Page 25 of Queen of Legends and Lies (Dragons of Tirene #4)

Chapter Twenty-One

The title won’t leave my mind. Another prophecy about me. Another burden to carry.

Is my reign as queen a curse upon Tirene?

The thought chills me to the bone.

I stare into Sterling’s molten eyes. He lifts an arm and snaps his fingers. The shuffling and chatter halts.

Ash Queen.

“Pleas are done for the day. You’re all dismissed.” His deep voice carries through the vaulted space.

Ash Queen.

The people and council members alike waste no time gathering their things and filing out, their footsteps echoing on the marble floor.

Ash Queen, destroyer of crops.

As silence settles, I glance around the spacious, newly vacant room.

Wait. Not entirely empty.

A handful of council members linger near the grand double doors, including Vicar Moise. His green eyes appraise me cooly, his handsome face unreadable.

I start to rise from the ornate throne, ready to run back to my rooms. I need time and space to think. And maybe to research the archives.

Sterling’s warm palm rests on my thigh, calming me. “Leave us,” he instructs them.

The remaining council members depart without argument. Even Moise exits, though he takes his sweet time.

We’re alone now in the cavernous space, the shuffle of feet outside the doors the only sound.

Emotion clogs my throat, and moisture pricks my eyes.

Sterling’s calloused fingers find mine, and he draws me up to stand before him. “Don’t cry, love. You are not the Ash Queen.”

I open my mouth to protest, but he places a finger to my lips.

“You are fire and life. The flame that ignites me.” He trails kisses up my throat, across my jawline. “You are the fuel that powers goodness in this world. You’re hope personified.”

I want so badly to believe him, to let his conviction burn away the doubts plaguing me. But all my failures and fears threaten to smother even Sterling’s light. His confidence in me.

I rise up on my tiptoes and cup his chiseled face in my hands. “I don’t feel that in me.”

Strong arms circle my waist, tugging me flush against the hard planes of Sterling’s body. Even through the layers of my gown, his touch ignites a familiar heat low in my core. “Then I’ll show you.”

A needy whimper escapes me, and I melt into him.

I thread my fingers through his silky hair as he kisses me like he means to convey everything I am to him.

Ziva’s flames, it doesn’t matter how many times I have him. I always want more. As if he’s reading my thoughts, one hand drifts down to palm my rear.

I tear my mouth away, panting. “Sterling, I…”

But he silences me with another drugging kiss, his tongue delving deep to claim me. Fire licks through my veins. I surrender to the inferno of passion he effortlessly conjures within me.

Until the niggling whispers of doubt snuff it out again.

I wrench back, bracing my hands on his chest. “What if I fail them all? Our people, this kingdom, you?”

With skilled precision, he drags my skirts up my trembling legs while holding my gaze. “Are you going to give up? Accept defeat?” His calm tone contains a note of challenge.

My lungs hitch. “Never.”

Approval flashes in Sterling’s eyes. He bunches my skirts around my waist and hooks a finger in my underwear.

“Then you cannot fail, my queen.” He leans in to place a row of sultry kisses along my neck, and my knees become jelly. “So long as your fire burns, I will burn with you. For you. Until our enemies are nothing but ash in the wind.”

Fingers fumbling, I try to reach for the buttons in the back of my gown only to be interrupted as he tears it right off.

Fabric rips. Delicate seams snap. Buttons scatter, skittering across the floor.

But I can’t find it in me to care as Sterling lifts what remains of the ruined dress over my head and tosses the material aside.

Along with my fears, my doubts, and my insecurities.

For this stolen moment, I am only Lark. A woman stripped bare before her lover. Vulnerable yet unashamed under his heated gaze as it rakes over my nakedness. My breasts rise and fall rapidly with each shallow breath.

Sterling drops to his knees before the throne.

Before me.

A king kneeling before his queen.

The image sends a dark thrill through me. He grasps my hips and pulls me to the edge of the seat. Spreads my thighs wide. Cool air caresses my exposed flesh.

Just as he starts to lower his mouth to my aching center, a wicked thought enters my mind. I catch his face between my hands. Tilt it up to mine. “My turn. You already had your fun earlier.”

His eyes glimmer with amusement and arousal. “Is that a royal command, Your Majesty?”

In answer, I slide forward on the throne, pushing him back until he’s standing in front of me. I make quick work of his pants, freeing his impressive erection. It juts proudly, the broad tip glistening.

My mouth waters, and every nerve in my body sizzles.

Impressive doesn’t even begin to describe his magnificent body, but it’s a start.

Maintaining eye contact, I take him into my mouth.

Sterling tilts his head back with a low groan. “ Fuuuck .”

I hum in pleasure, the vibrations causing him to shudder. There’s power in bringing this formidable man to the brink with my lips and tongue. I revel in it as I stroke and suck and tease. Coaxing more of those delectable sounds from him.

He threads his fingers through my hair, not to guide, just to anchor himself.

I set a relentless pace, spurred on by his labored breathing and tensing muscles.

His hips start to rock, meeting my eager mouth.

“Lark, I can’t. I’m going to…” Sterling chokes out the words between clenched teeth.

But I don’t let up. I want to ruin him as thoroughly as he destroyed my dress. Shatter him into a million glittering pieces that only I can reassemble.

Then he pulls back, putting himself just out of reach.

“You trying to kill me?” His breathing is ragged, and his legs quiver.

“Never. But you did say I could punish you later.” I flash him the sweetest smile I can muster. “It’s later, Sterling.”

“Oh, you wicked, wicked woman.” He traces my collarbone with a chilly finger, causing goose bumps to erupt on my skin and my nipples to tighten into hard peaks. “Two can play this game.”

His clever mouth descends, teasing first one nipple then the other. Frigid tendrils dance across my breasts as his magic trails over my sensitive skin. Fingers join his questing tongue, pinching and rolling and tugging until I’m a shivering, gasping mess, half sliding off the throne.

This is a game I’ll gladly play.

Sterling kneels between my splayed thighs, hitching my legs higher around his waist. The head of his shaft nudges against my slick entrance, and I moan. My body clenches with need. Then he’s thrusting inside, hard and deep, filling me like we’re made for each other.

Our labored breathing and the slap of flesh against flesh echo through the cavernous throne room. The thought flits through my mind that I should be embarrassed, mortified even, to be coupling so wantonly out in the open like this.

Pleasure drowns any hint of shame.

The velvet seat cushion caresses my back as Sterling rocks into me over and over. Again and again.

Back arching, I grab his muscled shoulders and pull him closer. “Yes,” I gasp out. “More. Harder. I need?—”

“I know exactly what you need, love.” He pistons his hips faster, one hand gripping my thigh as the other thumbs tight circles over my throbbing clit.

Low in my core, tension coils until the pressure shatters. I cry out as ecstasy crashes through me in wave after glorious wave.

I put a hand to Sterling’s sweat-slicked chest, urging him to slow his movements as I catch my breath. When he stills, I nudge him back and coax him to sit on the throne. His dark eyes gleam with renewed hunger as he complies.

Facing away from him, I perch myself on his lap and guide him back inside me.

We both moan at the exquisite sensation.

Leaning forward, I grip the gold filigree arms and start to move, undulating my hips in a sensual rhythm.

Sterling’s strong hands skim up my sides to cup my breasts, kneading and plucking at the sensitive peaks until I’m gasping for more.

Always more. I can never get enough of him.

He thrusts up to meet my downward motions, hitting that secret spot within me every time. The dual stimulation quickly stokes my arousal back to a fever pitch.

“So beautiful.” Sterling’s hot breath tickles my neck as he nips and sucks at the tender skin. One of his hands drifts down between my legs to rub teasing circles on my clit. “So perfect. I love you.”

“I love you too,” I pant out, riding him harder and faster, chasing our pleasure. “Always.”

Perspiration coats our straining bodies. The scent of our lovemaking perfumes the air, heady and erotic.

Sterling tenses beneath me, his fingers digging into the flesh of my hip.

He’s close, teetering on the brink.

Determined to reach that peak with him, I grind down as he pushes up, taking him as deep as I can. He increases the pressure on my clit, rubbing tight, furious circles.

The coil in my core winds tighter and tighter, the tension almost unbearable. It’s too much, yet not enough. Pleasure that borders on pain.

The tension snaps.

With a wordless cry of ecstasy, I throw my head back as my climax crashes over me, my inner muscles clenching around Sterling’s length. He buries his face against my hair to muffle his own hoarse shout as he finds his release, spilling his seed deep inside me.

For a long moment, we remain locked together, trembling and panting as the waves of bliss slowly ebb.

I rest my cheek against Sterling’s firm chest, listening to the gradually slowing thud of his heartbeat as our breathing evens out. A light sheen of sweat glistens on our bare skin.

Glancing around the throne room, a giddy, drunk-on-happiness giggle bubbles up my throat. “Not complaining, but,” I stroke my fingertips along Sterling’s muscular thigh, “did you happen to consider how we’re going to make it out of here with my gown in tatters?”

“Fuck me.” He releases a heavy sigh. “Can’t say that you leaving in clothes was a concern in the heat of the moment.”

I laugh again before patting him on the leg. “Well, I have faith in you. You’ll figure something out.”