Page 41 of City of Secrets and Shadows
“I’m close,” she gasped, the admission torn from her as if against her will. “Septimus, I’m—”
I felt her teetering on the edge and suddenly withdrew, pulling back just enough to deny her release. Her eyes flew open, outrage blazing in their depths.
“What are you—” she began, but I cut her off.
“Tell me who you belong to” I demanded, my voice rough with desire. My fingers remained inside her, not moving, just enough pressure to keep her on the precipice without letting her fall.
Fury and need warred on her face. “You bastard.”
“Tell me,” I repeated, curling my fingers just enough to make her gasp. “Say it, Livia.”
“No one,” she gritted out. “I belong to no one.”
I smiled, admiring her defiance even as I planned to shatter it. “Wrong answer.” I lowered my head again, licking a slow, deliberate path that had her trembling, only to stop before she could find release.
“Septimus!” Her voice was ragged now, desperate.
“Tell me,” I whispered against her heated flesh. “Who do you belong to?”
Her body trembled beneath me, hovering on the edge of pleasure. I could feel her internal muscles clenching around my fingers, desperate for the release I was denying her. Sweat glistened on her skin, her chest heaving with each ragged breath.
“I can keep you like this for hours,” I murmured against her inner thigh, nipping the sensitive skin. “On the edge, desperate, begging.”
“I don’t beg,” she growled, but her voice broke on the last word as I flicked my tongue lightly over her clit.
She writhed beneath me, tension coiled in every muscle, her pride battling with her desperate need for release. I held her there, suspended on the knife-edge of pleasure, watching the conflict play across her face.
“You,” she finally gasped, the word torn from her throat. “Gods damn you, Septimus. You.”
Victory surged through me, sweeter than any I’d claimed in the arena. “Say it properly,” I commanded, my thumb brushing lightly over her clit, enough to stoke the fire without granting relief.
Her eyes blazed with a mixture of hatred and desire. “I belong to you,” she hissed. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“It’s what I needed to hear,” I corrected, and lowered my head once more, rewarding her surrender with the full force of my attention.
This time, I didn’t hold back. I devoured her with single-minded intensity, my tongue circling her clit as my fingers curled inside her, finding that spot that made her back arch off the bed. Her thighs trembled against my shoulders, her hands fisted in my hair, pulling almost painfully as she ground herself against my mouth.
“Yes,” she gasped, her voice breaking. “Don’t stop — please don’t stop—”
A sharp knock at the door froze us both.
“Livia?” Octavia’s voice called from the sitting room. “Are you in there? The welcome feast begins in an hour.”
“I’ll be right out,” Livia called, her nails digging sharply into my shoulders as I continued my attentions.
“Are you well?” called Octavia. “You sound strange.”
Livia’s hips bucked and her inner muscles clenched around my fingers, her body silently begging for what I was denying her.
“I’m… fine. I was sleeping. I’ll be right in.”
I could feel Livia trembling beneath me, her body taut with frustrated need. I kept my fingers buried inside her, deliberately still, watching her struggle to control her breathing. The way her chest heaved, the flush spreading across her skin, the dampness at her temples – all of it revealed how close she’d been.
“Don’t you dare stop now,” she hissed, voice barely above a whisper.
“Why not?” I murmured against her inner thigh. “Octavia needs you. The feast awaits. Your duties as a noble…”
Her fingers tightened painfully in my hair. “Finish what you started, Septimus, or I swear by all the gods—”
