Queen Takes Rose (Wicked Villains 6)

“Of course you did.” She adjusts the phone, and I realize she’s propped it up on a chair next to the tub so she has both hands free. The angle gives a little more of her body, the image vaguely blurred by the water teasing at revealing her. I can’t see below her hips, and for the first time, I regret the command to only see her face.

But, fuck, what a face.

She’s perfectly relaxed as she builds her pleasure. I can see evidence of it in her quickening breaths, in the way her lips part as if begging for my mouth, in her eyes fighting not to slide shut when it gets too much.

I don’t make a conscious decision to do as she asked, but I unbutton my pants to slip my hand between my thighs. It’s as if it was a foregone conclusion the second I accepted this call. I’m drenched, and I drag the wetness up to circle my clit. My body is already tense and ready. Gods, Aurora is like a fever in my blood. I can’t think straight, my normal coolness slipping through my fingers. “I should make you come down here and lick me clean after I’m done.”

She lifts her chin. “Do it.”

The temptation rises again, to throw all my careful plans for the day to the wind and just fuck Aurora until we exhaust this sizzling connection. Except I don’t think there is any exhausting it now, do I?

That means there need to be boundaries. I’ve worked too hard for this life to let a single person derail me. Those words used to feel firmer, more like a statement and less like a question.

“Orgasm. Say my name when you do.”

I keep stroking myself, my harsh breathing creating a symphony with hers. All at once, she arches her back and cries out. And, gods help me, she moans my name as she gasps her way through her orgasm. I don’t even try to hold out, not when I’ve been dancing on the edge and waiting for her to join me. I press my lips together as I come, shoving down any foolish desire to give her the same treatment. We’re not there yet. We’ve only just begun to make progress, and if I move too quickly, Aurora will spook. I doubt she’ll give me a second chance if I fuck this one up.

I ease my hand out of my pants and lean forward. “Well done.”

“I try.” Her smirk holds only a fraction of her usual brattiness. “Three.” Aurora hangs up before I can respond, which is just as well.

I take my time cleaning myself up. The temptation to go to her is almost too much to resist, but I’ve a long habit of resisting the things I want most. I can last a few more hours until we spar again this afternoon.

Then I’m going to fuck her on the mat.

The plan makes me smile, and the knowledge of what’s to come buoys me through two meetings that could have been emails before Sara arrives in my office to update me on the status of the territory. We touch base on them every couple of days, barring some kind of disaster, and today is more of the same.

Sara sits back. “Everything’s fine. Shipments are on time. Suppliers are happy. Buyers are happy. The people are happy.” They sound vaguely disgusted. “There’s one that’s running a little late, but it will be here by noon, so it’s hardly worth noting.”

“War is bad for business,” I remind them.

“I know. I’m just…” They make a vague motion with their hand. “If things were going wrong, it’d give me something to focus on.”

Something besides what’s going on back home. I can’t say I feel any differently. I frown. “Did something else happen?”

“No. No new developments. The Brides are all safe, best I can tell; or as safe as they can be given the circumstances.”

Handfasted to the Paine brothers. Gods, that sounds like a nightmare if I ever heard one. If those men are anything like their father, their Brides are in for a hellish year. That man was brutal enough to give even me pause. The thought of seven of them, three of whom are now handfasted to my family members… It has my muscles tensing in preparation for a strike. “My sister will figure it out,” I say carefully.

Sara doesn’t blink. “And if she doesn’t?”

“She will.” I can’t afford to think anything else. “And if she doesn’t, Monroe will.” My eldest niece, the one named in my honor. She’s as ambitious, brutal, and cunning as her mother and myself combined. If Aisling falters, Monroe will ensure the Amazons land on their feet, her being handfasted to Broderick Paine or no.

Finally, Sara nods. “You’re right. I know you’re right.”

I understand where they’re coming from. It’s difficult not to worry, but I won’t be responsible for buckling the trust our people have in Aisling, even from a distance. The Amazons on my staff are still Amazons first.