Cormia’s lips parted. “Your grace…”
Their eyes met and clung. When his mouth opened slightly, as if he couldn’t breathe, she gained the courage to gently wrap her hand around his rigid sex.
His massive body trembled and he let go of her wrist. “It’s not about the mating,” he said hoarsely. “You were forced into this.”
True. In the beginning, she had been. But now… her feelings for him were not forced in the slightest.
She looked into his eyes and felt a curious relief. If she wasn’t his First Mate, none of this counted, really, did it. Moments like this, with them together-they were just two private bodies, not vessels of immense significance. It was just him and her. A male and a female.
But what about the others, she had to ask herself. What about all her sisters? He was going to be with them; she could see it in his eyes. There was resolve in that yellow stare of his.
And yet, as the Primale’s breath left him on a shudder, she pushed all that out of her mind. She would never truly have him as her own… but she had him alone right now.
“I’m not being forced anymore,” she whispered, leaning into his chest. Tilting her chin up, she offered what he wanted. “I want this.”
He stared down at her for a moment, and then the words he spoke in a guttural voice made no sense: “I’m not good enough for you.”
“Untrue. You are the strength of the race. You are our virtue and power.”
He shook his head. “If you believe that, I’m not at all who you think I am.”
“Yes, you are.”
“I’m not-”
She silenced him with her mouth, then pulled back. “You can’t change what I think of you.”
He reached up and brushed her lower lip with his thumb. “If you truly knew me, everything you believe would change.”
“Your heart would be the same. And that is what I love.”
As his eyes flared at the word, she kissed him again to get him to stop thinking, and evidently it worked. He groaned and took the lead, taking those soft, soft lips of his and stroking her mouth until she couldn’t breathe and didn’t care. When his tongue licked at her, she sucked it in on instinct, and felt his body jerk and surge against her.
The kissing went on and on. There seemed to be no end to the ways of it or the different sensations of rasp and drag and thrust and suck, and it wasn’t just her mouth that was a part of it…Her whole body felt what they were doing, and clearly going by its heat and urgency, so did his.
And she wanted him even more involved. Moving her arm up and back, she rubbed at his sex.
He pulled away sharply. “You might want to be careful with that.”
“With this?” As she stroked him through his trousers, he threw his head back and hissed-so she did it some more. She kept at him until he was biting into his lower lip with long fangs and the muscles running up the sides of his throat were straining.
“Why must I be careful, your grace?”
His head righted and he brought his mouth to her ear. “You’re going to make me come.”
Cormia felt something warm pool between her thighs. “Was that what you did when we were in your bed? That first day?”
“Yes…” He drew the word out, the s drifting.
With a curious, single-minded drive, she found that she wanted him to do that again. Needed him to.
She angled her chin so that she was right at his ear. “Do it for me. Do it now.”
The Primale growled deep in his chest, the sound vibrating up between their bodies. Funny, if she’d heard the sound from anyone else she would have been terrified. Coming from him, in this situation, she was thrilled: His leashed power was in the palm of her hand. Literally. And she had the control.
For once in her forsaken life, she was in control.
As he pushed his hips into her palm, he said, “I don’t think we should-”
She cranked her hand down on him hard, and he moaned in pleasure. “Don’t you take this from me,” she demanded. “Don’t you dare take this from me.”
Following an impulse that came from the Virgin Scribe only knew where, she bit down on his earlobe. The response was immediate. He barked out a curse and leaped up, pinning her to the chair, all but mounting her with lust.
Not about to shrink back, she held her hand right to his sex and worked at him, playing counterbalance to the thrusting of his lower body. He seemed to relish the friction, so she kept at it even as he took her chin and forced her head toward his.
“Let me see your eyes,” he bit out. “I want to be looking in your eyes when I-”
He released a wild groan as their stares met, and his body went tense all over. His hips jerked once… twice… three times, each spasm punctuated by a moan.
As his body expressed its pleasure, the Primale’s rapt face and straining arms were the most beautiful things she’d ever seen. When he finally settled, he swallowed hard and didn’t move away from her. Through the fine wool twill of his slacks, she felt a wetness on her hand.
“I like it when you do that,” she said.
He let out a brief laugh. “I like it when you do that to me.”
She was about to ask him if he wanted to try it again, when his hand brushed her hair back from her cheek. “Cormia?”
“Yes…” Funny, she drew out the word just as he had.
“Would you let me touch you a little?” He looked down at her body. “I can’t promise you anything. I’m not… well, I can’t promise you the same thing you gave me. But I would love to touch you. Just a little.”
Desperation stole the air out of her lungs and replaced it with fire. “Yes…”
The Primale closed his eyes and seemed to gather himself. Then he bent down and pressed his lips to the side of her throat. “I do think you’re beautiful, never doubt that. So beautiful…”
As his hands drifted to the front of her robe, the tips of her breasts grew so tight, she twisted under him.
“I can stop,” he said, hesitating. “Right now-”
“No.” She grabbed onto his shoulders, holding him in place. She didn’t know what was going to happen next, but she needed it, whatever it was.
His lips moved up higher on her neck, then lingered on her jaw. Just as he pressed his mouth to hers, a featherlight brush ran over the robe… to one of her breasts.
As she surged up, her nipple pushed into his hand and they both groaned.
"Oh, Jesus…” The Primale eased back a little and carefully, reverently pulled the lapel of her robe away from her breast. “Cormia…” His deep, approving tone was like a caress, nearly tangible and all over her body.
“Can I kiss you here?” he groaned, his touch circling her nipple. “Please.”
“Sweet Virgin, yes…”
His head went down and his mouth covered her, warm and moist, pulling gently, suckling.
Cormia threw her head back and thrust her hands deep into his hair, her legs parting for no reason and every reason. She wanted him at her sex, in any way he would come at her-
“Sire?”
Fritz’s respectful intrusion from the far end of the theater snapped them both to attention. The Primale quickly straightened and covered her up, even though the chair prevented the butler from seeing anything.
“What the hell is it?” the Primale said.
“Forgive me, but the Chosen Amalya is here with the Chosen Selena to see you.”
An ice wave went through Cormia, freezing out all the heat and the urgency in her blood. Her sister. Here to see him. How perfect.
The Primale got to his feet, uttering a horrid word Cormia couldn’t help but echo in her own head, and he excused Fritz with a quick movement of his hand. “I’ll be there in five minutes.”
“Yes, sire.”
After the doggen left, the Primale shook his head. “I’m sorry-”
“Go do what you need to do.” As he hesitated, she said, “Go. I’d like to be alone.”