Blood Queen Page 15

  "Oh, absolutely." He carried me to the bedchamber now and laid me down on the bed, taking a step back to just look at me. "I want to worship your body, my dearest one. Is that so wrong?"

  My cheeks heated, and I shifted to a kneeling position on the bed, looking down at it.

  "I am a little nervous," I admitted, answering his initial question. "I've…"

  "Never done this before," he finished for me, taking a step forward so that his legs pressed against the bed. He cupped my face in his hands and brushed a kiss against my forehead. "Does it ease your mind to know that I haven't either? I did tell you it is abhorrent to touch one who is not our mate. I have been faithful to you my whole life, though I did not know that I would ever be graced with a gift such as you."

  "Yes, actually, that does make me feel a little better. But…" I frowned. "But you haven't been nervous or flustered or awkward at all! You seem to know everything I want, everything I need, better than I do myself."

  He smirked. "Generational knowledge, varina. I know everything that everyone who has come before me knows, though I prefer not to peek into the memories of the closer generations. Does it bother you that I use this knowledge to pleasure you?"

  "Mmm, no. I can't complain about that, now can I?" I laughed. "I only wish I was as confident as you."

  "I find it absolutely beautiful that you trust me enough to share your concerns, that you do not hide your shyness, that you are open and honest with me. Every move you make, every word you say, it only endears you to me more. Do not be ashamed to admit that you aren't certain what you need. Trust me to give you what you need." He bent again and captured my lips in a passionate kiss then murmured his next words against my lips. "Take what you need from me."

  I moaned against his lips, parting mine to give him access, asking in actions what I couldn't put into words. I needed to feel him against me, to taste him, to touch him. I knew that much, at least, and at last I had the freedom to drink my fill of him.

  He tangled one hand in my hair at the nape of my neck, tilting my head back to deepen the kiss, holding me against him. I thrilled at the loss of control—I was always in control, I prided myself on it. It had been my goal in life to be independent.

  But for this, with Gray, I liked to give up the control to him. Liked to have him take me and teach me what I didn't know, what I couldn't know without him. I loved the way he made me feel, the sensations he evoked within me. Every touch of his skin against mine was electric, sending tingles throughout my body. He made me come alive.

  I had never wanted a man—or a woman, for that matter—before I'd met Gray. When I'd first met him on the rooftop, I'd thought it was because I'd never been introduced to the world of pleasure before, but even after the kiss of his lips on my neck…no one had stirred an interest in me.

  There had only ever been Gray. There would only ever be Gray.

  He was my true mate. The man I'd been made for, the other half of my soul. Looking back, I should have known better than to ever fight the pull that was between us. It had been inevitable, but at least my foolishness hadn't stood in the way of destiny.

  "You're thinking too much," he growled against my lips. "I'm clearly not doing my job properly."

  I laughed. "How did you know? I'm just…I'm so happy. I can't stop thinking about how lucky I am. I never dreamed of having a life like this—not the title, not the status, but a life with someone I love and who loves me. It wasn't even that I thought it was something I couldn't have. I never even thought about it. Not until you came into my life."

  "Mmm. I didn't think I would have it, either. I knew, somehow I knew the whole time, that I wouldn't find my mate in the women my mother paraded in front of me. She meant well. She just wanted to see me happy and whole, and I couldn't bear to break her heart and tell her that it was pointless. But I knew in my heart that it was a fruitless endeavor, that it would come to nothing. And yet I didn't think I would find a mate outside of all of that. For the longest time, I just thought that the idea of having a true mate was something everyone…embellished. That it couldn't really be like that and that I would never have something like what everyone spoke of. I taught myself to live without hope for it—and when you came around…I'd lived so long ignoring that side of me that I didn't know what to do with the feelings you brought to life inside of me."

  "You and me both, love," I said, grinning. "I struggled for so long, trying to fight it…"

  "I was afraid to touch you, you know. When I first claimed you as a thrall, I was so afraid I would drive you away."

  "And I was afraid you were toying with me. That you weren't touching me because you wanted to lull me into a false sense of security, and then you'd gobble me up."

  A hungry growl rumbled in his chest. "I certainly wanted to 'gobble you up,' as you say."

  "Oh!" I scrunched my nose up as I giggled, dropping my head to bump against his chest.

  "Don't hide from me, varina. I know you, and I know you like it when I tell you what I want from you." He put a finger under my chin, tilting my head back up so that I had to look at him. "I know how wet you get when I tell you how much I want to touch you, sink my fingers deep inside you and feel you clenching tight around me. Feel how hot and wet and ready you are for me."

  I blushed, partly because his words did embarrass me a little but also because he was right. Already I could feel my blood heating at his words, my breath coming a little quicker, and I wanted what he promised to do to me.

  "And here I thought you were eager for the mating," I said, choosing to avoid his comment about me liking what he said. "But I was right, you're just a lustful man who wants to take me."

  "Mmm, no, you're wrong about that," he said, smirking. "I won't deny I want so much to be inside of you, to fill you with my cock, to bind you to me for all eternity. But I want more than that, to make you come again and again. I want to fuck you with my fingers until you’re screaming my name as you come apart for me. I want to taste your sweet juices right from the source and feel you coming all over my face. I want to tease your hot little nipples until you can't think at all. And only when you've come so many times that you're just shy of not being able to take any more, only then do I want to make love to you, varina. Only then do I want to be inside of you, joining our bodies together, becoming one with you. That's when I want to sink my fangs inside of you again, to taste your blood—gods, but your blood is a drug, I don't think you could ever understand what it does to me—to pull your essence deep inside of me and feel you drinking of me at the same time. To finally bind our souls together and be one with you. That's what I want, varina. I don't want to just 'take you,' as you said. I want to claim every inch of your little body, mark you as mine, until you know who you belong to."

  I shivered, unable to stop the helpless little moan just at the thought of what he wanted to do to me. His words were so…dangerous. Words no one had ever dared to speak to me before, words that should be forbidden for all that they evoked in me.

  "Told you so." His lips curved up to one side.

  "What?" I blinked. He wanted to drive me mindless with his touch, but it was already hard to think just with his words.

  "I told you that you liked to hear what I would do to you, to make you mine."

  "Fine. You win. I like it, I love it, and I need all of that, but at the same time, it's too much." I pouted. "I want to be yours, Gray. I want to taste you and have you taste me, and I want to feel our souls binding. Why would you make me wait for that?"

  "Because maybe you deserve a little taste of that," he said, a devious glint in his eyes. "Maybe you deserve to wait after all that you made me wait for you."

  "That's not fair. We've waited the same amount of time to be together," I protested.

  "I don't think so." He tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. "Because I wanted to taste your hot little pussy the moment I laid eyes on you. I wanted to own you, even if I didn't understand it completely, from the very beginning. I was afraid to
act on it, but I wanted it all the same. You have already admitted you didn't want to acknowledge what you wanted from me. Which means you haven't been waiting near as long as I have, burning to touch you."

  I bit back the moan that threatened to rise forth yet again. He didn't need to know how much he affected me, not with the way he was intent on torturing me.

  "Take me, Gray. Please," I whispered, pleading with him. "You've waited, all right, I'll acknowledge that. Stop waiting. I'm here. I want you. Take me."

  He growled, a dark and hungry sound that was almost animalistic, and claimed my lips again. His fingers flew to the back of my dress, deftly untying the corseted ribbons that held it together. Before I knew it, the dress was pooling around my hips, baring my breasts and torso to the room around us, and his hands were on me a mere second later.

  Teasing my nipples again, bringing my body to a fever pitch until I was whimpering and moaning against his lips, shifting restlessly on the bed. My thighs rubbed together of their own accord, desperate for the friction that he was denying me by refusing to touch me.

  His hands abruptly dropped from my breasts to capture my thighs, holding me in place.

  "Why?" I groaned, frustrated. "Why are you torturing me?"

  "Mmm, no. Your pleasure is mine, Nina. You will take from me what you need. You will not seek it anywhere else."

  My breath caught in my throat at the strong, dominant, and commanding tone of his voice.

  "Okay. Yes, all right," I whispered, giving in to anything he said. He might not have claimed me yet, he might be dead set on marking me and owning me tonight, but he already owned my heart and soul, not to mention my body. "Then take it, take my pleasure, Gray. I can't stand much more of you teasing me. I need you to touch me, really touch me."

  He groaned, a deep and needy sound. "You don't know what it does to me to hear you say that."

  "Show me."

  He claimed my lips again, wrapping one strong arm around my waist and lifting me as if I were nothing more than a doll. His other hand took hold of my dress and yanked it the rest of the way down my body and then threw it somewhere away from us that I couldn't see. I was barely aware of it, I was so caught up in the kiss. He lowered me back down to the bed so that I was kneeling in front of him again.

  And then, at last, he gave me what I needed. With his one arm still wrapped around me, holding me in place, his other hand found the apex of my thighs. Two fingers thrust deep inside me at the same time as his thumb found my clit, circling it with tantalizingly slow motions.

  My breath was driven out of me in a sharp gasp, quickly followed by a desperate, needy moan, and I pressed my hips down against his fingers. I felt my muscles contract around his fingers, eager for more, needing to feel him deep inside of me. He pulled back and thrust in again and again, fucking me with his fingers like I knew he would with his cock soon enough.

  All rational thought flew from my mind as I rode his fingers, incapable of stopping my hips from finding his rhythm and joining in.

  "That's it, baby, fuck yourself on me," he growled against my lips. "Take what you need from me."

  I couldn't say anything, couldn't find words in my mind, all I could do was keep going, keep rocking against him as he thrust deep inside of me. I was climbing high again, flying toward that cliff he'd driven me to that first night that felt so long ago now, but so much faster this time. His movements were faster, deeper, just more this time, ruthless in his pursuit of my pleasure. I knew what I was racing toward this time, and dear gods, I wanted it so much.

  Before I knew it, I was flying far above and beyond the cliff, my head thrown back as I screamed his name, sobbing at the sharp and vibrant sensations that burst to life inside of me. It was so much stronger this time, racking my body and leaving me breathless and senseless.

  I came back to myself at last, collapsed against his chest, with his fingers still inside of me. I looked up at him, my body weak and limp, and saw the satisfied smile on his face.

  "Again," he murmured.

  "I can't." I was panting for air, shaking my head. "Oh gods, Gray, I can't."

  "You can and you will." He pulled out of me, lifted his fingers to his lips, and sucked them deep inside.

  My jaw dropped as I watched him, fascinated and shocked at the same time. "What…why are you…"

  He moaned, flicking his tongue around his fingers one final time, as if to savor every last drop.

  "So sweet, varina. You taste so good, just like I knew you would. And you're so wet. I think you need me to clean you up."

  My eyes widened. "What?"

  Apparently it was all that I could say.

  He grinned deviously. "Sit down."

  "Gray, you can't be serious."

  "I most certainly am. Did you not hear me before? I want to taste you right from the source, to feel you coming all over my face, before I'll bind you to me. I've been waiting to taste you for a long time."

  "But, I thought…when you said you wanted to taste me, you meant my blood."

  "Mmm, that too. Not yet, though. Only when my cock is deep inside of you will I sink my fangs in you at the same time, filling you in the way that only I can."

  I shivered, whimpering at the mental image his words called to mind.

  "Gray, I can't…I can't come again."

  His eyes flashed. "You absolutely will. Your pleasure is mine, varina. You're so beautiful when you come. Please, let me see it again."

  I blushed, and my next words came out as barely a whisper. "It's not fair."

  "What isn't fair?" He frowned. "I think it's very fair that I take you to the peak again and again. I want to see you come apart for me again, Nina. Don't deny me."

  "But you haven't…I mean, you can't keep…doing that to me, when I haven't…helped you."

  He laughed, sounding genuinely surprised. "I don't want to come until I'm deep inside of you, sweetheart. Besides, you have no idea how good it feels to give you pleasure. Now, please, grant me this gift. Let me taste you."

  "You really want to do that? I mean, you don't have to…"

  His eyelids lowered halfway, the dark look of lust deepening there. "Oh, I want to, very much. Please, Nina. Don't make me ask again."

  Hadn't I decided to give him the control he demanded? With a shuddering breath, I lowered myself to a sitting position on the bed, swinging my legs out from under me so that they hung off the side of the bed.

  Before I knew what was happening, he was on his knees, spreading my thighs to look at me. I blushed crimson, shocked to be on display like this, and tried to close my thighs—but he wouldn't let me.

  "No, do not hide this treasure from me. Gods, you're so beautiful, so wet for me. Look at you, so ready for me."

  "I need you," I whispered. "I need you inside of me, Gray. So much."

  He growled low in his throat. "And I will give that to you. Soon. Not yet."

  I started to protest, but he surged forward. My breath caught in my throat, and then he stilled just before my pussy. He pressed a soft, gentle kiss against my outer lips, as if he were afraid he might startle me and drive me away.

  But oh god, that one kiss felt so good. Of their own accord, my thighs widened for him, and he made an approving sound deep in his throat. It wasn't enough for him, though, because he wrapped his strong arms around my thighs and split me wide, pulling me forward at the same time so that he had greater access to me.

  And then his tongue darted forward, teasing my clit, and I thought I might die. His fingers had felt so good on me before, and then in me just a moment ago, but they were nothing compared to this. Oh god, so good, so good.

  I moaned as he pressed closer to me, his fangs bracketing either side of my clit, as he lashed his tongue against it, driving me faster and faster toward that peak already. I fisted my hands in his hair, holding him close, shameless now that it was happening.

  It had seemed so illicit, so forbidden, before, but now all I could think was how good it felt.

 
He darted down and thrust his tongue deep inside of me, and I gasped at the sensation, whimpering, my hips bucking up to meet him.

  "Good, good girl," he murmured, flicking his tongue over my clit again. "Gods, I love the way you react, the little noises you make."

  "Please, oh god, please, Gray. Don't stop."

  "With pleasure."

  And then his tongue was lashing my clit again, and one hand dropped away from my thigh, and two fingers found home inside of me again.

  Yes. So good. Oh god, so good.

  Before I knew it, I was flying again, my voice hoarse at the scream that was yanked from me, and this time when I drifted back down to my body, I found myself lying flat on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, my whole body limp.

  "Gods, you taste so good, varina. Love to taste you there, to get your juices straight from the source, to feel you coming all over my face," he growled, and all I could do was give him a weak smile.

  "Gray, you're killing me." I fought for air, but I was beginning to think it was a useless endeavor with the way he kept driving it out of me.

  "Oh, do you object?" He arched an eyebrow. "Did you not like it?"

  But he didn't look the least bit concerned that that was the case.

  It was my turn to growl at him. "You know I loved it. But I swear, if you keep torturing me like this, I won't be responsible for what I do next." I found my strength again and lurched back to a sitting position, then climbed back up to my knees. "Because I swear, if you don't give me what I have been begging you for, I am going to go crazy."

  He smirked. "I don't know…you seem pretty capable of thought right now."

  I smacked his chest lightly. "Grayson, don't you dare!"

  His face gentled. "Your wish is my command, varina."

  And then he was removing his coat, shirking his shirt and pants, and before I knew it, he was naked in front of me. My eyes widened as I took in the sight of him—of all of him. I let out a little shocked squeak, and my hand darted to cover my mouth.

  "Are you all right?" He sounded amused. "I can't really tell, since you aren't looking me in the eye."

  Mortified, my eyes jumped back up to his, my cheeks surely crimson now. "Um."