Page 34 of Vicious Kingdom (Dynasty of Queens #3)

W hat happened on the couch was intimate, cozy. Right. We’d drifted to sleep, but the nightmare sent me waking up and ruining the moment. Now Leo lay on the other side of the mattress, and the distance between us was filled with our stilted breathing.

Screw it.

I scooted closer and ran my hand over his chest.

He vibrated under my touch, a soft growl escaping his lips. “Anna—”

“Sshhh,” I whispered. “Please, Leo.”

His hands fell on my hips, and with a tug, he pulled me flush against his chest.

“Are you sure?” he murmured. “I don’t want to push you. Not tonight.”

“I need this.” Thinking fast, I added, “I’m fine. It was only my face—nothing else. ”

“Thank fuck,” he murmured and pulled me down for a fast, hard kiss. “Not that what happened to your face is okay.”

“I know what you meant,” I laughed softly.

Look at us! We were teasing again. The wave of relief, knowing that we hadn’t lost that part of ourselves, was pure bliss.

His hands skimmed my sides, pulling the tee up and over my head. As he rolled me onto his body, my legs straddling his hips, he unclasped my bra.

I moaned softly as he stroked and squeezed the aching flesh. Underneath me, he pulsed in response, so I rocked down on him. Lord, he was hard. Huge. Perfect. And he would be inside me soon.

His mouth found mine, claiming me with a hunger that matched the desperation in my veins.

There was nothing gentle about this kiss—it was all teeth and tongue and need, his lips commanding mine with a ferocity that made my head spin.

I whimpered against him as his hands tangled in my short hair, pulling just enough to expose my neck to his ravaging mouth.

“Dio, Anna,” he groaned against my throat, his accent thickening with desire. “You have no idea what you do to me.”

I rocked harder against him, the friction making us both gasp. My skin felt electric, every nerve ending alive and begging for his touch. His tongue traced the seam of my lips before delving inside, tasting me so thoroughly I could barely remember my own name.

When he broke away, the shaft of light from the hall fell right across his face, a stark contrast of light and dark. His eyes were molten with desire, pupils blown wide.

“I’ve wanted this—wanted you—”

“I know,” I confessed. “I know, darling.”

He didn’t mind the term of endearment.

Neither did I.

In a tangle of kisses and touches, we tore the rest of the clothing from our bodies. I stayed mounted on top, bracing my hands against his chest.

“So wet for me,” he moaned, fingers grazing my pussy.

I slid against his lower abs, the soft hairs of his stomach tickling my thighs. His body was perfect, carved and cut from long hours in the gym.

He gripped my hips and urged me lower.

“I’ve got the copper IUD, and I haven’t—there hasn’t been anyone but you,” I whispered, embarrassed at the truth, but needing him to know all the same.

I didn’t need to be. His groan was a prayer as he lifted and pushed me down on his length. The moment he was inside me, everything was as it should be.

His stiff cock filled and stretched me. There was a bite of pain at the invasion, but it quickly fled as my body adapted to his size.

I began to move on top of him, and he pulled me down, mouth closing over my aching breast.

“Oh, yes! Gods above and devils below, yes!” I gasped, throwing my head back as pleasure shot through me.

It had been too long.

Too many years and miles between us and this moment.

His mouth worked magic on my sensitive nipple, teeth grazing just enough to send electric currents racing down my spine. His hands gripped my hips harder, guiding my movements as I rode him with increasing urgency.

“Look at you,” he growled against my skin. “You take me so well.”

His praise sent a rush of liquid heat coursing through me. My insides convulsed around him.

I braced myself on his shoulders, finding a rhythm that had us both panting.

The fullness inside me was exquisite torture, every thrust hitting places that made stars burst behind my eyelids.

Those obsidian eyes locked with mine, dark and possessive, watching my every reaction as though memorizing how I came apart for him.

“Leo,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “I need—”

He understood without words. One hand slid between us, his thumb finding my clit.

“Take me. Take everything,” he said roughly.

His words unraveled something inside me. I moved faster, chasing the building pressure.

“That’s it, my little temptress, now fucking come.”

I was overwhelmed in the best way possible.

The command in his voice pushed me over the edge. My body obeyed, proving that it had always belonged to him, convulsing around his length as waves of pleasure crashed through me. I cried out his name, a desperate, broken sound that echoed in the darkness of his bedroom.

“Yes, bella Anna, cara mia,” he growled, his accent thickening as his control slipped. “Just like that.”

He flipped us suddenly, pinning me beneath him without breaking our connection. The new angle drove him impossibly deeper, and I gasped, still trembling from my release.

“I’m not done with you yet,” he promised, his voice dark velvet against my ear.

Leo’s powerful body covered mine completely, his muscles tensing with each controlled thrust. He moved with calculated precision, watching my face for every reaction, learning what made me gasp and arch beneath him.

He lifted my leg, angling his head to kiss my knee. I brought it higher, making him groan. That masculine sound, so full of his pleasure and agony, sent another rush of pleasure convulsing deep inside me.

“You can take more,” he promised.

My nails dug into his shoulder. I clawed and scored his flesh. My thighs trembled as another orgasm rushed on the tail of the first.

“You’re doing so good, Anna.” He thrust hard. “Give it to me.”

“I can’t—” But I could, and I did, my body surrendering to the pleasure he commanded from me.

I shattered, mouth open in a silent scream as the second climax ripped through me, more intense than the first. My vision went white at the edges, my entire body clenching around him like a vise.

“That’s it, my Anna,” he rasped. He buried his face in my neck, his breath hot against my skin as his hips snapped forward with brutal precision. He thrust hard and deep, soaking in my pleasure as if it was his own.

And it was.

“Fill me up,” I whispered, kissing the side of his head. “Mark every inch of me.”

That did it.

Leo’s rhythm faltered, his control finally breaking.

A roar bellowed from him, muffled against my flesh and the pillow. His body went rigid, another guttural moan escaped him as he drove deep and stilled. He pulsed inside me, and I felt each throb, each hot spurt as he emptied himself. Our bodies shuddered in a sweet relief.

For several heartbeats, we remained locked together, trembling and gasping.

His weight pressed me into the mattress, a delicious anchor keeping me from floating away.

When he finally lifted his head, he stared down at me, and although I couldn’t see his shadowed face, I didn’t need to know it was scrawled with pure, unadulterated possession.

Because that was how I looked up at him.

He kept our bodies connected as if he couldn’t bear to separate just yet. Our breath mingled together, neither of us catching it as we panted.

“Say it again,” he growled.

My brows knit in confusion. “Mark me?”

He shook his head and then dropped down so our foreheads pressed together. “Say what you said on the couch.”

“Oh.” I laughed. “I chose you, Leo. It’s always been you.”

He nodded once, our noses brushed, and then he rolled to his side, still keeping our connection in place. He adjusted my bent leg, wrapping it over his back, and then we lay there until our breathing returned to normal. And that was how sleep eventually found us.