[The Onic Empire 03] - Sinful Harvest (4 page)

Conflicting her innate longing was the other voice, the louder voice of her parents reminding her of why she’d become the Harvester. She had not competed against all those beautiful women to take the virginity of hundreds of men. A clear purpose filled her mind, focusing her attention, fighting against every wave of physical pleasure Kerrick wrought. Her only purpose was to select a high-ranking man as her bondmate. Her heart clutched in fear when she wondered whom her father would select. She already knew the choice would not be hers.
Her father would demand she pick a man who would bring prestige and money to Yellow House.

“Let me go,” she begged breathlessly, even though she honestly didn’t want him to. She wanted him to ignore her pleadings, toss her back on the bed, and then rut with her like an animal in mindless heat.

To her shock, he not only let go, he actually levered himself off the bed, using his body to lift her up to her feet. The loss of his heat shocked a wave of tiny bumps along her flesh. Wordlessly, he turned her to face him. His eyes penetrated into hers so deeply she stopped breathing and simply stared up at him.

“Don’t say one thing when you want another.” His rough voice washed new heat over her as his gaze held steady. “Mating games and courtly flirting have their place, but not within the bedchamber. Here you should be explicit about your needs, as I refuse to guess.”

On a deep breath, she opened her mouth to upbraid him for his impertinence, but he shook his head side to side, effectively silencing her.

Lowering his voice and his brows, he held her pinned, and said, “Don’t fling your anger at me. Tell me what you want, Ariss. Not what someone
told
you you should want, not what you
think
you should want, but what you
actually
want from me.” He lowered his voice. “Because we both know you want something.”

Words escaped her. How could she convey her most primitive longings to him when he was looking right at her? Exposed, she closed her eyes and tried to step away, but she bumped into the edge of the bed. She spun away from him, and that’s when she breathed in the scent of the room. Their combined essence filled her lungs, shivered her body, tightened her nipples, and contracted her passage. All at once she overreacted to just the smell of sex they’d created. A deep, insatiable longing for more caused her to turn back and face him. She realized
just how big he was when she had to arch her neck to lift her face level with his. She was tall for a woman, but he was taller, and much, much broader. Naked or not, he ate up the room with his presence.

Without pride or anger, he stood watching her, his hands held loosely at his sides. Muscles coiled around his chest, his hips, and his legs—power held barely in check by the thin membrane of his skin. Still hard, and pulsing ever so slightly, his penis drew her gaze inexorably down. Hundreds of women, her sister included, had reclined passive for his possession. Only she had climbed upon him to use him as she saw fit. Why then couldn’t she find the words to tell him what she most desperately wanted now?

Repeatedly, she opened her mouth only to close it when her embarrassment grew stronger than her lust. Part of her thought he would sense her distress and make this easier for her, but for whatever reason, he refused. Still as one of her mother’s garden statues, Kerrick simply watched and waited. Anger gripped her. He knew what she wanted, but he had to humble her first. Ker-rick must have heard the rumors about her, and he had to prove to himself that he alone could melt the cold one. However, when she considered his face, she didn’t sense that within him. He stood waiting, watching her speculatively, but not with condescension.

More conflicting thoughts and emotions held her in thrall until she realized that she never had to see him again. Why not ask, or even demand from him, exactly what she wanted? It mattered little what his motives were, for even if he told everyone he knew and the information got back to her parents, she had only done what her position demanded. By the ancient prophecy, she must mate with him. When the night was over, she would return to her private rooms and never lay eyes upon him again.

Courage borne of knowing there would be no repercussions
straightened her spine. Primly, she settled on the edge of the bed, her hands folded together in her lap. Using her coolest gaze, she assessed him from head to toe, pleased when he didn’t withdraw but actually preened under her consideration. In the end, she brought her gaze to his.

“Wrap your fist around your cock.”

A new heat filled his green eyes as he palmed his still growing erection.

“Stroke your hand up and down.” Ariss leaned back on one arm, watching him through heavy-lidded eyes. Just as she’d thought earlier, his masculine hand wrapped around his straining need was the most arousing sight she’d ever beheld. Aggressive and dominant, he proudly stood before her and did precisely what she asked. All the muscles in his arm moved in concert, flexing around strong bones to provide relief to the swollen member in his hand.

Even and precise, he continued to glide his hand up and down the full, wicked length of his cock. When a pearl of moisture trembled at the tip, he quickly palmed it, drawing the moisture down his length to provide a smooth ride for his next stroke. Over and over, he slid his hand along his shaft, his eyes riveted to her.

Ariss fought the urge to lick her lips. Instead, she lay back on the bed and lifted one leg, parting her thighs so he could barely see between her legs. Deliberately, she gave him just enough of a view to whet his appetite. With the same purposeful ease he used on his shaft, he moved his gaze from her face to her hips, then back again.

“Stroke it as if you were thrusting into me.” Commanding such an aggressive male excited her. For this moment, she could pretend he was a servant she used strictly for her pleasure.

He combined a growl and a groan as he held his tightly clenched fist to the tip of his cock. Holding his hand steady, he thrust his hips, as if he penetrated his hand, just as he would do
to her. His entire body strained forward as he forced his thick cock into his unyielding fist.

Ariss almost felt that invasion between her now-trembling thighs. Before, she’d leapt upon him so quickly she’d not had time to savor that moment of penetration, but this time she vowed that he would go so slowly that she would writhe and beg him to hasten his pace. However, she already knew that he wouldn’t hurry. A man like Kerrick would savor her passionate pleas, drinking them up like rare nectar.

A muscle twitched in his angular jaw when he gritted his teeth. Was he finding it difficult to maintain his composed facade? Sweat beaded across his forehead, gathering into a trickle that flowed into his golden brows. As it tumbled down into his eyes, he flicked his head. In slow motion, she saw a bead of sweat fly through the air and land on the sheet next to her. On a deep breath, she tasted his aroma—pungent, captivating, and undeniably male.

When she glanced back, he’d forced his cock halfway into his fist. His attention was now riveted on the space between her thighs. Ever so slowly, she reclined and then parted her legs, giving him a most teasing glimpse of exactly where he wanted to be.

Kerrick growled low in his chest as a snarl twisted his handsome features into something wild. Long lashes lowered across his gaze, shuttering some of the intensity, but not enough to hide his untamed hunger. Now, he couldn’t take his eyes off her fully exposed sex. Silky black curls did little to hide her from his view.

Breathlessly, she ordered him to kneel between her legs.

Cock in fist, he dropped to the floor and stared up the length of her body. His breath, harsh and fast, rushed along the tender skin of her inner thighs.

“Remember how you told me that one finger could be so seductive?” Ariss teased her hand from her waist, to her hip, then
across the juncture of her thigh. The closer she came to her mound, the faster his breathing accelerated. When her middle finger hovered over her sex, his gaze was so intense that nothing short of divine intervention would have pulled his attention away.

What she intended to do was oh-so-naughty. Her parents often preached against such self-indulgent self-pleasuring. Of course, Ariss had never bothered to try; with her numb body, such would be an exercise in futility. However, now she could feel everything. Having Kerrick watch her self-exploration only added to her wicked thrill.

“One finger, sliding down.” She moved as if to touch her open sex but at the very last instant, she used her hand to part her thighs.

His disappointment was audible and caused a shudder to run through her body. Below the edge of the bed, she imagined he still held himself tightly, but he did not move his fist, for she saw no echoing motion in his arm. Heady with the power of keeping him at bay, she stretched her legs up until they pivoted on her pointed toes. With both hands across her waist, she slid them down her hips, then between her legs, pushing them open, spreading herself wide. Exposing herself fully to his view was utterly reckless and oddly empowering.

Kerrick licked his lips as a muscle twitched in his arm.

“How badly do you want to be inside me?” she asked, arching her brow. Playing the part of a wanton was more exciting than any of her fantasies had ever been.

A growl laced his laugh. “As badly as you want me there.”

“Perhaps I’m content on my own.” Without warning, she slid her middle finger down between her slippery nether lips, then teased her opening with a slow, circular motion. Contact caused her to gush anew. She parted her legs even wider. Long nights had passed where she’d cried over her need to soothe herself with pleasure, but the numbness never let her. Now,
with the elixir and drugs removed, she felt the very texture of her fingerprint against her swollen sex. Reveling in the sensation, she wished to taunt him as much as she wished to tease herself.

Between gritted teeth, he said something in a language she did not understand, but she gathered the gist of it when she saw his arm flex as he tightened his fist around his cock. How much longer would he be able to resist? He seemed barely able to keep himself back as it was. Such aggression held in the balance by her word alone was thoroughly intoxicating.

Lowering her other hand, she parted her lips, releasing her clit from its hiding place. Bit by bit, she brought her other hand up to stroke softly across the exposed little nub. A shower of sparks blinded her and caused her body to contract and pull in, curling her into the cushioning of the bed. A violent orgasm hovered just beyond reach.

“Lift up, Kerrick. Come forward just enough to place yourself against me.”

He did as she bid, nestling the very tip of his cock against the tender opening of her passage. For a long moment, they held there, gazing at the other, each trying to hold back until the other gave in to their wild longings.

“Say what you said before.” Kerrick lowered his hands to the inside of her thighs, then down to cup her bottom, as if holding her ready and open for him.

After a pause to consider exactly what he wanted, she remembered her breathless unheeded plea from their first encounter.

Whispering, she begged, “Put it in me.” Right after she said the words, a blush burned her cheeks, but she refused to drop her gaze. As unsophisticated as her phrasing was, it nonetheless excited him, given his groan of appreciation and the way his nostrils flared and his pupils dilated. His entire face and body surged forward with need. In that moment, Ariss realized she
didn’t have to be the perfect lover; all she had to be was herself. For whatever reason, her lack of sophistication intoxicated Kerrick.

In an imperceptible increment, he nudged forward, but he’d not entered her, he’d only placed himself more snuggly against her now-trembling opening. Suddenly, she didn’t want to have this battle of the wills with him any longer. She wanted him to plunge forward and fill her in one mighty thrust.

“Take me the way you take your harvests.” Ariss tried to lift her legs into position, but he stopped her by widening his elbows as he continued to hold her bottom in his hands.

“You are not my sacrifice,” he said, his voice so low it was almost inaudible. “I will not take you in a mindless ritual.” He moved forward, then back, as if seeking permission to enter her, his penis knocking at her passage for access. Rolling his hips caused the head of his cock to part her lips as it slid relentlessly toward her clit. Contact caused another shower of sparks and the breathless moan of his name. “That’s it, Ariss. Say my name. Tell me again what you want me to do.”

A thousand dirty words paraded through her mind, but all she could say was an echo of what she’d said earlier. Whispering so softly she almost prayed he didn’t hear, she said, “Put it in me, Kerrick.”

A delicious form of torture ensued, where he would slide up to stroke her clit, then down to wedge just the tip of himself within her opening. Maddening. Blind in her need to feel him finally stretch her around his shaft, she angled her body up, intending to wrap herself around him, thus pulling him down on top of her, but he moved back with a chuckle, yanking her fanny to the edge of the bed.

“Say it again.”

Over and over, she asked him, begged him, until her voice rose to a fervor pitch. Just when she thought she could stand no more, he thrust forward, filling her, completing a circuit within
her body that caused every nerve to awaken simultaneously. Howling like a wild creature, she tightened her legs around his hips to hold him deeply inside. After a bite of pain from the sudden shock of him plunging within, all she felt was wondrous fullness. Every bit that stretched to accommodate him felt wonderful, magical, and unforgettable.

“You are lovely in your surrender, Ariss.”

His words fell against her like tiny drops of rain, soothing her fire while he held steady, ready to stoke her flames even higher. She wanted him wild with need and thrusting frantically, but he only cupped her bottom, holding her snuggly against him. When she drew her gaze up to his face, she found his eyes intensely fastened on her, not on any particular part of her body, but on her as a whole. Kerrick watched and considered, waiting for something, but she had no idea what.