The Phantom King (The Kings) (36 page)

She had just enou
gh time to process this and what it meant
b
efore the arm Thane had around her waist lifted her much smaller body u
p on the bed and slid her toward the middle
.
Once he had her where he wanted her, he rose up and ripped his black t-shirt over his head to toss it away with stark impatience.

Siobhan watched the muscles of his strong body ripple as he did this, taking in the broad expanse of his smooth, tanned chest and the narrow, perfect beauty of his waist where it disappeared into his jeans. Vibrant ink curled in intricate designs over his incredible shoulders and around the unbelievable peaks of his biceps. Something was written in another language across the taut skin of his abdomen, and she became lost in the design where it rose and fell over each and every well-developed ridge. She could have stared at him forever.

But he gave her mere seconds before he was looming over her once more, his mouth capturing hers.
With unwavering persistence, he pressed her into the bed beneath her, his heavier body easing over hers like a barely-controlled beast. The scent of masculine soap and leather wafted over Siobhan, making her feel drunk.
She closed her eyes and failed to suppress a moan when she felt one of his hands gently encircle her throat
in
the ultimate show of tender
domination.
He was taking control.
He would never hurt her,
but the predatory threat was still there, flooding her system with
aphrodisiac-like adrenaline.

When he released her, she was almost sorry – until his hand slid quickly down the front of her shirt to its hem and grasped it firmly. Her eyes flew open when he rose, shoved his other arm under her again, and lifted her, simultaneously pulling her thin top right over her head. She lifted her
arms to make it easier for him,
and because she couldn’t even think clearly
to deny
him at all.

H
e was right. A deal was a deal.
And she was almost delirious with need as
he unclasped
her bra and slowly
eased its straps down over her shoulders. The thin lace material dropped, now useless,
into her lap. Than
e picked it up, smiled a terribly evil full-fanged smile, and tucked the tiny thing into the back pocket of his jeans
, all the while never taking his eyes off of hers
.

She felt like she should protest, and out of show, she took a breath to say something when
his
finger pressed to her lips
and
his eyes flashing
in warning. G
ently
, but resolutely, he
lowered her back down onto the bed
and pinned her there for a moment before he
sat back to look at her.

His eyes
burned a silver trail of lust across her flesh, scorching her
as if he could brand her with his gaze
. And that’
s what she felt he was doing
– branding her as his. The thought sent her heart into overdrive
.
She watched in helpless, hun
gry fa
scination as he
lodged his knee firmly between her bent legs.
T
he intimacy of the action sent blood rushing up her neck and a blush into her nipples
, despite the jeans she still wore
. A breeze ki
ssed her flesh, cooling it a bit before his molten
gaze
warmed it again. He
leaned over her close enough to once more whisper in her ear.

“You have the body of a queen,” he told her, sen
ding hot breath across her skin
. She
pressed her teeth into her
bottom lip and
closed her eyes, turning her head to the side so that he couldn’t see what he was doing to her. But then his lips were on her throat, kissing gently
… suckling
…
nipping
….

She remembered
just
what kind of teeth he had and almost cried out when she felt them graze along the flesh above her pulsing vein.

“Tell me something little warlock,” he said as he moved lower, trailing those
dangerous teeth
along her collarbone and sending more heat
to every throbbin
g
part of her body. “Are you wet
?” he asked.

Oh my God!
she thought. There was no way she w
as going to
answer that.

A heartbeat later, those teeth scraped across the top of her taut nipple and painful pleasure arced across her body, sending more m
oisture into her already damp
panties.

“
Yes!
” she
cried
, unable to stop herself.

“I believe you,” he said, amusement and triumph both lacing his dark tone. “But I think I’ll see for myself anyway.”

With that, the jeans she was wearing one moment were gone in the next. Just gone. A warm breeze brushed her now naked legs and she jumped in surprise, trying at once to rise.

His hand wa
s at her throat again,
this time
to press
her back down into the bed beneath her. His eyes locked with hers as he held her, a reminder that he was the one in control, that
he
had won the bet.

And that he would be taking what was rightfully his.

His knee was already between her legs, opening her up to him, and Siobhan had never felt more wantonly vulnerable in her life.
Her hands came around his wrist where he held her, her nails curling into the strong muscle of his forearm.

His other hand cupped her breast as he held he
r gaze, and his thumb slowly brushed
acro
ss her flushed nipple
. She sucked in a breath and arched
her back as he did it again. Then he leaned in, hovering over her like a big, black cat and
held the
sensitive little
bud
between two fingers, squeezing gently.

When the pressure increased, sending more pain-pleasure shooting down her body between her legs, Siobhan frowned, bit her lip hard, and tried to turn her head away.

“You’re so
beautiful,” the Phantom King
rasped
as his lips brushed her cheek, then her temple, and then the curve of her throat beneath her ear.
He released her tender nipple to slide his hand down across her ribcage and the gentle swell of her belly before dipping into the dark red curls between her legs. Now Siobhan’s eyes flew open wide and, as if he knew she would begin struggling anew, his hand tightened around her throat, waylaying any thoughts of escape.

She froze as his legs held her open and his hand relentlessly descended through her soft curls to the ever-so-moist cleft between her legs. The brush of his fingers across her slick opening made her buck in his grip
. It was electric and fevered and as he delved deeper
inside of her
, completely undeterred, she soaked his fingers with her need.

“And honest,” he whispered, the sound something between a
guttural
chuckle of pure evil and a pain-filled sound of unbelievable yearning.

Suddenly, his ha
nd was gone from her throat
, and the fingers he’d plunged into her wetness were removed, an
d both hands were on her thighs, pressing them open
as he reared up like a snake about to strike.

Siobhan gazed up at him in wonder, shock, and absolute abandon.
Her fingers curled into the sheets beneath her, clutching them tight as if the world would throw her off if she let go. The Phantom King
was now completely unclothed, and the moon and stars shed a tempting glow across
his incredible body
. She could see all of him now.
Everything
.

And when she felt
the hard, hot brand of his
member pressing
against her opening,
she rose to meet him, her
delirious
mind completely blank but for one
all-encompassing
desire. She wanted to feel him inside of her, his incredible size filling her up
in a way
she’d never imagined possible.
She wanted
it
so badly, it was
literally
driving her insane.

She’d wanted it since the moment he’d turned to face her in her doorway. Since he’d stepped into her house and shut the door behind him. Since he’d straddled the front wheel of her motorcycle. She’
d wanted it forever.

Thane lowered his hard
body over hers, bracing a strong arm on the bed on each side of her, and Siobhan released the sheets to press her palms into the
sculpted rock
of his chest. Her nails dug deep, her body tensed, and her eyes were caught and held by his as he drove slowly into her, breaching the walls of her female defenses and claiming her as his.

Animal need inflamed her, forcing her
up off of the bed to thrust him deeper within her. H
e stretched her tight
and filled her up, heating her from the inside like a furnace.
Rivulets of lightnin
g pleasure snaked up from her clitoris as his body pressed against it,
stimulating it from both inside and out.

The stars swayed above them, and comets streamed across the sky while he moved within her. It was a delicious almost-pain, a frenzied kind of pleasure that left her crying out and gasping for air as she gazed through half-closed lids at the topsy-turvy night.

Siobhan screamed and arched against his chest, her breasts crushed beneath him as he began to thrust into her faster, driving deeper, inciting a rising need that dragged Siobhan closer and closer to that precipice.

The Phantom King’s beast was unrestrained, the animal within him taking over, and she knew it would shove her right off of that cliff. She would go tumbling end over end into oblivion
, crying out her thanks to the gods the whole way down
.

His lips
were
on hers again
, bruising, biting, edging her on toward madness. He released her from the kiss, his lips trailing again
to her jaw
and
then
to
her throat.
Siobhan could barely register thought
.