Page 11

Chapter ten

A strid pulled away and Dimitri’s fingertips dug into her hip, keeping her close.

“I didn’t say you could leave,” he rasped.

She leaned in and the arrogant male lifted his chin as though she were going to kiss him. Rancor consumed Astrid. Landing a fatal blow while he was awake would be a messy victory at best. She couldn’t surrender her hair ornaments, or the daggers concealed within them.

Not before he fell asleep. Then, she would stab the thin blade through his heart.

“If I make you come in the water, I’ll need another bath to get your wretched stench off me,” Astrid said at his lips.

She pulled away again and this time Dimitri’s fingers trailed down her leg, letting her go.

The image of him catching her ankle and dragging her beneath him in the carriage flashed through her mind.

She regarded him suspiciously as she exited, and he followed her out of the tub with the grace of a predator.

Water droplets cascaded over the side of his throat and down the chiseled dips between the muscles of his broad chest. Her gaze followed the beaded path as it fell over his abs to the base of his hard cock. He was veined and far thicker than the handle of his sword.

“Like what you see, Princess?”

Astrid raised a brow. Did he expect her to be frightened? To beg him to be gentle? This wasn’t the first cock she’d seen, but they tended to shrivel when her prisoners realized the Anima Carnifex stood before them.

Astrid kept her expression bored and met his molten stare, then shifted her attention to his unsightly wings.

“Hardly,” Astrid quibbled. He huffed a laugh and turned to retrieve a pair of black towels from the nearest shelf.

Astrid shrugged at his reflection and added, “They’re not as big when I cut them off. ”

Dimitri prowled toward her, closing the space between them until the small of her back pressed against the obsidian vanity. The head of his cock prodded her waist, but his attention remained on her face. He reached behind her and Astrid stiffened, trapped in his embrace.

“Relax, neva,” he murmured.

The leather trapping her wrists loosened and fell into the sink. Astrid pulled her hands in front of her and immediately began healing the red indentions he’d left.

Dimitri dabbed the fluffy towel on the side of her throat and smoothed the material lower, where her neck met her shoulder.

“I can dry myself,” Astrid said, snatching the fabric from him.

His grip tightened and their eyes met. She yanked, unable to free it, then exhaled sharply and turned to leave.

His wings shot open, and Astrid froze. The membranous cage closed in around her.

He bent the leading edge of his wing at the first joint, resting the heavy bones on the obsidian vanity on either side of her.

Astrid squared her shoulders as he lowered his face to hers. The clean scent of a winter night surrounded her. Dimitri was snowfall in a forest with a hint of pine. Notes of ambered warmth accompanied the temptation of heat radiating from his unyielding body.

“I’d prefer you bent over,” he murmured, tracing his index across the curve of her hip, “but if you spread your legs for me, neva, I’ll let you lie on your back.”

Astrid’s face warmed with the rising hatred in her chest. Her captor might be the latest on the list of males who thoughtlessly stripped away her autonomy, but he would be the first she killed for the insult.

She traced the vein running along the underside of his cock with her night-streaked nails. His wings shifted, curving behind her as she circled the tip. He groaned and the low rumble cooled Astrid’s flush. She’d allow him to lower his guard without consequence. She would invite him closer.

He’d never see the Clorean steel she planned to slip between his ribs coming.

“And if I want to be on top?” Astrid asked, innocently stroking him once more.

Dimitri lifted his head a fraction and she angled toward him.

Her lips brushed his stubbled cheek, the sharp cut of his jaw.

Her gaze swept over the opulent space, and she whispered, “Have a seat in your shower, my Lord.”

Astrid gasped when he picked her up roughly, forcing her legs around his waist. Her nerves frayed with each jarring step and he stilled, taking a seat in the spacious shower.

He was too big, too close, and she was too vulnerable with her legs spread like this. Her captor would force her down, impaling her on his monstrous cock and relish her suffering. She clamped her mouth shut and tensed, waiting for the sharp agony.

But none came.

Dimitri’s hold loosened and his callused hands found the small of her back. She eased down his body and the length of his cock tightened underneath everything she wanted to keep away from him.

Heat flushed Astrid’s face, and she shot to her knees. A dry breath of laughter brushed her collarbone and Astrid held still while he palmed her ass.

He was better behaved than she expected, and his hands were a welcomed alternative to his cock.

His bargain had been vague. Kiss him until he comes.

She had no intention of bleeding on his cock—as he so eloquently phrased it.

She knew he would fight her if she tried to reposition herself from where he’d placed her.

Astrid stalled, brushing her lips over his temple and tangled a hand in his dark hair. She systematically ran scenario after scenario through her mind. A shiver snaked up her spine as the warmth she’d found in the bath abated and she paused.

“Your weather is too cold for me. I’m going to turn the shower on,” she whispered.

Dimitri’s callused hands left her waist, and Astrid suppressed a victorious smile. Her captor leaned back as she stood, bracing himself up on the edge of the black marble bench. Amusement flickered in his amber eyes and Astrid’s temper resurfaced.

Serpents, devour this smug bastard.

A quick death was too good for him. She wanted to draw out his pain for lifetimes or until she got bored of his screams.

Astrid sauntered toward the faucets. His shower was much larger than anything she’d been accustomed to. She supposed he needed the space to properly wash his insidious wings.

She turned on the spray and picked up a vile of cleansing oil. Tendrils of steam curled around her steps as she made her way back to Dimitri and her unpleasant task.

He silently observed her when she stood between his legs, remained still as she crawled onto his lap and set her smooth thighs over either side of his lean waist. She opened the vile and poured the slippery contents over his cock.

The clear oil spilled over the crown and followed the veins down his thick shaft.

Mothers’ willing, she’d never have to take it into her body.

Her fingers circled his cock, and Dimitri tipped his head back. He sat forward the next moment. The gold in his irises seemed to glow, illuminated amidst the curls of steam and black marble like polished amber. Astrid swallowed the urge to lean away.

A kiss and an orgasm would be his demise , Astrid reminded herself.

His forthcoming death gave her comfort. Astrid let the steam warm her.

The steady spray of water on tiles quieted her mind.

This was the cost of her freedom. She leaned in.

Her lips met his and Astrid closed her eyes.

It wasn’t like the kiss they shared in the carriage.

The strokes of his tongue had been as rough and possessive as the sword he used on her. No, this was quieter. Savoring.

His tongue smoothed over hers, coaxing her closer, deepening their kiss as his rough hands slid up her thighs at an agonizing pace.

Astrid stroked his cock, adjusting her pressure and speed by the approving sounds he groaned into her mouth.

He dragged her closer, spreading her legs over his waist so her pussy pressed into the base of his oiled cock.

She tensed and he rocked forward, sliding his inches against her clit.

Astrid broke the kiss with a gasp. He pinned her there, legs spread wide, unable to escape him nor shield herself from the unrelenting onslaught of sensations. From the heat pooling between her legs.

Dimitri dipped his head. His mouth met her throat, hotter than the waves of steam engulfing them. Astrid blinked, working her fist over his cock in time with his thrusts. She could withstand this. He would come quickly and—

His mouth closed over the tight peak of her nipple, and he sucked, teasing the tip with a roll of his tongue.

She stifled a moan. “Our bargain was to kiss you until you come.”

His hands moved to her ass, and he continued licking and sucking, teasing the tender bud.

“Dimitri,” Astrid hissed.

He lifted his head then, slowing his rocking thrusts against her clit.

“I said, ‘kiss me, like you mean it, until I come,’” Dimitri said, knocking the vial of cleansing oil onto its side.

The contents poured onto the bench and Dimitri coated his index and middle finger. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t touch you.”

“No,” she breathed. Astrid softened her voice the next instant. “I want to see to your pleasure, my lord.”

The corners of his mouth widened into a smirk. “You are. Now kiss me until I come.”

His oiled fingers circled her entrance, but he didn’t penetrate her.

Yet , Astrid thought bitterly.

Her lips met his as she stroked his cock at a feverish pace. She wouldn’t draw this out, he would come now, and she would be done with this.

He smiled against her lips and one of his fingers left her cunt and moved to her ass. Astrid’s eyes snapped open, and he chuckled darkly as she squirmed against him.

She gasped when he applied more pressure. “Bargain with me. Take something else.”

“There’s nothing you can offer me,” he murmured at her lips. The tips of his fingers pressed into her, and he withdrew them, whispering, “There is nothing I want more than your cunt, ass, and throat stretched around my cock, neva.”

A scream circled Astrid’s chest like a caged animal. She silenced it. If she relented now, her depraved captor would take the jeweled combs and sticks adorning her hair. He would use her, torment her—and she would be weaponless.

Dimitri’s fingers pressed deeper, and a mixture of shame and hatred simmered beneath her somewhat composed surface.

Astrid donned her temper as armor and moved her fist up and down his cock in measured strokes.

She yanked on the thick dark strands at the base of his skull and upturned his face.

A dark hunger lit in his molten gold eyes, and he grinned.

“Your touch disgusts me,” Astrid said. This was an exchange. A bargain that would end in his death.

“I’ll teach you to like it. You’ll crave me, neva. Beg me to fuck you in whatever way I’ll have you,” Dimitri replied. Then, his insatiable death magic enveloped her soul.