Page 74 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury (House of Embers #1)

Kieran went to my other nipple, swirling his tongue over it before going to my neck and sucking at the pulse point. I squirmed underneath him, but Kieran didn’t let up on his assault. He kept his hands on my waist, locking me in place.

“Say please or you can make good on your threat and fuck your hand tonight.” Kieran grinned and rocked his length against me. “You know you crave my cock. Just admit it, little thief, and I’m yours.”

I let out a strangled moan. “Jerk.” I looked at his stormy eyes. He was so focused on me, it was like he was seeing all of me. I’d never had a man ask me to do something like this. I had half a mind to refuse and let him get his pleasure from his hand. Let’s see who can play the best game .

But then he rocked against me once more, and godsdammit did I want his cock inside of me.

To feel his length rearranging my insides.

Heat flooded my cheeks. Kieran gripped my throat and with a press of his fingers, tilted my head up to meet his gaze.

Fucking shit. If the sheets weren’t already ruined before, they certainly were now.

It wasn’t fair how much I wanted this man.

Or how much he knew me. For so long, I’d been my family’s caretaker.

It was all on me for us to survive. But with Kieran, I could let go.

And it was only because of that did I allow myself to say the word I’d never said to another man. “Please.”

Kieran pressed inside me. I gasped as he slid in slowly, inch by inch. “You feel amazing,” he murmured.

And despite it all, the moment was so freaking soft.

Overwhelming. Stars exploded under my eyelids.

We hadn’t even begun, but I already felt like I was coming undone.

This man saw me better than anyone else.

With him, I could just feel. I could want.

For the first time, I didn’t want to think.

I only wanted to be here, in this moment, under his guidance, and feel.

I clenched my teeth as Kieran bottomed out, and our bodies properly joined. He was huge. The man was a fucking overachiever. In every aspect of his life, he had to be completely domineering.

“You’re so beautiful, Selena. I wish I could capture this moment forever.” His eyes darkened. “I want to keep you like this. Want to spend the day in bed. Want to fuck you until you’re crying out until you’re exhausted. Even that won’t be enough. ”

“Move,” I said through gritted teeth. “I—I can’t—”

“You can,” he ordered. “And you will.”

There was no room for argument. It was as Kieran willed it, and fuck did that tone do things for me. I whimpered as he planted a kiss to my neck and then finally, he moved. Unlike when he first entered me, there was nothing slow about this.

Our mouths connected, and our tongues slid against each other. Kieran drilled into me, swallowing my sharp cries with every thrust of his hips. He was so deep inside me. I could practically feel him in my throat. The stretch… I could die happy, right here. Right now.

Frenzied. Frantic. Needy. Those words described us perfectly as we rutted against each other.

Kieran’s thrusts were so domineering, it made my head spin, and fog descended in the corners of my mind.

I moved my hips frantically, trying to match his pace.

More. More. More. Greed rushed through my veins as pleasure consumed me.

At first Kieran’s hands were on my hips, driving himself deeper into me with every thrust, controlling the tempo while I was just along for the ride. But as my cries increased and pleasure built, Kieran lifted one hand to my clit.

It was like I’d been struck by lightning. I let out a strangled cry. “That’s it, little thief,” he murmured. His hungry eyes never left my face. The desire was clear in his eyes. “Let go.”

He slammed inside of me, again and again. With the combination of his thrusts, of his lips sucking mine, and his thumb stroking my clit, I couldn’t help but tumble over. He swallowed my cries, grinning as he took and took and took.

I saw stars, well and truly. I clenched around Kieran’s cock, and his returning groan sent another jolt of pleasure down my spine.

I cried out again, tears pricking the corner of my eyes.

Kieran kept moving, kept claiming, never once slowing his assault.

He was still hard, still chasing his pleasure.

“You’re mine,” I snarled. I felt like a feral animal, like a dragon in human form. A possessiveness I didn’t know I possessed rose to the surface. “You’re mine and no one else’s.”

“Yours.” Kieran grabbed my legs and hefted them over his shoulders.

“Oh gods.” I was so sensitive, it hurt. But that pain was so fucking welcome that I arched into it.

The position drove him even deeper into me, deeper than I thought possible.

My core spasmed around him. Kieran groaned and slammed our lips together.

His hand tangled in my hair. Brutal and desperate.

Fondness swelled in my chest as I met him thrust for thrust. I didn’t think it was possible for pleasure to sweep me again so suddenly, but I felt it building once more.

“Yes,” I whimpered against his lips. “L-like that. Just like that.” He filled me so good. No one else could compare. Kieran had ruined me for other men for life. But I didn’t have to worry about that anymore. Kieran was mine. All mine.

Kieran groaned and dug his nails into my thighs.

He was well and truly hammering into me, thrusting so hard my body jolted with each movement.

In and out. In and out. It was never ending.

His grip in my hair was delightfully painful.

I squeezed around him, milking his cock.

I fucking knew it. The man had enough stamina to make a whole generation cry.

I watched his face as his pleasure crashed over him.

I was seconds away from once again falling to it.

Kieran’s eyes met mine. Another thrust of his hips, and it was game over for me. I gasped, arching into him. Kieran captured my lips in another kiss, and my orgasm pulled me under once more.

He slammed into me, and his rhythm jerked. Two more thrusts, and he was done. For a moment, it was like the world stopped. I closed my eyes and breathed. There were so many words I could say. So many emotions that threatened to drown me.

Kieran untangled his hand from my hair and cupped my chin.

His kiss was soft, like a caress. There was so much devotion in it, that my words died in my throat.

This man meant the world to me, and maybe tomorrow that would terrify me, but right now I melted into it.

We kept kissing until black dots coated my vision and my lungs burned.

Even then, I was reluctant to pull away.

Kieran’s eyes searched mine. “How is it that one person can shake my entire world? It’s not fair.”

“It’s terrifying.” I kissed him. At least we were in the same boat.

“I thought we agreed there’d be no welcoming party,” Kieran’s icy voice said from outside the inn the next morning.

I stiffened. We had breakfast at the inn that morning—now no longer under strict evacuation orders.

At Kieran’s words I jumped up from the table and joined him outside.

My eyes widened when I saw Evren Caddel standing just outside of the inn.

He wasn’t quite a mirror image of Kieran, but there was no denying the resemblance.

He stood tall, maybe an inch shorter than Kieran.

Like Wes, he had dark skin and brown eyes.

Evren was slimmer than them both, having clearly never trained for fighting.

While Kieran was all hard angles, Evren wasn’t.

There was a softness to him, even more prominent in the way he held himself—shoulders back and stance open.

Evren smiled. He acted as if Kieran hadn’t just spit venom at him.

A coward. A peacemaker. Too mellow to stand for any convictions he might have.

“I would have stayed behind like you wished, even with the gryphon attack last night, but circumstances have changed. I wish I had good news to deliver to you, but unfortunately, I’ve received an urgent report, one that I need you to send to King Luther immediately. ”

Kieran straightened. “What’s the news?”

“One of the watchtowers found a royal caravan murdered by gryphons at the border between Caddel and Kalimera. They were headed straight toward our castle.”

“That’s unfortunate but hardly urgent.”

Evren’s eyes flicked toward me. “They were transporting satather, Kieran.”

At that, Kieran went completely still. My curiosity spiked, but I kept silent. Kieran would tell me whatever the hell Evren was talking about when we were alone. “Where are they now?” Kieran asked in a low tone.

“Our watchtower guards recovered the goods, but along the way, Andovan spies snuck into the watchtower. They almost succeeded in taking the satather.”

“Where. Is. It?”

Evren shook his head. “The spymasters wouldn’t say. After that attack, they went deep underground. It’s best that as few people know as possible. You have to inform King Luther.”

Kieran grabbed my hand. The shadows instantly overtook us, and we reappeared right in the clearing where our dragons waited for us. I clambered onto Umara’s back, a knot coiling in my stomach. “What happened?” I asked over the roar of the wind. “What’s satather?”

“It’s a new code word for the dragon eggs.

” Kieran flexed his jaw. “Andova knows where the eggs are now—at least, their general location. Even with the spymasters going underground…” He shook his head.

“Dragons can sense the eggs if they’re close enough in proximity.

” He turned to me, his eyes dark. “We’re going to war. ”

“Kieran.” My eyes widened. I looked over his shoulder and blinked just to make sure I wasn’t missing it. “Look. ”

Dread coiled in my gut. Off in the distance was a massive gray dragon on our side of the border.

I knew that dragon, everyone did. It was Praskovya, the female dragon known for her hunting abilities.

Of all three dragons in Andova, this was the only one we’d seen before.

She frequently tested our boundaries and was known for her speed. But for her to be this far out…

Kieran’s expression hardened. “The invasion’s already begun.”