Page 40 of The Mountain King
She rolled her eyes, and turned her head to look at him. “You likely would have driven me insane. We probably wouldn’t still be married.”
He snorted. “That would never happen. I keep what is mine, Kailigh.”
“It’s not like I’m a chair, to be kept, or a pretty plant. And by the way, the condition of your house plants is deplorable.”
“Forget the plants.”
He rolled, covering her body with his, a movement so quick she hadn’t had time to even react. “Maddugh…”
He glared down at her. “When we wed, Kailigh—and we will wed—then you are subject to my commands.” He smiled, dark and sensual. “As your husband, and as your Lord.”
She just couldn’t take him seriously. “All right, whatever you say.” Kai paused, then smiled sweetly. “And were you planning on dragging me to the altar? Is the process no longer voluntary?”
He lowered himself over her, an inch at a time. “I know what the problem is.”
“Really. Enlighten us.”
“You need more convincing. I haven’t properly displayed my wares.”
His toothy smile told Kai exactly what wares he referred to a split second before he claimed her mouth in a kiss.
He kissed her as if he owned her, as if her submission was a forgone conclusion. Kai knew it was an act—the tension in his body wasn’t just desire. It was his healthy respect for the fact that her fingers were mere inches from the blade hidden in her skirt.
Smart man.
Kailigh relaxed her body, wrapping her arms around his neck in the clearest signal of non-murderous intent she could think of, and then stopped thinking at all. Only felt, the satin caress of his lips on hers, the heat and weight of his body subtly pressing her into the ground. The silk of his hair brushing her face, the strands a little too long for human fashion. And his skin burned under his clothing, an intense heat followed by rippling under the muscles. As if an inner beast was snapping to get out.
She opened her eyes to meet the twin suns staring down at her, pupils’ narrow slits, face taut. Maddugh’s hand bunched in her skirt, pulled it up slowly, his face daring her to tell him to stop.
She wouldn’t—but she would set boundaries. “No sex.”
“What’s wrong with sex?”
Her brow rose in response to his flat query, and the puff of brimstone air he snorted. “Nothing. I just want to hammer home a point—by your position in life, you are spoiled.”
He stared at her, his expression a blend of stony and raw sexual promise. She tapped his nose and he flinched, snapping at her finger.
Her eyes widened. “Hmm… the man is slipping a bit, eh? Anyway… my point?” She bared her teeth in a smile and pointed to her chest. “Not easy.”
His shoulders swelled and he lowered his face until their noses touched. “I already offered to wed you, woman.”
She sniffed. “Even worse. After marriage, men think they no longer have to try atall.”
Maddugh swore, in words she didn’t recognize as any human language. She’d heard a few in her time, mostly from traveling salesmen. Kailigh frowned.
“No sex,” he snarled. “But I want something, mistress.”
“Oh?” The fingers in her skirt tensed. “You’d better not rip my clothing, Maddugh!”
“No sex, no rips. No, no, no.” His voice was dark, mocking. “Be quiet.”
The air on her thighs warned Kailigh even before he pushed them apart, sliding down until he was in position to place a single, scoring kiss on her inner flesh. Kailigh inhaled. If he was about to do what she thought he had in mind…
Her eyes closed, and she sank into the purest bliss she’d ever known in her life. She figured she deserved it by now.
* * *
Boneless, she lay draped on Maddugh’s chest for some time before he stiffened. A moment later, her ears registered the beat of wings in the air, a sound becoming more and more familiar.
