Page 51

K ate’s heartbeat spiked with the rush of adrenaline as she closed in on her goal. One more turn and she’d find her way to the tunnel that led to the courtyard at the center of the labyrinth. She was certain of it. Heart thudding against her ribcage, she cleared that last bend.

And cursed as she saw a dead end. “I swore it was this way. I could feel it, I...” She stilled and closed her eyes, sensing what she was seeking.

Roan. Where was Roan? Then she grinned as she could feel the pull of him deep in her chest, in a different direction.

He’d moved! Her tall, sexy Fae lover was teasing her by moving.

“You’re cheating, Roan!” she yelled at the ivy-covered stone walls around her.

“Remember, if you fail to find the way out... you will be punished.” His words came from everywhere in every direction, making it impossible to determine where his voice really came from.

“I’m not trying to find my way out,” she muttered. “I’m trying to find you .”

Kate walked toward the nearest wall and grasped the ivy.

No stinging thorns pierced her this time, so she climbed up to the top of the wall and then sat down straddling it for a moment.

She was glad that Babbitt had supplied her with tons of trousers that fit her well and let her move.

Dresses were nice, but when she was adventuring in the labyrinth, she needed pants.

Rolling up the sleeves of her dark-blue tunic top, she studied the mazelike pattern that stretched out before her.

And that’s when she spotted the barn owl circling around the labyrinth.

“Cheater!” she called out to the owl as it flew her way. She stood up and watched the bird’s flight before he ducked down below the walls.

Hah! Now she had him. Kate jogged carefully along the top of the wall toward where she’d seen the owl disappear, and then she spotted what she was looking for.

A courtyard. Not the center of the labyrinth but another place very much like it.

And there perched on the top of a gazebo was the barn owl.

He swiveled his head at her as she made eye contact with him.

She climbed down the ivy, and when she reached the ground she turned around again.

Her eyes took in the white gazebo in the expansive center of the maze. Wisteria hung from the edges of the gazebo, and beneath the wooden structure was a bed made of ash trees and covered with pillows of a dozen shades of green and purple.

The owl took flight, and suddenly Roan was there in its place.

The Fae king stood, hands behind his back, by the king-size bed placed beneath the gazebo. His gaze sparkled with dark satisfaction. “I remember challenging you to find your way out, little one. But it seems you are so eager to jump into my bed that you took that wrong turn on purpose?”

“I was honing my skills at tracking missing Fae kings, and I think I did a decent job,” Kate replied with a grin.

“Soon I’ll be able to find you anywhere in here, and quickly too.

” She didn’t tell Roan that she wanted to have a skill, something that made her special in this world where she was still so very human in so many ways.

If she could make finding Roan her talent, she’d feel useful somehow.

And it didn’t hurt that each time she found him, they always ended up in bed.

He made a little tsking sound at her, and in the blink of an eye, his tall frame towered over her as she strained her neck to look up.

Faking a defiant expression that didn’t match the butterflies inside her belly, she held his probing gaze.

This man had the ability to rob her of all thoughts when he was close.

A dark eyebrow arched as he scanned her face. “I’d buy your challenging stance if that vein didn’t beat like a drum in your neck.” He dipped his head until his nose stopped a hairsbreadth from hers. “Question is, how shall I punish you, little human?”

His lips brushed hers with each word he uttered. Air burned her lungs with her shallow inhales and exhales as she held still. There was nothing more satisfying than prolonging the moment before they kissed.

“Take off your pants,” he commanded against her lips.

“Make me.” She flicked her tongue against his mouth, teasing him back. “ Husband .”

Roan smirked. “Very well, wife .”

He motioned with his wrist. In a mix of amusement and shock, she watched her own hands unbutton the jeans, slide down the zipper, and push the denim off her curvy hips to pool on the ground. He’d bewitched her into stripping down!

Roan pressed her against the ivy wall, which cradled her body.

Then he slanted his mouth over hers in a wicked, raw, tongue-filled kiss.

For long moments she was lost in that kiss and the way it seduced her into an almost trance.

Then he trapped her lower lip between his teeth, nibbling her while his hand cupped her sex.

The feel of his large palm possessively touching her there made her moan helplessly.

Dragging his teeth to free her lip, he smirked. “I think my wife needs a proper fucking.”

His tongue glided along her lips, his teeth nibbled her skin, and his fingers teased her flesh, making her want more, but denying her what she really needed.

In her mind, Kate screamed commands for her body to shut down, to slow the way he tortured her with her own desire. But her traitorous body melted under Roan’s touch.

He lifted her tunic top up and off her body, letting it fall to the ground, leaving her standing there in nothing but her panties.

With his free hand wrapped around her neck, collaring her, he kept her face tilted up while he invaded her mouth with his tongue in slow, thrusting motions.

He moaned inside her mouth as their tongues tangled.

Despite her best efforts to resist, her blood pounded in her veins, pooling in her sex, hardening the tight bundle of nerves of her clit as Roan’s fingers tapped over the thin fabric of her panties.

“Interesting...” he mused with dark pleasure.

“Just kissing gets you going like this,” he murmured against her lips.

He licked a trail to a spot on her neck, and his tongue pressed down the throbbing vein there.

He rubbed his groin against hers, his erection nudging her soft belly.

“I wonder how wet you’ll get with a long, hard fucking, my sweet little wife? ”

Without warning, he stepped away and gestured to the bed in a silent order.

Desire so potent that she almost couldn’t walk had her struggling to move. Her legs quivered beneath her as she stumbled toward the bed. When she trusted her voice, she turned to face him and whispered, “ Please , Roan.”

“Please fuck you long and hard or slow and gentle?” he replied with a smug smile, then patted the bedding in invitation as he moved to stand beside her.

Aware that he’d use magic again if she didn’t comply, Kate climbed up onto the bed and knelt on the soft feather mattress, her eyes glued to Roan’s. He was watching her with a deep, carnal hunger that she loved so much.

“Good girl. Lie down, put your head on the pillows, and wrap your fingers on the headboard.”

She settled her body as instructed and gripped the metal bars above her head, still holding his stare.

He lifted the right corner of his full lips in a satisfied smile and cuffed her ankles with leather belts tied by metal chains to the feet of the bed.

“Where did those come from?” she demanded, her voice breathless.

“You have to ask, little one?” He wiggled his fingers in the air, and magic sparked from his fingertips.

After climbing onto the mattress, he knelt between her spread thighs, and his heated stare scorched her skin as he zeroed in on her sex. She feared he would see her flesh tremble under his gaze, but her desire for him was too great.

“Roan... what are you going to do?” she asked.

He ignored her, crawling over her body until his face aligned with hers. When she tried to use her hands to push at his broad chest, Kate found out the headboard had shackled her wrists with delicate branches.

She frowned. “What the hell? Since when do beds do that?”

Roan chuckled as he kissed the top of her nose. “My beds are made of trees from the dark woods, and as the king of said woods, those trees always do what I want.”

He swooped down to seal her mouth in another searing kiss.

Adrenaline pumped her blood faster, stealing her breath away as his lips consumed hers. Trapped, at his mercy, she fought the waves of pleasure that washed over her.

And lost.

When his fingers pushed to the side the drenched bit of silk that covered her sex, she gasped. Roan left her mouth to nip her chin and a sensitive spot under her earlobe. Her bones melted as new sensations coiled inside her.

“I’ll fill you up and fuck you until you cry out my name over and over. Would you like that? Would you like to come all over my cock, my pretty little pet?”

She shook her head, wanting her hands free to touch him, but he misunderstood her head movement.

He bit her earlobe, chuckling, making the fine hairs on her skin stand up.

“Yes, Kate. You will. First, I need to get you ready for me.” He added a second finger, stretching her, reaching deeper as he curled his fingers and hit some spot deep inside her that made her see stars.

He covered her mouth again, stroking her tongue in the same rhythm he rubbed his palm against her folds. As he sped the movements of his fingers, he sucked her lips harder.

Heaving, she embraced the sensations he wrung out of her, swiveling her hips when he pinched her clit. A loud drumbeat filled her ears as blood pounded through her veins. His touch ignited her body, branded her skin, and scorched her muscles.

“Come for me,” he murmured, flicking her hard nub. “Scream my name, little one.”