Page 12

Jax

I DIDN’T KNOW WHO WAS more deserving of my rage—Tannin for expressly disobeying my direct order, or the princess for tempting us both and placing this massive wedge between us.

Fucking cowardly Tannin. I should have known he wouldn’t be strong enough to do the job with his endless compassion and gentle heart. It made him weak. He was supposed to be my brother, my second-in-command, and yet he’d turned his back on me for that conniving royal brat.

I should never have delegated the task to him in the first place. I was the Alpha. Eliminating threats was my job. I should have taken the responsibility of killing her myself.

Yet, as I sat in my armchair, stewing and chewing on my dark thoughts, I couldn’t convince my body to move.

Why hadn’t I just killed her before? Or let the cusith destroy her. Last night after I made my moon song would have been the perfect opportunity, while she was asleep and unable to use her feminine wiles to disarm me.

Why wasn’t I getting off my ass and doing it right now? At least an hour had passed since Tannin had stormed in here and berated me, and all I had done was brood impotently.

I didn’t want to kill her. The thought of it seized my muscles and joints, making it difficult to breathe.

But it was just the mate bond doing that to me.

I knew nothing about the girl to whom Fate had cruelly decided to shackle me.

The only thing I knew for sure was that she was the Varinyan heir, and I should hate her for that.

But I didn’t. Not in any measurable way I could use to fuel my muscles into action.

Was I weak like Tannin? Was I too beguiled by the mate bond to do what I knew must be done?

Furious tension ripped through my seemingly frozen muscles. No. I was not weak. I was the fucking Alpha, and I was going to take care of this once and for all.

Right now.

With great effort, I shoved myself off the chair and strode for the door. I would not stop until I found the princess, then I’d grip her by the neck with both hands and choke the life out of her before she even knew what was happening. Then she wouldn’t be my problem anymore.

Just as my hand reached the doorknob, a soft tapping came from the other side, and I hesitated.

Perhaps it was Tannin coming to apologize for his incompetence and beg for my forgiveness?

A smug sense of satisfaction swept over me, loosening my shoulders. But then it disappeared just as suddenly. Maybe instead he’d come to plead with me to spare the girl’s life like the sniveling pup he was.

Either way, I would be the magnanimous leader he needed and set him straight. The princess had to die. End of discussion. And he would come to heel.

I turned the knob and pulled the door open, ready for whatever Tannin had to say.

But it wasn’t Tannin.

The princess was standing in the hall, draped in a lace negligee so sheer that I could see every torturously sensuous inch of her through it. My blood flash-boiled with desire as my mouth hung open, my dick instantly hard beneath my slacks.

“Can I come in?” she purred, flaring a perfectly arched eyebrow as those amber eyes locked me in their snare.

Too stunned to speak, I mutely took a step to the side to welcome her inside. She sashayed past me, and I was helpless not to visually devour her perky ass that swayed from side to side as she made her way to the center of the room.

My mouth ran dry. I closed the door, facing the wooden panels for a few seconds as I struggled to regain my wits and resolve. Then, with bated breath and thundering pulse, I turned the dead bolt.

Whatever happened next, I didn’t want any interruptions from Tannin.

This was perfect. I didn’t have to hunt her down. She’d practically delivered herself to me on a silver platter. And now trapped in my room with only me, there was nothing and no one to stop me from killing her.

But she was so goddamned sexy, and every molecule in my body burned to destroy her in an entirely different way—to pin her sweet little body against the wall, plunge my cock between those creamy thighs, and fuck her while she screamed my name in ecstasy again and again!

No. I was stronger than that. She would not dissuade me from my duty.

She dies now.

Solidifying my purpose, I turned on her with a predatory gaze, then stalked toward her.

“What do you think you’re doing, little princess?” I growled low in my throat as I came to loom over her.

She looked up at me with those innocent yet yearning eyes and ran her tongue over her lips, this time in a very intentional, seductive way that had primal need stabbing into me.

“I’m making things easy for both of us,” she purred, stepping even closer and putting her hands softly on my chest. “I know you want me just as badly as I want you.”

I swallowed dryly, keeping my face fixed in a disdainful expression. “And what makes you think such a silly thing?”

“Because you look at me like you want to devour me,” she said, running her hand down my body and past the waistband of my pants. Then she pressed against the ridge of my stiff cock, making me grunt. “And because of this.”

She rubbed her hand up and down the length of me, and a lustful haze filled my head, dissolving the motivation I fought to hold onto.

Grab her neck. Snap it and be done with it!

She lifted onto her toes, her face so painfully close to mine that I couldn’t help but inhale her sweet scent with each tight breath.

“Take me, Jax,” she cooed, brushing her lips teasingly against mine.

I fucking lost it.

With hungry, clawed fingers, I clutched her hips and crushed her against me, conquering her mouth with mine.

Her lips parted, inviting my eager tongue in to rake against hers.

She tasted just as sweet as she smelled, and her mouth was so delightfully hot and pliant, giving into my dominion over her.

I wondered if her other lips would taste as sweet, and I gripped her ass to press her pelvis over my starving cock.

Even through the two thin layers of fabric, I could feel the moist heat of her pussy teasing my shaft, and it was all I could do to stop myself from yanking my dick out and thrusting it into her.

No. I can’t succumb to her temptation. Kill her. Now!

With a snarl, I backed her up to the wall and gripped her neck, pinning her there like the helpless prey she was.

“Yes,” she whimpered, nipping at my bottom lip. “Please.”

She thought I was playing with her?

Did she really not understand the mortal danger she was in? How easily I could snap her pretty little neck?

But instead of tightening my hand around her throat, I shoved my tongue into her mouth until I couldn’t think straight. She was the most intoxicating creature, and the taste of her, the smell of her... it was all too incredible to resist.

My other hand lifted the lacy negligee and roamed between her legs, which she spread wide to welcome my touch. And oh, the sweet, warm wetness that greeted my fingertips as I slid them over the slick, delicate folds!

I found her clit with my fingertips, swollen and juicy. I ran my fingers over the tiny bud again and again, luxuriating in the sounds of her pleasure. Her soft gasps and whimpers were a serenade to my greedy soul, encouraging me to push her even further.

I strummed her pussy like it was an exquisite instrument that I was born to play. Finally, when I couldn’t take it any longer, I plunged my index finger inside her entrance, eliciting a sharp gasp from her lips. Greedily, I swallowed the sound.

Fuck, she was so wet, so tight. And she was mine. Mine!

I dragged my finger in and out, pumping my palm against her clit as I made her squeal louder and faster.

She was getting close to ecstasy, her pussy tightening around my finger, which seemed to know exactly where and how to touch her.

And fuck, I wanted—no, needed —to bring her to ruin under my mercy.

Just a little bit more, my sweet little princess...

“Come for me,” I demanded into her mouth.

And like a good little girl, she obeyed immediately.

She moaned into my feverish kisses as her pussy squeezed and contracted around my finger, her juices dripping over my knuckles.

I continued to pulse the heel of my hand against her clit, coaxing out every last ounce of pleasure from her body until her quaking finally stopped.

Then I withdrew my finger and brought it up to my mouth, sucking it between my lips. Gods, her juices were even sweeter than her mouth!

Before I could question my intentions, I dropped to my knees, forced her legs apart, and lapped my tongue against her pussy. Her fingers tangled into my hair as I ate her, her thighs trembling around my shoulders like they were the only thing holding her up.

Finally, I rose back to my feet, standing over her, paralyzed with indecision.

I was far from done with her. I wanted to ruin her in every possible way. And the pleading way she looked up at me, she was begging me for all of it. I suddenly realized she wasn’t at my mercy. I was at hers.

Damn it.

I brought my face close to hers once more, and she leaned forward, eager for more kisses.

“Get out,” I snarled dangerously.

She flinched, blinking at me in confusion. “W-what?” she squeaked.

“Are you deaf?” I barked. “I said, get out!”

She shrunk inwardly like I’d hit her, then slid out from between me and the wall and rushed out the door, covering the front of her body like she was ashamed of herself.

The door slammed closed, followed by another muffled slam across the hall, and all I could do was stand there, facing the wall, wrestling to collect myself.

I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t kill her. I’d had her right in my grasp, and I’d failed.

But more importantly, I didn’t want to kill her. Tannin was right. Harming a mate went against every instinct we had. In fact, the very opposite was true. I wanted to protect her, cherish her, worship her.

I’d gone about this the wrong way.

Our pack would be here in a few days, and they’d be out for blood. How was I supposed to do right by my pack and protect the woman I was completely, irrevocably in love with at the same time?