Page 57 of Courting the Tiger King

Her eyes flew wide. “Poison?”

“I just don’t understand,” he growled, pushing a hand through his hair as his legs ate up the space between the sides of the room. “How did they know your plans to be there? Why are they doing this? Going after you and Zennon rather than me?”

A cool hand took his and Neah squeezed gently. “The important thing is that we’re okay and wewillfind whoever is responsible for all of this and they will pay.” The words and her tone were grim, but the strength of her conviction unwound a small amount of his tension.

He held himself perfectly still, eyes running over her face as he tried to reassure himself that they’d failed again. Neah was here. She was safe. She wasalive. But he couldn’t help the niggling thought that next time they might succeed. “Tell me what happened to change your plans.”

“I got a note from Zennon asking to reschedule. A guard delivered it. I assume Sonnet received one too. And then I got changed and headed to the captain’s personal training room.”

“That’s where you’ve been this whole time?”

A slight smile curved her lips. “Yes. It’s wise to keep up with my training, given all the assassins trying to kill me.” When he didn’t laugh, she winced. “Too soon?”

“Yes,” he said, the word hoarse. “We haven’t spoken about it yet, because I promised the choice of whether to cement the bond with the bonding ceremony would be yours. But I don’t know if I can do this, Neah. Not if it means you’ll be hurt—or killed.”

For the first time since she’d walked in, Neah’s jaw clenched and he knew she was pissed. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying…” Wren sighed and paced over to the armchairs surrounding the table by the balcony doors. Whatwashe saying? “I’m saying you’re more important than the crown, or the kingdom. I would choose you over my sanity, over my soul, and only a small part of that is because you’re my mate.” His voice broke and Wren looked away, unable to meet her eyes as he scrubbed a hand over his face. “So you should go, leave while you still can. Before you or Zennon or anybody else gets hurt.”

There was silence in the wake of his words and he exhaled shakily, sensing she was still standing there by the door, and he wondered if this was it, if she would leave him now. He couldn’t bring himself to regret it, not if it meant she would be safe. They hadn’t formally accepted their bond yet, she could still go on without him, love again—he nearly growled at the thought but managed to hold it in. She washis.But if that meant her death, well, that was not the fate he’d choose for her.

“Do you want me?” The words were soft, vulnerable and a challenge all at the same time as Wren heard her take a step closer.

“Yes,” he choked. “Desperately.”

“Your crown, the kingdom?—”

“Mean nothing without you.” Silence fell once more and it occurred to him that the words might be too bold, too much too soon. “Ifyoudon’t want me, if this is only a duty to you, then I want you to go. Now. Forget about me and live your life and be happy.”

Wren didn’t even hear her footsteps, just the touch of her hand on his, pulling his palm away from his face.

Golden eyes stared into his very soul, gentle and fiery all at once. “I want you. I chooseyou. I can handle assassins and poisonings, and whatever else they try to keep us apart. But leaving now isn’t an option. I need you. I chooseyou.”

The words were his undoing.

Material creaked as he shifted his weight, knees hitting the floor as he slid from the chair to kneel at her feet. He’d told himself before that nobody but the Goddess should see the king kneel, but that was before he’d met Neah. Before he knew what it meant to trulyworship.

Her eyes burned brighter and she licked her lips as his hands smoothed the outside of her legs, feeling her heat beneath the silky fabric that clung to her legs.

“Use me,” he rasped. “Own me. I’m yours, heart, body, soul.”

Neah’s breath caught and he swallowed hard when her hands slid into his hair and tugged lightly, pulling his head back. “I’ve never had a king on his knees for me before. Let’s hope you don’t disappoint,” she taunted and his laugh was a low, dark rumble that made her heart beat quicker.

His hands coasted down her sides, thumbs hooking into the material so he could slowly peel it off and feel her bare skin, soft under his palms.

A scrap of dark lace was all that covered her and he leaned forward, tonguing the material lightly before clasping it with histeeth and ripping it away. Neah shivered as his breath touched her skin and then gasped when he leaned in and inhaled, kissing with light suction across the smooth skin between her pussy and her thighs.

Goddess, he could drown in her, wanted to feast on her wet heat until he was covered in her scent and everyone knew she’d marked him ashers.

Wren reached behind her, smoothing his hands up the back of her legs and cupping her posterior, squeezing and kneading the plump cheeks there before letting a hand trail back to her front and stroking over her pussy lips with a delicate, barely-there touch.

Her light moan made him grin as he repeated the motion with a fraction more pressure, parting her folds around the hard bud of her clit that throbbed under his touch.

“I thought I told you,” he murmured, leaning in to give a teasing lick to her clit, “to use me?”

As if the reminder was what she’d been waiting for, Neah unleashed herself.

The hand in his hair became firmer and when he looked up at her, waiting for instructions, her eyes glowed. She stepped closer, her legs widening until one stood on either side of his shoulders, and when she looked down her body at him, Wren felt his cock twitch in response. “Be a good little toy,” she rasped, the breathless tone of her voice making it even harder to hold back. “Let me soak your face, my king.”

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