Threads of Desire (Spellcraft) (4 page)

Well, she’d known he was an arrogant bastard. Before he could speak again and ruin it all, she tipped back her head, offering her mouth. He took the invitation, pressing his lips to hers before sinking his tongue inside.

His hands were hard. Maybe that shouldn’t have surprised her, but it did. He didn’t work. She’d always imagined that an aristo would have soft hands. Pale skin, soft hands, round bloated bodies. Kal was nothing like the image she held in her mind of what an aristo was like. He was more...everything. Harder. Bolder. Cunning as a thief. It sliced at her. She should despise him not crave him like magic. The skin of his palm was cool and dry as he slid his hand up to cover her breast, kneading her gently. When she moaned, he scraped his fingertips down the slope and shaped her nipple into a tight peak.

“Lovely. So soft and sweet, Ily. You’ll melt on my tongue like spun sugar.”

“I’ve never had spun sugar,” she whispered, and he bent his head to draw a nipple into his mouth. Sleek wet heat clamping down on the fragile flesh. Her back arched and he curved his body to accommodate her, an undulating lift and drop, as if riding a wave. He hummed in appreciation and pulled more insistently, his tongue swirling around the tip just as he released her.

His hair brushed against her when he turned his head toward her other breast. Goose bumps spread over her skin followed by delicious heat. Everything dissolved into sensation. The slide of his cock along the seam of her sex. The looming bulk of his shoulders and chest. The hair on his thighs tickled her legs. He kept his weight from crushing her, but she felt it when he dropped to an elbow, freeing his hand to cup her breast or position her head for his kiss.

And now...
now
she could appreciate the way he took his time.

It was part of how he approached the world, she realized. He was a sensual creature and did not, could not take the luxury he surrounded himself with for granted. A man like this would appreciate Ulla and the silk sheets he lay upon just as he delighted in her body. She was the one who hadn’t fully appreciated these things. But she would tonight. Tonight, she would drown herself in them.

She’d spent the last three years living the life of a vagrant, hoarding her money and denying herself everything. Until Kal came to tempt her. Chasing this kind of life is what had gotten her into trouble in the first place. She’d learned long ago to avoid powerful men who cared only for themselves, to suspect all pleasure and deny every temptation.

She parted her legs to settle him more firmly against her cleft, angled her hips so that the brunt of every thrust landed on her clit. She hooked her feet around his calves and moved with him and when she opened her eyes, he was staring at her. The severity of his expression stunned her. Firelight highlighted the stark planes and angles of his face, his bold nose and wide mouth, compressed now and utterly sober. No light of humor in his dark eyes. Something bare and raw, shatteringly intimate in that look. He plunged into her again, and she closed her eyes. She didn’t want the intimacy of his gaze. She wanted cool silk sheets, a hard body and harder cock. She liked the way he moved. She liked that very much.

This wasn’t an invitation to her soul.

He thrust deeper and she arched to meet him, thighs spreading, lifting, locking around his hips to wrestle some control from him. He was having none of it. He shifted his body to clamp a hand over the jut of her hipbone, pushing her into the mattress. The down cupped her body, giving beneath their weight, but it could only give so much. He held her in place as he pounded into her, each thrust more determined though his pace was not yet frantic. She liked the idea of him losing control, of him ceding control to her. If she took him again, she’d tie his hands to the great wooden posts of his bed and ride him until he begged her for release. Except there would be no next time. One sip from the golden fountain.

He pulled at her hair, forcing her mouth up so he could take her with his tongue as well as his cock. In rhythm, one thrust mimicking the other until it all blended together. Her heartbeat. His. The soft grunting sound he made each time he rammed full inside her, his balls slapped tight to her damp flesh. The muffled cries she made around his tongue, panting breath and wet sloppy sounds of their coming together. He forced her body to dance to his rhythm, and it didn’t matter to her then that he was winning. Right now, she was winning too.

Her orgasm came upon her slowly, a silent blossoming that stiffened her body before shuddering through her. Kal lifted his head and drove harder, riding her through it as she clung to him and gasped for air.

A sound vibrated from his chest, warm and approving. He braced himself on his arms and now he was smiling at her, that dazzling smile she’d seen him exchange with his friends. It had never been directed at her before. Unexpectedly, another shudder of pleasure passed through her. He dropped his gaze to her breasts, her belly, where they were joined together. And the smile tightened a moment before his body did, and then his cock. Three quick jerking thrusts and he spilled inside her. Dropping his head to her shoulder, he groaned like he was somehow disappointed which was silly, they’d both found pleasure. Her arms came around his shoulders.

They stayed like that for a long time. Him resting inside her. Sweat cooling their bodies. Their breath slowed and steadied. She could have stayed like that until sleep took them both, but eventually he lifted his face to kiss her. A gentle press of his mouth, nearly tender. She tightened on his softening cock and his laugh trembled on her lips.

He rolled off her and she turned her back to him.

“Ily?” He touched his cheek to her shoulder, an expectant tension in the silence that she didn’t know how to answer.

“Kal.”

A long pause. He measured words the way she measured thread, testing them for weakness before casting them into the weave. “You are a wonder.”

She smiled because he couldn’t see it, warmth welling up from her chest and threatening to smother her. His hand skated down her flank and she caught it, pulling his arm around her like a blanket.

She kissed his wrist and folded his hand between her breasts. A man like Kal wouldn’t need reassurance and his head was large enough as it was. “You are a singular man.”

His laughter sounded even more wicked coming from the darkness. “Something about the way you say that makes me think you’re grateful that it’s so.”

Another thought occurred to her, something she hadn’t considered he might not know. “I won’t conceive. The magic...it makes us sterile.”

All of her other lovers had been artists like herself. She’d never had to explain that to another, though it was hardly secret knowledge. As much as she’d like to think she was a mature and daring woman of the world, these practicalities eluded her.

He settled behind her, curving his body around hers like a dragon guarding his treasure. “Yes, I know.”

His breath stirred the small hairs at the back of her neck. This is what she’d wanted, to be clean and warm. To be safe for the night and not alone.

Chapter Six

He woke her before dawn, rolling her onto her back and pressing a kiss to both corners of her mouth. He smiled when she opened her eyes and then dropped a kiss to her nose as well. Gray light filtered into the room from the high windows, three of them lining the far wall, cross set circles with clear glass insets. Funny, she’d always imagined his bedroom as a lair, dark and sinfully dangerous. Strange to find sunlight here.

“You were snoring.”

“I was not,” she said indignantly. Well, as indignantly as she could manage while wiping a line of drool from her chin. If he noticed, which he surely did, he didn’t comment.

Instead of settling his magnificent body on top of hers as she expected, he propped himself on an elbow, wrapped his free hand around her waist and snuggled her body tight to his. “Don’t worry, I didn’t mind. It was sweet, soft and feminine. Proof that you’re human after all.”

She rolled her eyes. He was an ass even at dawn, and a cheerful one at that. She never woke up smiling. “What else would I be?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Some divine creature wandered into our world.”

“Do you say that to all the women you bring to your bed? You should tell them that before you sleep with them not after you’ve already had them.”

His smile fixed and he traced her collarbone with his fingertip. “If there are rules, I’d like to hear them. I’ve never invited a woman to share my bed.”

Her breath hitched and she studied his profile. His head was bent, eyes tracking the movement of his hand. “You’re not inexperienced.”

“I have other rooms for guests, dozens of them.”

“Are there guests in them now?”

“No.” He tipped his head to one side. “You’re jealous. The first time I saw you in the marketplace, I thought you reminded me of a starfallen goddess stranded here by punishment or fate. And that was before I stopped to examine your work. You never belonged there.”

She didn’t say anything, and after he placed an open mouthed kiss to the side of her throat, he continued. “As soon as I saw your work, I knew. Of course, I knew.” His voice took on a wondering tone. “A master weaver in the open market, the
Southton
market, stranger than one of the fallen, I think.”

His lips nibbled at the sensitive spot below her ear and continued along her jaw. Gentle, tickling touches nearly as brief and light as his breath. His hand slipped from her waist, stroked the edge of her ribcage and paused below her breast. She shifted restlessly.
Just a little higher.
“You were trained at the University.”

“Mmm-hmm.” Some of the happiest years of her life, at least at first. Lifted from poverty when her gift was identified. Given a small private room, two meals a day, daily baths and free access to the library. And magic, everywhere magic. At the University, she’d been surrounded by the finest musicians and artists. As an initiate, she’d been exposed to all of the disciplines—but she’d always known what she was. The ritual had only confirmed it.

His finger lifted to graze across her nipple. She held her breath until he returned to it, slowly rolling the tip between two fingers. Her skin tightened and her hunger grew.

“But you didn’t join the guild.”

“I did.” She touched his hair and he turned his head, pressing a kiss to her wrist. “But then I left.”

He was gorgeous even at first light. There was a crease on his cheek from his pillow and his hair was disheveled. She didn’t know why this would make him even more appealing, but it did.

“Why? The guild would protect you, make sure you had food and shelter, vet your patrons.”

She shook her head. “Why are we talking about the guild?”

“I only wish to understand you. What would you rather talk about?”

She smiled. “You woke me, surely it wasn’t to talk.”

Something flickered in his eyes and she felt a twinge of uneasiness. He’d be disappointed if he hoped to use either her connections or her past against her.

But that thought was gone when his smile widened and he rolled them both forward—her landing on her stomach, him behind and on top of her. She pressed up onto her hands and knees. Nudging her legs wider, he moved in behind her. His hips butted against her and his hardening cock tapped the inside of her thigh. When he shifted back, his cock slid between her buttocks and he rubbed against her.

“You think I’ll let you mount me like an animal?”

He smoothed his hands down her back, settling them at her waist. His fingers spread, gripping her just above her hips. “You’ve never had sex like this?”

She started to crawl forward, intending to leave the bed rather than answer his question, but he caught her elbows. If she moved, he’d pull her arms out from beneath her. Her heart beat harder in her chest but before she could begin to fight him in earnest, he released her. She twisted around and he came down on the mattress beside her. “Maybe later then. When you made me that offer, I didn’t expect to find you such an innocent.”

“I’m not innocent.”

One finger stroked down her cheek and then his hand turned to cradle her jaw. “I would like to take you from behind. I want my hands tangled in your hair while you suck my cock. I want to fuck your mouth and your ass. I want to taste you, bury my face in your spun-sugar pussy and listen to you beg me for release. I wanted to take you in the bath, at the table while the servants watched from the shadows. I wanted you in that alley, rug to cushion us or no.” He dropped a kiss to her lips. “And I’ve shocked you.”

His gaze held hers, heated and terribly intimate, as she struggled to deny the images he conjured. Her lips on his cock. His mouth on her. He was thinking about it too, and she wanted him, was ready to take him in any way that would ease the urgent need rising in her blood. Too much. He would take everything from her if she let him.

But he didn’t try to turn her again. Instead, he moved over her. Setting his hands to either side of her ribcage, his forearms pressed tight to her body, locking her in place. She spread her legs for him when his knee came up between her thighs, moaned when he rubbed against her. She was so wet that she coated his skin, but he didn’t seem to mind. She didn’t either, when a moment later he shifted his hips and sank into her with a heavy groan.

There were little tics and twitches in the big muscles of his arms that supported the weight of his body. He began to move, slow and easy, letting her feel every thick inch of him. “This is what you want.”

It was, but now the memory of his hands gripping her elbows was fixed in her mind, that feeling of helplessness along with the certainty that he wouldn’t push her too far. She wondered what his come would taste like, how it would feel to have him behind her, what other wicked wonders he might show her. Her mind was brimful of possibilities and after a while she stopped trying to chase them away.

His eyes dilated, as if he could read her mind. “Don’t fret, Ily. I can be patient. When you’re ready.” A shatteringly gentle smile. “I want to show you everything.”

Sweat gleamed on the muscles of his chest and his abdomen. He spoke as if they had all the time in the world to explore those things.

He dropped to his elbows, one hand came up to cradle her cheek and he kissed her with incredible delicacy. She rested her hands on his ass, lightly enough that she wouldn’t impede his movement, loving the way his muscles worked beneath her hands.

He kissed her eyelids, the tip of her nose, grazed the curve of her cheek with his lips and found her mouth again. This kiss was more urgent, wetter and harsher. His free hand scraped down her body and he gripped her ass, his fingertips pressing into the crack firmly enough to guide her movements. His touch ignited her curiosity and a hunger that made her whole body tremble when his grip shifted and one finger rested briefly at her opening. He lifted his head. “Open your eyes, Ily. I want you to know who’s inside of you.”

She did as he asked even though it felt profoundly intimate, more so than taking his cock inside of her. “Will you take the top? I want to see more of you.”

When she nodded, his arms tightened around her and he rolled them. He could likely roll over twice more before they reached the edge of his great bed.

He gave her a lopsided grin and lifted his hips to set her in motion. She braced her hands on his chest and found her rhythm. She’d done
this
before. And it felt wonderful with Kal. His hands guiding her hips, encouraging her without words. He watched the sway of her breasts above his face before cupping them both in his warm hands, kneading them, plucking her nipples to fiery points. She wanted to feel his mouth on her again, but the angle was all wrong. She’d lose his cock then—and she wasn’t ready to give it up.

Again, he seemed to read her mind. “Move back,” he murmured, and she did. He wrapped an arm around her waist and hauled her with him when he pushed himself upright, settling his back to the headboard and lifting her breast to his mouth. He sucked on her nipple with a hard pull that made her fingernails dig into his shoulders. When he released her, she could feel his smile against her skin. “I want you crazy with want.”

“I already am,” she whispered with simple honesty just as his lips touched her other nipple. The stubble on his chin scraped her skin and she buried her fingers in his hair to hold him there. His tongue grazed the tip and he nipped her with his teeth.

“Good.” Another nibble and his hand wedged between their bodies. “A little room...there. You’re close already, I can feel it. Wet and trembling and desperate. I can’t wait to see you come again.”

It would be easier if he didn’t speak, if she could close her eyes and use his body to ease her hunger. But he wasn’t what she’d expected. He was beautiful and demanding and forceful, but he was also ridiculously eager to please her. He was intuitive and generous. He knew how to be gentle.

He thumbed her clit, stroking harder when she pushed against him. “Like that?”

“Yes.” The word turned into a low hiss as her orgasm took her. When her movement faltered, his hand was there on her hip, guiding her. His finger a slight weight against her throbbing clit. His eyes drank her in and, as she came down from that high, he kissed her breast.

“You’re beautiful when you come.”

Something about the way her laughter shook her body made him groan. She lifted her head and pressed a kiss to his collarbone. He tipped his head back, exposing his neck. Who knew there were so many muscles in a man’s neck?

How beautiful he was. She kissed his throat, letting her tongue finally taste his skin. When she pulled back, he looked at her.

“I would like to know how this feels when you are behind me.”

He seemed nearly as surprised by her words as she was. But she wouldn’t take them back. It was the truth. And their time was short. She didn’t know what it was about her that appealed to Kal, but he might tire of her at any moment. She
knew
that this was a mirage, but she was dying of thirst and willing to cling to the illusion awhile longer.

“You’re certain?”

In answer, she turned and set her hands to the bed, glancing over her shoulder to see if he’d follow. Goose bumps rose on her skin, but she wasn’t chilled—and the expression on his face was anything but cool. He made a sound somewhere between a groan and prayer as he moved, coming up behind her. She felt his heat first, the tickling scrape of the hair on his thighs and then his big hand settling possessively on the small of her back.

“Oh, Ily.” He bent over her, moved the hair from her shoulder before pressing a gentle kiss to the back of her neck. “You are one surprise after another.”

His cock slid between her thighs, rubbing against her wet folds, rousing an interest she thought had been exhausted. A shudder ran through her body. She could tell he smiled by the way his cheek moved against her skin. Another kiss below her ear and, smooth as silk, he was gliding inside her. Her swollen flesh parted for him, and she moaned softly when he was fully planted.

“All right?”

“You feel bigger like this.”

“You feel perfect.” But he sounded pleased by her statement. She hadn’t meant it as flattery. He could hurt her. In this position, he had all of the control. She was trusting him. How had that happened?

He pulled back and pumped into her with slow, even thrusts, letting her feel him, his restraint, asking for her trust with every slick retreat. Earning it. He didn’t raise himself to loom over her as she’d half-expected him to do. He planted one hand beside hers to hold most of his weight. His chest, sweat-slick and deliciously warm, pressed to her back. His other arm circled her hips. He nuzzled the side of her neck as he rode her. His thrusts only became forceful when he neared his peak and she met every thrust, urging him, wanting to feel him come apart. His hand flexed on her hip, opened and flexed again harder even as he jerked and then surged forward, holding himself as deep as he could get while his cock throbbed inside her.

His forehead dropped to her shoulder and he breathed hard, nearly panting from his efforts. She collapsed to her stomach and twisted around so she could see his face. Sweat dripped from his hair onto her chest. His head was bowed as though he’d run a race. Magnificent beast. She smiled at him as he fell beside her on the bed.

They’d have to bathe again later. She thought of the enormous bath waiting empty now in the next room and her mind began to wander. Her smile widened as she draped her leg over his and his arm slipped around her shoulders.