Beasts of Flames

Chapter Twenty-One

I was woken up in the late night hours by a window being forcefully blown open. The sound of the pane crashing against the wall of the room. Hearing the sound, my eyes flew open and I threw my covers from my body in a panic. I turned to face the window, watching it swing on its hinges, noticing the storm raging just outside it. Thunder rolled in the distance, sounding like a god's dying heatbeat. Seeing no real danger around me, I calmed, falling back onto my pillows.

"Bad dreams?" a cruel voice whispered to me. Startled, I whipped my head around to find Kellen leaning in my doorway.

"That's none of your business," I said, clipping my words for emphasis. It was at that moment I realized how exposed I was to him, sheets lying across my legs. I quickly grabbed at them, pulling them tightly to my body, and I heard Prince Kellen laugh across the room.

"No need to act like a prude, little dragon," he said, grinning like a devil, "I'm not interested in what your body can offer. There's really not much about you that could ever entice and satisfy me."

"Would you believe me if I said I'd rather die than satisfy someone like you," I spat back. The nerve of this male to break into my room and speak to me this way. Still clutching my covers, I watched anxiously as he prowled toward the bed. Something in his eyes had shifted, he seemed unhinged, feral, and I felt my heart pounding louder and louder in my chest.

Now, he was standing before me, so close I was afraid he'd hear how my heart was thumping in his presence. Kellen, placing his strong hands beside my body, loomed over me, eyes drifting down to where my legs were firmly crossed. He looked up, slowly dragging his eyes up to meet mine. I was a frozen statue under his gaze, losing all sense of fight or flight in this moment. He leaned in to me, his breath hot on my neck as he moved to my ear,

"You're lying, little dragon," he whispered. His hands moved from the covers to rest on my hips. My breathing hitched under the sensation of his icy touch, and I felt a tingle shoot through me. Kellen moved toward my jaw, lips close enough to touch,

"Even now, your body is betraying your words," he said softly, planting kisses along my jawline. His hands moved from my hips, trailing up to my breasts. His touch was brazen and possessive, as if he was branding me. I had never been like this with Maximus, he was gentle and sweet, but this was different. I was dancing dangerously close to the edge with the devil himself.

His hand reached up, tugging on my chin fiercely, forcing me to look into his gaze again. I stared into the dark abyss of his eyes and savored the sensation of his fingers grazing down my body. When his fingers reach the band of the silk shorts I was wearing, my breathing stopped in anticipation, and I unwittingly, released my legs. Noting the change, Kellen's hand dipped beneath my waistband, and he found precisely what I had been hiding.

"Not even trying to stop me," Kellen said, my pleasure utterly at his mercy now, "have I won you over so easily?"

His fingers playfully circled at the apex of my thighs, and I threw back my head at the feeling. My mind could only comprehend his touch, no words or thoughts could penetrate this moment of satisfaction. I gripped the covers beside me, grounding me enough to think of a response.

"You haven't won anything," I said between my heavy pants.

"You're a conqueror."

His head moved from my jaw to my chest, placing light kisses as he went. I could feel a heat building from deep within me.

"You have ruined me."

He moved lower and lower, pulling my silk shorts with him until I was naked from my waist down. My mind didn't even notice until he placed his head between my legs and began to taste me. My body tensed at the feeling, and I let out a uncontainable, deep moan that sent me spiraling and seeing stars.