“And what order was that?” I panted.

“Removing your clothes.” His words were all raspy gravel. “Now beg and then do as you are told.”

I rolled my lips together, planning on a final protest, when his magic ceased moving altogether. “Please.” The word slipped out before I could stop it. He was far too skilled in melting me with his commands and caresses.

“Please, what?”

“Please forgive me for not listening the first time,” I whimpered, straining against his hold. The shadows shackling my hands loosened. I wasted no time grasping the edges of the laces they’d begun to undo. In moments, my jacket hung loose, revealing my bare breasts.

Rokath let out a low, masculine groan. “Didn’t dress fully, little imposter?”

“Around you, it’s nearly impossible to keep all my clothes on,” I quipped, lips curving into a smile.

More of his power drifted away, and he reached for my shoulders, sliding the fabric off me and tossing it to the side. Without waiting, he cupped them, then brought one of my hard nipples to his mouth. Sucking harshly, he tore a cry from my lips.

“Quietly, tonight. This moment is just for us, Assyria.”

“Yes,” I told him, gritting my teeth as he did the same on the other side. A low hiss swept through them instead, and a rumble of approval vibrated in his chest. While he worked over my breasts, I undid the laces at the top of my pants.

Barely releasing me, he lifted me off the seat and yanked them clean off my legs, leaving me completely naked. Kneeling between my thighs, he stared at my glistening center like it was a holy fountain.

“Always so fucking wet for me,” he ground out, hands moving to part my thighs. He dug into the muscles there, kneading and pulling a low groan from me. “Tell me, Assyria. What makes your pretty pussy weep the most?”

“When you say things like that,” I rasped as his face drifted closer. “When you use your shadows to bend me to your will.” His hot breath ghosted across my core before he planted a kiss so, so high on my inner thigh. “When we fight first. With words or physically.”

His tongue swept out along the seam of my leg, so close and so fucking far from where I wanted him to be. I removed my hands from the chair and dug my nails into the tattoos on the back of his scalp, trying to direct him to put his lips on me.

He resisted me, huffing a laugh against my center. “Your challenge gets me so fucking hard.” In one smooth motion, he rose, and my hands fell to the thick length of him straining against his pants. “Keep stroking me.”

I did, staring up at him as he worked over the buttons of his shirt and tossed it aside, revealing the torso sculpted from the craggy Skala Mountains. The muscles in his abdomen flexed, drawing my attention to the delicious V that pointed straight to where I touched him. His cock throbbed against my hand, and I reached for the ties of his pants, giving them a tug.

“Take out my cock, little imposter,” he murmured, his burgundy eyes igniting with dark hunger.

I didn’t hesitate to obey. When it sprang free, my mouth watered at the sight. His dick pulsed—glistening, flushed, swollen—with the promise of the pleasure it would deliver. I leaned back, easing my legs open and letting the firelight glint off of the slickness between them.

Rokath shucked off his boots, baring himself to me. Wrapping a strong hand around his thick cock, he stroked up and down, up and down, as he venerated the vision beneath him. I had to bite my lip to stifle a groan at the sight.

“So. Fucking. Gorgeous. I don’t even need you to touch yourself to ensure my dick will fit in that perfect cunt. You’re slick enough already.”

“Then get inside me,” I pleaded, the heat of his gaze more than enough to wind me tight enough to snap.

“Ask nicely,” he shot back, making my core clench.

Popping out my lower lip and batting my lashes, I did. “Please, master. I want you to fill me.”

“Fuck,” he groaned, his eyes closing. More arousal dripped from the crown. “You have no idea what that does to me.”

The primal desire sweeping down our bond afforded me a hint of understanding. That need expanded as he stepped closer. A log cracked and popped in the fire, but it didn’t shatter our moment. It was merely background noise, melting away with the rest of the world as he knelt and yanked me to the edge of the seat.

At this angle, his hardness was the perfect height to enter me.

“Eyes on me,” he commanded, and I dug my nails into his shoulders to steady myself as I held his gaze.

Then, he pushed inside me. Slowly. Excruciatingly. To the point I wasn’t above calling him master again simply so he’d give me all of his thick length.

“Rokath,” I breathed, his name like a plea and a prayer.

“Assyria,” he returned, his tone like honed worship. He reached up, brushing the back of his knuckles across my cheek. “My perfect fucking mate.”

He seated himself to the hilt, and my arms trembled from holding myself so still. One hand slid to my lower back, while the other went to the leather tying my braid. He tugged it, letting my dark hair cascade free with a few shakes of his fingers through it. “That’s better. I love seeing it unbound while I fuck you.”

The ends tickled my skin, eliciting a small gasp. Rokath moved again, dragging himself out to the tip. A shudder wracked my frame as he slid all the way in again. He repeated the motion, collapsing my entire world to the place where we joined, the slow glide of him inside me, and the savage devotion in his eyes.

“My protector,” I intoned as he withdrew.

“My Halálhívó,” I whimpered as he bottomed out.

“My mate,” I breathed as he arched my back, sinking even deeper inside me.

“Mine,” I whispered as I looped my arms behind his neck and dragged myself closer.

Our lips met in a passionate kiss, all tongue and slow movement, savoring each other like we had an eternity. Lost in the embrace like adventurers out at sea, his thrusts maintained a steady rhythm, rolling with the tide of our pleasure.

The way his arms tightened around me, holding me like I was a precious weapon, coupled with the utter adoration sweeping down our bond, had pleasure building to a pyre inside me. Arousal drenched my thighs, and my breath came in ragged, battling for space in the moments our lips didn’t join.

He broke our kiss and pressed his forehead to mine, forcing me to look deep into his eyes. “This year, you are all mine. You will belong to no one else. It is the first year of the rest of our lives.”

“Yes,” I agreed, arching into him, wanting to feel him against every nerve inside me. His cock throbbed, only serving to increase the tension coiling in my core. “You’ll finish this throne for me. We’ll win this war. Then, we’ll return to Stryi so you can show me exactly how no one else should ever have had me.”

A wicked groan reverberated against his ribs. “Nothing gets me harder than when you talk like that.”

To prove his point, he speared into me with breath-stealing force. I felt him along every inch of my center. “Except for maybe when you direct that fire my way.”

Gripping me to him, he stood and flipped us so I straddled him on the throne. “Ride me like you’re claiming your vengeance. Make a fucking mess all over the bones of those who dared lay a hand on you.”

My pussy constricted around him, eliciting another primal sound from his throat.

“Just like that. Let your cunt squeeze out every last drop from me.”

I worked my hips, sliding along his length, dragging my clit over his cut abdominals to give myself the extra friction I needed. Rokath’s biceps flexed as he guided me up and down. Despite the cold, sweat dripped down my spine.

With each pass, my core tightened, until I was mere moments away from shattering. Pants mingled with whimpers, but I smothered them with teeth digging into my bottom lip.