Page 54 of Claimed By the Fae Lord

“Gods, Raina,” he cursed roughly. “You’re so fucking tight.”

My nails dug into his back as our hips rocked together in a frenzied rhythm. My inner muscles clutched him, coaxing him deeper.

“More!” I panted.

Liam growled and obliged with a sexual ferocity he’d never shown me before. His thrusts were brutal, claiming me as his own as if the moment would be our last together. And maybe it would be.

His fingers dug painfully into my backside. I welcomed the pain, yearning for more, needing to feel something besides the everpresent hollow ache in my chest.

I arched my back, inviting him to take me deeper still and he did so without hesitation. It was raw and intense, fueled by years of pent-up emotions.

Rain pelted the window panes, mirroring the frenetic pace of our lovemaking. The violent clash of our bodies against the wall was almost as deafening as the thunderous roar of my heart.

The climax hit like a tsunami, washing over me in waves as my muscles clenched around him. Liam stiffened, throwing back his head as he roared my name like some primitive beast, before collapsing into me, spent.

His sweat-soaked body pressed against mine. I knew this was the connection I’d been missing for so long. This was what I’d been yearning for.

Sometime over the last two years I wished I’d never known it, had never felt it with Liam. Having such intimacy taken away after experiencing something so life-altering had been a torture of its own.

He panted against my neck and I tightened my arms around him. For a moment, I let myself believe this meant something more than just years of bottled lust and pent up frustration.

As our breathing slowed and reality began to seep back in, my mind whirled with things I wanted to deny but couldn't suppress any longer.

Cupping his cheek, I lifted to press my lips to his. The kiss was soft and lingering, filled with all the love I’d kept inside for so long.

Liam responded at first, but then pulled away, his eyes averted as he withdrew from my body and set me back on my feet.

Feeling suddenly exposed and vulnerable, I picked up what was left of my tunic and used it to cover myself as best I could. I leaned against the wall, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

I watched as Liam tucked himself back into his pants, a mixture of regret and frustration etched on his face.

"We shouldn’t have … like this … it was a mistake," he babbled, shaking his head and taking another step away from me.

"A mistake," I repeated, voice raspy from our exertions. “That’s what I am to you, isn’t it? What I’ll always be. Nothing more than a mistake from your past. One you’ll barely tolerate, but only because of your future queen’s friendship with me.”

"Raina,” he began, running a hand through his messy hair. “If Nox hadn’t brought Aeryn to Thornewood for the bride trials, you would have likely been the winner.”

“He would never have married me and you know it. You’re a brother to him.”

“Did you know that before you arrived? That there was no possible way he would choose you?”

As a frost nymph, one of many kinds of fae, only the truth could pass my lips. “I believed it highly unlikely.”

Liam sniffed. “Yet you entered the trials.”

My mouth tightened. “Did you hit your head?”

“What?”

“You must have because you seem to have forgotten the names were drawn. I didn’t choose to enter anything. I was chosen when my name was pulled from that bucket.”

“You were the only eligible female in that province, Raina. There was only one name in there.”

He sounded pissed-off again. He was such an asshole!

“And that’s my fault, how?”

“You went willingly! Didn’t hesitate for a second!”

---