Page 17 of Fae-King It (Mystical Matchmakers #5)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Hands moved over her skin, waking her. Dominique shifted beneath the touch, her blood beginning to hum with arousal. A low sound escaped her mouth as her head tilted back, coming into contact with a firm shoulder.

Arms wrapped around her, holding tightly, as they rolled until she lay on her back on top of a hard male body. Palms cupped her breasts through her bra, shaping them for a moment before the lace cups were pulled down to reveal her tight nipples. Dominique pressed her thighs together as sure fingers rolled and tugged at the tips of her breasts. Knees came up between hers, and he used his legs to part her thighs, opening her wide.

One of those clever hands smoothed down her abdomen to the waistband of her panties, the tips of his fingers dipping beneath the lace. He stopped there, lightly stroking the skin above her pubic hair as he continued to play with her nipples.

Dominique lifted her hips, but his fingers remained where they were, ignoring her silent invitation.

“Ronan,” she moaned.

A low sound rumbled from his chest, vibrating against her back, and those fingers moved straight down, slipping over her swelling clit, and dipping into her body. Dominique gasped at the sudden intrusion, her hips arching as those two fingers pressed deeper inside her.

One of her hands flew back, fisting in his hair, and the other landed on the back of his fingers as he plucked her nipple.

He removed his fingers from inside her, moving them up to pinch her clit between them. She moaned again as he began to tug and rub her clit the same way he was her nipple. The hard ridge of his cock nudged her ass as his mouth traced the top of her shoulder.

Dominique couldn’t think, only feel, as he continued to touch her, playing with her breasts and clit until she was writhing on top of his body, grinding her hips back into his erection.

“Are you going to come for me, Princess?” Ronan asked, his words low and rough against her throat just before he bit the tendon on the side of her neck.

She nodded, moaning at the sharp edge of his teeth on her flesh.

“Are you going to take my cock like a good girl?” he continued, sucking lightly at her throat at first, then harder when all she did was nod again. “Answer me out loud,” he demanded.

“Yes!” she cried, opening her legs wider as he began to rub slow circles over her clit. A reward for doing what he said.

The hand at her breast moved down and the fingers on her clit vanished, causing her to whimper in desperation. Then, in two strong tugs, he tore the delicate lace on each side of her hips and ripped the panties from her body. He shifted beneath her, his hand moving between their bodies and his knuckles brushing her ass.

A moment later, the thick head of his cock pressed against her opening before slowly surging inside. The fingers of one hand returned to her clit, playing with the pulsing bundle of nerves as his other hand fisted in the back of her hair.

Using his hold on her hair, Ronan turned her face toward his. His lips captured hers, his tongue tracing her bottom lip before using his teeth to gently bite it. He kept kissing her as he drew slow, firm circles around her clit. His cock pulsed inside her, but he didn’t move his hips, just held himself deep.

Dominique writhed on his body, trying to get the friction she needed to push her over the edge.

“Nuh-uh,” Ronan said, releasing her mouth long enough to bite down on the top of her shoulder.

Then, he spanked her clit. Just hard enough to sting. A throb went through her body, and her pussy contracted around his cock. Ronan groaned against her shoulder before lifting his hand and doing it again. Dominique tried to snap her knees together at the intense sensation, but his legs kept hers spread wide. She didn’t mean to do it, but Dominique yanked at his hair as her body burned. She couldn’t tell if she was going to come or if she wanted to scream at him to stop because it was too much. Before she could decide, his fingertips settled on her pussy again.

A tremor ran through her when he began circling the tingling bundle of nerves again, harder this time.

“I think you like it when I spank your clit, Princess. Do you?”

She couldn’t form words to answer him. Her entire focus was centered on the sensation of his fingers on her pussy and the hard length of his dick inside her.

“Answer me,” he demanded, giving her another quick smack.

“I don’t know,” Dominique sobbed, her head thrashing on his shoulder.

“I think you do,” he said. “Every time I give you a little swat, your pussy squeezes me so tight, like you want me deeper.”

“I-I—“ Dominique couldn’t respond. Her entire body felt electric, as though a current ran straight from her body, connecting her neck, her breasts, and her clit.

“I know you said you’d take my cock like a good girl, but considering you’ve been bad, maybe you need to be punished.”

Before she could comprehend what he was talking about, Ronan lifted his hand and smacked the tips of his fingers over her clit, over and over, until her entire body locked up and a strangled cry escaped her throat as she came.

Ronan gripped her hips and rocked her against him as he pulled out and thrust deep inside her. The sensation of his cock moving inside her, coupled with the intensity of her orgasm, made her cry out again, louder this time.

“That’s it,” he said. “Keep coming for me, Princess.”

When his fingers ghosted over her clit again, drawing out the spasms rocking her body, Dominique tried to roll off him. Ronan followed her, pinning her face down on the mattress as he fucked her harder and deeper. His hand was trapped between her body and the comforter, her clit pinched between his middle and index finger.

Dominique bucked beneath him as each thrust of his hips shifted her against his hold, tugging at her clit. He shifted his knees until he straddled her thighs, his pelvis slapping against her ass as he drove deep inside her with each thrust.

The sound that escaped her throat actually hurt as she began to come again, the pressure inside her bursting with an intensity she’d never experienced before. She shuddered under Ronan as he groaned and the motion of his hips slowed, growing uneven.

“Fuck,” he said, his voice strained. “Fuck, Dominique.”

Dominique collapsed beneath him, her body melting into the mattress as the last spasms of her orgasm ran through her. She gasped softly when his hand left her clit, leaving a wet trail along her lower abdomen as he slipped it free from between her body and the bed.

Ronan shifted forward slightly, making her gasp again, this time louder. Dominique could hear how wet she was with each move and felt the liquid soaking into the bed beneath her.

“Hmmm. You liked being punished so much that you squirted for me, Princess,” Ronan said.

Her body tensed beneath him, and she pushed herself up on her elbows, looking back over her shoulder at him. “What exactly do you think I deserve punishment for?” she asked.

“Did you forget that you let Aisling into your room after I told you not to open the door for anyone?” he asked, arching an eyebrow at her.

Dominique sighed, not even sure how to argue with that insane brand of logic. Finally, she settled on, “Considering I’m a fully grown woman and not a child, I’m a bit old for punishment, Ronan.”

His fingers curved around her hips, angling her lower body up just a bit. “Okay, it wasn’t a punishment then. It was just fucking hot.”

She couldn’t argue with that because she’d come so hard that she thought she’d split in two. With a sigh, Dominique dropped her head on the blanket beneath her.

Gentle fingers trailed over her spine before Ronan planted his palm on her back, rubbing gently. “Are you doing okay?” he asked.

Sensing he wasn’t talking about her physical condition, Dominique shifted forward, letting his softening cock slide out of her, and then turned over onto her back so she could see his face.

“I’m okay,” she answered.

“Are you sure? I mean, your mother?—”

Dominique shook her head before she interrupted him. “I don’t want to protect them or help them anymore. Willingly or unwillingly. Graciella and Jurgen made their bed when they tried to poison you. I can’t stop whatever happens next and, honestly, they can’t be allowed to continue on as they have been. They’re dangerous to anyone they deem an obstacle to their goals.”

Ronan moved, stretching out of her so her legs were trapped between his thighs and his chest pinned her upper body to the bed. He rested most of his weight on his elbows as he studied her face.

“You don’t feel betrayed?” he asked quietly.

Dominique shook her head. “I stopped expecting their loyalty and consideration twenty years ago. My parents proved themselves to be untrustworthy. I knew they would try to gain control of me, but I didn’t expect them to try to outright attack you like that. I thought they were smarter than that.”

“You know what’s going to happen next, don’t you?” he asked.

At her short inhale, Ronan regretted his words. He probably shouldn’t have woken her up by fucking her either, but she’d been moaning in her sleep and rubbing her ass on his cock, which is what woke him up. He hadn’t been thinking about anything but how she felt against him when he put his hands on her. The sounds of her moans and the way her body writhed when he touched her.

“I know,” she said, bringing his thoughts back to their conversation. “What about my sisters?”

Ronan pressed his lips together, not sure how he should answer.

“Ronan?”

He decided to be completely honest. “They’ll be interrogated. Not tortured but questioned. Probably not in the most comfortable setting either. If they’re innocent of any wrongdoing or were forced to aid your parents, they won’t be executed, but they will be banished to the human realm.”

“And if they didn’t know what my parents were planning in regard to assassinating your family?”

“They’ll still have to leave the fae realm, Dominique,” he answered.

“Why? Surely your parents understand that they may not have known what was going on?”

“They do. That’s why they won’t be punished in any other way if they’re not fully involved. But it’s safer for them, and for us, if they leave Magic.”

“How is it safer for them?” Dominique asked.

Ronan sighed. “If some of our loyal subjects decide that our findings were wrong, they could try to hurt your sisters. Or if they worry that your sisters got away with treason. Then, if we allow them to stay, it will make our less loyal blood relatives think they won’t be executed if they try something similar. We can’t afford for either of those things to happen.”

Dominique nodded. She understood. She wasn’t even sure why she was defending her sisters. They’d never been very nice to her, and they often treated her like an inconvenience unless they needed something from her, but she knew that they were partially like that because of their parents. The influence of Graciella and Jurgen would have been difficult to withstand. Dominique had plenty of her own unhealthy coping mechanisms, like hiding her emotions behind a wall of ice whenever she felt threatened. Or refusing to show emotions at all, whether she was among friends or not.

“What are you thinking about?” Ronan asked.

Dominique almost brushed off his question, but the way he was looking at her was…different. The sardonic edge that usually accompanied his words was missing.

“Just wondering how much of my sisters’ personalities were due to my parents and how much is truly how they feel,” she admitted.

Ronan brushed a lock of hair away from her cheek as he looked down at her. “For their sake, I hope most of it is because of your parents.”

Though Dominique wasn’t convinced it was possible, she hoped so, too.

The wetness beneath her was beginning to become cold and clammy, causing Dominique to shift on the mattress.

“What is it?” Ronan asked, his voice still warm and soft. He was stretched over her as though he wanted to be right where he was.

“I’m a little…wet.”

A smirk stole across his lips, which made her smack his arm.

“No need to look so smug,” she grumbled.

“Oh, that wasn’t the first time you squirted?” he asked.

A flush swept over her face, but she didn’t answer, just shoved his shoulders.

With a chuckled, Ronan rolled off of her to the edge of the bed, where he stood. Then, he reached down and pulled her to the edge of the mattress.

“Let’s get cleaned up. The dressmaker was here earlier, but I told him to come back in an hour.” He glanced at the clock on his mantle. “He’ll be here in ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes?!” Dominique cried. “I need to hurry.”

When she headed toward the closet, which connected to her room, Ronan grabbed her around the waist and steered her toward his bathroom.

“We’re using my bathroom,” he stated. “Your stuff is already inside.”

He ignored the narrow-eyed look she shot him over her shoulder and continued to use his grip on her hips to make her walk before him into the bathing room.

Dominique tried to resist until she saw the space before her. “Oh, my goodness,” she breathed.

“You like it?” he asked.

She nodded, her head swiveling as she took in the room. “This is amazing,” she finally admitted.

“Shower or bath?” he asked.

Her gaze went to the bathing pool in the center of the room, the water rippling slightly from the recirculation system that kept the water supply clean at all times. Steam rose from the surface, and he could tell she wanted to take a bath.

But practicality won out.

“Shower,” she answered.

She didn’t resist as he gripped her hips again and marched her toward the huge, glass-walled shower. The hair clip she’d left around the towel bar in her room was now on the towel rack next to his shower. Her shampoo, conditioner, soap, and razor were on their own shelf in the corner of the tiled stall.

“You weren’t joking,” she said.

“About?”

“That you had all my things moved in here.”

He continued urging her into the stall. “Of course, I was serious.”

Dominique wasn’t sure what to say. His behavior was so different than before. She thought he hated her, but his attitude now was much more…affectionate.

Unable to process everything she was thinking, Dominique grabbed her hair clip and piled her hair on top of her head. Unsurprisingly, Ronan followed her into the shower, where she tried to ignore him and focus on washing off quickly, but it was impossible.

Her eyes kept wandering over his naked body. Water and the lather from his soap ran down the lean lines of his muscles, and she couldn’t tear her gaze away.

“You’re running out of time, Princess,” he said.

His words shook her out of the trance, and she hurried to finish washing her face and body. Ronan had already finished and gotten out when she turned off the faucets. Dominique hurriedly ran a towel over her body before she took her robe from the hook on the wall and exited the bathroom.

Ronan was nowhere in sight, but Dominique assumed her clothes were in the closet and walked to the open door. She stopped just outside the door, leaning a shoulder against the jamb as she watched Ronan pull a pair of black athletic pants over matching black briefs. The muscles in his back flexed as he reached up to grab a T-shirt—also black.

“Are you going to stand there in your robe and watch me or are you going to get dressed?” he asked.

“Just taking in the free show,” she quipped. “And there’s no use in getting dressed since the dressmaker will just make me remove my clothing before trying on the gown he made.”

At her words, Ronan’s head snapped around. “What? He? The royal dressmaker is a woman!”

“No, the royal dressmaker was a woman until two years ago. Now, it’s a man,” Dominique replied, pushing away from the door, and heading toward a grouping of drawers on the opposite wall from Ronan’s clothing. Since the outfits she’d packed were hanging on the rail above them, she assumed her underclothes and nightwear were inside them.

Sure enough, her bras and panties were neatly stowed in the top drawer. Dominique selected a strapless bra and thong, knowing that she would wear them beneath the dress when she married Ronan tomorrow.

The thought of her rapidly approaching wedding made her heart beat faster in her chest. Even though she knew their marriage wouldn’t be a real one, she couldn’t stop the thrill that raced through her at the thought of calling Ronan her husband. And his vow that neither of them would have other lovers. Considering she’d foolishly gone and fallen in love with the man, Dominique counted her blessings in that.

“You’re wearing more than that, Dominique!” he spat from behind her when she pulled the bra and thong from the drawer.

Dominique looked over her shoulder at him, surprised that he called her by name. She’d grown so accustomed to the way he drawled Princess, that the sound of her name from his lips took her by surprise. “This is what I’m going to wear under the wedding gown. I have put them on so the dress will drape correctly for the fitting.”

His jaw ticked as he stared at her. The black T-shirt was clenched in his hand, forgotten. His shoulder and chest muscles were tight, as though he were holding himself back.

“No other man should be looking at you nearly naked,” he stated. “Not unless you want me to gouge out his eyes.”

“What?” She couldn’t believe her ears. He sounded…jealous.

Ronan stalked toward her, closing the short distance between them quickly. Dominique took a step back when his bare abdomen pressed against hers. He kept moving, backing her against the drawers behind her. Leaning forward, he put one hand on each side of her hips, caging her between his arms.

“Your body belongs to me,” he said. “No one else should be looking at what’s mine.”

He sounded like a caveman, something that should incite her anger rather than make her pulse pound or her skin feel tight.

“No, Ronan. My body belongs to me . I share it with you because I want to.”

His eyes narrowed and thin tendrils of shadow gathered beneath his skin before they emerged to surround him, weaving and swaying like serpents.

“Are you saying you’re going to share your body with other men?”

The question sounded as though it were dragged from his chest. His voice had dropped so deep that he sounded nearly demonic.

“No,” she answered, shaking her head. “That’s not what I’m saying.”

His blue eyes were dark, nearly as black as the shirt still clutched in his hand. “Then what did you mean by that?”

Dominique put her hands on his chest. The shadows dancing atop his skin, curling around her fingers. She could barely feel them, like the brush of a butterfly’s wings. “I’m not yours, Ronan. You made it very clear that our marriage will be temporary. That the entire reason you chose me for this…this…arrangement was because neither of us could nor would get attached. I promised you I wouldn’t take other lovers while we are together, but that doesn’t mean you own me.”

Ronan’s hands moved from the drawers behind her, up her back. He cradled the back of her skull in his hands, his fingers thrusting into her hair, and his thumbs ran down the side of her throat beneath her ears. If he hadn’t been staring at her as though he wanted to strangle her, she would have thought his touch was tender.

“But what if I want to own you?” he asked.

Dominique had no reply for that. None. Her mind went utterly blank as his gaze locked on hers.

“You—” she began.

A crisp knock at the door interrupted her.

Thank the gods. Dominique snapped her mouth shut, grateful to the dressmaker for showing up because she had nearly told Ronan that he already owned her. The only thing more foolish than falling in love with the prince would be to tell him how she felt.

“We’re not done discussing this and I won’t be leaving you alone with the godsdamned dressmaker, so don’t even bring it up.”

With a sharp nip to her bottom lip, Ronan bent to pick up his T-shirt from the floor. He must have dropped it at some point.

“Put those on,” he commanded, gesturing to her underwear. “But you’d damned well better wear the robe over it until you have to take it off.”

Speechless, Dominique watched him prowl out of the closet. Her legs weakened and she sagged against the wooden structure behind her.

What in the hell just happened?