Page 25 of A Ring to Claim Her Crown
‘I’d be lying if I said I didn’t take you out today aiming for this to happen. From the moment I saw you again, this is all I’ve thought about—your sounds, your taste.’
Minerva watched as Liro dropped slowly to his knees before her. ‘You have haunted me, Min, possessed me.’
His hands framed her naked centre, spreading her wide in a way that could have made her feel vulnerable and exposed. But instead she felt rather like a sculpture on display in a museum, scandalously adored and coveted. But he had no need to want her from afar, not now when they had so little time. She reached down and cupped the back of his head, pressing herself against his kiss without a hint of embarrassment or shame.
Those emotions could wait for the morning, along with everything else.
It had been so long since anyone had touched her. And this was so much more than the touching and kissing they’d already succumbed to; this was more and yet somehow it wasn’t enough.
Will it ever be enough?that small voice whispered in the back of her mind.
Minerva tried not to let her body shake as she accepted the onslaught of Liro’s attention. His mouth moved against her with devastating precision. She looked down to where his strong hands played along the skin of her stomach and thighs, snaking round to grip her behind and pull her closer to him.
He had never been this confident, this domineering, before. It seemed as if, without words, he knew exactly what she needed and where she needed it. But she had never been so eager to be dominated before either. Memories of their time together seemed to fuse with the present. They had been young back then, with no experience, nothing to compare to. They had simply been lost in their excitement and passion for one another’s bodies. But now, with so many years between them, she felt doubts cloud her mind even as she tried to enjoy the ripples of pleasure working through her body.
‘Stop thinking, Minerva,’ he commanded, pulling back to look up at her. ‘Stop thinking about whatever has you so tense and give in to me. Give in...and I swear I won’t stop until you are completely satisfied.’
‘It’s not that easy.’ She gasped, shocked when she felt his grip tightening on her upper thigh, holding her in place.
‘You need me to switch off your thoughts another way?’ He looked up at her, his mouth glistening with the evidence of her arousal. It was so torrid, so utterly wrong, and yet when he stood up and kissed her she revelled in that explicit action. It seemed to break through a barrier in her mind and she leaned into him, kissing him back with the wild abandon that she’d been holding in check. She’d been holding herself together for fear that, if she let loose, she would unravel completely, irreparably, never to be put back together again like some broken thing. Hadn’t she been broken for so long already? Maybe this was exactly what she needed. Maybe, as he said, they needed closure in order to move past the place where they’d become stuck.
A snap decision made, she leaned into him, her fingernails digging into his shoulders as she raised her thigh to bracket his thickly muscled hip. She moaned and ground the evidence of his arousal against her, separated only by a thin layer of her lace underwear. He was so hard, so large and, gods help her, she wanted nothing more than to climb him like a tree. She wanted to stop being angry and take what she was owed.
She would take this one night...one night without thinking like a princess. One night to feel just like a woman—his woman.
It was as if he sensed her change of thoughts, how her resolve had solidified her decision in the way her body had changed towards him.
‘There you are.’ He growled, tracing kisses down along her neck.
‘This night.’ She gasped. ‘This one night is ours.’
The loose sundress that she wore was bunched around her hips and she could feel the cool breeze of the night air on her legs. He lifted her as though she weighed nearly nothing and carried her over to a canopied day-bed. It provided slightly more privacy than the open top deck, but not enough that she didn’t feel the thrill of possibly being caught.
‘No one will disturb us.’ He growled, setting her down slowly as though she were made of glass. He looked uncertain as he stared down at her, and for one prolonged, awful moment she thought he had reconsidered this madness they had both willingly agreed upon. If he’d been thinking, he quickly came to a decision, smiling as he pulled her panties away from her body in one smooth movement. The sound of lace tearing was unbearably erotic, as was the glimmer in his eyes as he took a moment to obviously savour the bare flesh he had uncovered.
His eyes were dark and thoroughly locked upon Minerva as he moved over her, bracketing her in with strong arms and tracing one long kiss up her centre. This time, he would not stop until she was thoroughly satisfied—wasn’t that what he had said? She didn’t look away; she watched him as he pleasured her and sighed loudly as her release began to build. He added two fingers, curling them just where she needed them, and the pleasure built even further.
Liro’s low, rasping compliments moved around her, echoing under their cocoon along with her increasingly harsh breaths. She was coming apart, losing herself. When he felt her begin to tighten, he commanded her tojust let goand, to her surprise, she did. She let go of it all, shattering over and over again until her lungs ached from crying out and her mind was completely blank. When she became aware of herself once more, she only wanted one thing: him.
‘Make love to me, Liro. Now,’ she said, stretching her arms above her head and offering herself to him fully to do with as he pleased. She didn’t care if he was gentle or rough, only that it was him, and they were together.
CHAPTER NINE
LIRORAISEDHIMSELFup over Minerva’s thoroughly pleasured body, his biceps bulging with the effort of not plunging into her immediately. He was too worked up after seeing her fall apart like that for him, too close to losing control, and he hadn’t even thought to bring a condom. But then she’d asked him to make love to her, so very sweetly...and he’d been a lost cause.
‘Si, princesa,’he murmured against her lips as he fought not to notch his hard length against her. ‘We need to get protection, then you can use me as much as you need.’
She shuddered against him but then stilled, her golden eyes spearing him in place. ‘I’m not using you, Liro,’ she whispered, breathing hard as she punctuated her words with soft kisses along his chest and jaw. Her hands traced his pecs and his tattoos, coming to rest right above his heart. He closed his eyes against the vulnerability he saw there, the softness...
He’d been prepared for the frantic wildness of their initial joining, knowing that, so long as it was just sex, he could give her what she needed. He could be the man who made her orgasm over and over and still walk away at the end. But this... Having her look at him like this was almost more than he could bear. So he took the coward’s way out and gathered her into his arms, carrying her into the darkness of his bedroom. He didn’t turn on the lights, knowing exactly where to find the small square box of protection in his nightstand. He’d never brought anyone here, not even for a date. This had been purchased with Minerva in mind.
‘I can’t see you.’ She laughed huskily, reaching for him.
‘Use your other senses,’ he commanded, moving behind her and sneaking a quick kiss on the back of her shoulder before grabbing her wrists and holding her in place.
‘How can you see a thing?’ she asked, out of breath from their play. Liro could just about make out the curve of her lips as he laid her down on her side, sliding himself behind her and entering her in one hard thrust. She inhaled a sharp breath that turned into a groan as he filled her fully.
‘Tell me what you need, Min,’ he murmured against her ear, using one hand to hold her thighs apart but firmly in place, stopping her from rocking against him.
