The Warlord (Rise of the Warlords 1)

His pupils did that cool pulsing thing, a galaxy of stars seeming to swim inside their depths. The first time she’d seen it, she’d wondered if it happened due to fury or passion. Now she knew. Passion. Her Astra was intensely aroused...

He rocked his straining erection against her with more force. “You want me to remove the metal. Admit it.”

A shot of pleasure momentarily robbed her of sound. Drawing on iron control she’d honed on the battlefield, Taliyah ultimately countered, “You want to remove it. Admit it.”

“Just for that,” he said, his face almost brutal in the candlelight, “I’ll make you beg for me.”

Do not squirm. “You’ll try. Others have. All have failed.”

“I don’t lose battles.” As his gaze held hers, aggression charged the air between them.

With the gentlest, most shocking of touches, he grazed his hands up her sides and stopped beside her breasts. With his thumbs, he drew lazy circles around her nipples. Both drew tight; the lucky piercing made her ache. “I’ll make you scream my name.”

Taliyah fought another moan.

Circle...circle... In the firelight, he was a painting come to life. A fabled king who ruled with an iron fist. And his scent...his scent deepened, becoming richer. He smelled like her most fevered dream. He was temptation made flesh, and she was panting. She must be soaked right now.

Circle, circle... He picked up speed.

Goose bumps spread, and she rocked herself against him. “Keep trying. I’m sure I’ll scream sooner or later.”

He nipped her bottom lip. “You want me to see your breasts. Show them to me.”

Yes... “I’ll do it because you believe you’ll die if I don’t.” Hands shaking, she unhooked the gown’s collar. The top fell, baring her breasts to his blistering gaze.

Air hissed between his teeth. “Exquisite.”

Had any man ever looked at her this way, as if he’d never beheld such beauty? “You want your mouth on me,” she rasped. “Do it.”

“Yes...because you need me to.” Appearing dazed, he lifted her, placing her piercing at the same level as his mouth. But he didn’t lick. He stared, hard, his entire being promising wild, wicked things.

Taliyah hovered at the razor’s edge of suspense? Would he? Wouldn’t he?

Would she stoop to asking?

“Roc,” she said, as much a command as a complaint.

“Yes.” At last, he stroked his tongue over the piercing.

She gasped, inundated by an avalanche of sensation. All the heat, all the wet, all the pleasure.

When he sucked the distended crest into his mouth, he wrenched a hoarse groan from her. Taliyah was too far gone to care. “Harder.” No mistaking the command this time.

Releasing a deliciously rumbly sound, he flipped her to her back, splaying her across the pillows and trapping her wings. He pinned her arms overhead with a single hand, positioning himself above her. A warrior without equal. So big he eclipsed the rest of the world, keeping her attention centered on him.

His breaths turned choppy, his gaze fierce. With lips wet and puffy from suction, he looked wonderfully lewd. He was...what...that scent. What was that? She whimpered. Had anything ever smelled so scrumptious?

If he smells this good, how good must he taste? Mmm. A sip. Just the tiniest sip... A soul-light glowed from his pores, growing brighter, leaving her dizzy.

“You snarl and you shout, harpy,” he said with a husky chuckle, “but the right touch makes you mewl like a little kitten.”

Both the statement and the chuckle dripped with wonder. Slowly she opened her legs to cradle his lower body against hers.

Upon contact, they both moaned. He was a furnace, his warmth a sublime drug.

She wanted to kiss him... She needed to feed... Desires warred. “Touch me, Roc.”

“Yes.” With his free hand, he traced the column of her neck, then her collarbone, leaving a trail of tingling heat.

“More.” She tilted her head, granting him better access.

“The things I plan to do to you...” He stroked between her breasts, so tender. Was this how he treated all his lovers? So...irresistibly?

A flare of jealousy surprised her.

He kneaded her bare breast, his skin like fire, branding her as surely as the iron. Taliyah reveled, the jealousy torched.

Rubbing her knees up his legs, she croaked, “Tell me everything you want to do to me...and maybe I’ll let you.”

“I’ll start with—” He frowned, his gaze glued to the area he’d just touched. His head tilted. His eyes widened. Rearing onto his haunches, he lifted his hand into the light, then did the same to the other. His gaze returned to her, sweeping over every spot he’d caressed.

Her pulse leaped with confusion. And maybe, just maybe, a pinch of vulnerability. “Roc?”

Almost crazed, he jumped to his feet. “You... I... Do not leave this room, Taliyah. Do you understand? You will remain in here or you will regret it.”

“What happened?” Colder by the second—angrier by the second—she eased upright. Fix her gown? Hardly. Let him look at what he wouldn’t be seeing again. Had this been his plan all along? To get her worked up and leave her to suffer?