A Dangerous Demon King (The Sentinel Demons Book 4) (14 page)

Together, they would heal each other. Sophie could sense it. But she also knew that time was running out. As well as Kristoff hid his pain, it was there, and it was intense.

I won’t lose him just because of my fears or his unwarranted sense of guilt.

Athena had made it clear that Kristoff could only bear so much, and Sophie didn’t want him to hurt anymore.

Kristoff didn’t give her a chance to utter another word.

The minute her answer had left her lips, he swooped down and claimed her mouth, letting her know in no uncertain terms that he was way beyond talking anymore.

Her fate was sealed, and Sophie couldn’t dredge up a single ounce of remorse.

S
ophie was so lost in Kristoff’s volatile embrace that she hardly noticed when their clothing disappeared. If it hadn’t been for the sudden flash of heat when their bare bodies suddenly merged, and the sensual sensation of skin against skin, she would have been oblivious to everything. His carnal taking of her mouth as he demanded her submission nearly scrambled her brain.

His powerful arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her flush against him while he used his other hand to spear into her hair and position her mouth exactly where he wanted it. His tongue penetrated deeper into the cavern, sweeping desperately, like he needed to own every inch of her.

Finally, he tore his mouth from hers as though it was painful for him to separate them, and he forcefully uttered words in what sounded like an ancient language in a deep voice that sent shivers down her spine. His eyes deepened to a beautiful blue color she’d never seen before, and it was breathtaking to watch as they changed to a shade so dark that they were almost black rather than a deep navy blue.

For an instant, Sophie was perplexed. She knew he’d just spoken the vow to join them as mates, but it wasn’t happening the way Athena had explained it. No shackles appeared, and suddenly, the same words came flowing from her lips, even though she didn’t have a clue what she was saying.

“I don’t understand,” she whispered, still panting from Kristoff’s
embrace.

“Follow your instincts. The actions will come to you just like they’re being revealed to me. Our joining is different. Just go with it,” Kristoff urged her. “Put your legs around my waist.”

Obviously, the king’s mating was going to be different, and Sophie opened her mind to him. His emotions hit her full force, telling her that he’d completely merged his thoughts and emotions with hers. Pain racked her body, but she lifted her arms up as her intuition led her to do, and they both looked up as silken ties floated down from the ceiling.

Kristoff moved forward, and her back connected with the wall as the ties lashed around her wrists. She gripped them, her fingers wrapping around the soft, velvety surface of the dangling ropes as her body continued to shake from the force of the red-hot burning sensation she was experiencing.

“It hurts,” she whimpered, feeling like a hot branding iron was marking her everywhere.

“Fuck!” Kristoff rasped. “You’re feeling me.”

Sophie looked down at him with a desire so carnal and possessive that she wanted to crawl inside Kristoff and never leave. “I need you, Kristoff. I need you.”

“Mine! You’re going to be mine,” he growled, his dark eyes locking with Sophie’s in a gaze so intense it was startling.

His mouth clamped onto one of her hard nipples, making Sophie moan helplessly as he brought both his big hands up and claimed her breasts. His grip was rough, but she welcomed it.

She needed to feel him.

She needed him to claim her just like this.

“Yes!” she squealed as his hand closed over her breasts with a rough caress that satisfied her feral need. “More!” With her arms stretched over her head, and her legs locked around Kristoff’s hips, she was at his mercy, something that seemed to satisfy his caveman need to have her unable to get away from him.

His mouth moved back and forth from one hardened peak to the other, his hands touching, claiming every inch of her sensitive breasts.

Sophie longed to have her hands on him, but she knew that this was the way it was supposed to be. The intense burn she was experiencing was everything Kristoff had felt for the last few weeks. How he’d endured it she wasn’t certain.

“My beautiful mate,” he said in a husky voice as he lifted his head.

Her core clenched painfully as the timbre of his voice vibrated through her, the emptiness of not yet having him inside her nearly killing her. “Fuck me, Kristoff. Hard. I need it all. Give me everything you’re feeling because I’m feeling it, too,” she told him breathlessly.

She was right with him, experiencing everything he was with their minds merged.

He moved his hands, running them slowly down her back, his knuckles scraping the wall as he cupped her ass and squeezed.

Helplessly, she rubbed her soaked pussy against him, gripping him harder with her legs as she rubbed against his hard, six-pack abs.

“Stop!” Kristoff demanded. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I don’t care,” she argued fiercely, grinding against him again, rotating her hips to feel his hard muscles against her core, trying to get the stimulation she wanted. “Fuck me. I want it hard. I want it real.”

“Be careful what you wish for, love,” he answered back gruffly. “I’m. Not. In. Control.”

The four measured words fueled Sophie’s desire for Kristoff to finally lose it.

When she humped against him again, her pussy so wet that she left his stomach damp, she got exactly what she wanted.

“You’re ready,” he snarled. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I can’t bear the thought that you’re feeling what I’m feeling.”

She met his gaze with a fiery look of her own. “I do. I feel like I’m on fire.”

“Then we burn together,” he growled as he lifted her, positioned himself, then buried his rock-hard cock inside her with one swift thrust.

Sophie gasped and tightened her grip on the silken cords, her nails biting into the skin of her palms. “Oh, God. Yes. More. More. Please don’t hold back. I’m not going to break. I need this. I need you.” She was willing to beg to have him join them hot, hard and with so much intensity that they nearly burnt each other up.

He gripped her ass tightly, not really holding her up because her bindings supported her. It was more a gesture of possessiveness, and a way to enter her more deeply as he began to pound into her with an abandon that matched Sophie’s needs. He was rough, led by his basic instincts to claim her completely.

She moaned with every pump and grind of his hips as he pummeled into her, seeming to drive deeper with every single stroke.

Suddenly, she was lost.

Lost to the punishing rhythm.

Lost in the erotic, carnal sensation as she heard his grunt of satisfaction.

Lost as their bodies slapped together erotically.

Lost in the pounding intensity of her impending climax.

“Please,” she begged, needing something she couldn’t identify.

“Mine. Mine. Finally fucking mine!” Kristoff’s graveled, low, covetous voice rumbled.

“Yes,” she panted, her head hitting the wall as she gave her body up to the roar of her approaching orgasm and to
him
.

Her body imploded as Kristoff’s hands roamed over her, his fingers coming back slick as he encountered the place where they were joined. “So wet for me. For
me
,” he grunted, slipping one of those soaked fingertips into her anus and pumping in shallow motion that matched what he was doing with his cock.

The blatantly erotic sensation of being completely taken made her climax intensify, sending her completely over the edge as she felt his teeth sink into her shoulder. The action was painful, but it was so damn carnally gratifying that it didn’t matter. She was filled with a satisfaction, a euphoric high that was as exhilarating as it was frightening.

“Kristoff,” she screamed, instinct demanding she mark him for her own as she continued to rock against his sweat-dampened body.

Without thinking, she lowered her head as her sheath began to clamp down on his cock. She opened her mouth, licking greedily against the spot on his shoulder where she knew she had to bite, then clamped down hard with her teeth and mouth.

“Oh, fuck! Yeah. Claim me as hard as you want to. Mark me as yours,” Kristoff groaned as he let go of his bite on her shoulder and buried his face in her breasts.

Sophie
did
mark him hard, hanging onto his skin with her teeth as her channel milked Kristoff’s cock, his hips continuing to pound her against the wall until he finally roared her name. “Sophie.”

Her heart skittered as she heard him say her name so possessively that it moved her to tears. “I’m here, Kristoff. I’m here.” Her voice was muffled against his shoulder.

She knew he needed reassurance as his orgasm peaked and he spilled his fiery release deep inside her.

Sophie moved her mouth from his shoulder and shivered as her orgasm began to spiral back down and the silken bindings released her wrists and disappeared.

Suddenly, Kristoff was Sophie’s only support, but he appeared to barely notice that he’d taken her full weight as he moved over to the bed and gently laid them down, his cock still inside her as he let her sprawl over him on the mattress.

Neither one spoke, but it didn’t matter. Sophie knew that Kristoff was feeling the exact same sensation of soul-deep connection that she was experiencing right now.

It felt divine.

It felt real.

And it was everything Sophie had always longed for but didn’t
know it.

Her aloneness was gone, and in its place was her thoughts and emotions melded with Kristoff’s. A bigger piece of each of their souls had been replaced with the others, and it felt amazing.

Finally, she stirred, nuzzling the side of his neck as she said, “Well, that wasn’t exactly the way Athena explained it.”

Kristoff ran a gentle hand down her back. “It was different. I can only assume it’s because I’m different.”

“You’re the king. Apparently you aren’t made to be submissive to anyone,” she answered as she smiled and ran her fingers through his hair. Her heart was still racing, but her soul felt at peace.

“You’ll always be my weakness and my strength, Sophie. And my equal. My mate,” Kristoff answered as his hand kept stroking her back, his tone not displaying anything except wonder and gratitude.

“That’s good because I’m afraid I’m not made to be the silent type who follows orders without questions,” she answered with a laugh. “Except maybe in bed.” There, she rather liked Kristoff’s dominate nature.

Kristoff rolled her under him, and Sophie was startled when she saw the wicked, lopsided grin on his face. He looked…happy. Since she hadn’t seen him show much joy since they’d met, it made her heart melt.

“Does that mean you won’t obey me, woman?” he boomed in a mocking voice.

She chewed her lip, enjoying his playful side. “Probably not very often,” she retorted jokingly. “I just got my freedom after a couple of centuries of being stuck in the demon realm. I think I need to…explore.” Her voice turned sultry as she ran her palm down his muscular chest.

Their eyes caught and held, and she marveled at the adoration she saw in his beautiful eyes, which had now returned to a startling baby blue.

“I’ll cherish you forever,” he uttered huskily, as though he was stating a solemn vow.

Sophie had no doubt that he would. She’d come to know Kristoff would never say anything he didn’t mean. “And I’ll always be grateful that you see beyond my scars,” she answered, her eyes glistening with happy tears.

Hideous to most, but adored by a king. Sophie still couldn’t fathom why a man as physically perfect as Kristoff wanted her so desperately. But little by little, she was learning not to question his attachment to her. Being his
radiant
made her beautiful in his eyes.

“It isn’t just our bond,” Kristoff told her emphatically. “It’s you, sweetheart. Your heart. Your courage. Your strength in surviving and now trying to adjust to a whole new world. You’re special, Sophie.”

“Just like you are,” she whispered gently, brushing a lock of golden hair from his forehead. “You did the same things.” She covered his lips with her fingers as he started to protest. “You did, Kristoff. Everything that happened to you was out of your control. Let it go. I want to start our life together.”

She held her breath, hoping he’d finally realize that none of his existence when he was held under Zeus’s thumb was his fault. The thought of what he’d suffered made her time spent in the demon realm seem almost easy.

“It’s hard to forget how many lives I took, and that they didn’t happen in battle,” he admitted harshly.

“They did,” Sophie protested. “You were battling to stay alive. Please stop blaming yourself. You’ve spent centuries trying to make up for it, even though it wasn’t your fault. Do you really think anyone could have fought the king of the gods? You’ve paid your dues. You were given a life you didn’t ask for; a life you didn’t choose. You were only a young man when you went looking for your own kind so you didn’t have to feel displaced and lost. You were betrayed when you found your father. When it came time for you to make your own decisions after Athena came to take you away from Zeus’s torture, you dedicated yourself to helping save humanity. Don’t you deserve one thing for yourself now?”

She watched as indecision passed over his expression before his lips twitched up in a small smile again. “It seems I do. I have you.”

Her heart flip-flopped as she
felt
him give in. Now that they were bonded, she was tightly in his soul and his mind, and she knew exactly what he was thinking. His reasoning was skewed, Kristoff oh-so-willing to take on the blame for what he’d done. But her arguments were affecting his thoughts, making him start to see the real truth.