Page 15 of Queen of Ever (Curse of Fate and Fae #2)

Chapter 15

Imogen

T he door was at my back, my only escape from the room. Tarian was so close to me, the darkness wrapping tightly around us, making the space seem smaller, more intimate, cut only by a few pale shafts of moonlight filtering through a window, or perhaps just a hole in the wall or a piece of collapsed ceiling. And he smelled so good, warm and masculine, stirring memories of what his skin had tasted like, of the way his hands had run over my hips, the touch of his lips, of his tongue—my breathing began to shallow as I tried to think of something else—anything else.

But his eyes were trained on me, and there was intent there I could read as clearly as if he’d spoken it. A shiver ran up my spine and I swallowed hard. He moved in closer and I backed up half a step, my back hitting the door. There was nowhere left to run.

‘Tarian, we shouldn’t—’

‘Shouldn’t what?’ he asked, his voice a low rumble as he took another step toward me, closing the distance between us, leaving my mind scrambling for logic as my body started to come alive with heat. I should have known better than to let this happen. He was like a drug to me, and if I’d thought that effect had lessened at all during our time apart, I was a damn fool.

‘We should... think this through,’ I said, dragging the words out of my mouth. My mind was struggling to stay ahead of the instinct clawing through my body, leaving me feeling raw and exposed and far too hot. If he touched me, I might just ignite.

‘I have thought about you every day since you left, sometimes in anger, sometimes in misery, but always those thoughts came to the same end; I knew I would see you again, and when I did, you’d never run from me again.’ The possessive undertone of that whole statement should have got my back up. It didn’t. I clenched my hands to keep from reaching for him. We held still for a long pause, poised in a frozen moment, our eyes locked, watching each other for a sign.

And then it was like something snapped and we came crashing into each other. His lips were on mine, urgent, insistent, full of all the emotion he hadn’t let me see, emotion that mirrored my own. Grief and loss tangled with love and desire. I realised too late that my memories hadn’t done him justice. I wasn’t prepared for the way kissing him unravelled me, flooding my body with an aching, smouldering need I’d do just about anything to sate. His lips left mine, tracing my jaw, moving down my neck as his hands gripped my waist. I could feel the warmth of his touch beneath the fabric of my dress and it made me want more, want to feel his fingers on my bare skin, want to trace the contours of his muscular form with my own.

‘I forgot what this was like,’ he rumbled against my throat, sending another shiver through me, setting my nerves on fire. I knew I should push him away, tell him we shouldn’t, that we needed to talk , but I couldn’t get my mouth to speak the words. The weight of his body against mine, pinning me against the door at my back, awakened every memory of every time he’d had me like this. Those memories lived and breathed in me, leading me in a direction I knew I shouldn’t be going. But I couldn’t stop.

I didn’t want to stop.

‘I’ve missed you.’ The words slipped off my tongue, unbidden, dangerous. He stopped then, to search my gaze there in the dark, and then his lips were on mine again, harder this time, something desperate in it—or maybe that desperation was mine. I was desperate to touch him, to feel him on me, inside me. Desperate to be near him. The part of me that had resisted him was succumbing to the part of me that wanted to cling to him, to let him sweep me up with sweet nothings and pleasure and pretend that nothing had ever gone wrong between us.

His tongue slid between my teeth as he pressed himself against me and I could feel him growing hard, which was like pouring gasoline on the flame of my own hunger, making me feel powerful in a way that only he could because he only responded to me like this, he was only this vulnerable with me . Suddenly, my hands were moving of their own accord as I kissed him back, pulling at his shirt until it was freed from his pants, sliding my hands beneath the fabric to feel the skin that lay beneath it. It was as if a dam had broken inside of him and the raw, untethered emotion radiating from him pushed me well and truly past the point of no return.

I needed this. Needed him. And that need consumed me. Consequences be damned.

His shirt was over his head before I’d realised what I was doing, revealing his muscled torso. My hands traced the contours of him, working their way up as I committed him to memory once more. I didn’t know when I would have the chance again, if I would have the chance again. I knew that once I opened the door behind me, the real world would come crashing back in, demolishing this little fantasy we now found ourselves in.

But just for one night, we could have this.

Tarian stood still, as if he was afraid to move while my hands traced his skin. As if he was afraid he’d spook me and it would all come to an end. But the tension riding his shoulders, his neck, the bob of his throat as he swallowed, told me just how difficult that was for him, and I felt another surge of satisfaction, another hit of my own power. It was intoxicating, almost as intoxicating as his warm scent.

He was waiting for me to take the lead, and I found myself curious to see where that would take us.

I made him wait as I moved my fingers over the ridges of his stomach, up to his chest, taking my time as I explored, my movements slow and taunting. I wanted to see how long he could hold out, even though my body cried out for him to touch me again.

Finally, his hand snapped around my wrist, stopping me from continuing my torturous exploration. ‘You’re abusing your power,’ he said, his voice a low rumble that rolled through me.

‘Am I?’ I asked, mock innocence in my tone. ‘What are you going to do about it?’ A devious look crossed his face. I felt the prickle of magic in the air and realised my mistake. ‘Wait—’

‘But it would be so satisfying to watch that dress disintegrate,’ he said, a wicked smirk on his lips that had my heart pounding.

‘You can’t.’ The protest was weak—he absolutely could and there would be nothing I could do about it. Hell, I’d probably have let him if we were somewhere else, but I couldn’t go traipsing back to my room naked.

‘Then you’d better turn around.’

I did as I was told, aware that he’d managed to take the power back far too easily. But he’d also cheated. Still, I couldn’t seem to feel anything but the excitement thrumming over my skin as he undid the buttons and laces of my dress, taking his time, taking his revenge as he slid his finger along my spine, as he dropped a kiss to my neck, my shoulder blade, making me itch to turn around, to feel those lips on mine again, to feel more than the featherlight touch of fingertips in teasing strokes. I swallowed down the urge, not willing to give in so easily.

The final button came free and I felt a tremor in his hand as he pushed the sleeves down my arms. The warmth of his touch, the knowledge of what was to come, made my breath hitch in my throat. Doubt began to creep in, and I wondered if I should stop this, if I shouldn’t just open that door and run.

But I’d been running for far too long. Whatever was happening with us, I knew with every fibre of my being that this was where I was meant to be, and I was tired of fighting it.

The cool air hit my bare skin, sending goosebumps racing across it. And then my dress was gone, swathes of fabric pooled at my feet and suddenly I felt very exposed, self-conscious in a way I didn’t expect. It had been so long since he’d seen me like this, it felt like that first time all over again. But it was more than that. This felt like a vow, somehow. Like I was agreeing to something if we kept going, but I didn’t know what, and even if I did, I was positive it wouldn’t stop me.

If I turned now, I knew it could change everything.

But what scared me more was that it would change nothing at all.

‘Don’t hide from me,’ he said and his lips brushed against the skin behind my ear. I could feel the heat of his body against mine, even though he wasn’t touching me yet.

‘I don’t think this is a good idea,’ I said, hating myself as the words came out. I couldn’t look at him as I said them. I wouldn’t have been able to say it at all if I had. He had too strong a hold on me and it sent all reason out the window, leaving raw emotion and instinct in its wake.

‘If you think I’m letting you get away from me again, you don’t know me very well,’ he said and there was no room for argument in his voice. He turned me around, his hands both gentle and firm. He took my chin between his fingers, forcing me to look at him. ‘I’ll do whatever it takes to win you back, Imogen.’

I believed him, and whatever resistance I still had hold of disintegrated, slipping through my fingers entirely. My arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer, as close as we could possibly be, because I had missed him, like a piece of my soul had been torn from me. His lips met mine and his hands circled my waist, holding me to him like he really would never let me go again, making me feel secure like I hadn’t in a long time, making me feel relieved, because now that I had him again, I didn’t know if I could let him go either.

I didn’t want to.

Something in the back of my mind was telling me to slow down, but the reasons seemed vague and unimportant and I couldn’t think straight with his tongue tangled with mine, the feel of him pressing against me, the sounds of our ragged breaths filling my ears.

I was lifted off my feet and my legs wrapped around him, that throbbing sensation growing stronger as he carried me across the room. I sucked in a breath as he placed me on a cold, stone surface, the chill biting at the back of my legs doing nothing to quiet the fire raging inside me.

I watched him as he unbuttoned his pants, anticipation thrilling through me. But when his eyes were on me again, I felt warmth flooding my cheeks. He looked at me like I was the only thing that existed in his world, like I was all that mattered. And as his gaze dropped from my lips to my breasts, roving over my curves, he looked as though he couldn’t decide where he wanted to start.

‘I’ve thought about this so many times,’ he said, almost as if he was speaking to himself.

‘Me too.’ The admission fell from my lips before I could catch it, but I didn’t regret it once it was out.

His eyes were heated as they caught mine, and the crooked smile on his lips told me he’d made his decision. He placed his hands on my knees, slowly sliding them up my thighs as he leaned in, taking my lips, and this time the kiss was languid and slow, full of promise. He stopped far too soon, dropping to his knees, and anticipation tightened my every muscle as my breath sped up, fanning the hungry flames of need to an unbearable level.

He gripped my thighs and pulled me forward, then pushed my legs apart. My breath caught as he moved closer, dropping a kiss to my stomach, then to the crease where my leg met my hip, then to the soft skin of my inner thigh. When his tongue touched me where I wanted him most, my head fell back as pleasure darted along my nerves, making my toes curl. I gripped the edge of the table, my knuckles turning white. It felt like that grip was all that was keeping me from splitting at the seams. My voice filled the room as he licked at me, as his finger slid inside me, and my body began to tremble at the effort to stay present, not to lose myself in the pleasure of it.

Just as I felt like I couldn’t take anymore, he stopped.

My eyes blinked open, my breaths coming out in panting gasps. ‘Why did you stop?’ I asked.

He smiled in response, the smile of a man who had me right where he wanted me. ‘Because I want to make you squirm a little longer.’ I barely had time to wonder what he planned next before his lips were on mine. In one swift motion, he’d lifted me from the table and taken my place, straddling me over his lap. I could feel his firm erection pressing against my core and I lowered myself slowly down, feeling every inch of him, enjoying the groan that came from his throat, knowing that it was for me and me alone.

His hands gripped my hips and as I started to rock them, feeling him moving inside me, his lips returned to my neck, teeth grazing my nape, trailing down my chest. He sucked a taut nipple into his mouth and I cried out as pleasure rocked through me again. My fingers tangled in his hair, holding him to me, silently begging for more as my hips moved faster, chasing that promised release. Our breaths tangled together, panting and hot, as he released my nipple, and he brought his hand to the back of my head, bringing my lips to his, taking them hard enough to bruise, as if he was claiming them.

‘Come for me,’ he ordered.

It was as if something in me snapped and pleasure crashed through me, consuming me in a throbbing zenith as I cried out, unable to stop myself. My muscles clenched around him as the climax hit, bringing him with me as he let out a guttural groan, his fingers digging into my hips as he held me tight against him.

When we both grew still, foreheads resting together, time seemed to stretch out. The only sound was our panting breaths but soon the distant sound of revelry began to seep into our stolen moment. Reality was prying open that door. I knew it wouldn’t be kept at bay forever.

I climbed off him and quickly began pulling my clothes back on, cursing my damn dress and all the ridiculous buttons it had. I was never going to get them all done up, I’d have to hope no one saw me as I snuck back to my room.

‘Imogen?’ Tarian said, and I could hear the hurt in his voice, though he tried to hide it.

‘I just...’ I began, not really knowing what I was going to say. ‘We shouldn’t have done that,’ I said instead, which didn’t feel right, either. ‘We were supposed to talk.’

‘We can still talk,’ he said, sliding off the table to move towards me.

‘Don’t,’ I said quickly, holding out a hand, as if that would be enough to stop him if he really wanted to get to me. I should have known better. Sex always muddied things, and things were already plenty muddy where Tarian and I were concerned. I just needed to step away, I needed time to think where he couldn’t cloud my mind.

‘Imogen, don’t push me away now,’ he said.

I took a step back, trying to keep some distance between us. ‘I don’t trust myself around you.’

Before either of us could say anything more, a bell sounded and as I looked down at the mask in my hand, I could feel the magic beginning to fade.

‘The feast is ending,’ Tarian explained.

So now there was nothing keeping me hidden on the way back to my room. Shit. That’s just what I needed. Bloody fae magic. ‘I need to get back before someone sees me,’ I said.

Tarian’s jaw tightened and that openness I’d seen in his face tonight closed off. I felt sad to see his guard up again, but I couldn’t exactly demand that he lower it when I was running away. Again. He looked as if he was struggling with something and the silence that had felt so heated before now felt loaded with something else. I didn’t want to end this night arguing with him, so I took the coward’s way out and turned for the door.

He gripped my wrist, stopping me in my tracks. ‘You’re running again.’

I looked up at him, feeling an ache in my heart that I wondered if he felt, too. ‘I just need some time to think,’ I said. I knew better than to think we’d be able to talk now with the smell of sex still hanging heavily in the air. God knew that the desire I felt when we’d first entered the room hadn’t exactly dissipated. I wasn’t sure it ever would. ‘I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.’

‘What do you want to do?’

‘Probably something I shouldn’t,’ I said before I could stop myself. What I wanted to do was stay. But we still hadn’t resolved anything, and I wasn’t sure we would tonight. Besides, with the feast ended, it wouldn’t be long before someone came looking for me, and I wasn’t sure what would happen if I was found with Tarian half-naked and my dress hanging off me, held in place by my hands. ‘I have to go.’

‘Fine,’ he said grudgingly, then he pulled me to him and claimed my lips in a kiss that was all-consuming, making my knees go weak. ‘But I’ll be coming for you.’

Maybe I should have argued, told him not to. But I wanted him to. I didn’t trust my voice, so I nodded instead. It seemed to be enough to satisfy him. For now. He released me and I slid the mask back on my face before hurrying out of the room.