Page 25 of A Darkness So Sweet (The Kingdom Below #1)

Chapter Twenty-Five

MAIA

Maia had no idea what had come over her. She wasn’t this wanton woman laid out on a counter with her legs spread wide and a monstrous being kneeling between them. But then, when she looked down her body and saw those strange eyes and the tusks he dragged against her skin, all she could think about was that she could be the wild and wicked thing that lived inside of her.

All she had to do was ask him. To beg, as he wanted her to do. But it was more than that.

The other troll wives had impressed upon her that troll men worshiped their wives. They were guided by a feminine hand, and in that way, she had to be the woman he needed her to be. If she wanted this to happen, then all she had to do was say so. If she didn’t? She was still in control.

She’d never been in control of anything her entire life. Everyone had looked at her as this weak-willed woman who needed to be ordered around, pushed toward so much that she didn’t want to do, and had to be protected by a man because she certainly couldn’t do it herself.

That was not what the trolls thought. They looked at women as capable, influential, and knowledgeable creatures who had use in a society. That freedom bloomed inside of Maia’s chest. It gave her the confidence to tell him to taste her. Because that was what she wanted.

The low groan that echoed out of his chest made her feel powerful. She held the reins of this troll between her thighs. All she had to do was tug at them and suddenly, he was hers. Overwhelmed. Needy. He’d been begging her for a taste and now, as his tongue slid up between her thighs, all she could think was that finally she would get what she wanted.

He flicked his tongue over her clit, the motion so light she could barely feel it until he was circling it just with the tip. She couldn’t breathe with the pleasure that coursed through her body. Zings of it moved up her form, lighting in her chest as every muscle tightened at the sensation.

“I have been waiting for this moment,” he snarled against her skin as he drew back. She almost complained, but then his fingers replaced his mouth.

Those broad, blunt fingertips were so much larger than she remembered. It was like a monster traced her seam, a featherlight touch moving down her folds, parting her for his gaze. She was likely red-faced and panting as she watched him, but Maia found she couldn’t draw her eyes away from what he was doing to her.

Being touched like this? It was more than she could survive. She was certain of it. Because he used both of his thumbs, spreading her ever wider and nudging her legs even farther apart. The breath in her lungs grew thin, like there just wasn’t enough air in the room.

And then he descended upon her. He feasted, his tongue lapping before suddenly plunging into her depths. She arched, her gaze flying up to the stone ceiling like that would provide some kind of answer for what was being done to her. Every nerve ending in her body coiled tighter, searching for something impossible and something she simply could not understand.

One massive, clawed hand trailed up her body. His hand grasped her breast, molding it into his palm before using those claws to pinch her nipple until sparks danced down her body. And then he stopped everything and made her look back down her body at him. All she could see were her own heaving breasts and the need in his eyes.

“I told you that I would wait to fill you until you begged,” he murmured. “You’ve earned it, fire hair.”

Earned... what?

She watched, breathless still, as he lifted his free hand to his mouth. With a sharp snap of those jaws, tusks flashing in the light of the kitchen, he bit off two of his claws. The middle finger and the ring finger. It took so little for him to break them, but the sound of the snapping claw filled the room.

With his gaze holding hers prisoner, he slowly sank that thick middle finger into her. She couldn’t look away from that heated gaze even as she clenched around him.

Even his finger felt massive. She felt her body trying to adjust to him, strange as it was to think that it was only his finger. But when he’d gone as far as he could, he ground the heel of his palm against her clit and suddenly she felt another rush of passion flooding through her.

“Look how well you take me,” he muttered, and then his gaze released her because he was staring down at where they were connected, an expression of awe on his face. “So tight. By all the gods, fire hair, you’re so fucking tight.”

Maybe that was a problem, but she didn’t care right now. All she wanted was for him to move. She rocked her hips, a slight, keening cry moving through her throat. Maia needed him to move. She needed the friction that would give her that bright, sparkling release unlike anything else in this world. She needed .

He shushed her, a low chuckle reverberating through his chest. “Easy. I’ll take care of you.”

And then he pulled his finger out, only to plunge it back inside of her. Hard. So hard she rocked on the table, throwing her head back as blistering pleasure set her body alight. He moved like a man possessed, each thrust of his finger so brutal that she was nearly crying. Everything in her coiled, tensed, certain that she would fall apart.

Every muscle in her body coiled tighter, seizing up until she came. She stopped breathing, unable to even do that as she focused on the tight coil of her body and the sudden release of all that pressure. He rode her through it, every single movement sending more pleasure sparking until there was no more burning pressure or shifting across the table.

There was only the light trace of his fingers again, drifting around her clit until she was panting again. No longer crying out with every hard thrust, she was still panting with need until she looked at him again.

Maia swore there was a slight look of pity on his expression. “You’re very small, fire hair.”

She shook her head, nearly delirious now. “So?”

“So we will have to take our time with this. A cock like mine would break you.”

She let her eyes trail down the length of him, her gaze lingering on the shape of that bar in his pants that was impressively larger than she’d even thought. She knew he was huge. Maia would have to be blind to think that trolls weren’t huge everywhere, considering how tall they were. How broad. Every inch of them was bunched with muscle, but that wasn’t the only reason their kind was huge. Even if he lost all the muscles that made him so bulky, he would still be a massive beast.

His fingers started moving again, and she jerked. She was so sensitive that even the smallest movement made her entire body react.

“What are you doing?” she asked, as he slid his finger back inside of her, curling it up in a way that had her gasping.

“Taking it slowly,” he replied. Ragnar licked his lips, staring down at her body, and then back up to her eyes. “It is a pleasure to serve you, troll wife. Let me make you scream again.”

“Scream?”

But then she couldn’t talk. He’d brought his tongue back to her clit while his fingers worked inside her. This was different. The first time she’d been so caught up in the pleasure that it was hard to think, but now she was riding the high of an orgasm while he fought to bring her to another, and she wasn’t sure she would survive it.

Her heart thundered. She could feel it banging against her ribs, but she couldn’t focus on that right now. Not when his tongue was doing that thing against her clit that made her stomach clench so hard it almost hurt. He was circling, then flicking, circling again. All of it was too much. She was going to come too fast. It was too soon.

Maia rode the edge of pain, or at least, she thought she did. Until he drew his finger back and there was suddenly a burn.

A second finger. He was trying to put both of his fingers inside of her. She flexed her stomach, drawing herself up to look down at him in shock.

“I can’t—” Maia arched when he sucked on her clit so hard that she nearly came right then and there.

Everything seemed to freeze. He drew back from her, looking up with her pleasure smeared across his face and so much desire in his gaze that she burned. He looked like a predator. Like a creature who had been caught in the midst of feeding and she was the foolish one who had disturbed him.

But then his fingers were pressing against her again, and there was the slow glide of them. It burned. She was fuller than she’d ever been in her life, but with that came the feeling of pressure. Like she was meant to do this. Like she had been born to take this much and that her body needed it.

The pain wasn’t all that bad, but with that pain came the pride that she had done it. Even though she’d been afraid of it, his blunt fingers were now sliding easily inside of her.

He pressed his hand to her chest, lying her back down silently before feasting again. His lips and tongue and fingers plunged inside of her, licked her, soothed her, spun her entire body into a tight little ball. She was a writhing creature made of pleasure and pain, laid out for him to do what he wished.

Maia barely recognized her own voice as the room filled with little cries and whimpers. His hand came up to her breast again, yanking the fabric of her dress down so that he could touch the heat of her flesh. His fingers were on her nipple as well, pulling and tugging on it until she was blinded to the world. There could have been another rock slide and she wouldn’t have even noticed as long as he didn’t stop.

She came harder than she ever had in her life. So sensitive already, but then this one felt different. It was like her entire body tried to climb out of herself, reaching for some strange reset that made all the stress in her entire life melt out of her form.

The cry that left her lips was animalistic, and wrong, but so right at the same time. She held her breath and stayed in this moment of both pleasure and pain until the crushing wave of it left her.

Ragnar let out an answering long groan, followed by the slam of his hand against the table beside her. He stood, looming above her with his eyes closed. One massive arm shook as he braced himself over her. His other hand was pressed hard against the front of his pants, where a darkened stain had spread.

Had he...

He had, she realized. Just the mere act of bringing her pleasure had made him come in his pants like he was a young man and she was the first woman he’d spread out like a banquet before him.

For some reason, Maia had never felt more pride. She should have been embarrassed, but all she could think was that her pleasure had made him so excited that he couldn’t contain himself.

Breathing hard, they both remained frozen in place until he opened his eyes and met her gaze. They stared at each other for a few moments. She wasn’t sure what to say to him. Did she tell him he’d done a good job? He certainly had. There should be some kind of praise for what he’d done.

But then he wiped his hand on his pants and cupped her cheek. With the slightest huff of a chuckle, he shook his head and gave her a wry grin. “You are going to be the death of me, fire hair.”

Biting her lip, Maia tried to hide her own grin. “Well, I wasn’t the one who started all this.”

“You absolutely did. You were standing in the middle of my kitchen, making bread for my people who needed your help. What is a man to do but offer pleasure?”

Now that was just ridiculous. People needed help, and many of the trolls had been kind to her thus far. Certainly, there were a few who were still wary of her presence, but for the most part, they had at least tried to accept that she was here.

She rolled her eyes at his antics. “Ragnar, that is ridiculous. I’m happy to help where I can. You brought me here. I want to make this place a home if I can.”

“And that is worth praising.” He leaned down, pressed his lips against her forehead, and gave her the slightest kiss.

It was strange to feel those smooth tusks pressed against her skin. Maybe she’d never get over the strangeness of it. But with his kiss, she felt like she’d done something right. Like she had proven herself worthy to be here.

After all, she was a troll wife now. Not human, and certainly not troll. But there had to be a happy medium somewhere in the middle of both.

Maia was a survivor. And someday, she would prove to them all that she could live here.

Ragnar pulled her bodice back up and then smoothed her skirts down her legs. “I’m off to wash. You keep baking, fire hair. Let’s hope your bread doesn’t taste like ash.”

“Why would it—” The scent of smoke hit her nose. “Damn it! You could have warned me it was burning!”

He laughed as he disappeared down the hall, but the sound of his happiness filled her with hope. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to be here after all.