“Determined to keep you alive? Yes.”
“You are out of your mind!” I didn’t stop to think. I cocked back my arm and swung my fist—
He caught my wrist with shocking speed. “See how easy that was? I didn’t even blink.”
Fury erupted in me like a volcano. I swung my purse around like a bat toward his big, egotistical head—
It never made contact.
The purse flew off my arm and from my grip as if an invisible hand had grasped it.
“And now?” he asked, his grip on my arm firm but not painful.
I twisted, angling my body to his as I jerked up my knee, aiming for his groin.
The King shifted, using his thigh to block my strike. The impact caused him to grunt. “And how about now? What else are you going to do?” He flipped me so my back was to his front. An arm clamped around my waist, yanking me back against him.
The heat of his skin seeped through the thin material of my blouse, scorching my flesh as his other hand curved around the underside of my jaw. He forced my head back against his chest, causing my back to arch as I met his gaze. “Do you know how easy it would be for me to snap your neck? Just like that?” His thumb slipped over my thrumming pulse. I reached both arms up, one hand fisting the soft strands of his hair. “Are you going to pull my hair, sunshine? Is that your—?”
The soft click of my blade sliding out of the cuff silenced him. His eyes widened slightly.
I kept the edge of the blade a scant centimeter from pressing into his jugular as I smiled at him. “What are you going to do, King? I can’t decapitate you from this angle, but I can make a hell of a mess out of your throat.”
His eyes flared with heat as he stared down at me. I felt his chest rise and fall against my back. I saw his gaze move to where my breasts were straining against the delicate strip of buttons along the front of my blouse.
It happened so fast.
One second, we were fighting. The next moment, it all changed. I didn’t protest as he lowered his mouth to mine, utterly unfazed by the iron at his throat. I didn’t say a word or pull away. Anger and frustration crashed into something far stronger, something rawer, and the moment his lips touched mine, I was lost.
He was no longer the King.
He was Caden.
Chapter 5
The kiss…
Caden’s mouth moved against mine with lust-soaked intensity. He kissed—God, he kissed like a man starving. He kissed as if he were going to devour me, and I wanted that. I needed it. It was all I could think about. Or maybe I wasn’t thinking at all. Instead, I was feeling. I was just letting myself feel.
“You drive me insane,” he growled, sliding his hand down my throat. “And even worse, I think I like it.”
“There is something wrong with you.” I gasped as his hand cupped my breast. “There’s nothing wrong with this.” He squeezed gently, causing a hot shiver to curl its way down my spine. His arm loosened around my waist, and I felt his fingers at the buttons of my blouse. There was a light tugging motion, and then the sound of buttons hitting the floor. “I hope you didn’t like this shirt.”
“I did.”
“You’ll forget about it soon enough.”
Caden was right. I did. He turned me in his arms, tugging the cups of my bra down, and the hem of my skirt up. Before I had a chance to think, his lips moved along the scar Aric had left behind, kissing the faintly pale, slightly raised skin.
And then he drew my nipple into his hot mouth. I gasped as pleasure rolled through me. His free hand slipped between my thighs, his fingers brushing over my panties before making quick work of them. I had no idea if he tore them off or if they’d simply fallen to the floor.
He lifted his head, nuzzling my neck under my ear. “I don’t think you have any idea how badly I want you.” His fingers brushed along the center of my core once more, this time with no barrier. “I can’t stop thinking about this.” One finger slipped inside, just a little. I moaned. “About how you felt around my fingers. How tight and wet. How you rode my hand.”
My entire body clenched. Hot, tight shudders racked my body. Caden’s fingers were barely in me, and I already felt like I might tip over the edge. This was insane. I was mad at him, and he was beyond frustrated with me, but this… God, this felt right, and I was so full of raw, painful need that I didn’t care what came next.
“Do you want this?” he murmured against my cheek, pressing his finger in just a little farther. “Just say the word, and I’ll make you forget everything.”
I knew I should say no. I should stop this. But I didn’t. I said, “Yes.”
Caden moved so fast, my breath got stuck. He lifted me up as if I weighed nothing, and then he was laying me down. It took a moment to realize that I was in his bedroom, on his bed, stripped bare. And then he was naked above me, his erection thick and hard.
His mouth was on mine once more, his tongue dancing with mine, and then he trailed kisses down my throat, over my breasts, and…then he kissed each of the scars on my stomach with his tongue and his lips. The silent, small act was monumental and brought tears to my eyes.
I was lost all over again, and it wasn’t just the pure seduction he wrought as his mouth made its way around my navel and then moved lower. It was him.
Lightning burst through my veins as he grasped my hips, and I felt his breath brush over where I ached the most. There was no time to feel self-conscious, to think that I’d only done this twice before, and both times I’d been so caught up in my own head and the shocking intimacy of the act that I hadn’t enjoyed myself.
There were no thoughts here.
Caden captured my flesh with his mouth, slipping in with deep, firm strokes of his tongue. I cried out, trembling as raw sensation threatened to drown me. My fingers curled in his hair as my back arched. I couldn’t move, not with the way he held my hips down. There was no escaping the blissful torture. Not that I really wanted to, not with the way the tension was building and building. Finally, it shattered. My body liquefied as I climaxed, kicking my head back as I moaned his name.
His head lifted at the sound, and through half-open eyes, I saw that his gaze was luminous. “Say it again. My name.”
“Caden,” I whispered.
Never breaking eye contact, he lowered his mouth once more, lapping at the slick moisture. I panted, my eyes widening as he lifted his head and licked his lips.
Dear God.
He climbed over me, his attention feral and possessive. Slipping an arm under my hips, he lifted me up. The fine hairs of his chest teased the sensitive peaks of my breasts. His lips claimed mine as I felt him reach between us, and then I felt his thick head pushing in. His skin felt like fire—his bare skin. Concern flared, but reality swept in. Fae couldn’t pass diseases to humans, and pregnancy was so rare that it wasn’t an issue.
I clutched his shoulders, lifting my hips as he sank in an inch and then two. Caden groaned into my mouth.
His hips flexed, and then he slid in all the way. The pressure and sudden fullness wrung a gasp from me. It had been a while, like years and years, but the bite of pain gave way to pleasure as he started to move, slowly at first, and then faster. He took me, and I didn’t realize until then how badly I wanted that from him. He pressed his lips to my temple the moment before his thrusts lost all rhythm as his hips plunged into mine. The sounds of our breathing and our wet bodies making contact surrounded us until I couldn’t hold back. Moans I didn’t even know I was capable of left me, and his answering groan was like a match to kindling. I went up in flames all over again, breaking into a thousand tiny pieces. I cried out his name over and over as he drove into me, his arm tightening around me until there was no him or me, just us. He thrust deeply, stilling as he came, shouting my name, his large body trembling with the force of his release until he collapsed, his weight shifting to one arm beside me on the bed.