“I suppose not,” Prince Thorne said, slipping one finger through the throbbing dampness, and then inside me. My hips rolled as I gripped the arm of the chair. The sound he made then was unmistakable. A low chuckle. “Can you, pet? It’s only nature for any species to assert dominance,” he added as his finger plunged deep.
My head snapped toward his. Our mouths were inches apart. “Do not call me that.”
The blue of his eyes raced across the other colors. “What am I supposed to call you?”
“Not that— ” I gasped as his finger hooked, finding a . . . a spot.
His gaze roamed over my face, seeming to catch the heightening in color. “What do you say then? Can you blame another for attempting to dominate what they want?”
“I . . .” I had a feeling he wasn’t just speaking of the leader of the Iron Knights, but I couldn’t be sure, because he touched that spot again. A riot of sensations arced through me. I leaned into him. “I . . . I suppose it depends.”
“On?”
“On what one is attempting to dominate,” I said, looking away. “And why they want it.”
Claude was now who watched, but . . . but I realized that how Prince Thorne sat, my lap and his hand were shielded by the table.
Unlike the Baron, he didn’t want another watching that closely, which was surprising. I would’ve thought . . .
My thoughts scattered as the Prince’s thumb joined in. I trembled as all those acute curling motions rapidly built. The Prince’s body— his hand and his fingers warmed, heated against me and inside me. Oh gods, I’d never felt anything like that. The edge of the wood dug into my palm.
“But I doubt simply a hunger for more power could drive one, even a princess, to be so bold and reckless as to attempt to seize a city that would draw the ire and the might of the King,” Claude continued. “Surely, there must be more than a port that she finds valuable enough to risk being destroyed for.”
Something . . . something about how Claude spoke caused my skin to prickle with awareness. Breathing too fast, I tried to focus.
“I do believe that is the third thing . . .” Prince Thorne’s finger thrust, his thumb swirled, and it was . . . it was too much. The pleasure building bordered on pain. I started to push away. The arm around my waist prevented that. “That we agree on.”
The tension erupted without warning. I came, crying out—
Prince Thorne’s hand covered my mouth, muffling the moan of release. “Not here,” he whispered in my ear. “Not for anyone else’s ears but mine.”
My eyes closed as I shuddered, lost a little in the waves of raw pleasure— in the feel of his hard flesh and the tendons of his forearm that I had clutched at some point— and I heard and saw nothing. All I felt was the rippling tremors of pleasure and the heated presence of his finger as it slowed.
I was panting as I settled in his lap, body limp and relaxed completely into his. I watched through half-opened eyes as he slid his palm over my thigh and lifted his hand.
Prince Thorne’s eyes snagged mine as he brought his glistening finger to his mouth and . . . and sucked deep.
Oh gods, my entire body tensed once more.
“Thank you,” he said, then his gaze flicked to the Baron. “I do enjoy dessert.”
Claude laughed deeply, finishing off his glass of brandy. “Don’t we all?”
“There is something I require from you, Baron,” Prince Thorne said after a moment, his other hand returning to my waist while I focused on slowing my breathing and my heart. “I want her.”
I went stiff.
“I want her,” Prince Thorne repeated. “For the duration of my time here, she is mine.”
CHAPTER 23
The unexpected and possibly inappropriate orgasm had likely addled my mind, because there was no way I’d heard Prince Thorne correctly.
Claude slowly lowered the bottle of brandy. “Why?”
“Does there have to be a reason?” Prince Thorne countered.
Disbelief coursed through me. I had heard him correctly.
Jerking out of my stupor, I snapped forward, but I didn’t make it very far before the Prince’s arm tugged me back against his chest. My head whipped toward him. “Let me go.”
Swirling eyes locked with mine. A tense heartbeat passed; then his arm slipped away as a faint grin appeared. “Your command is my will.”
I stood, bumping into the table and rattling the glasses that remained as I slipped away from him. “I don’t know why you’re smiling, Your Grace. What you ask for, you cannot have.”