Deadly Attraction (10 page)

“We don’t have museums anymore.”

“If we did,” she amended. Giving this further thought, she
shook her head and said, “I’ve changed my mind. This body is not meant to be
molded and admired in stone form.” Her soapy hands slid over the corrugated
grooves of his stomach and she sighed. “It’s meant to be worshipped in person.”

“Don’t worship,” he said in a tight voice. “Just touch.”

She smiled at him. “I am touching.”

Her hands glided up to his broad shoulders, then down his
rock-hard arms. When he reached for her, pulling her into a strong embrace, her
palms slid around to his wide, sinewy back. Her breasts pressed below the
well-defined ledge of his pectoral muscles, and her nipples tingled as his
smooth skin and solid muscles teased the sensitive points.

His head bent to hers and he whispered in her ear, “I want
you in ways you might not even know of.”A prickle along her clit made her
squirm in his arms, her stomach rubbing against his erection. He groaned again.
“Do you want me?”

“
Yes
.” She didn’t have to think twice about it. She
might not possess his sexual prowess or know exactly the ways in which he
wanted to take her, but she didn’t care. She’d easily and willingly give
herself up to his every desire. But she also had cravings of her own. “Darien,”
she muttered against his hair as her fingers threaded through the wet strands.
“I want to give you pleasure.”

His arms tightened around her. “You do, Jade. More than you
can possibly know.”

“No.” She shifted in his embrace, forcing him to release
her. The water washed away the suds on his body, leaving a clean stream to
cascade over his chiseled torso and legs. She sank to her knees before him,
marveling at his long, thick cock.

“Jade.” His tone held a hint of urgency and a contradictory
note of protest.

Her fingers skimmed over the smooth flesh covering his steel
rod and his hips jerked in response. She bit back a smile. Piggybacking on his
earlier sentiment, she told him, “I want you in ways I’ve never given much
thought to. To touch you…taste you…” She licked her lips. “I want to know all
of you.”

With that, her fingers wrapped gingerly around his base and
her lips slid slowly along his slick skin until she reached the tip, where she
teased the groove beneath his head with her tongue before flicking it over the
slight indentation above.

He let out a primal and incredibly arousing growl. Her mouth
closed over his head and his fingers plowed through her hair.

“Jade,” he repeated, his voice gruff with lust. “Careful.”

She didn’t want to be careful when it came to this.
Instinctively, she knew when to be cautious and tentative. Innately, she also
knew when to step beyond her boundaries. This was certainly one of those times.

As she took Darien deep into her mouth and he murmured
something sharp and strangled she couldn’t catch, she felt a surge of feminine
power she’d never experienced before, combined with a bond that was obviously
intangible by nature, but which ribboned around her heart nonetheless.

Her pussy ached for the fulfillment she knew she’d receive
from the cock she pleasured, but her sole attention was on giving Darien
something in return for all he’d given her. And because he was too delicious a
treat to pass up.

He held her drenched strands of hair away from her face and
the gentle flow of water from the rectangular showerhead caressed her forehead
and cheeks, running along her neck and over her breasts. The scintillating
sensations tempted her to ease a hand between her parted legs and work the knot
of nerves that pounded erratically as excitement coursed through her. But she
resisted. Her efforts remained on Darien.

She licked him again, eliciting a grunt from him. Then she
cupped his balls with one hand and gently massaged them, not sure of the
appropriate pressure to apply. Apparently, she hit the right degree, because he
hissed out a breath and his fingers gripped her strands of hair.

When she covered his head with her mouth again, he bucked
against her.

“Suck me hard.”

She did. His satisfied groan made her pussy throb sharply.
She worked him with her tongue and her lips, driven by how he responded to her
and how intensely she enjoyed the feel of him in her mouth and the reaction she
evoked.

His voice was raspy as he said, “That’s enough.”

She would have begged to differ, but her mouth was full. The
suctioning action she’d picked up rather quickly served her well, if the sudden
trembling of his legs was any indication.

“I’m going to come,” he said the words in warning. Having
read a few steamy romances herself from a time before hers, she had a very good
idea of what to expect. And she didn’t back down. “Sweetheart.” Coming from
him, the term of endearment sounded damn sexy.

She sucked him harder, worked him a bit faster, until his
body tensed. Her own excitement elevated and she felt him reach the pinnacle.
When he called out her name and his hips jerked again, she prepared herself for
his explosive release.

“Damn it, Jade,” he ground out as he rode his climax.

Elation flooded her veins, tinged with a hint of triumph.
She’d nearly brought the Demon King to his knees with her unskilled touch. He
even needed to press a hand to the wall behind her to maintain his balance.

She released him and stared up at him, finding the mixture
of satisfaction and ecstasy on his face an exhilarating one. Though she didn’t
succumb to gloating.

Shaking his head, he said, “I don’t stand a chance against
you when you set your mind to something.”

“I have a lot to learn, but I’m willing to take many, many
more lessons.”

He pushed away from the wall and gently clasped her upper
arms, helping her stand. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say this was some sort
of ploy to knock me off my feet.”

Feeling particularly flirty, she gave him a sassy look. “Who
says it’s not?”

He groaned. His arms wrapped around her and he said, “I
don’t need much time to recover.” He backed her against the marble. “You sure
you know what you’re doing?”

Her heart thundered and her cunt clenched. “I know I want to
feel you inside me.”

The kiss he gave her was nothing short of sizzling. Then he
shut off the water and said, “Take your bath. You know where to find me.”

He stepped out of the shower, and when she followed, he
handed her a thick, white towel. She wrapped it around her body while he turned
the faucets back on to fill the tub.

She watched him strut out of the bathroom, a smile playing
on her lips. Nothing felt quite so empowering as making a king come.

Trying to contain her excitement, she busied herself
rummaging through the velvet drawstring bag someone—Jocelyn or Sheena,
presumably—had left for her, along with a robe and slippers. Inside the bag,
she was delighted to find human, female necessities, including a razor,
somewhat crudely fashioned like the ones she’d pick up at the pharmacy from
time to time.

Then she scanned the labels on the small glass dispensers
tucked into the corner ledges of the tub, finally settling on bath salts that
smelled like jasmine. She poured them into the water and they instantly
bubbled, making her laugh. She overdid it and ended up with a mountain of suds,
but as Jade slipped into the bath, she found the silky foam that coated her
skin luxurious and sensual.

Resting her head against a plush, folded towel, she closed
her eyes and took several deep breaths. The relaxation that oozed through her
body was a new sensation. The tension she’d carried with her since her
childhood eased considerably.

Despite being in a castle full of demons—most of whom, she
ventured, likely did not share the same compassion toward human life as Darien
did—she felt safe under the protection of the king. And while she knew her
friends in the village would be worried about her disappearance, the slayers
would have reassured them she was alive and recovering, after speaking with
Morgan.

For once, she allowed herself that sense of security she’d
never been able to latch on to, given her dangerous life. In particular, she
didn’t wrestle the age-old quandary of what her purpose in the village was
meant to be. She let all of those thoughts fall by the wayside and, instead,
wiped her hands over the towel she leaned against to rid the bubbles from her
skin and reached for the book Darien had selected for her.

* * * * *

Darien had settled on the large sofa before the fireplace in
his bedroom to read papers Morgan had brought him, mostly updates from the
stewards in other regions across the continent. As the flames from the candles
danced and the fire crackled, he caught the sudden hint of jasmine. A moment
later, Jade’s teasing breath caressed the shell of his ear as she leaned over
of the back of the couch.

“Do you have a dictionary in your personal library?”

“Of course.” He grinned, though she couldn’t see it from
behind him. “Desperate to know what ‘obsequious veneration’ and
‘pedantic nature’ mean?”

“I’ve given up on those,” she said in her
sultry voice. “I don’t know what a fortnight is and, apparently, Lizzy is to
attend a ball in that time period.”

“Two weeks.”

“Oh. Well, then. Why didn’t she just say so?”

He chuckled. “You do understand that Lizzy
Bennet would be equally stupefied by the vernacular and cultural differences of
this day. For instance, what you did to me in the shower would send her running
and screaming for her mother.”

“Poor Lizzy.” She made a soft
tsking
sound. “To miss out on such a delicacy…”

He groaned. His cock sprang to life. “There
you go, being uncouth again.”

Still whispering in his ear, she said, “I
didn’t hear any complaints about my behavior when we were in the shower.”

“Nor will you if the urge to repeat your
performance strikes you.”

“Mm, so tempting.”

He set aside his papers and stood. “What’s tempting is your
breath on my skin and that enticing scent you’re wearing. Where did you find
it?”

“You don’t use the bath salts in your vast collection?”

“No. I rarely use the tub. Jocelyn puts out the dispensers.
I always assumed they were for decoration.” He rounded the sofa and pulled her
into his arms. She wore the red robe and slippers Sheena had left her. “Nice to
know someone enjoyed them.”

“Did I ever.” She sighed contentedly. A sound he loved
hearing when it came from her.

“And what about the book?”

She shrugged. “It’s off to a very pretentious and conniving
start. To be so obsessed with marrying off your daughters to a rich man—one
nobody’s even met yet. It’s absurd.”

“It was not uncommon back then. What do you think of Mr.
Darcy?”

“I haven’t gotten to him yet. Why?” she asked with a crooked
brow. “Is he going to sweep me off my feet?”

Darien did just that, scooping her up in his arms. “Only I
reserve that right.”

“That’s very territorial of you.”

“I can’t help it. And it wouldn’t hurt you to be obsequious
from time to time.”

She laughed. “What
does
that mean?”

He murmured in her ear, “Submissive.” And felt the tremor
down her spine.

“Well,” she said, sounding breathless. “I can’t afford to be
as whimsical as Lizzy and her four sisters. But I have no problem with giving
you whatever it is you want from me this evening.”

A low grunt fell from his lips. He set her on the bed and
leaned over her. “You’d lie here naked and let me do whatever I wanted? Explore
your body with my hands and mouth? Give you pleasure…make you come…?”

Her teeth sank into her plump, lower lip. Desire flashed in
her dark-blue eyes. “Really?” she muttered in a provocative voice. “You think
I’d take exception to that?”

He tilted his head to one side. “I haven’t told you the
rules yet.”

“Rules?” The desire deepened in her hypnotic irises as intrigue
seemed to grip her.

“Yes. You can’t distract me from what I’m doing. Which means
no touching me or our fun will be over before we’ve even started.”

She sat up. Her fingers skated over his abs, making his
muscles quiver and his cock swell. “But I like touching you.”

He reached for the attached belt at her waist and untied it.
Then he slipped the robe over her shoulders and down her arms. “I like it too.
Too
much.”

She lifted slightly and he whisked away the satin material.
He had no idea where Sheena had produced an article of clothing that fit Jade,
except to surmise it had come from her personal collection, since they were
almost the same size. Anything from his closet would swallow her up.

His head dipped and his lips brushed over hers. “Do you agree
to my terms?”

“What choice do I have? You are the king.”

He snickered at the light mocking in her tone. “Yes I am.”
Stepping away from her, he unfastened the tie around the thick mass of
dark-brown silk drape that matched all the others hanging in the four corners,
attached to the twelve-foot-tall bedposts.

Jade eyed him curiously. “Not going to take my word that I
won’t touch you?”

“No.” He grinned at her. “You have a way of turning things
around and I don’t want to be sidetracked until I’m done.”

Uncertainty crossed her face, but for a split second. Then
she said, “Lizzy would panic over a moment like this.”

“Thankfully, you’re not Lizzy. Now lie down.”

She hedged, and he knew it was merely a defiant move to
prove she wasn’t accustomed to taking orders. But lust seemed to get the best
of her, because she did as he asked. She stretched out on his bed and fanned
out her long, raven hair against the mound of pillows.

He eyed her previously injured hand. “I’ll be very careful.”

She smiled. “You always are with me.”