Page 50 of Back to Claim His Crown
‘Maybe it wasn’t so bad,’ she admitted. ‘King Niko and Queen Maia are lovely. And I liked the dancing.’ She was surprised when he stiffened. ‘Did you enjoy it?’
‘Did I enjoy watching you look so beautiful as you danced with other men?’ he muttered slowly.
‘Well, that’s your fault for ordering them all to dance with me,’ she said softly, because she was sure that was what he’d done. ‘I would have been happy to remain a social outcast. My feet are killing me.’
But he still didn’t smile. ‘I didn’t order anyone to dance with you. I think that was Niko amusing himself at my expense.’ His gaze heavy-lidded, he studied her mouth. ‘He saw how furious I was when he first danced with you. I was jealous of my best friend. A man I know to be utterly in love with his wife.’
Oh, he was in a dangerous mood. Zara’s heart thudded.
His glittering gaze skittered lower, sweeping over her silk gown. ‘Will you have trouble getting out of your dress tonight?’
She stilled. ‘I don’t think I can manage the buttons.’
‘I think you’d better or I’ll end up shredding yet another of your dresses.’
A firestorm cascaded over her. She lifted shaking fingers and unfastened the first button. Then the next. Then the next.
He watched, utterly motionless, for a moment, only to suddenly shoot her a devastating smile. ‘You prefer that I don’t wear a jacket, right?’
She couldn’t answer as he undid his buttons. And she forgot to finish unfastening her dress. Because he wasn’t as butter-fingered as she and in the next moment he stood bare-chested before her. Her pulse quickened. So did her breathing. Because he didn’t stop at the jacket and shirt. He toed off his shoes and unfastened the top button of his formal trousers—then somehow slid the zip down despite that bulge.
‘You want me, Zara?’ he asked huskily when he finally stood before her, fully naked. He was huge all over—tall, broad-shouldered, those large muscles rippling and his massive erection rigid. ‘Because I want you.’
She was so relieved her knees went weak. He laughed throatily and caught her, sliding her to the floor, pushing the loosened silk from her body in seconds.
‘Kiss me,’ she begged.
‘I intend to,’ he growled. ‘I’m going to do everything I’ve been dreaming of doing all damned night.’
He didn’t just kiss her. He consumed her. Everywhere.
‘Spread wider.’ He pushed her thighs apart with his powerful hands and groaned. ‘All mine.’ He bent and feasted upon her. ‘Only mine.’
‘Yes.’ She gasped at the rough swipe of his tongue and the silken soft brush of his lips.
‘I can’t get enough of you, Zara.’ His grip on her tightened. ‘I need this.’
‘So do—Oh, yes!’ She arched, her eyes almost rolling backwards as the decadent pleasure he gave overwhelmed her. She convulsed uncontrollably, lost in the throes of an orgasm so intense she barely remained conscious through it.
But he stroked her gently, keeping her with him, making her tumble deeper and deeper—because her want for him was endless.
‘Zara...’ He roused her again with the sexiest whisper. ‘It’s time for us to dance.’
The sexual smugness in his eyes as he reared above her made her even hotter. But he rose to his feet.
‘Please,’ she muttered almost inaudibly as he gazed down at her. ‘Lucian—’
‘We haven’t made it to the bed,’ he teased.
‘I don’t care.’ She shivered greedily. ‘Don’t make me wait any longer.’
His body tensed. With a swift move that emphasised his jaw-dropping strength, he stepped between her legs and scooped her up. She immediately wrapped her legs around his hips, moaning at the sensation of having him hold her so completely. He was her iced-up man mountain, but he had a volcano inside him and when he erupted he bathed her in his searing vitality. She adored it when he let himself go like this. He planted his feet wide, anchoring them there in the centre of the room. His arousal pressed against her core. She pressed her hips closer to him as best she could. His gaze smouldered but she was ecstatic. She smiled right at him. He hissed and she saw the sexual restraint in him snap.
‘I’m sorry I made you wait.’ He slid her onto him in a slick, strong move.
She cried out in relief, in ecstasy, in raw, desperate need. He was so big and he held nothing back and it waseverything.
‘This is what you wanted?’ he growled.
