Immortals After Dark 09 - Pleasure of a Dark Prince

painful, and he’d vowed to get revenge.
    But mainly because he wanted to behold his mate. He was a male, and a primitive one at heart—he simply wanted to ogle the female Fate had chosen for him. “You’re stalling, Valkyrie. We’re both adults, and you’re in no way modest about anything else.”
    “Maybe I don’t want to get jumped as soon as I strip.”
    “I vow to give you a reprieve. At least until after your meeting.”
    “You know what? I’ll do it. Just to show you what you’ll never have.” With a glare, she dug into her pack, snatching out a change of clothes—a pair of plain beige pants, but she’d unerringly chosen a red halter top and red underwear.
    “Red,” he breathed. The color was an attractant to Lykae males, more so for mated ones. And this lingerie was especially pleasing. There was a ribbon on the back of the panties clearly made for a man’s eyes. He imagined fingering it as he put her on her hands and knees. He’d slowly peel the panties down her thighs, just far enough that he could spread her legs and enter her.
    She turned to take off her shirt, pulling it over her head. When she removed her bra and reached for the dry one, he caught a glimpse of one of her lush breasts and a dusky rose nipple.
    How many times had he ejaculated in his hand, imagining those big breasts? How many times had he come with his teeth gritted with frustration because he was squeezing his cock instead of kneading those mounds of creamy flesh… ?
    Though his Lucia wasn’t shy, she acted discomfited sometimes, behaving in ways contrary to what he’d expect. Not modest in any way yet still shy. She was like that now. Acting as if this were killing her. When in fact, he could tell she was becoming aroused. Herbreaths had grown shallow. Her eyes flickered silver. He wondered if she knew that.
    She removed her underwear, revealing her taut, work-of-art arse, and all thought fled his brain for long moments.
“Gods almighty,”
he finally breathed, making her shoulders stiffen. “Never seen your arse before. And never seen the likes of it in a thousand years.”
    He clenched his fists, reminding himself of his ill-advised vow not to jump her. But damn, he needed to cup her there, spank her, nip her. Any way he could touch those generous curves.
    She tugged on the lingerie far too fast for his liking, then donned her pants and shirt. Facing him, she said, “There. Are you happy?”
    His voice rough, he said, “If happy means hard as stone and heavy in the bollocks, then
aye
.”
    With a glare, she started for the door. He shot to his feet, stomping into his boots, then slinging her bow case over his shoulder to follow her.
    “You can’t go!” Her expression was aghast.
    “I go where you go.”
    “But your eyes are turning when you look at me!”
    He shrugged. “You affect me.” Understatement. He wanted to shove his face into her satiny hair and breathe in deep. He wanted to lick her nipples and know her taste—
    “The mortals will see! You have to stay here. Our deal was that you wouldn’t blow my cover!”
    He snagged sunglasses from his pack. “No’ a problem.”
    “And what about…
that
?” She delicately pointed to his erection.
    He made a big show of tucking his shaft straight up behind the waist of his jeans. She looked stunned to have seen the head of his cock before he pulled his shirt down. “Ah, lass, you’ve seen it before. Had your hands all over it.”
    She was still gaping when he possessively clasped her nape and escorted her from the cabin. He followed the scent of humans to the meeting room.
    By the time they reached it, she was still steaming mad. But he had leverage over her now, and he wouldn’t be shy about using it. She didn’t want to be discovered; he’d threatened to expose her. He’d be ruthless to have her. As ruthless as she’d proved to be to him.
    At the door, she hissed, “This isn’t finished.”
    “Been telling myself that for a year.” He turned her, capturing her in his arms. She beat his chest with considerable strength, but he didn’t budge. “You know when you’ve been nicest to me? Whenever I was
taking
kisses from you, demanding them as my due. Then you melted for me.” He cupped her face, brought her to him, slanting his lips over hers.
    After moments of hesitation, she melted, just as he’d remembered. He savored fleeting strokes of their tongues before he somehow broke away. “A taste of what’s to come tonight. Because