Page 12

Chapter eleven

T he serrated teeth of Dimitri’s magic confined Astrid in ecstasy.

It devoured her, cascading across her senses.

Every place their skin met, each invading stroke of his fingers, his touch heightened into a maddening bliss she couldn’t fight.

Serpents save her, she wanted to push her hips back and take more of him.

Astrid struggled to focus as Dimitri trailed kisses down the side of her throat. She couldn’t think through the graze of his teeth. The flicks of his tongue. The feel of his fingers pressing in and out of her in a steady rhythm.

Her lashes fluttered and the golden haze of her soul glittered across her field of vision. Arcs of Dimitri’s death magic stretched outward from within the dark vortex churning at the center of his chest. It surrounded her, mingling with the steam, like splashes of paint suspended around them.

Pinpoints of light speckled the billowing shadows, tiny golden soul stars drawn away from her. How many times had he fed on her? How much of her soul remained?

“How long can you feast on my soul before it kills me?” Astrid breathed.

His dark chuckle answered, and she closed her eyes, silently whimpering. Even his voice seemed to touch her, gliding over her skin in dark, shimmering notes.

“I’m tasting you, neva,” he purred. “The same way I’d lick your aching cunt if you asked me nicely.”

The image of him between her legs surfaced in her mind. She could nearly feel the gold hoops and cuffs that adorned his ears brushing her thighs as he licked and worked her to frenzy with his mouth.

“Ask me,” he rasped.

Astrid’s temper cleared a corner of her mind and she clasped his throat. Her thumb and forefinger dug into the hinge of his jaw. She forced his head up and hissed, “Fuck you.”

His cock twitched as she stroked him harder. This male wouldn’t control her. No male would. Astrid clung to her hatred as his lips parted and his breaths turned ragged.

His eyes dilated. The black swallowed the gold of his irises until all that remained was an amber ring. His thick lashes lowered, and a heady rush of power intertwined with her lust-drenched thoughts. She might be in the grip of his intoxicating death magic, but he was just as affected.

His shadows enveloped them completely and the sound of water splashing the tiles slipped further away. Slivers of her soul floated in his darkness, glittering around them like the night sky.

“Our bargain included a kiss, Princess,” he warned.

Astrid’s temper spiked and the haze of fury cut through the allure of his touch. The bargain was more than a kiss. He wanted her emotion. Her passion.

She would make it real—then cut his heart out of his chest.

She leaned into her captor and reached for the fantasies she’d buried, now no more than bitter notions of a love she would never have. Their lips met and Astrid closed her eyes. She imagined Dimitri was the union she’d dreamt of in her youth.

Her tongue swept against his and he met her with a half-hearted effort. Astrid squeezed his throat, wishing she could cut off his air. He wasn’t getting out of this bargain. She kissed him harder. Devouring. Taking.

His fingers thrusted deeper as she stroked his cock. He kept pace with her frantic rhythm and Astrid moaned into his mouth, desperately clinging to her fantasy. This was her king, a male who wanted more than her body and respected her mind.

The pleasure building within her tightened and coiled. She fought it viciously, even as she arched her back to take him deeper. Her body shook as the first tremors of her orgasm squeezed his fingers.

It was her king who touched her and owned her body. He was her equal and she would rule beside him, hand in hand.

Astrid dug her night-tinted nails into the sides of his throat as she came. It crashed over her in waves, each more brutal than the last.

Dimitri groaned and his hand closed over hers. He pumped his cock, and it pulsed in her grip. Warmth struck her breasts and slid down to her belly. She scarcely noticed it as her golden eyed king sucked on her tongue.

Astrid jerked away and was met by the golden eyes of her imagined king.

No , Astrid choked. This male was none of those things.

His shadows dissipated, allowing fragments of orange, yellow, and white to part the fading darkness. The firelight illuminated the oversized shower and evidenced what they’d done. What she’d done.

Astrid stood, looking down at herself. Her stomach knotted and the bitter taste of bile rose to the back of her throat. She took a step back. Then another. He’d come on her, and Mothers save her, she’d loved it. Shame and outrage brightened her cheeks.

“Don’t look so distraught, neva,” Dimitri said from the bench. “I’ll come inside you next time.”

Temper burned her cheeks. This smug bastard didn’t get to win. She wiped his cum off her belly and stalked toward him.

“Touch my face and I’ll make you lick me clean,” he threatened.

It might be worth it if she could get him to choke on some of it first…

As though he could hear her thoughts, he stroked his still hard cock once and specified, “ All of me, neva.”

Dozens of scenarios raced through Astrid’s mind and each ended with him fucking her in a compromised position. He would be dead before the sun rose. The knowledge gave her solace, and she wiped her hand on his chest.

“The bargain is done,” she said, and stepped out of the shower.